Subeer
I was born in Somalia, but my family moved to Ethiopia when I was seven years old.
First, my dad came here [to the United States] out of the blue, then called us and said, “You have to go to Ethiopia.” He told me there’s a whole process there for immigration. He moved to the United States when I was young. I didn’t remember what he looked like before he came back. I talked to him on the phone and saw pictures, but that’s it. I never met him in person until he came back to Ethiopia a month before we left.
We stayed in Ethiopia while we waited for things to get done for us to come to America. No one knew how long that would take, so we all just moved there - my whole family. We lived in Ethiopia for five years while the immigration process got completed, and then we came here.
In Somalia, I lived with my mom and my three brothers and two sisters, and my aunt used to live with us. My aunt didn’t come to the United States. She stayed in Ethiopia. When we were coming to America, we went back to Somalia to say goodbye to our families. We went back there for a month and spent time with my grandpa and grandma.
I don’t remember much about the moves. I didn’t get to bring many things, just a bunch of clothes. When we got to Pelican Rapids, we were in a house for about five months before we started school. When I was growing up, we just went to dugsiga, a place where you learn the Quran. It’s like a church.
In school here, I started in fifth grade. It was my first time learning anything, like the ABCs. That was the challenging part: getting caught up. I didn’t know any English before I moved here. A fun thing, I would say, was learning a new language. When I came to school, there were already a bunch of Somalis here, so it seemed normal, and people treated me normally. There were a bunch of kids who spoke Somali here.
There are traditional foods we eat here, like Somali pasta, rice, and some different breads. We still practice religious traditions like Ramadan and Eid. Almost every Friday we meet up at Masjid to pray. I miss talking to my grandpa and grandma and spending time with them. I still talk to them on the phone once every two weeks, but it’s not the same. It’s hard to switch countries, from all the friends you had and everyone you knew to brand new.
I haven’t gone back to Somalia yet, but I will after graduation. I play for the soccer team during the fall, and I also enjoy basketball. I like being here. I’ve gotten used to it. It’s home now.
First, my dad came here [to the United States] out of the blue, then called us and said, “You have to go to Ethiopia.” He told me there’s a whole process there for immigration. He moved to the United States when I was young. I didn’t remember what he looked like before he came back. I talked to him on the phone and saw pictures, but that’s it. I never met him in person until he came back to Ethiopia a month before we left.
We stayed in Ethiopia while we waited for things to get done for us to come to America. No one knew how long that would take, so we all just moved there - my whole family. We lived in Ethiopia for five years while the immigration process got completed, and then we came here.
In Somalia, I lived with my mom and my three brothers and two sisters, and my aunt used to live with us. My aunt didn’t come to the United States. She stayed in Ethiopia. When we were coming to America, we went back to Somalia to say goodbye to our families. We went back there for a month and spent time with my grandpa and grandma.
I don’t remember much about the moves. I didn’t get to bring many things, just a bunch of clothes. When we got to Pelican Rapids, we were in a house for about five months before we started school. When I was growing up, we just went to dugsiga, a place where you learn the Quran. It’s like a church.
In school here, I started in fifth grade. It was my first time learning anything, like the ABCs. That was the challenging part: getting caught up. I didn’t know any English before I moved here. A fun thing, I would say, was learning a new language. When I came to school, there were already a bunch of Somalis here, so it seemed normal, and people treated me normally. There were a bunch of kids who spoke Somali here.
There are traditional foods we eat here, like Somali pasta, rice, and some different breads. We still practice religious traditions like Ramadan and Eid. Almost every Friday we meet up at Masjid to pray. I miss talking to my grandpa and grandma and spending time with them. I still talk to them on the phone once every two weeks, but it’s not the same. It’s hard to switch countries, from all the friends you had and everyone you knew to brand new.
I haven’t gone back to Somalia yet, but I will after graduation. I play for the soccer team during the fall, and I also enjoy basketball. I like being here. I’ve gotten used to it. It’s home now.