Nonfic Blog

When I was a young child, the only real exposure I had to music were the Bollywood songs my parents would play. These Bollywood songs are my earliest memories of music. I don’t remember many of them now, but my favorite was always Desi Girl from the Bollywood film “Dostana.” I would always excitedly insert the CD (yes I know, the nostalgia) into our car’s player whenever my parents asked what song I wanted to listen to. I had absolutely no clue what the majority of the song was saying -- as it was in Hindi, and I did not speak Hindi yet -- but I loved singing along to the English chorus at the top of my lungs while my parents took numerous videos of me.  To illustrate how much I loved the song, I have the following vivid memory: My father had picked me up from school and I, of course, wanted to listen to Desi Girl . After listening to the song on repeat for the majority of the way back home, the song was suddenly interrupted by my mother calling. She shared that I had won a The Li...

Perhaps my most traumatizing travel experience occurred in India during my family’s 2016 trip to visit my maternal grandparents and relatives. The visit itself wasn’t traumatizing, but rather a series of events that occurred on a “mini-trip” we had all taken to visit India’s capital city -- New Delhi. To summarize, I had a series of 3 allergic reactions -- all within 24 hours. When exposed to some of my allergens, I go into a state anaphylaxis -- being unable to breathe as my airways are slowly closing due to swelling. Anaphylaxis is oftentimes treated with epinephrine (found in EpiPens); however, whenever epinephrine is used, a patient’s vitals must be closely monitored at a hospital. My severe allergies that cause anaphylaxis include peanuts, walnuts, and cashews. My less severe allergies include melons and other tree nuts. I also have a variety of food intolerances including dairy and eggs. In conclusion, my body quite literally hates the most popular ingredients, so I have to be so...