Garden of Joy
Mohamed Ali, Eahia
Grade: 12
School: Fargo South High School, Fargo ND
Educator: Leah Juelke
AWARD: Honorable Mention, Personal Essay/Memoir
“Boom!” We heard that
sound everyday. In 2003, the U.S. military took over Iraq, and people started
moving from the South to the North. Hundreds of people were killed everyday,
and thousands of people were missing. We were scared. We couldn’t go out, we couldn’t
walk in the street, and we couldn’t go to the store. After a few years, things
started getting better. The U.S military started to hire people to be
interpreters.
“I'm going to apply there,” my dad excitedly
said to my mom.
“Do you think that will be safe for us?” my mom
asked him with a look of worry on her face.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” my dad
responded.
“بعد ماأعرف اني” my mom said.
Soon, my brave dad
started working with the U.S. military. Our life was pretty good until a year
later when we received a threat from terrorists. It was a small sheet of paper
with a bullet taped to it. They told my dad to either quit his job or his family
would be killed.
“سوف اقدم لجوء الى امريكا” my dad told my mom.
“OK, that sounds better for us,” my mom said.
In 2010, we started
filling out the application for the International Organization for
Migration (IOM). It was my dad, my uncle, and I
who completed the documents carefully. We waited and waited, for four years.
Finally in January of 2014 we received a call from the IOM. “Hello, موعد سفركم
بعد 14 يوم,” they told my dad.
We were so excited that we were going to the
United States. We started packing up our clothes. We sold almost all of our
belongings, and we sadly said goodbye to our friends.
The guy from the IOM
office was supposed to call us one day before our airplane was scheduled to
leave time and tell us what we should do. We waited and they didn’t call. We
were so sad. My dad called them to ask them about the details, but they said we
were not on the travel list yet. Later on, we called my helpful cousin who
lived in the United States. He said the travel was canceled because of a big
snowstorm in Fargo.
We had sold everything,
our house and furniture. I quit school because we thought we were leaving. We
stayed at my grandma’s house for three months. Finally, they called us to let
us know that they rescheduled the travel date. We were so excited and scared at
the same time. Although we were happy when they called us, we were also worried
because we thought they might cancel it again.
The day before the
travel, they called us to let us know that our airplane’s departure was at 6am.
They provided us with all the important details. I said my goodbyes to my best
friends and family. They all started crying.
By 4am, we were on our
way to the airport. My dad’s friend drove us there. I started looking at all
the stores and roads, because I couldn’t believe that I was leaving such a
beautiful country. It was real. I was going to the United States, where
everyone wants to go. We got on the airplane. I had never seen an airplane
before, so I was so scared.
“Ladies & Gentlemen,
we are about to fly so please wear your seat belt. We are heading to Jordan,”
the pilot said on the speakers. In this moment, my heart started pumping fast.
It
took us one hour to get there. We arrived in Jordan at around noon, and we
stayed in a hotel for the rest of the day. The next morning, we went to the
airplane that would take us to Chicago. This time, the airplane was so huge
there were around 1,000 people from different countries. On the 9th of April,
we arrived in Chicago. I was so tired because sitting in the airplane for 14
hours was really mentally exhausting.
We found a few guys
standing by the exit holding the IOM bag in their hands. We knew that they were
the IOM guys that we were supposed to meet there. They told us to hurry because
our next airplane to Fargo flew out in an hour. My family and I were quickly
running to catch the airplane. Finally, we found the airplane. This time the
airplane was so small, there were less than 100 people.
I was looking down from
the window, and I saw the lights and the roads. It was really awesome! I
started remembering my friends and other things from Iraq and I got sad. Soon,
we arrived in Fargo. The plane ride went quick because I was heavily sleeping
most of the time.
Finally
we left the airplane, we found my oldest cousin waiting for us. There were a
couple of guys with him who were with the IOM. My cousin helped us by
translating.
We went to get our bags, and when we went
outside we saw my other two cousins. It was April and it was so cold! I was
wearing a t-shirt, sweatshirt and a jacket, but I was still freezing. My
cousins were only wearing shirts and they were not cold because they were use
to it.
My
cousin drove us to our apartment. When I found out that the apartments are made
from wood, I was confused. What would happen if it rained? Wouldn’t we get wet?
My cousin told me that it's a special wood, so it won't get us wet if it
rained.
My
biological clock was soon affected. Because of the time difference between Iraq
and the United States, I started sleeping in the afternoon and waking up at
night.
The first few months
were so difficult, but I didn’t give up. We got our social security cards, and
I went to get my driver’s license. I knew how to drive, so it wasn’t hard for
me. Then I started looking for job.
I started school at
Fargo South High, and soon started adjusting to the life in a new place. I
didn’t speak English when I came, but by talking classmates at school, I
learned a little more English.
One night I heard it was
going to snow so I didn’t sleep. I had never seen a snow storm before. Around 3
a.m. it started snowing and it was so beautiful. Everything started to turn
white.
The next morning we went outside and we started
playing in the snow, it was so fun.
“Are you guys new here?” my neighbor asked my
dad.
“Yeah, are you asking because you saw my kids
playing with the snow,” my dad asked.
“Yes, because they were so excited about it,” my
neighbor said.
Moving was a really big
change for me, from a terrible and war filled life to a beautiful life. Here,
when you go outside for a walk everyone says hi to you. In Iraq if you go
outside for a walk, you are not sure if you will come back alive. It was my
dream to come to the United States and have a better life. I finally made it.
Arabic Language Glossary
"بعد ماأعرف اني."
“I don’t know, it’s up
to you.”
"سوف اقدم لجوء الى امريكا."
“I will apply to go to
America.”
"موعد سفركم الى امريكا بعد 14 يوم."
“There’s 14 days left until you fly to America.”
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