ISU international students are geographically and often religiously farther from home for winter break than most students.

Some return home for the short three-week break, but many students stay in Ames.

International students must manage feelings of homesickness and loneliness as they see other students traveling the short distance home to their families for the holidays.

“I am happy for the American students, but I wish I could go home as well,” said Mahesh Srinivasan, freshman in management information systems from Harare, Zimbabwe. “I can’t go home because it’s expensive and time consuming and not worth it for the short time period.”

Fama Lo, junior in computer engineering, from Dakar, Senegal, said many international students take advantage of the semester break to visit relatives in the United States and travel to other parts of the country.

“Since I live far from home, it’s very hard to go home for 21 days,” she said. “I have an aunt in Houston and relatives in New York, and I just go and spend the time there.”

However, some students are able to go home for the break to see their family and friends.

Lo said some international students return home at winter break so they can stay in Ames over the summer and get ahead in course work during those sessions.

Ashish Kumar, senior in advertising from India, said he has gone back every year for the winter holiday.

“Generally, I go back and see my family. Not much is happening in Ames,” Kumar said. “I come from a place where it’s warm, and I go back to home for a little rest and relaxation.”

Lita Flores, freshman in economics from Lima, Peru, said she also will return home to celebrate Christmas with family.

“I will return to Peru because we will have a large family gathering,” Flores said. “We meet our uncles and aunts and prepare lots of food.”

For the students who do stay in Ames, they find ways to deal with a nearly deserted campus for three weeks. Like fellow American classmates, many students use the time to recuperate from a semester of academic work.

“I will be staying in the dorms in Ames,” Srinivasan said. “Last year, I slept until late afternoon, played computer games, spent time with friends and then went back to sleep.”

Religion is another important aspect of the holiday season for international students.

Students of non-Christian faiths sometimes feel isolated, Lo said.

“For me it’s very different,” she said. “As Muslims, we don’t celebrate Christmas.”

The emphasis on the Christian holiday makes being away from home a little more painful, some students said.

“You feel a little left out of the celebrations and the festivals that are unique to your country and your religion,” Kumar said. “That’s something that you feel bad about sometimes.”

Lo said the Christian holidays cause her to miss the celebrations at home in West Africa.

“We celebrate; all the country is together,” she said.

“You get together with family and neighbors and have lots of food.”

In Ames, Lo said, many of the Muslim students gather for Eid ul-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of the month of Ramadan.

However, common holidays also ease the homesickness. Lo said the New Year’s celebration is the common denominator that helps bridge the gap between students of differing faiths during the holiday season.

Kumar said sometimes he has been invited to American households to celebrate the holiday season with friends’ families at Thanksgiving.

“I am comforted by my American friends sometimes,” he said. “You go and meet people, and they are very hospitable.”