Muslim experiences in America

I want to talk about my experience in America. I came to the U.S with my family on April 20, 2000. When we go here it was at noon Muslim families were waiting for us in the airport. We have never or talked to these families but the U.N asked them to come. It felt good that someone cared. We were really confused at first we lost track of the time and day. After having lunch at on the the Muslim families house they took us to our house where the U.N had rented for us. It was around Easter time so their were bunnies, eggs, and jelly beans all over the house. Now I know that it was Easter but back then I had no idea. We slept and we woke up went to another family's house. I thought it was around sunrise but afterwards my dad told me that its at night. It is really hard to get adjusted to time because when it is night here it is day overseas. Even though their was one month left for school to end we went to school. I was a 6th grader. I did not speak English at all not even one word. The only words that i knew were YES and NO. At school I knew nothing. Kids used to stare and whisper but I had no idea why and what were they saying. To learn English they used to take me to the library and asked me to open the dictionary and write down the words. It was kind of torture. Because I was just copying what I saw. I got over it after couple of years and I learned English. Kids used to give me hard times because of my Hijab and I heard a lot of words that hurt me especially after 9/11 but I learned to ignore what I hear because they kids were not mature and they were ignorant.

Muslim and Marriage in America

Marriage is a very exciting process in every religion and in every culture. Getting married in a different country is very hard. Finding a man, dating, getting to know the person very well, and finally getting married. It is harder when their are restrictions. The process of marriage in Islam and in the Arabian culture is very lengthy.
First the man goes to the girls house with his family some times with relatives like aunts and uncles and officially ask the girls hand from her father. If for any reason the girls dad is not home or if he is deceased an older brother, an uncle, or a grandfather would be present. The family's and the bride and groom will talk and decide on everything.
Then the grooms family will visit the brides family on a different day and it would be considered a party. The groom will bring gifts for the bride. They will set a date for the engagement party. After the engagement party they will have what we call here a bachelor's party. And finally the wedding. The girl changes 7 dresses including the white wedding dress. This is a tradition.
However, it depends on the family some people don't follow all of these processes because it is time consuming and veryyy expensive. Living in the U.S makes all of this process more difficult since most families don't have their whole relatives with them. And some times the groom has to go to the brides house alone or with friends since most men that come here don't come with their parents.

Muslim and dating in America

Since I'm a girl this is some what important to me. Living in the U.S it is hard for a girl to find a decent guy and date. Their are many rules so she can date. It is hard for a girl to meet a guy and go out on dates. When a guy sees a girl who wears a hijab they kind of have a fear to approach the girl.
The other kind of hard ship that a girl has is that the family has a lot of tough rules. Some parents don't let their girls date men. Some parents don't let their girl marry men who have a different religion. However, some parents are open minded. But it is still hard to find a guy who has the same religion and a good guy so the girl can date. Girls can just date guys for the fun of it. The parents have to know about the dating. Also it is difficult to date here in the U.S because their is a lot of stuff that is expected from the girl. Muslims can't be sexually active before marriage and not physical relationships before marriage. A couple can't live together before marriage. Some parents allow the two to go out in public other allow them to go out but with a chaperone and some strict parents only allow them to see each other in the girls house. It is a tradition more than it is a religion ritual. Their is a lot more to the process. I will talk about marriage on the next post.