Issue #6

Wed., March 24, 2021
INTERNATIONAL 11
Around the world for spring break
BY UYEN HUYNH
International Editor
When the Covid-19 pandemic
reached numerous countries around the
world last spring, the travel industry
took a huge hit.
As areas underwent lockdowns and
people started quarantining, airlines
and hotels lost a lot of business since
there wasn’t a huge need for these
businesses.
Even going out into the community
presented numerous threats due to the
risks of infection.
“My family planned a summer trip to
Vietnam, but it was canceled because of
Covid,” junior Victoria Nguyen said.
Learning disabilities teacher James Bryant travels to Uganda
James Bryant takes a picture by a lake.
Junior Kyle Ho takes a selfie.
JAMES BRYANT
Junior Sajal Khan plans to spend
her spring break in the great city of
London in the United Kingdom.
She will be travelling there with her
mom and sister.
Khan will leave for London on Mar.
28 and spend two weeks enjoying her
time there.
She has previously been to London
in the past so this isn’t her first time
visiting the city.
“I went to London before in the 4th
grade,” Khan said.
The main reason for her trip was
to visit her cousin, so on her trip, she
hopes to be able to spend some quality
time with her cousin.
“I look forward to spending time
with my cousin that I haven’t seen in
years and exploring the beautiful sights
of London,” Khan said.
KYLE HO
However, recently things have
started to shape up for these businesses.
“The travel industry is recovering
as numbers continue to decline for
Covid cases,” business teacher Gina
Consumano said.
An increase in travelling can even be
seen in some states.
Learning disabilities teacher James
Bryant is planning on spending his
spring break in Uganda, where he will
be exploring the beautiful country by
himself.
This will be his first time ever
travelling to Uganda. In the past he has
visited Africa before, but only for a brief
amount of time.
When asked how long he plans to
stay in Uganda for, he jokingly replied,
“I may never return…,” Bryant said.
In Uganda, Bryant has a full
schedule of activities planned, which
will all require him to spend a lot of
time outdoors in nature.
“I will trek to see the primates, sail
the lakes, and see the national parks
and wildlife,” Bryant said.
He wants to see the gorillas, golden
monkeys, and chimpanzees.
On his trek he will also be able to
In addition to spending time with
her cousin, she also hopes to do a lot of
sightseeing all over the city.
The places on her list are the
London Eye, London Dungeon, London
Bridge, and castle.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the
London Eye the most because the view
from the top would look so pretty,”
Khan said. “I also plan on seeing
France from the London Eye.”
One aspect of her trip that she
anticipates the most is being able to be
worry free.
“I look forward to relaxing and not
having to worry about school work the
most,” Khan said.
Another activity that Khan hopes to
do in London is spend the day shopping.
“We’re probably going to go shopping
a lot because my mom, sister, and I love
Junior Kyle Ho has plans to spend
his spring break in the country up
north, Canada.
He has been to Canada once in the
past before to visit his mom’s friend, and
will be doing so again.
“My mom wants to visit her old
friend from high school who lives in
Toronto,” Ho said.
Ho will be driving up to Canada
with his parents and brother instead of
getting there by plane.
On his way to Toronto, there is a
chance that Ho and his family will also
stop by New York City along the way.
His family is still discussing the
possibility of staying in New York City
for a day to enjoy themselves before
heading back on the road to Canada.
“I want to go to some shoe stores and
also try new foods,” Ho said.
“I did recently go to Florida and
there were a lot of travelers,” junior
Jenna Cappello said.
Many people are beginning to make
summer travel plans and even some for
the upcoming spring break.
There are people that will be
travelling to other states or to the many
see other animals besides primates.
“There are also lions that climb
trees, giraffes, elephants, hippos, and
many more,” Bryant said
Bryant also hopes to do a lot of
sightseeing while he is on his trip.
“Murchison Falls NP, Queen
Elizabeth NP, Bwindi NP, and Lake
Mburo NP [Places he plans to see],”
Bryant said.
Along the way to Uganda, Bryant
will be making a pit stop at a popular
tourist city in South Africa.
“I will also have a stopover in Cape
Town, South Africa, since I used miles
to book the trip,” Bryant said.
In Cape Town, he plans on spending
some time in the sea with more
animals.
“In Cape Town, I want to cage dive
with the sharks, snorkel with the seals,
and see the penguins,” Bryant said.
to buy new clothes,” Khan said.
Even though Khan is very excited
for her vacation, one thing that she is
not looking forward to as much is the
possible quarantine.
“We’ll probably have to quarantine
for awhile so it might get boring,” Khan
said.
Despite the new obstacles that come
with travelling due to the pandemic,
Khan doesn’t seem to be worried much
about the new policies and restrictions.
“I don’t have many concerns,
since we will be social distancing and
wearing masks,” Khan said.
Khan has also travelled abroad
during the pandemic before so that also
helps her feel less worried.
“I recently went to Pakistan and
everything went okay,” Khan said.
They also plan to make a second
stop to visit a famous sight that almost
anyone who drives to Canada likes to
stop at.
“We’re also going to stop at Niagara
Falls and maybe go on a boat tour,” Ho
said.
On his trip, he hopes to do some
sightseeing.
“My mom’s friend wanted to take us
to the Entertainment District,” Ho said.
“We’ll probably go to some museums
and just browse around the district.”
He originally also had plans to
go see the famous CN Tower in the
Entertainment District, but his plans
were put to a stop after he found out
the CN tower would be closed due to the
pandemic.
“It’s a shame we won’t get to go,” Ho
said.
countries that are opening up again.
“My extended family in Texas is
planning a road trip to come and visit us
in Virginia this spring break,” Nguyen
said.
Some of the students and faculty at
AHS who have made plans to travel
internationally for spring break are
Learning disabilities teacher James
Bryant, junior Sajal Khan, and junior
Kyle Ho.
Ho will be keeping his travels close
as he crosses the border to Canada,
while Bryant and Khan will journey to
the continents of Europe and Africa.
Even though these three will be
going abroad, they will still take many
precautions to ensure that they will stay
safe on their trips while still having fun.
He also wants to go sightseeing in
Cape Town as well.
“I want to see Tabletop Mountain,
Shark Alley, near Gansbaai, the spot
every Shark Week features in South
Africa, and the penguin colony,” Bryant
said.
Two aspects of his trip that Bryant
is looking forward to the most is his
safari and spending time with the
sharks.
Although travelling to a new
country during the pandemic can be
worrying for some, Bryant doesn’t feel
as concerned.
“Africa has done the best of any
continent during this pandemic,”
Bryant said. “I am more concerned
about going to a grocery store in
Northern Virginia than I am about
going to Africa.”
Junior Sajal Khan travels across the Atlantic Ocean to London
Junior Sajal Khan poses for a selfie.
Junior Kyle Ho goes on a family road trip to Toronto, Canada
SAJAL KHAN
One part of the trip that Ho is
anticipating the most is being able to
buy some Canadian snacks to take
home with him.
“I love ketchup chips so I’m going to
buy a few bags to take home,” Ho said.
In regards to travelling during the
pandemic, Ho is not heavily concerned
about it.
Since he is travelling by car to
Canada, it will be a little safer than if he
were to travel by plane.
“I’m not that worried since we’re
going in our own car and not to an
airport,” Ho said. “But we’ll still wear
masks and social distance when we go
out.”
His family along with the family
of his mom’s friend will also be getting
tested before seeing each other.
Around the world
Canada
Many families of senior
citizens that were neglected
proper care during the
pandemic are now speaking
out and demanding change.
Some care facilities were
accused of practicing bad
hygiene habits as they were
leaving the elders in dirty
clothes and sheets for hours.
In addition, elders who cried
in pain were ignored by
staff for long periods of time.
During the early stages of
the pandemic last March,
hundreds of care homes had
stopped allowing visitors in
hopes of protecting the elders,
who were the most vulnerable
to the virus. This prevented
family-care givers from coming
in to assist their seniors when
the staff could not.
Thailand
Thailand is launching a new
program called “Digital Yacht
Quarantine” in an attempt to
attract more tourists and yacht
travelers to Phuket Island.
This program will allow for
travelers to complete the
required two week quarantine
on a yacht. The yacht that
the passengers quarantine on
will have to be one that they
own. Travelers will be given
a digital health tracker that
they are required to wear at
all times. They will also have
to stay within 10 kilometers of
the shore. After the two week
period is up, officials will look
at the data collected from the
digital health trackers and
decide if the visitors are safe to
explore Phuket.
Italy
On March 4, Italy utilized
European Union powers
to block 250,000 Covid-19
vaccines from being exported
to Australia. This is the fist
time such EU powers have
been used for vaccines. Italy’s
decision is an escalation from
the dispute between the EU
and AstraZeneca, a drug giant.
The conflict between the two
parties began back in January
when there was a delay of
vaccines from AstraZeneca.
The company said that it will
deliver tens of millions fewer
doses than it had intended to.
Italy believes that Australia
is not a vulnerable nation to
the pandemic. The European
Commissioner has since then
instated new measures that
allow its members to restrict
Covid-19 vaccine exportation.
As of recently, only 5.5% of the
EU’s 447 million population
has been given the first dose of
the vaccine.
Immigrant stories: coming to America
Junior Sakina Azhar emigrates from Pakistan to the United States
BY UYEN HUYNH
International Editor
Junior Sakina Azhar first immigrated
to the United States from Pakistan at the
age of three in 2007.
Although when she first moved to the
U.S., she did not officially settle here until
years later.
“I moved from Pakistan to America a
couple of times when I was a child before
permanently moving to America in the
fifth grade,” Azhar said.
Whenever Azhar would travel back
and forth from Pakistan, she went with
her mom and siblings while her dad
worked and resided in the U.S.
“He wanted my siblings and I to have
a strong sense of cultural identity so I
primarily lived in Pakistan for most of my
formative years,” Azhar said.
As Azhar recalls how she felt when
she stepped off the plane on her last move
knowing that she would stay in America
for good, she remembers feeling unfazed.
“Because I was only nine when i
moved back to America, i didn’t really
fully understand the concept of having to
leave my home country,” Azhar said.
However now thinking back, Azhar
does miss her family back home.
“Something I enjoyed about living in
Pakistan was being close to my extended
family and cousins,” Azhar said.
Since Azhar was constantly on the
move between countries, she didn’t get to
see her dad as frequently as she wanted
“I was mainly just really excited to
live and see my dad for more than three
months at a time,” Azhar said.
Even moving around frequently was a
tad tiring for Azhar, it did have its perks.
It allowed her to get used to American
culture and life before she finally
immigrated permanently.
“I didn’t have much trouble adjusting
to life in America, as i had already lived
here before,” Azhar said.
Unlike most immigrants, Azhar didn’t
face the challenge of having to learn a
new language, which was another bright
side to the multiple moves.
“I already knew English before coming
to America, having already lived here
previously and also having gone to an
international school in Pakistan,” Azhar
said.
Azhar notices that there are many
differences between Pakistan and
America.
She mentions that one difference is
the etiquette of answering questions in
both countries.
In the U.S., when students are called
on by a teacher, they give their reply
while sitting down, while this was not the
case in Pakistan.
“Whenever the teacher calls on you to
answer a question you have to stand up
and answer to show respect,” Azhar said.
Even though Pakistan and the U.S.
have different languages and cultures,
Azhar does see some similarities.
One similarity that Azhar is very glad
that both countries share is the tradition
of celebrating national holidays and
events with a day off from school.
In school Azha works hard as an IB
Diploma candidate.
She also participates in multiple
extracurricular activities.
“Outside of school I am a part of an
online organization and work as a mentor
for a club at my local elementary school,”
Azhar said.
Azhar still likes to visit her home
country fairly often.
“I actually just came back from
Pakistan in January,” Azhar said.
Since her final move to the U.S., Azhar
has fully adapted to living here and very
much enjoys it.
“Something I enjoy about living in
America is the sheer amount of options
and freedoms that are available here,”
Azhar said.
Junior Sakina Azhar (upper left) celebrates her dad’s birthday with
her family.
SAKINA AZHAR