fifth post

            Over the course of many visits with the two families’ I met the culture shock was very surprising to me. The family’s seemed like they are going to overcome it very easily by how excited they are to be in America, a place where they can be safe from all the bad they knew from in Iraq. The ability to overcome the difficulties of moving so far away from their friends and families seemed to be the hardest part. They did not like talking about that much obviously it made them very sad, as it would do to anybody. They both seemed to be very comfortable with their new lifestyles. I noticed that both families picked up on the way we did things very quickly. I did not notice really any type of depression or sadness about moving here other than the part of missing family and friends.

            What I learned from this service project was more than I could explain in a blog. It made me be more accepting of people of different cultural backgrounds. I noticed it after my first meeting that I was putting up a wall between me and other cultures. I liked the way the families’ made me think of every little thing differently and how we had to break things down and make them simpler. That had me thinking to myself if I ever just see things as difficult I need to break them down. I learned a lot more than they probably did from us. I like knowing that I was able to help them the most I could and I think they liked how understanding and patient we were with them and their progress they were making with our culture and us. I now can appreciate other cultures and want to be more involved with intercultural interaction.

fourth post

Our original family had move to Toledo, Ohio we met with them the day before they left because we did not know they were moving but did know they were looking to move. I put that together when Wahab was so interested in the different types of highways and expressways.

            We met a new family, when we met with them it was only their sixth day in America! They already loved it; it was a middle-aged couple that you could just tell they were in love.  They were telling us about how they had been separated for months at a part because in Iraq were they were from if you worked for an American company people did not like you and would even try killing you. The father was at first very timid when talking about this was still a little nervous but after a few more minutes warmed up to talking about it because he knew he was safe in America. His wife knew very little English at times had no clue what we were talking about but the father kept the conversation going by knowing English well enough but still struggled at some things we talked about. They had a son who did not come out of his room very much he was always doing coloring books and playing with his toys. But the father told us how he just needed to get all the paper work finished to put his son in school knowing he needed to interact with kids his own age. The second time we visited them we decided to take them to the park it being a nice day they really liked the idea. They also really just wanted to get out and get some fresh air. We walked about a block to the park, they were happy to see how close it knew that there son needed to get out and run around. He brought his kite with him and we all watched him run around with it and the smiles on their faces were so big it even made me smile. I had no clue just going to a park could make three people so happy. The mother and father just sat there watching their son play. For a couple and family that in love it made me excited that I got to meet them and get to see what I was seeing. I was disappointed a little this would be my last time seeing them but leaving knowing that they were happy and did something they very well needed to do made me satisfied with not being able to talk with them again.

            While meeting this second family who I could see struggling with the new change but knowing they will be fine in the future made me think a lot. I could tell at first they were in culture shock. They did not know what to do but just knew they were in a better place. I learned after meeting them that coming over to a new country at first is very hard no matter how bad the place you left is. When being dealt to a place that probably does not fit what America is with being around cornfields and not the big cities people see from other countries it is very difficult. Them seeming like a family ready to take on the challenge I have a great feeling they will do just fine.

third post

Going into the apartment complex having more confidence and having an idea of what we were going to do with the family today I was very excited. We got into their family room again with much enthusiasm by them that we were there; they were ready to have another good meeting with us. We talked about the different types of weather patterns we were use to. It being a snowy day they did not like the great Iowa weather. They were explaining to us how they are us to how hot it is in Iraq and us being shocked all thinking no way would we be able to live in that part of the world just because how hot it is. As they were probably thinking we are crazy for putting up with the cold for some many years of our life already. We also talked about the different types of ways to travel by cars with expressways and highways. This was our first time we really had to explain something completely new to them. Wahab was very interested in how we have to pay tolls on some roads and not on others.  He asked which one I liked better and I never really had to think of this. I normally just get in the car and drive knowing where my final destination would be and never really thinking about the way I was getting there. This threw me for a spin. I had to sit there and think to myself the difference. Wahab brought up many points on how different it is and ways he would go about something like this. Giving me new ideas about things I never thought about. Yessin this time was more active to he was showing my two partners his toys and wanting them to play with him. He brought out almost every toy he had. His mother did not know what to do with him because of how much fun he was having showing off all his stuff.  Rasha indulged in some conversation but not much because she is still learning English she has been attending classes for English and showed my partners some of her work. They asked if she needed any help and she did not need much. Rasha would ask us the difference between some words and why words were used the way they were and in their different tenses.

            After the meeting I was thinking to myself we are suppose to be helping them not them helping us. I thought this because they are making us think about our culture in ways we never have. They seemed very comfortable with the new life they are living and I could not be happier for them. I was just in aw about how they do not realize probably how much this is affecting me in such good ways. I use to not really be to found of dealing with other cultures but they have made me realize how great of a country we live in and how to look at things in a completely different way. We have blended our two cultures together were we are able to make jokes and laugh about dumb things that I thought were oh so easy.  This is when I really started to enjoy this project.

second post

Walking in the door my group did not know what to expect, we did not know if these people spoke any English and if they did how good their English was.  We walked in and were greeted with much enthusiasm, it seemed they liked us and to our surprise the father spoke English very well. It being our first meeting we spent the whole time just talking and getting to know each other. The environment was great and we all just seemed to connect them wanting to learn about us and our culture and us wanting to teach them our culture while learn parts of theirs. The family being very welcoming had a lot of food normal American food put out on the coffee table for us to eat and that was another thing that kind of threw me off with it all being food I was use to eating.

            Our first visit was two hours, me being a person who thinks greatly about first impressions knew that I had to make sure these people liked my group and I. So I went in thinking I am going to have a lot of questions to ask to just keep conversation so I kept that in the back of my mind. Again to my surprise I did not need to use all my questions the conversations we were having were very long and interesting. I learned about what Wahab (the father) did for a living, he was a civil engineer in Iraq and I was really interested in this for two reasons. One I know to be an engineer you have to be smart so I knew he would catch on and learn very quickly. Secondly because I am interested in things like that because of all the time and knowledge it takes to be an engineer. We talked about this for almost the whole time learning what he did over in Iraq and how much he enjoyed doing it. The mother Rasha did not talk much Wahab did most of the talking and their son Yassen was very shy. I had a feeling it was going to take Yassen some time to get use to us.

            I learned a lot about how things were different in other parts of the world the struggles that they were going through and how happy they were to be here in America. Wahab told me many times it was the best decision he had made for his family to move here. I liked how they greeted us and how welcoming and understanding they were to us when we did not understand at times what they were saying because of their accent. When we were leaving I could only think about how much I already liked this family and was thinking of ways for next time to even get closer with them.