Khamis

=Marwa Khamis=

Podcast
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BIOGRAPHICAL/GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Marwa is a very smart person and remembers some very early memories like going to the market with her grandfather at a really young age young age in Iraq. Marwa knew English before she went to America. She moved to america at five years old. She did not have to do any filing but did have to take the test. It took Marwa seventeen years to become an American citizen. She became an american citizen at twenty-two years old

It is very warm, war stricken currently. They have a democracy but at the time she moved it was a dictatorship under Sudam Husane. Their main export is crude oil. They are neighbors to iran turkey and Saudi Arabia. they have mostly rivers, plains, and mountains. Iraq is home to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and other runoff rivers.

=Creative Writing=

**Marwa Khamis ** **by Shane ward **

 Marwa Khamis began her immigration journey in Iraq. Her father needed to achieve his PhD from Kansas State University. It was very prestigious to go to America to study for a very tough degree. She moved at five years old and now lives as an American citizen. //“I love America, America is my home now.” //


 * Life as I know it. **

January 10, 1990

Dear diary,

Today, I found out that we have to move to America and I am not sure what I want right now. This is the biggest change in my life. Will I ever get to see grandma, grandpa, and uncle ever again? Will I ever be able to smell the fresh fruits and vegetables, or touch the rough wooden carts of the market? What will happen when I leave? Will anything bad happen? What is America like? Are there any people that can speak my language? How will I talk to people? What is school like? Will I ever learn English? Well, I must pack. Goodbye, diary.

January 15, 1990

Dear diary,

 Now we are landing in America and from the first look, it’s pretty similar. Today, I got off of the airplane. It was extravagant. I saw the top of the clouds. There was food on the airplane. It was not very good, but just the thought of food being cooked on an airplane! It is snowy. I don’t even know the last time I saw snow. I don’t even think that I have seen snow before. One thing is for sure, it is so cold here and I don’t have the clothes to be warm in this kind of weather. Now we are getting to security, so goodbye, diary.

January 17, 1990

Dear diary,

 So today I went to my hotel, warm and soft ii lay in bed with the calming sound of the radiator. These sheets are like sleeping on a cloud. When I look outside, I see tall buildings and looking down is very scary, but the city is so beautiful. There is a big machine that makes ice. My dad is still studying for the PhD and we have to get something called a work visa, though I don’t know what it is. Well, I am gonna go study for the test.

.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Your Name: Shane ward

Your Interviewee's Name: Marwa Khamis

Shane: Where did you immigrate from?

Marwa: I immigrated from Iraq

Shane: Okay what issues where happening during the time that you left?

Marwa: you know, there weren’t any issues during the time that I left… because my family came here so my dad could get his PhD but right after we left the gulf war started

Shane: Okay do you like America today?

Marwa: I do

Shane: What was your first impression when you came?

Marwa: It was very, it was very different than what I was used to, it felt like everything was different but i knew how to speak the language and you know people were very nice

Shane: How long did it take you to adjust to the American lifestyle?

Marwa: to be American I think it took me I mean to truly adjust I think well it didn’t take me long to adjust to where I was maybe let’s say 4 or 5 months but to be American I think it probably took me 10 years

Shane: Really?

Marwa: mhmm

Shane: so how long did it take for you to be an American citizen?

Marwa: It took me 17 years

Shane: what was the process?

Marwa: the process was we had to have so we had to have okay so my dad well both my parents had to file a work visa and then we, we had to apply to be permanent residents and that took probably i would say 11 or 12 years and then after that it took another 5 years to become a citizen in which i took we took the citizenship test said the oath and that is the process

Shane: Okay um did you um did you ever have your name changed?

Marwa: no I had the oppurnity but I wanted to keep my name

Shane: did you leave any family or friends?

Marwa: i didn’t leave any friends behind because I was too young to actually have any permanent friends but i did leave all of my extended family like my uncle and i didn’t have any cousins at the time and my grandparents but I came here with my parents and my brother

Shane: Okay so uh what holidays do you celebrate that most Americans don’t?

Marwa: we, we celebrate the month of fasting which is Ramadan r-a-m-a-d-a-n and then we have a three day holiday after that and then we also have e also have another holiday named eid e-i-d probably forty days later

Shane: Okay so you said Ramadan besides fasting what is it?

Marwa: it is the month of fasting from sunrise to sunset and you don’t eat until the sun goes down and it’s a time to reflect on being a better person and to reflect on sacrifices and um to feel empathy for poor people who don’t have anything to eat or drink.

Shane: Okay do you have a certain religion that does that or just your area in Iraq?

Marwa: Well Iraq is a Muslim country.

Shane: Yes.

Marwa: and its Muslim people who do it so it’s a Muslim holiday.

Shane: Okay um was it e-i-d?

Yeah e-i-d.

Shane: okay what is that ?

Marwa: so that, there’s two eids then the first one is to celebrate the end of the month of fasting and so its just a time for you to get presents and uh and see your friends and your family and the second one is actually the end of the Muslim pilgrimage. which is I’m going to give you the spelling of it, it is h-a-j-j and that’s just commemorate the end of the pilgrimage and you also get to see your friends and your family and have dinner together and you get presents.

Shane: Okay um do celebrate any American holidays that you didn’t before you came here?

Marwa: Yes um we didn’t celebrate thanksgiving we didn’t celebrate the fourth of July and Halloween and we didn’t do Halloween and we didn’t celebrate Christmas either we didn’t celebrate any American holidays.

Shane: Yeah have you heard of them before you immigrated?

Marwa: No I never heard of them till I hot here.

Shane: Do you like the holidays that we have?

Marwa: I love the holidays that you guys have i think that they’re so much fun and its good to have everyone celebrate it and get together and its fun to dress up on Halloween its so much fun to have turkey and go to Christmas parties and new year parties and to see the fireworks on the fourth of July its so much fun.

Shane: Do you ever visit your homeland?

Marwa: I haven’t got the chance to visit yet but I hope to soon.

Shane: Okay um did you come over with any family?

Marwa: yes i came over with my parents and my brother . Shane: What made you come to America?

Marwa: My dad was studying and had to get his um PhD and he got it from Kansas state university

Shane: Do they not have colleges over there or where they uh

Marwa: They do they actually have very good colleges but at the time they wanted people to come to America to study here because uh getting a degree from America is a very big deal very prestigious.

Shane: Well that’s great.

Marwa: Mhm.

Shane: What language did you speak before you came to America?

Marwa: Before I came to America I knew English but I spoke both Arabic and English.

Shane: Okay which language did you think it was easier to learn?

Marwa: well you know I guess I knew the both of them but Arabic was probably the easier because that what everybody spoke around me but when I came here English was second nature because I had already learned it. Shane: What do you think of when something bad happens in your country do you wish you were there to help stop it or are you glad you got out.

Marwa: Well I’m glad I’m not there but I feel really bad when something happens there and I wish there was something I can do but sometimes I feel I can’t I just am grateful i don’t have to be there but I hope everything over there is okay there.

Shane: Okay what issues did you come across while becoming a citizen?

Marwa: you know I actually didn’t go through any issues um it was my parents who did all of the filing and actually it was a very smooth process very easy . Marwa: Studying for the test was the one it probably took the longest.

Shane: Do you have regrets about coming over?

No I no I am actually very happy that I got to come here and I really like this country a lot and I think um this country gave me a lot more opportunity here that if I would have if I would have stayed in Iraq stayed in Iraq.

Shane: Okay did you is there issues over here that aren’t in iraq right now?

Marwa: No I think everything is pretty uh i think it’s pretty smooth here and there aren’t any issues here that aren’t over there

Shane: What kind of government did Iraq have.

Marwa: they had well to be honest it was a dictatorship because sudam husane was more of a dictator um and now after the war it’s a democracy now where everybody gets to well everybody used to vote but sudam would stay in power and now it’s a true democracy where people vote and they have a parliament

Shane: Okay um did you have any hardships while coming overseas to America

Marwa: No at the time it was very easy to come to America as long as you had um there was no hardships coming over here.

Shane: Did you come by boat or by plane?

Marwa: We came by plane . Shane: Okay did you just automatically leave or did you have to apply to go?

Marwa: I believe my dad had to apply for a scholarship um he got a scholarship he got it from the Iraqi government for one year but that’s how we how we did it.

Shane: Okay well i have no questions for you thank you for coming.

ANALYSIS
The difference between the immigrant from my interview and the “regular” immigration progress is that she had no name change. Marwa also didn’t come over for issues with war. She came over for her dad to get his PhD. She didn’t have to learn the language when she came over she already learned it. The medical test was performed. She didn’t come over by boat but by plane. It was similar because it took her a long time to become a citizen.