It is still so interesting to see America through the eyes of an immigrant.

Mohammad, the most fluent of his family in English, spoke with us for a half an hour last night. He said so many interesting things. He will be graduating from high school this summer. He said lots of people are telling him to go to college, but he really doesn't think he wants to. His plan is to work for a year and then be an interpreter in the army for a year. After that, he wants to open a gas station and maybe get married.

We asked him about marriage in Iraq, how it happens. Mohammad said, "I tell my father I want a wife, and he go look for one, and then he tell my mother I want a wife, and she look too."

Which led to conversations about relationships. He had a girlfriend. Apparently now she is his ex. I missed why, LOL, but I'm not too surprised. It probably wasn't much of a relationship, since that way of life is foreign to him.

One of the things that I think bothers Mohammad the most about America is that women work. I know his view comes out of tradition and that there may be some pride in there, but he also seems genuinely concerned about women getting hurt from being out in the world. He sees his sister come home with blisters on her feet from working (I'm not sure what she does, but I know she stands all day) and he doesn't like it.

He talked about how in America he has only girl friends (friend girls--his phrase, LOL), no "boy friends" (i.e. guy friends :) ). He finds that frustrating. Mohammad is "cursed" with good looks. I get the feeling that girls virtually throw themselves at him. One girl asked him if he were a virgin... He didn't know what that meant and had to go look it up. Another girl, much older than him and with a daughter of her own, tried to seduce him. I feel terrible for him... This is his experience of America? He said that back home people think of America as heaven. But there are a lot of things he doesn't like about it. I'm certainly inclined to agree with him. :/

One of the most interesting things he said was that in Iraq it's very busy, and here it's so quiet! Coming from a valley of 40,000 to a metro area of 2,000,000, I was like, "Quiet?!" Stephen and I told him that it's very busy in places like New York and Chicago and Los Angeles and San Francisco.

We've switched to Wednesday nights now, because Samira told us she never has any homework on Fridays, she always has tons on Wednesday nights. So tonight was our first Wednesday night with them. Ironically, Samira had very little homework. :D We spent a half an hour just checking their work they had done, then all the women in the family went over to a friend's house who had just had a baby, and that was when we began talking with Mohammad.

Their mother LOVES babies. LOVES. She lives for babies and young children. She has got to be one of the most interesting people I have ever met. She's terribly mischievous! And perhaps a bit immature. And she doesn't speak English very well, but apparently she can read like it's her native language?

And she's hilarious. When we visited them Friday (before we switched), I noticed she had cut her hair very short. It looked super cute on her, and I told her so. ("I like your hair a lot!" accompanied by many hand gestures, LOL.) She told us, very proudly, that she had done it herself, which we thought was pretty cool. :) Later she said to Stephen with that mischievous grin of hers, pointing to me, "She very nice!"

Soher also seems to have taken a liking to me. :D She said she had also gotten her hair cut, by a salon, and they had done it in layers, and she didn't like it. She let me look at it up close--generally she stays kind of aloof. I thought that was cool. And then I was dressed kind of cute on Friday and she noticed. She also said she liked my feet...LOL. I had my toenails painted a light violet color. She said something in Arabic and Samira translated to tell me that she thought I had beautiful feet. :D

I feel like Soher and I would get along well if communication wasn't such a barrier. Her English is poor but she is also a silent kind of person. I wish I could bring her out of that, and I keep looking for hints of her interests in order to do so.

Anyway, I love hanging out with them. Especially Mohammad and Samira--and Sara, even though we never see her.

Oh yes, Samira! That girl is so smart. I've always thought so, and last night I had proof of it when she showed me her latest report card. All As. And 5s on everything pertaining to her work and what the teachers grade her on! She's truly a brilliant person. Stephen and I both think she should be a doctor, but Samira hates math and finds reading very difficult. We're afraid those things might hinder her but hope she overcomes her dislike for them.... Her skills are very, very valuable. Perhaps we should start praying along those lines for her. :) That's one thing we've never done... Prayed for the refugees. We really ought to start doing that.

Hope you found this "report" interesting!

-Stephanie

previous || next

Miss Something?

Social Anxiety with Guys - February 07, 2024

Education Expo with an ADHD Kid - February 03, 2024

Lovely Church Experience - October 22, 2023

Seek Out Community in Christ - August 29, 2023

Grieving Lost Friendships - May 08, 2023