After visiting Pakistan back in 2013, senior Maryam Atique returned once again with her siblings on Jan. 2. Atique stayed in Multan, Pakistan with her grandmother and grandfather, who acted as her tour guide during her stay.

While in Pakistan, it was an eye- opening experience for Atique to remember what it is like to be surrounded by family, since most of them live in Pakistan and not the U.S.
“I missed the idea of being in a family-oriented atmosphere. I loved being with my cousins a lot of the time,” senior. We got to visit and tour the historical sights of Pakistan with them,” Atique said.

The bustling streets in Pakistan was another major shift Atique had to get used to, as opposed to her somewhat routine and simple life in America.
“Being in Pakistan for just one day showed me how different street life in America is compared to Pakistan. The streets are much louder and busier, and never seem to quiet down,” Atique said.

Another difference which she noticed was the experience and structure of the streets in Pakistan compared to the U.S. The roads did not have any dividers, making it seem like a hazard to those who are not used to it.

“Streets in the U.S. are much more clean, compared to the chaos of the roads in Pakistan,” Atique said. “They are very difficult to drive on since there is only one road where cars drive both ways.”
The pollution in the air and overpopulation were both shocking to Atique as well.

Despite these things, Atique still made the most of her trip by not only visiting family but by seeing tourist sights too.
“One of the tourist sights I got to see was a huge fort which was used by Pakistani soldiers in battles hundreds of years ago,” Atique said.

While staying in Pakistan, Atique took notice of the stylistic differences in how people dressed, compared to when she was in Pakistan in 2013. There was a mixture of both Western and traditional Paki dressed people on the street.
This was only one of the few similarities she picked up on while she was there.
“The restaurants in Pakistan were very diverse culturally. While there, I went to Mexican, Chinese, and American restaurants with my family, which was a little weird at first, but the food tasted good,” Atique said.

Some of the stores in Pakistan were the same as stores which could be found in America.
“It was really cool being able to go to a Nike or Adidas store in Pakistan because I thought these stores could only be found in a few countries,” Atique said.

All in all, a trip like this was something Atique had been looking forward to for months, despite the worry of having to go while school was in session.
“It was a little hard trying to balance both because I wanted to devote all of my time to seeing Pakistan,” Atique said.
“But my teachers posted assignments online, which made keeping up with school easier,” Atique said.