Hey Guys! :),

It’s Lauren Q here (I have to give you my last initial since there’s another Lauren in our class now too haha)! Sadly, I’m writing this from my house and not in the classroom, since on Sunday I got sick with food poisoning, and I’ve been out sick for a couple days. But, I still have lots to catch you all up on!

That picture you see above is of me and one of our other classmates Josh at a bowling party for another classmate of ours, Myah! It was her birthday a little while ago, and a bunch of her friends got together to bowl, ourselves included! I’m not sure if you guys have bowling or not, but just in case, I’ll explain it. Bowling is a game where you take a special bowling ball at whatever weight you need and roll it down a long wooden board, trying to knock over pins at the other end.

Recently at school, we celebrated Valentines Day! Valentines Day is on February 14th, and is a day to celebrate somebody you love or are attracted to. People usually celebrate with a boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse, but it’s not uncommon to give gifts to family and friends, too! At our school, we have a program called “Cupids Cuties”, where you can write somebody a note, buy them a rose, or multiple roses, and they will be delivered throughout the day by one of the schools “Cupids Cuties” and their escorts, who are senior boys and senior girls.

How is everything going over there? I hope the weather is better, I felt bad when I read your post about the rain! Noopur had a lot of great stuff to tell us about her trip to visit you all, and we loved seeing the pictures of you guys!

Hope to hear from you soon!
– Lauren Q.

Hey Nashta students this is Musa Thompson from A.V.I.D. It has been awhile since I last posted, and a lot has since then. For one this past summer I played a lot of basketball which is my favorite sport. I not positive that you play it a lot down there, but it is well known over here. I did a lot of sleeping and watching T.V. as well which was very relaxing since there wasn’t any school over summer vacation. After the summer ended I wasn’t too excited for school to start back, but it got better as the year went along. My basketball season started up and I became Captain of my team which basically means I was chosen to be the person that is looked to for guidance, advice, motivation, those kind of things. After the season ended I began doing an art class, so i’m starting to get pretty good again. A few days ago I was making pictures for seven hours straight, and they all came out as okay pictures.
I am still in that art class, and it is rather challenging but i’ll make it. Well that is my year so far, and try and blog back and tell me about your year so far.

Greetings from America!

Hi friends from India! Its me CJ and I figured I’d fill you guys in on current events here in America. To begin, the Super Bowl happened relatively recently, and the Partiots won. Did you guys hear about this? It’s one of the most viewed events in America and is the championship game for the best of the best of football. Things pertaining to me, I’ve been listening to a Christian rock/metal band named Demon Hunter, I enjoy their music thoroughly. What kinds of music do you guys listen to in Mumbai? I also wanted to ask how fitness is in India? Do you guys do weight lifting or something of the sort? I’ve been exercising quite often here in America at the gym in my school. I’ve also continued Mixed Martial Arts with my twin brother Jeremy. In terms of class here in PW, I’m taking a class called global studies and we recently studied world religions. I learned that Hinduism is the most common religion in India, do any of you follow the practices of Hinduism? Lastly, It was recently Valentines day, a day where you express you’re love to your family and significant other. What holidays do you guys have in India? I’m glad to finally be talking about Nashta Exchange again and I’d love to hear from you guys!

HII GUYS!!!

My name is Gabby (I’m the blonde) to my right is Daniella and to my left is CJ. We are very excited to talk to you guys!

We just wanted to tell you a bit of what has been going on in our lives and are very interested in what’s going on in yours!

Valentines day is this weekend, if you don’t know what that is its a day devoted to love basically materialistic and corny. At our school, theres a thing called cupid’s cuties in which senior boys are chosen to deliver a rose to anyone you want them to, for an amount of money. They make a fool out of themselves for love.

Daniella and I specifically have been friends since we were in the middle school, now being 10th graders, we started our friendship being in the musical Oklahoma together. Since then we’ve had our ups and downs, but are great friends!

Id like to hear about your daily lives, mine consists of waking up at 530 am, dreading school, getting ready and going to the bus stop. I go throughout my school day and leave here at 2:20, go home to my puppies and mom and dad, and usually find time to be with friends.

Daniella’s life consists of waking up at 5:50, going to the bus stop and then getting to school, afterwards, she goes home and finishes her homework and then paints or draws because she loves art. She also spends a lot of time with her little sister and mom and dad because they are very close.

We’d love to hear about your daily life! Please tell us more.

Right now in class we are focusing on this reflection paper on Alex Sheen. His story is really interesting! At his father’s funeral he wanted to do something else so he started “Because I said i would” which is a nonprofit organization that focuses on only keeping your promises and commitments. Mrs Edwards printed us all out “Because I said I would” cards so we could all make our promises and once we have made them we give them to someone else and get the card back once we completed the promise.

This time last year we had just had our first cooking session. I remember anxiously planning, and making an epic Ikea trip picking up supplies, and my own family helping me wash and pack cooking kits. With Ms. Edwards’ help we were able to organize the room and students. At that time I barely knew everyone though everyone was starting to show their personalities. We were just starting out. I remember getting such a high after our first cooking session proved to be a success. Now a year later, I still get that high each time I see the students, but it’s a new type of high. Instead of first-day nervous jitters, it’s the thrill of coming back home to family and friends after being gone for a while. In just one year we have learned to work together in the kitchen and formed a Nashta Exchange team that plays on and off the court. More importantly we have perfected making Pav Bhaji and have been able to blog, connect, and help our friends abroad. We have been able to practice our computer skills, as well as our English reading, writing and comprehension.

Now a year later we are closer and our Nashta Exchange family keeps growing. Ms. Edwards’ welcomed her baby girl Ethyn and there are new smiling faces in both the American and Indian classrooms. In January, I was able to visit our friends at the Akanksha Foundation. Some were taller and all were definitely wiser. Earlier this month, I also visited the Philadelphia classroom and the same could be said about them.

It was obvious after each visit that both groups of kids were a family and we hope to bring the two families closer together.

Happy Snacking!