For some Penn students, "home" is now a very different place than it once was.
Pakistani students who returned to their native country for winter break arrived shortly before former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated while leaving a rally for the Pakistan People's Party on Dec. 27.
Those Penn students in Pakistan witnessed the wave of violence that shook the entire country in the assassination's aftermath.
College junior Rahima Dosani was visiting family in Karachi - a city located in Bhutto's home province - where many of her biggest supporters reside.
"Being in Pakistan during the assassination and its aftermath was an extremely tension-filled and unsettling experience," Dosani said. "We got caught in the cross-fire a little bit on that Thursday, but thankfully managed to get home safely."
She added that her family couldn't even leave the house to buy food; essentially, everything shut down for over a week. Even the mosques were only open to men in the days following the assassination.
College sophomore Zahra Khan, also from Pakistan, said that "Some, like myself, didn't leave our homes for the three days, while others showed their anger by coming on to the streets."
Both girls agreed that though Bhutto was a controversial leader, her death was a tragedy that touched the entire country.
"Her influence was demonstrated when the entire nation came to a standstill and united to mourn her death," Khan said.
And the violence didn't stop in Karachi.
"National banks and hospitals were burned, and random cars were torched for the entire week or so after the event," Dosani said. "I'm not sure if the perpetrators understood that their actions had an incredibly negative effect on their country in actuality."
In a University with a steady flow of students going to and from the region, the effects of such foreign unrest remain yet to be seen.
"It's very premature to predict what kind of impact Bhutto's assassination will have," said Director of the Office of International Programs Rodolfo Altamirano. "It will definitely impact international students but we can't yet pinpoint how."
He added he was unaware of whether there were Penn students studying abroad in Pakistan during winter break.
The biggest concern for some students was how Americans would view the country from now on.
"It was certainly a shame to see the state of the country in such a way," Dosani said. "I don't think Pakistan was always such a scary and backwards place. A lot of backlash against Western symbols and foreigners since 9/11 has paved the way for such riots, and the tension surrounding the upcoming elections didn't help."
"No one deserves to die the way she did," Khan added.
