Saliba

=Tony Saliba=

Podcast
media type="custom" key="12457418"

BIOGRAPHICAL/GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Tony Saliba is from the country of Lebanon. He grew up in a small village up in the mountains. He helped his father out by working for the winery he owned during the summer. He collected grapes when he was working for the winery. It was one of the best things he ever did.

Lebanon is on the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea. The countries that border Lebanon are Syria on the east and north and Israel on the south. Lebanon is mostly a mountainous region and there are some ski resorts up in the mountains that are very popular. Lebanon has seasons similar to that of the United States of America.

=Creative Writing=

By: Justin This
// “… throughout the history of the United States immigrants have had a significant impact in the development of the country…” //


 * The Vineyards **

I’ve been working at my father winery during a never-ending summer. Today I am collecting the grapes. There are four fields that need to be collected and they are huge. It doesn’t take long to get to the fields from high in the mountains. Once we got there my father divided up the work. My father and I were going to take the field to the northwest. “Let’s get started,” my father said.

We cleared about three rows of grapes in the first fifteen minutes. It was going pretty good but then the sun got above the mountains brightening the fields and it is started to get really hot and I, already tired from lack of sleep, started to become extremely tired. I was just about to take a break my father said “Lunch break.”

“Good I was getting extremely hungry,” I said.

For the next couple of minutes we went to each field to let them know it was time for a lunch break. We ate filling lunches while we went around letting people know because the vineyards are good distances apart and it takes a while. After that we had to get back to collecting the grapes. We were about three-fourths of the way through collecting all of the grapes when it started to get dark out. We kept working and even without the scorching sun beating down on my back I started to get tired.

“Eat some of the grapes they taste delicious,” my father said

“But we’ve been working all day to collect these grapes and it isn’t easy work” I said.

So I ate the grapes and they were the best grapes I had ever tasted. We continued to work and finished collecting all of the grapes. It took all day and was a lot of work but it was a terrific and rewarding experience. We went home and then I went into a relaxing sleep just to wake up and work again. That was my summer and it was the best summer ever.

Not all families in America are this close. Life here is too fast paced for people to sit down and have time with their family or smell the flowers. Most people don’t do anything rewarding with their family and therefore don’t have as good a connection as those from Lebanon. That is the one thing I miss from Lebanon, the closeness of a family.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Justin: Alright, would you please restate your name and any associating titles?

Tony Saliba: My name is Tony Saliba and I have the privilege of serving as the Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Dayton.

Justin: And what country did you immigrate from and around what time were you immigrating?

Tony Saliba: I emigrated from the country of Lebanon and I came to the United States in 1978.

Justin: Where exactly is Lebanon?

Tony Saliba: Lebanon is on the eastern part of the Mediterranean. It is, bordered on the south, by Israel, on the east and north side by Syria, and on the west side by the Mediterranean Sea.

Justin: How was life in your old country? Did you have any hobbies? What sports, games, and friends? Anything like that?

Tony Saliba: Well in Lebanon, it’s a very green country, despite what some people might think. I grew up in the mountains of Lebanon which had, lot a pine trees, cedar trees, very green, lot of fruit trees and in Lebanon you can eat fruit practically all year long. I was in a boarding school in the city of Beirut which is the capitol of the country and it was a boarding school run by the Maronite order and French nuns and priest and brothers. The Maronite order is a Catholic eastern order. Sports are very popular in Lebanon and the most popular sport is soccer followed by volleyball and basketball and, tennis is also very popular. Swimming is a big sport as well. I had a lot of fun playing soccer on my school team and grew up playing the game and now I coach it here in the United States.

Justin: Okay, you said that you eat fruit a lot, so is there any particular fruit that you like?

Tony Saliba: I like all kinds of fruits. In the winter time, what’s in season in Lebanon are oranges and grape fruits, any kind of citrus fruit, really wide variety of citrus fruits. In the spring, then the cherry and, spring fruits will come in, in the summer, the apples and especially the grapes, and Lebanon is known for its grapes.

Justin: What was your education like?

Tony Saliba: Education in Lebanon follows the French System, being in a boarding school we went to school from, 8:00 in the morning to about 6:00 in the afternoon with a 2 hour break during lunch time that’s when we played soccer games. Pretty tough educational system, everything was taught in French except for the Arabic, literature, but my geography, my history, my mathematics, sciences were all taught in French.

Justin: What do you remember most about your old country?

Tony Saliba: [Short pause] what I remember most about my old country is how close the families are and, they’re close in distance which allows them to really be emotionally and family wise close. So in my village where we I spent my summers on the same street that I was on all my cousins and relatives lived on so the family spirit that is so unique to the University of Dayton is exactly the same family spirit that I grew up with.

Justin: You mentioned you lived in the mountains, what was the weather like up there?

Tony Saliba: So in the winter time up in the mountains, the winter time gets, quite a bit of rain and once you get into December quite a bit of snow so my home town is about, 3,000 feet above sea level so we, would get, quite a bit of snow on the mountains above us and actually there are a couple of ski resorts there on those mountains, by, the end of February you start getting spring weather and its very pleasant, kind of coolish about 60° temperature in the spring then you get to the summer months and the temperature will very between 75 and 80°. That’s up in the mountains, in the city, which is not very far from my village the city is only 30 miles away, the average temperature is about 70°, you get rain but you don’t get snow on the coast, but you do get all 4 seasons which is what makes the weather all so beautiful.

Justin: What was the government like in you old country?

Tony Saliba: Well when I was growing up, Lebanon gained its independence in 1942, and had democratic, republic, so there are 100 deputies in the, deputy chamber and those are elected by the people the deputies can elect, a, president and the President then can, assign a, Prime Minister form a, a government. It is a democratic, country and, [Short pause] the people have a significant voice in their future unfortunately in the mid-1970s, a civil war started in Lebanon which resulted in, several hundred thousand people being killed and, the civil war took place between the Christians and the Muslims in the country between it, it took many, many different forms and many different, formats but at one point it was between the Christians and the Muslims at another point it was between the, the leftists and the rightists at another point it was between the Palestinians and the Christian Lebanese so it took many different forms, after the civil war ended, the government went back to, the country went back to a democratic, system and, again the people begin to have a very good voice in their government.

Justin: Okay, what your some of the major religions in your old country?

Tony Saliba: Lebanon used to be known as a melting pot for religions. There were 17 different Christian denominations from Catholic to Easter Catholic to Protestants, all the different Muslim sects, are, were also represented so those would include the, Sunnis, Shi’ites, the Druze, the Alawi and before the civil war there was a large contingency of Jewish community in the city of Beirut that had been there for centuries and centuries.

Justin: I know you already mentioned the civil war, but other than that did the religions get along because you mentioned a lot there?

Tony Saliba: Yes, up until the civil war all religions people in Lebanon lived in harmony and, I had many friends in my boarding school that were of all different religions and faith, and now that the civil war is over, the country has gone back to, mutual respect and tolerance of all faith.

Justin: Did you have like a main language you spoke there?

Tony Saliba: So Lebanon, over the centuries, has been occupied by many civilizations starting with the, the native civilization there was the Phoenicians and the Phoenicians were known, most for having invented the first alphabet. Then the Greeks came and, and took over the country, then Romans, then, then the, the Arabic, civilization and, and, and the conquers came through, then, after that Lebanon was under the Ottoman Empire for many years and then after the first World War Lebanon then became, a French colony and so the Lebanese language is really a mixture of all these civilizations that I just mentioned. So it is, not uncommon for a Lebanese to speak, for a Lebanese sentence to have one word that came from the Turkish, one word that came from Greece, one word that came, that is French. Like, even today to say “thank you” in Lebanese you use the French word “merci” to say “goodbye” you say the English word of “bye”, but there is an official Arabic language that is, that everybody then understands and uses but the Lebanese spoken language is a mixture of all these, different languages.

Justin: Did you have like a specific style of dress in you old country?

Tony Saliba: It depends of the region, Justin, that you are in. In the city of Beirut it’s very westernized and some of the fashions that were in Beirut came directly from the high fashion streets Paris and London and Rome and then you have the, the remote areas still maintain their, their, traditional dresses and, and outfits, and then it, it also depends on the religion and the, the culture of the group in the, in the country so for, are, Muslim brothers and sisters they would wear the you know the Muslim, garb, for, the Christians, it was, it’s mostly, just like you and I would dressed here in this country.

Justin: Did you have any specific music in your old country and what types of the music did you like?

Tony Saliba: just like, the dress and the language, Lebanon used to be called the playground of the Middle East. Beirut used to be known as the Paris of the Middle East because of its city lights and, so many different languages and so many cultures. Same thing is for music so it is not uncommon for, for people in the city of Beirut to be going to a, to a pub and here American music and British music and Australian music and African music, South American music, just name it. European music, but the Lebanese, the Lebanese native music is, is also very, very popular and, and it, reflects, very much what you would hear in Europe as far as the style of music.

Justin: Your mentioning that the, Lebanon is very mixed so did you by any chance have any American fast food restaurants or products in your old country?

Tony Saliba: Yes growing up, there were McDonalds and Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken and, but also the restaurants, would make, you have many different, cuisines in Lebanon so it’s not uncommon to go into an Italian and have some, any of the Italian dishes that you see here or French, restaurant that would have cuisine that you could not tell that you’re not in Paris or, a Turkish coffee or, Turkish pubs or so very, very many diversified cuisine.

Justin: Did you have a job in your old country?

Tony Saliba: Well I left at a very early age, so, I didn’t per say have a full time job like an adult would but, but my father, had a winery and a beverage company so I helped out, whenever I could in the, in the in the factories or in the winery or in the collection of the grapes and, and that was a terrific experience.

Justin: What attracted you to move to America?

Tony Saliba: Well it was always my dream to come and study in America and I was always fascinated by American technology and American ingenuity. In Lebanon we, we used to watch a lot of, movies, from all over the world but specifically from the United States so when, when a movie would come out we would, see that movie within a few weeks of it, of its debut in the United States but I was always fascinated by the space program, and wanted to be a, to be a, to learn more about engineering, to learn more about materials, to learn more about the technology that would get us on the moon and, and beyond in space travel. So I came to the United States because I was, attracted by the tremendous education that, that one could get in the United States but I also had, relatives who lived in the United States and were American and were born in the United States that and, and spend a summer in Lebanon or, or visit Lebanon and I always felt American people are extremely nice and, and wonderful people and, and I felt that I would belong and there would be a good connection and, and a good experience for me.

Justin: Moving on to the immigration process exactly how did you get here? Did you take a plane or boat?

Tony Saliba: So I, I was, I lived in France for a little bit but I took an airplane, to, to the United States and I flew into New York city and from New York city flew to Dayton, Ohio.

Justin: What route exact, well you sort of explained that. Did you have any trouble becoming a citizen because like we studied Elise Island and we heard about medical examinations and, legal examinations, well obviously you didn’t through there but what exactly, what steps did you take and did you have any trouble?

Tony Saliba: So I, I didn’t have, trouble with, getting my U.S. citizenship, you initially become a permanent resident so there are some, medical exams that I had to go through and everything was, was fine then for my citizenship test you know obviously you have to pass a language, exam and then you have to be proficient in the language but you also have to pass an exam on the Constitution of the United States and I love history, so I had learned a lot about the, the history of the United States and I didn’t have any difficulty at all and then, then you go into, once you go into an interview process and everything is fine then you go through a ceremony for a swearing in ceremony where you pledge you allegiance to the United States and that was a very moving experience for me.

Justin: So you couldn’t have gone through Ellis Island since you flew but where exactly do the immigrants go if they’re going in by plane since Ellis Island is now closed?

Tony Saliba: Well typically you get a Visa to enter the United States in my case I had a student Visa so that student Visa allowed me to come in any place in the United States I just happened to fly into New York city because it’s on the way and, but, that Visa, so the way you get that Visa as an international student is at a university, in my case I was accepted to the University of Dayton, you get what’s called an I-20 form which is the University of Dayton telling the Immigration and Naturalization Services that you know this person is accepted at the university and then you have to show that you can afford to go to school here etc. you get a Visa from an embassy then you come, to the United States based on that what’s called F-1 Visa which is a student Visa Justin: If there is any way you could change the process anything that you didn’t like how would you change it?

Tony Saliba: I don’t think there is anything to be changed in this regard. I feel that the system is well established it protects the, the rights of the American citizens and it protects the rights of the immigrants. So it’s a very well established program it’s, very well defined program it allows people the chance to, to go through a well-established process and become U.S. citizens. Now since, so you know this was 30 years ago so things have changed since then and know it is not as easy to U.S. citizenship relatively, a, a good process, all the processes are still good but it’s not as difficult to get a Visa to come to the United States but it has become very difficult to get a citizenship in the United States and that, that, there are reasons for that but I think, throughout the history of the United States immigrants have had a significant impact in the development of the country and, if you look at you know the early immigrants to the, to every generation of, weather it was the Italian community or the, Eastern European community or the Lebanese- Syrian community that came to the United States they’ve all had a significant, they’ve all made significant contributions to the, to the development of the United States so I hope that we still do it the right way but I, I hope that, when we see opportunities to allow, immigrants to become U.S. citizens that opportunity remains the same because that’s, that’s what has made this country great is the, is the American dream and being part of it.

Justin: Moving on to what America is like, what’s better or worse in America than in your old country?

Tony Saliba: The quality of life in the United States when it comes to amenities and electricity and availability of cars and transportation etc. that’s wonderful the people in the United States are wonderful. They are very kind hearted. They are very helpful. They’re not stuck up. They’re very welcoming people. And so is Lebanon so there’s no difference there. Where I think there is a difference is in the pace of life. The pace of life in the United States is very, very fast. People don’t, you know at least my life is very, very fast right now. I don’t stop enough and smell the roses. I don’t stop enough and talk to my…my co-workers or my neighbors or people know how to have a good time; people know how to help people here. People give of themselves here for others. But I think the pace of life is so fast that we don’t get to enjoy life as much. If you look at Europe, people take more time off in Europe; people take more vacation. People take……they spend time together. Here in the United States, I don’t think we spend enough time with each other.

Justin: You mentioned a lot of sports that were…are in Lebanon and…I know a lot of those are here, but are there any sports that are new to you that you like here?

Tony Saliba: I didn’t know about baseball when I came here and……so that was a sport that was new to me and I learned to enjoy it……and… you know I came here …in the late 70’s when Cincinnati Reds were a very, very strong team and that was towards the end of the Big Red Machine and…with Johnny Bench and George Foster and Dave Concepcion and Pete Rose and many of the very, very strong players. So, it was an exciting time to be a baseball fan in this part of the country. …football, American football, was new to me because football overseas is soccer. So, you know a lot of people keep on saying that we need to change the name of football to “throwball” because we throw the ball, we don’t necessarily use our feet as much to advance the ball, but those were very, very good……sports and I played basketball for my high school, but it was not, you know, the Americans were the masters of the basketball world and they still are ahead of everybody. But soccer, is a…is a good sport and it has grown a lot since I’ve been here. …when I first came here very few places, very few kids, played soccer; very few high schools had…you know…good soccer teams and now you have Carroll High School winning the…the state championship and you have Beavercreek make it to the final four; you have both boys and girls of…are playing soccer and that’s wonderful.

Justin: What is the weather compared to…because I know you lived in the mountains in Lebanon, but now you live in the city?

Tony Saliba: The weather. You’re asking about the weather?

Justin: Yes I’m asking about the weather.

Tony Saliba: Okay. So, here in Dayton there…the swing in temperatures is something I had to get used to. So within a day or two you could…the temperature could change by 20-30 degrees. Where I grew up that is not…that doesn’t happen. The temperature might change by one or two degrees…or maybe five degrees, but not 20 or 30 degrees. Even up in the mountains, even when it snowed, it…it never got as cold as it usually gets here. The other thing that I had to get used to here is the summers in Lebanon it doesn’t rain for months. So, you can plan everything outside. You can practically live outside. Here, it doesn’t matter what time of the year…you could get a thunderstorm or you could get some rain. So that’s a little bit different. …but again, the seasons and I think the seasons in Lebanon are more well-defined. You know when its winter and you know when its spring and you know its summer and when its fall. Here sometimes I feel…and, and they’re longer seasons than here. Here sometimes the fall it goes from 90 to 10 degrees in the span of a week.

Justin: Did you know any English before you over came here?

Tony Saliba: I knew a little English before…when I came here, but not much. So, that is, you know a big adjustment and …and …you learn…you know I started learning English from…when I came here I studied, practically studied the dictionary. But, if you study it from a book you don’t learn the pronunciation very well. So, up until I started conversing and interacting with people, I didn’t truly learn the language and, or…or how to pronounce it properly.

Justin: So, was it very difficult to learn or did you catch on pretty fast?

Tony Saliba: I…I think when you’re younger—and I was a…was a young lad at the time—and it…it…you pick up languages very quickly. And, I grew up in an environment where I heard multiple languages. So, it…it’s not uncommon to walk in the cities of Beirut and hear French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, eh…eh…Arabic… you know just name it…Pharis Farsi. …so, being kind of conditioned to learn …you know me…when I came here I…I knew…you know…I knew Arabic, French, a little bit of Armenian, a little bit of Russian. …so, when you’re conditioned to learning a second language…or a very different language, it…it’s not as…as hard. But, nevertheless, it…it still took a lot of effort and what I had the hardest time with were the slangs and then the…the words that…the prepositions like, you know, …I couldn’t …differentiate between when do I say “throw away” or “throw out” or “throw down” or “throw up” or so…the…the differences. So, you know the…it was amazing to me ……up until I really understood what…what it meant…you know…people could cut a tree down and then they can cut it up. I thought that they would put it back up. I said, “I knew that Americans were wonderful, but…you know…that’s magical to be able to cut a tree down and then cut it up!” Then, I found out that the “cutting up” is to cutting it up into pieces. So, pronunciation, I think, it took me a little bit to get there because it’s the same letter in the English language that can be pronounced differently depending on its position in the sentence. So, there are a lot of exceptions to the rules in the English language and that makes it a little bit harder.

Justin: What was the first thing you saw when you came here? Because I know you flew in so it’s a little harder to see things until you get low to the ground.

Tony Saliba: [Sigh] I w…I was hoping that I would see the Statue of Liberty as we flew over New York and…but I…I didn’t. I kept…it…it was a very cloudy day and…and visibility was not…and we didn’t fly around that area coming in. …so…ah…first thing I saw were…was New York City which was a…an amazing city. And, when you live overseas, you think that every city in the United States is like New York City because that’s what you see in the movies; that’s what you see in the… So, when I flew to Dayton, Ohio, and it was…there were not many tall buildings or anything like that, I thought that we landed in the place. And …so …then my first day in Dayton, you know, the most prominent thing that I saw was the Chapel and the blue dome of the Chapel on campus, which meant a lot to me.

Justin: So, what…what…what is your favorite memory of this country? Cuz, I assume, considering. Wait when did you come again?

Tony Saliba: I came here in the late 70’s—1978.

Justin: Okay. Since you came here in the late 70’s, you’ve been here a while. So, what’s your favorite memory of this country?

Tony Saliba: There are a lot of favorite memories of this… It’s hard to pick one. You know, obviously, having a family here you know, getting married and…and then…then the birth of my children. Those were…were wonderful moments in my life here in the United States. Becoming a U.S. citizen was...was a very moving moment in my life here …but every day that I spend here is a gift and I cherish every moment of it.

Justin: Is there any scent that reminds you of your old country?

Tony Saliba: Any sense?

Justin: Scents. Like you…smells, like a fruit.

Tony Saliba (overlapping): Smells…yeah.

Tony Saliba: Well…the fruit smell, obviously because of …the different fruits that we have in Lebanon. The…the flowering flowers. Lebanon has a lot of flowers…a lot of scents in that case. My Dad …for example, made one of the products that he made that is used in…in baking is called flower water or rose water. So, roses are very, very special because in his factory he…he would get tons and tons of roses and that’s what he used to make rose water.

Justin: So, what music do you listen to now? I know you said there were a lot of different types of music so doing you still listen to the same types?

Tony Saliba: Yes. I still have a lot of CDs with French music European music, but English music, as well. I’m not a big country music fan, but that…even that has changed since the time I came here where that I love all kinds of music and I…I listen to all…to all of it.

Justin: Do you miss anything about your old country?

Tony Saliba: I miss the mountains. So, my town was on…on the side of a mountain and then up…it rises all the way up to about 3,000 meters, which is about 9,000 feet, above sea level. So, the topography there is different than here. I…I miss the pine trees and the cedar trees. But I also…you know I left there at a very young age and left behind a lot of relatives. So, I…I just miss the part of my family that I left there.

Justin: What exactly is different between America and your old country? And I said…I mean like life style, your civil rights, youth groups, food types…stuff like that?

Tony Saliba: Really, there are not a whole lot of differences between Lebanon and the United States m…when it comes to the function of society and the Lebanese people love their freedom and they cherish their time together and time spent with families. Same thing in the United States. You know I…I think Lebanese people, like I said, they…they spend more time together. So, even on a work…work week…week night, you see people visiting each other and having dinner together and m…and…and …especially on the weekends. The weekends are made to spend time together and and…and the major difference, again, is…is…is the pace…the pace of life.

Justin: Are there any words or phrases that you hear that make you think of your home country?

Tony Saliba: You know any time anybody’s talking about politics and they talk about democracy and the love of freedom and…it does remind me of Lebanon because throughout their several thousand years of history the Lebanese people always fought for their freedom from, as I mentioned…you know the original culture or… was the Phoenicians and they…the Phoenicians were known for their love for freedom and travel. They travelled the Mediterranean a…and many people believe that they have gone into the Atlantic Ocean and could have gone beyond that. They were known as excellent sailors. And they…they took h…lot of the projects…products that they made into the Western part of the Mediterranean Sea and So, you know, the…the Lebanese people fought against the Greeks and…and…fought against the…anybody who tried to occupy the And, just not very long ago, when the Lebanese people didn’t want the Syrian army on their…on their soil over several million people was on the streets—peacefully, without any arms or…or violence were able to make their voices heard. And put…and help gather international support to get the Syrians out of…Syrian army out of Lebanese territory.

Justin: The fact that they did it peacefully…do you think that’s a little different from what we would do here in America?

Tony Saliba: I don’t think so. I…h…there is a movement throughout the world that h…the…the word can be mightier than the sword as...as it is said. So, no…no…I…I…in the old days when…when the American people fought for their independence, it required that they do it with arms. Different times h…call for different means.

Justin: What do you think the American character is?

Tony Saliba: The American—and I will talk about the American people as I mentioned before—are very caring people. They’re very welcoming people. They are a very forgiving people. They want to make a difference in the world. If you look at so many of the wars that the American people have fought, they have fought to liberate other people. So the American character is that of loving freedom and wanting the world to live in a good life. But the American people are also I mentioned earlier, they’re very giving. They would give of themselves—whether it is going overseas to volunteer to make the world better or the amount of aid that is given by the United States to the rest of the world. The American people are very hard working people. They have incredible work ethic. And the American people if you test them they always raise to the occasion.

Justin: Have you ever visited you your home country and, if so, when did you visit? When did you visit?

Tony Saliba: So, the last time I was in Lebanon was in 1980. Prior to last fall, the fall of 2010, I went there with the President of our University and a delegation from UD on a trip to work with some universities there and high schools for us to recruit students from that part of the world. So, from 1980 to 2010, I had not gone back –so 30 years. But when I went back it was really a very emotional reunion with my family members.

Justin: Did you see your childhood home when you went there?

Tony Saliba: I certainly did. I certainly did see my childhood home. It’s still there just the way it was. My aunt was living in it. My aunt is 96 years old and not much had changed in the village—more construction, more houses, more buildings, but the people were just the same. So, as I drove into our into our street, some of my cousins saw me get out of the and they recognized me immediately and they ran out from…so one of them, Jack, yelled “Hey! Tony Elias is here!” Tony Elias is my middle name, and they all came out of their houses giving me hugs and kisses and it was a very emotional reunion. But, nothing had changed and some of my cousins I had not seen in over 30 years and the connection were still there.

Justin: Do you feel immigrating to the U.S. was a good decision?

Tony Saliba: It was a wonderful decision. It was a great decision. It was such a great decision that every member of my immediate family ended up coming to the United States. This is where I met my wife. This is where I and…raised a family and I hope that I have given back to the country that that welcomed me—enough of a contribution and that I had made a difference in what I got and by giving back.

Justin: All right. Well, thank you for your time.

Tony Saliba: Thank you, Justin, and best of luck on your project.

Justin: Thank you.

ANALYSIS
My immigrant came over to America to go to school at the University of Dayton. He emigrated from Lebanon and he had a good life in Lebanon before he immigrated. We learned that immigrants come over for a better life but Tony Saliba, my interviewee, did not come over for a better life. In fact he greatly enjoyed his life in Lebanon but came over for educational reasons. We learned in class that immigrants’ lives when they come here become better. That is true for my immigrant. He went to school at the University of Dayton and later became the Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Dayton. He also formed a family hear. We also learned that the trip over to America is very hard and long. That was true back when they came over by boat. Now they come over by plane so it isn’t very long and it is relatively uneventful. There are some differences between Tony Saliba’s immigration story and what we learned in class.

Tony Saliba is from the country of Lebanon. He grew up in a small village up in the mountains of Lebanon. He came to the United States to go to the University of Dayton. He is now the Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Dayton.

// “… throughout the history of the United States immigrants have had a significant impact in the development of the country…” //

** The Vineyards ** I’ve been working at my father winery during a never-ending summer. Today I am collecting the grapes. There are four fields that need to be collected and they are huge. It doesn’t take long to get to the fields from high in the mountains. Once we got there my father divided up the work. My father and I were going to take the field to the northwest. “Let’s get started,” my father said. We cleared about three rows of grapes in the first fifteen minutes. It was going pretty good but then the sun got above the mountains brightening the fields and it is started to get really hot and I, already tired from lack of sleep, started to become extremely tired. I was just about to take a break my father said “Lunch break.” “Good I was getting extremely hungry,” I said. For the next couple of minutes we went to each field to let them know it was time for a lunch break. We ate filling lunches while we went around letting people know because the vineyards are good distances apart and it takes a while. After that we had to get back to collecting the grapes. We were about three-fourths of the way through collecting all of the grapes when it started to get dark out. We kept working and even without the scorching sun beating down on my back I started to get tired. “Eat some of the grapes they taste delicious,” my father said “But we’ve been working all day to collect these grapes and it isn’t easy work” I said. So I ate the grapes and they were the best grapes I had ever tasted. We continued to work and finished collecting all of the grapes. It took all day and was a lot of work but it was a terrific and rewarding experience. We went home and then I went into a relaxing sleep just to wake up and work again. That was my summer and it was the best summer ever. Not all families in America are this close. Life here is too fast paced for people to sit down and have time with their family or smell the flowers. Most people don’t do anything rewarding with their family and therefore don’t have as good a connection as those from Lebanon. That is the one thing I miss from Lebanon, the closeness of a family.