What's the current climate in Syria? Can you provide the context of the current situation and why your family ended up moving?

It's just not a place to live in for anyone anymore. Literally, people can't live in it. They can get shot just while walking in the streets. I don't remember the details because I was so young when I left Syria at seven or eight years old. I do remember walking between police officers and seeing them run around the buildings and running after people who would eventually get shot. WIth my family, we sometimes talk about our previous life in Syria. My uncle died because he got shot. He was forced to go to the army and he had to fight within Syrian civil war. He didn't want that, but he was forced to do so. Right now I have my other two uncles who were also forced to go join the army as well. There is a lot of conflict between the citizens. There are people against the president and there are just people fighting each other in general. There are many terrorist groups there and they dominate the area. One of the big one that everyone knows is ISIS and it can be scary living there. Because of this, my family got the opportunity to migrate to Lebanon. I always try to remember how we got to Lebanon, but I just can't because I was so young. My mom did tell me stories that we got in this bus and then we just left.

Can you elaborate more on your experience of living in Syria versus living in Lebanon?

In Syria, there is a lot of tension. We see a lot of police officers and army men who are spread out all over the country and within the individual villages. When I did get to Lebanon, it was more peaceful but also harder to live in. The culture is very different. There are people who are very racist to Syrians who came to Lebanon. Some of them were accusing Syrians of stealing their jobs and taking everything from them. Now I think some people are being forced to move back to Syria.

When I did live in Lebanon, the living situation was really hard. At least in Syria, I had a house, but in Lebanon, I lived in a small tent with all 11 members of my family. It wasn't that small but of course it was smaller than a house. Around us, there were small tents for other Syrian families to live in. These families came from different cities, but all of our living situations were similar. Each family did different chores within their tents and they all had their own water, but it was not clean at all. When I came to America, the doctors here diagnosed that I had many diseases that came from our unclean water. It was an unhealthy environment.

In Lebanon, the children, even the Syrian ones, had to go to a Lebanese school. The school building was pretty big and they actually segregated the Syrian kids from the Lebanese kids. So, the Lebanese students would go to classes on one floor and the Syrian students would go to classes on another floor. These two groups did not interact or see each other; they are completely separate.

I made a lot of friends. That's the most enjoyable thing there. I don't remember much about my life in Syria because I grew up almost entirely in Lebanon. Where I lived in Lebanon, everyone lived close to each other in a small village, so we all knew each other.

Were there any cultural differences/similarities between living in Syria and living in Lebanon?

There were some differences between the dialects of the Lebanese-Syrians and Syrians because even within the tents, there were some Syrian families who spoke different dialects, so I had to adapt to that as well. I sometimes had to speak their dialect. I think that Syria and Lebanon are very similar. They have the same food; they wore the same clothes, so there wasn't a large cultural difference when I moved to Lebanon.

In terms of jobs, there were fields around the tents for people to work in. For example, the tents acted like different markets and stores for people to buy things. When living in these tents, everyone had to work to support their family. Some of them also worked in the schools as teachers as well. In fact, some of the schools were held in large tents where students in the area would come there to learn. For my own family, my dad used to work on building different construction sites. The pay for these jobs are often very low. For most of them, they make less than $15 for the whole day. Some even make less than $10 for the whole day even if they work a full time job. Some things are a bit cheaper in Lebanon like I can go to a store and get two or three things for $1, but it wasn't much cheaper. Living there, we also had to pay around $50 a month for the tents as well. Inside our tents, we had a living room area and one bedroom. Between our 11 family members, we would split between sleeping in the living room and that one bedroom.

How did you and your family get the opportunity to move to the United States?

An organization actually helped us move to Lebanon first and during a span of four years, they tried to help us move to the United States. They helped us with the transition to another country. At first, the country wasn't going to be the United States, but then the process changed. It was still a very long process to get us to America because in order to communicate with the organization, we had to go to another city, which took around 3-4 hours. The whole process was very back and forth.

The organization helped other Syrian immigrant families to go abroad to a safer area and live there. There were several organizations that helped us and other Syrian families. One of them was UNICEF, which provides humanitarian resources for Syrian families in need. Sometimes, families try to get selected to migrate out of the country because sometimes it's too much--not getting a proper education, not having access to clean water, not having a stable living environment. We first arrived in New York and there was someone from the organization who spoke Arabic and she helped us move into our living space at that time. Later, we moved to Maine and here we are now. We lived in a rental for a while, but we just kept moving. This is actually my fourth time moving.

What are some similarities and differences between your life in Syria/Lebanon and the United States?

In Syria and Lebanon I didn't get a proper education but once I got here, I got to go to a proper school. It was actually hard because I had to speak a different language and I think it took one year for me to really understand the English language. Our living situation right now is much better. There is just overall better hygiene here than in Lebanon.

The schools were very different in Lebanon as well; there were a lot of discrimination in the schools. There, the teachers would hit the students. In America, the teachers are totally different. When I came here, I was extremely surprised by how nice the teachers were.

The learning process is also different. I mean, Lebanon and Syria, we had to take four or five classes for the whole year. Here we have semesters where we would change classes between each semester. The supplies were also different as well. In Lebanon, we simply used notebooks and paper; we didn’t have things like laptops and phones. Most people there don’t use technology at all.

Another surprising thing is the medical system. In Lebanon, you would only go to the doctors if there is something wrong with you or you need help for something. I feel like in America, check-ups are very common. Here we do a check-up every year or even more frequently than that, but I think this is for the better.

How was your experience assimilating to the United States?

The process has gotten better, but it was hard for my family for sure. My mom and dad can speak only a few English words; they can understand what people are saying, but they can’t really respond in English. The language itself is just hard. I remember that during the first meeting with my teacher, I could only respond by repeating what he said to me because I didn't know the English language very well.

Even with all of this, I always try to stay close to my heritage and keep my cultural norms in me. I think it is important to keep my roots even though I now live in America. I try to practice my Arabic whenever I can, whether that is through reading or watching sessions/shows. I always try to read the Holy Quran to connect to my religion more. I tried to find friends from similar cultures as me and those who can speak the same language. I try to speak Arabic with my family in order to maintain my language.

I think it's really important to maintain parts of your culture like for example the language. I mean I see a lot of students here who don't speak a language and can say only a couple of words. If they do go back to their country, they would be viewed as”American” because they can’t speak that language. I really value my native language because it makes me feel closer to my culture.

If the situation gets better, would you want to visit Syria and Lebanon again?

If it gets better, I would definitely want to see my home in Syria again. I'm not sure if I'll go to Lebanon; I will probably go back after a couple of years just to visit everything. But for now, I feel like this is my home in America and I am fine with staying here. If I do go back, the first thing I would do is taste all the food again. I would go to the bakeries and have some of their Labanese sandwiches. Zataar is a type of herb and it can be used to make bread; I will definitely eat this when I come back to Lebanon. Besides the bakeries, I also like shawarma (meat cut into thin slices), falafel (fritter made from chickpeas), and kibbeh, which is meat filling wrapped in bulgur wheat.

For students who recently immigrated to the United States, what is your advice/message to them?

I do notice how some of the students who move here don’t have discipline. They start fights and they make problems out of nowhere. It can be hard adjusting to everything, so I understand why they act like this. In general, I would tell people to not forget their roots. Stay connected to family members. There have been times where I just sit in my room all day and I don’t interact with my family and I don’t see them at all, which is really bad. If it is hard adjusting to America, try to make friends with people who share similar cultures as you, so you can feel connected to your home. It will be hard at first but it will get better.

You can reach out to Asriya on Instagram @asriyaal