The world’s relationship with Muslim culture is one of the most intense and important topics around these days.
And thus it is with joy and hope for all humanity that I bring you an absolutely beautiful story from last week in our multicultural ESL class.
Let us allow the story to unfold through the words and pictures of three women in our class: Mafer from Venezuela, Yuri from Japan, and Meaad from Saudi Arabia.
By Mafer, from Venezuela: Before coming to Boston, I disagreed [...Read More!]
Article #13 in the ESL Student Life Story Project, by Faleh from Saudi Arabia, age 23.
My mother was crying and we didn’t know what had happened. I came to my mother, then she said, “I have been calling your father for two days, but his phone is off I don’t know why! There must be something bad that occurred to him.”
Later on we received the news: he had been lost in the Saudi Arabian desert.
My father worked [...Read More!]
Article #12 in the ESL Student Life Stories Project, by Mei from Taiwan, age 35.
Pedestrians First! The cars stop behind the white line whenever I cross the road here in Boston.
I am so surprised by the street action! I come from Taiwan, where drivers and passengers always contest each other.
Sometimes in Taiwan, a driver will curse at you if you don’t let his car pass. He will scream: “Hey, man! Where are your eyes?!”
But when [...Read More!]
As you likely know, I spent the nine months from August of 2009 to May of 2010 traveling around the world, and one of my favorite countries on the journey was Laos.
Now, by clicking on the link below, you can see the deliciousness that is Laos whittled into a colorful photo essay for Boston.com !
Exciting!
I hope you enjoy the piece, forward it far and wide, and then go back and read all my twenty Laos articles, covering the glory that [...Read More!]
Article #9 in the ESL Student Life Story Project, by Maryam from Saudi Arabia, age 25.
Waiting, waiting, waiting… waiting for the new episode of the new season to be downloaded! So exited and so curious what will happen next!
I was in my pink “girl” room on my heavenly bed surrounded by pillows, freezing under my blanket, somehow unable to lower the air conditioning. Popcorn smell was all over the room and a big glass of iced tea sat by [...Read More!]
Article #8 in the ESL Student Life Story Project, by Mayuka from Japan, age 25.
In our lives, we have keys that can change everything for us. Maybe these keys are key words, or key points, or key people we meet, but many keys are not realized at the moment we first see them. Keys are often realized later, and whether we are aware of it or not, they guide us to a new way of life.
When I was a [...Read More!]
Article #5 in the ESL Student Life Stories Project, by Eileen from Korea, age 20.
“Don’t do that!” I screamed.
His hand was on my arm, squeezing and rubbing it. He replied to me, “Your arms are so soft, I want to touch them!”
His name was Romano and he was from Italy. I met him the third week after I came to the USA from my home country of Korea, at an English center excursion to Six Flags. In the first days [...Read More!]
Article #2 in the ESL Student Life Stories Project, by Msharf from Saudi Arabia, age 24.
One day during the migration season in Saudi Arabia, nine of my friends and I went into the desert to hunt.
We woke up at five in the morning to distribute the work between us. First, we chose a boss for the group to settle any small disagreements that may come, though usually we agree.
Next, we prepared the hunting gear and stashed it in the four-wheel-drive [...Read More!]
A snapshot of today: a Saudi Arabian student was peer editing an article with her Chinese classmate, nodding intently. A grinning Colombian was conferencing about grammar with a classmate from Japan. And at a computer, Cho from Korea was writing a response to my Ghanaian former student Harry’s article: “School Far From Family.”
Cho left the following message for Harry, which Harry will receive all the way across the ocean in West Africa:
“Hello, Harry. I [...Read More!]
Let’s play a game called “How many ridiculous elements can you find in the 2010 U.S. Census Race form!” Study the photo above and chuckle. I’ll start, and you add on.
1.) There is no box at all for Arab or Middle Eastern.
2.) Where do Cape Verdeans (a Portuguese-creole-speaking island off Africa with a big population in Boston) check?
3.) “Negro”???!!!!
4.) Should European “Spaniard” really be under “Latino/Hispanic”? There are entire college courses dedicated to this debate, but if we’re talking about [...Read More!]
My name is Lillie and I thank you for reading and taking part in this journey.
I'm the Boston coordinator of a national event on extended travel on 9/14/10. Sign up for details at: MeetPlanGo.com!
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