A strange dream by a gloomy person [Archives:2005/811/Opinion]
Emad Abdo Moqbel
[email protected]
For the Yemen Times
One day, while I was in a very strange cemetery, everything was serene as if they had been waiting for a hurricane. Lions, snakes and many vultures were staring at me hoping to smash my bones. Darkness was clouding everywhere and thunder was shaking every hole of the cemetery and the house. As I headed for the house, my body started to tremble and my stomach began to squeeze because of the tragic fright I was facing. I started to scream with a loud voice that was echoing the whole place.
Suddenly, I woke up from that nightmare and realized that I was dreaming at home. It was relief after I faced death in front of my eyes. Later, I figured out that the cemetery, house and animals were my obsessions about America and its people since I heard a lot of propaganda about them. Although I was terrified of the nightmare becoming true, everything changed from the moment I stepped onto U.S land.
When I arrived at the airport, many officers were smiling to me and they were so friendly that I couldn't believe it. When I reached Emporia, many smiles were emitting from everywhere that I thought I was a celebrity. The image about the U.S and its people changed 90 per cent and I felt very guilty for believing what was said about The U.S, but at the same time I learnt a lesson not to judge by appearance because “the sun is bigger than it looks”. People in the U.S are very friendly and they deserve to be respected. This positive change couldn't distract me from missing everything in Yemen.
While I am happy for learning new things in the U.S, I still feel gloomy since I miss the old days in Yemen and miss everybody there. Whenever I touch my friends' gifts, I start to feel sad and sometimes cry. I remember the old days in which my loud laugh was spreading everywhere at YALI (Yemen America Language Institute), which was my home and the place that I used to work. Sweet moments can never repeat themselves, but they still remind us of the happy memories we have lived .I had many friends who were my colleagues that filled my life with joy and happiness. I used to tease them and they did in return. This change affected me a lot since I don't have friends here like I used to in Yemen. I believe that I can never find friends like those because they are really hard to find.
Living in a new place has its own positive and negative changes that can affect any person deeply. It makes us gain new experiences and understand new cultures, but it can never make us forget our lovely friends at home. I feel that people in the U.S are very friendly and can make the other people feel like at home, still I sadly miss everybody at my home (YALI) and my parents, as well. There is always a question in my mind that asks if my friends still remember me?
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