The topic that I choose is “Two Ways to belong in America". My personal
experiences with different culture and Bharati's relationship with her sister
are very similar to my own; however I have different experiences in the marriage
and feelings of belonging. Bharati and I have one obvious similarity, which is
coming from a different culture outside United States. She was born and grew up
in India. She came to the U.S. after she graduated from university of Calcutta.
I was born and grew up in Egypt, and came to the U.S. after I graduated from
University of Alexandria. In India the maim language is English because there
are so many languages and the main custom in clothe is Sarie. In Egypt the main
language is Arabic and the second language is English. The clothes are very much
like here on the U.S. except in the holidays most people like to wear the
traditional clothes. Bharati’s observation on the relationship between sisters
is similar to my own experiences. She states, “Mira and I have stayed sisterly
close by phone. In our regular Sunday morning conversations, we are unguardedly
affectionate” (341). This is one of my main weaknesses. I have my sister who
lives in Egypt and I always call her every two weeks. We talk about everything
and anything. I like to know what is going on with her life and she likes to
know what is going on with my life too. Although my experience in the way I got
married is similar to Bharati, which is marrying the American way, my personal
experience with marriage is different from the author’s. She stayed happily
married, maybe because she married a person who is on the same level of
education as her. She said, “I married a fellow student, an American of
Canadian parentage” (341). For me I was not happily married and I am a single
mother now. I think that is because I married a person who is different from me
in so many ways. In the beginning I thought he was the one, but after marriage
the wax melted and the real him appeared. One of the main problem I could not
get over was how he left five kids behind him and not even an ounce of guilt in
his consciousness. Another difference between the author’s experience and my
experience is the way of belonging. She said, “I need to feel like a part of
the community I have adopted ( as I tried to feel in Canada as well)” (342).
Bharati and I differ, because I have been moving around so many times it is so
hard for me to feel connected and then move again. This feeling started in Egypt
and I have had hard time getting over it. Although I was born in Egypt, the
authorities did not consider me as an Egyptian. So I had been always treated as
an outsider even though I had obeyed all the rules, I had paid my taxes, and I
loved my work and my neighbors. I loved my Egyptian friend that I made. Then I
moved to Yemen and I lived there for 6 years. I really loved the people their,
and my best friend but I always had been treated as a foreign person. I think
that is why it is so hard for me to feel belong.