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Personal Narrative

Decent Essays

Ayat AL Taii
Erpelding
Avid, Pr3
13 April 2016 Born and Raised in Different Country
Baghdad, Iraq is where I was born and raised; I lived there for about 6 years during the most pivotal years of the war. My dad left when I was about 7 months. He went to Lebanon to live for a few years before settling in the United States. My mom took care of me and my siblings. War was going on in Iraq; people walked with a dying heart. Iraq was split into Shiite, Sunni, and Christianity. Sunni and Shiite do not have any issues with one another, but there are people who do not like the Shiites and caused civil strife between the two divisions of Islam. My family is Shiite and we do not believe in a separation between anyone because we are one, they are …show more content…

My family sold everything we had and started the move to Jordan, but we were stopped at the Jordan-Iraq border. The soldiers at the border proceeded to ask me and my family many questions, like “Why do you want to live in Jordan?” My mom told the men we were to be travelling to the United States eventually. But those soldiers, with hate in their heart, took one look at the women of my family and saw them wearing Hijab. Those men hated Muslims and denied us entry to Jordan. Defeated, we all travelled back towards Iraq and had to take residence with our cousin because we had nothing. Just like when I lost my uncles and friends, I realized that life kept going; my siblings and I went back to school in Iraq. Four months later, good news at last! It was a new year, 2007, and we were going to Syria. I knew this time would be different. We arrived in Syria not long after hearing about it and found ourselves lost in a new world, with no one to come to our aide. We had only one friend there, who thankfully, helped us navigate our way through this new place. We only stayed in Syria for as long as it took to get the rest of the papers in order so we could make the final trip to America. That being only eight months, I didn’t return to school. I missed my family that I had to leave behind in Iraq, but I knew better …show more content…

No one in my family spoke English at that time and we struggled to communicate with anyone. The next morning the plane was waiting so they took us in van with another family, who were African American and they helped us a little with English. When we got to the San Diego airport at 6:00 pm, my dad was waiting for us with his friend. He took us to our new home; we were exhausted, but excited for this new life. The next morning, my dad explained the laws in the United States. We all went to school, but I was held back to the beginning of the third grade. My siblings and I needed to learn more english before we could move onto the next level. It was at this time that I found hope again. I knew I could do great things if I worked hard and learned English. Everything was so different, so new to me. I felt so overwhelmed, but this was my new life and I was determined to make the best of it. My Fear and the two faces in me tell a lot about my past, but I am ready to write a new future for myself so I can do all of the things I dreamed of when I was a young girl in Baghdad, Iraq. That was my past and this is my

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