Krista Helman

ENG 317
Professor Boswell
14 April 2018
Jordan
Jordan is a country with a very unique history. Though the modern-day country as we
know it is relatively new, the land itself has supported civilizations that date back to biblical
time. (Business optimization Consultants). The land of Jordan was part of the Ottoman empire
until 1918, and it didn’t become an independent kingdom until 1946. The end of the first great
war, also known as World War I, and the “dissolution of the Ottoman empire, the League of
nations awarded Britain the mandate to govern much of the Middle East”, (The World
Factbook). Britain created the boundaries that make up modern Jordan in the 1920’s. That nation
later claimed independence on May 25th, 1946. The official language in Jordan is Arabic.
However, like most first world countries, English is widely understood among a majority of the
natives. Islam is the main religion that is practiced among its citizens. Jordan is considered a
Hashemite Kingdom, and 97. 2 % of the population are Muslim. Of the remanding population,
2.2% practices Christianity. It is also important to note that citizenship can only be obtain if the
father is a citizen. (The World Factbook).
Although Jordan is considered a more relaxed Arab nation, it still is making strives to
better the living conditions of the female citizens. A modern example is the “scrapping of
Articale 308”. This Article “allowed rapists to avoid a prison term if they married the victim and
stayed with them for three years”, (AsmarSpecial).
A lot of major politically significant events took place between the years 1990-2018.
These events not only had major influences on themselves, but also had international
consequences. Two examples of such events include the following. In 1994, the king of Jordan,
King Hussein “signed a formal peace treaty with Israel” (CIA) In 2000, “Jordan ascended to the
World Trade Organization and began to participate in the European Free Trade Association in
2001”, (CIA).
According to the CIA World Fact Book, Jordan is ranked number 89 in the world in
regard to population. However, Jordan has recently had an increase in its population, due to the
surge of Syrian refugees. The population is thought to be 10,248,069, according to The World
Factbook. Before the refugees came, the population was composed of three different ethnic
groups. 98% of the population were Arab. 1% were Circassian. And 1% were Armenian. Those,
number are most likely to change due to the mass influx of refugees. (The World Factbook)
The land of Jordan is between Israel and Iraq and is mostly arid deserts. Jordan is “among
the most politically liberal countries in the Arab world” (Irvine). It has what is known as a
parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Jordan does have a king and royal family that does
sustain some limited powers. There is also a “constitution” that the government must follow as
well. When the political turmoil erupted in Syria, many of its citizens fled and sought refuge in
Jordan. “More than 2 million registered Palestine refugees live in Jordan. Most Palestine
refugees in Jordan, but not all, have full citizenship. There are ten recognized Palestine refugee
camps throughout the country, which accommodate nearly 370,000 Palestine refugees, or 18 per
cent of the country total.”, (UNWRA).
 Work Cited

Asmar Special, Marwan. “In Jordan, a Victory for Women’s Rights.” GulfNews, 27 Sept.
2017, http://gulfnews.com/culture/people/in-jordan-a-victory-for-women-s-rights-1.2097032

Business Optimization Consultants B.O.C. History-The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,

www.kinghussein.gov.jo/history.html.

“CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Jordan.” CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Jordan-Wikisource,
the Free Online Library, https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/CIA_World_Fact_Book,_2004/Jordan.

Irvine, Verity Elizabeth, et al. “Jordan.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., 13 Apr. 2018, www.britannica.com/place/Jordan.

“Jordan.” UNRWA, www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/jordan.

“The World Fatcbook: JORDAN.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence

Agency, 2 April 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html.
 Oral History Interview
Basic Individual Information
1.Please state your name and its spelling.

My name is Rakan Darismail.

2. Is this the name you were given at birth?

Yes.

3. Why where you named this? Does your name have any special meaning? Were you named
after someone?

I wasn’t named after anyone. Rakan, my mom just thought of it I guess. It’s an
Arabic name, it means to rely on someone. I remember looking that up. My middle name is
Saleh. That’s my dad’s middle name. You know what you might find interesting is my
mom’s last name isn’t the same as my dad’s. I guess in that culture they don’t really have
to do that. But their still married. The kids take the dad’s last name, not the moms.

Bothe genders of the kids take the dad’s last name?

Yeah. So, me, my sister, and brother, all three of us have the same last name, and
middle name.

All three of you have the same middle name?

Yeah.

Do people usually do that?

Yeah. My dad’s middle name is his dad’s name. It’s like a thing.

Do they ever name the kid after the moms ever?

No. I mean not unless you wanted to. I think if you wanted to you could.

4. Did you have any nicknames growing up or now?

I’ll say it two ways, how my mom use to say it and how American people would say
it. Ricky, that’s how American people say it. My mom would be Rriki. And my cousins
name was Rackan, so I was Rriki boy and he was Rriki.
5. When were you born?

January 25 1996

6.Where were you born?

Manassas Virginia, in the United States

5. Could you please state the names of your parents and provide the spelling?

\ Ihad Othman is my mom’s name, and my dad is Saleh Daismiel.

6. Do you recall where your father was born?

He was born in Jordan.

7. Where was your mother born?

I think she was born in Libya.

8. Do you have any sisters or brothers?

I have a sister that’s 15 now, And her name is Sandra. And then my brother’s name
is Sary, he’s 20.

So you’re the oldest?

Yeah

11.Do you speak more than one language?

I speak Arabic also. With me English is my first language but Arabic… I guess
they’re both on the same level, kinda. Except Arabic has so much stuff to it, that I would be
considered fourth grade level. I know how to speak it, but like there’s the grammar to it.
Oh my gosh. I never even took that class though. Because I was like, kinda American, cause
you know I was born here and then moved there when I was like eight or seven. So, I kinda
had this culture first. So, I was put in the lower grade Arabic. But I know how to read it
and write it. But just some grammar stuff I don’t know how to do.

12.Why did you learn more than one language?

My parents both speak Arabic. They’re both from Jordan, they were there for most
of their lives. So, I was kinda born into it.

So English is your primary?

 I learned both at the same time. But I spoke English more. My dad wanted me to
speak more English. So, he would speak to me in Arabic and I would speak to him in
English.

Remembering Your Parents

1.If you can recall, when did your father come to the U.S.?

I think he was 17. Right when he started collage.

Is that why he came, for collage?

Yeah.

2.Where in America did your dad first go?

New York. Yeah he lived it up in New York. My grandpa literally gave him so much
money just to go and study. And you know, when you’re a student you know how to
pay for your classes but then the other money, you know, how you kinda use it for
your spending money

What did he study?

Computer Science.

3.Do you remember when your mom first came?

I don’t really remember if she came when she was younger, but I assume she came
when they got married, in her 30’s.

4.Did they meet in America?

Well when my dad was here, he actually got married to someone else. She was half
American half Spanish. And they were married for like, 10 years or something. But then
they got divorce. I think… this might sound weird but I think there kinda related (laughs).
Cause their both from like the same family. Like they would call me kaswanie over there.
It’s kinda like a clan, over there. There’s just a bunch of us everywhere. So they’re like, far
far far cousins, but I guess it was normal back then.

So they both now live in Virginia?

 No, my dad he’s in New York now, he’s working there. My mom’s in Virginia. But
they’re still together.

5. If you can recall, what were some of your parents' first impressions of the United
States?

My dad came here for school, I know he drank a lot and, you know just lived it up a
lot. I mean he was just the typical college student. It was actually him and a couple of his
friends also came, to go to this school also. They all studied together. They all went separate
times but, all of his friends that were from Jordan, they were his roommates and they just
came here and studied and had some fun. And my mom.. I wasn’t supposed to be born
here. My parents came here for a vacation or something, and then I was born. Because I
was pre-mature, so I was like a month early, so I was just born here. And then they just
stayed for a while. So my mom’s first impression… if that was the first time she came here,
her impression is of her giving birth to me.

6.How did your parents make a living?

My dad use to be a project manager, but now he runs with his brother, a ware house
in New York. For like, restaurants and gas stations, stuff like that. And my mom’s an
embryologist.

7.Where did your parents initially settle in the U.S.?

Manassas. Well I think before I was born they were living in like, D.C. or something.
And then I was born in Manassas and they were there for a while.

8. Can you please describe some of the places you called “home” when
you were growing up?

I moved around, like literally every three or two in a half years. Like I lived in
Kuwait, I was in Dubai, I lived in Jordan, I lived in Saudi Arabia, and then I lived here.

9.Why did you move around so much?

My dad’s job. He was project manager so they would send him around a lot.

So out of those places, which was your favorite?

They were all really cool. Dubai, I was like five or six, I stayed there for like, a year.
But I would visit every now and then.
Saudi Arabia, is like the one place we kind of the place we’d come back to. For example I
was in Saudi Arabia, then we went to Kuwait, came back to Saudi Arabia, then we went to
Jordan, then back to Saudi Arabia.
I guess Saudi Arabia was like, the place. It was crazy nuts. Saudi Arabia is a very religious
country. You know it’s a very Muslim based country. But we were living in the compounds
which is more closed, and more private. So you know, women have to wear the head scarf
in Saudi Arabia. But my mom didn’t in the compound. But outside she did. For some
reason, it was the more strict one, but it was the more fun one. I don’t know if that makes
sense. But I was like fourteen, and one day I just woke up and was like “I’m gonna take the
car, I’m gonna go to school, and I’m gonna take the car” and I did it. I took the spare keys,
my dad figured it out cause he was like, “where are the spare keys” Cause we had two cars,
but my mom couldn’t drive, because women couldn’t drive at that time, but now they can.
So, I was like, “my mom isn’t going to even want the car so I took em. He found out and
was like, “are there any scratches”, I said no, and he said “ok, keep doing it”. And he just
let me go a few times.

A lot of my friends that were my age had cars. This is something that sounds crazy, even
I’m just like, do I really remember it that way? But we would all hang out outside school at
this little mini market in Saudi Arabia, and all these kids; fourteen, fifteen, sixteen,
seventeen, eighteen, would come with their cars and sometimes we would just hang out and
talk about our cars and smoke some little tobacco stuff. And I just remember one day a
teacher was there, and they actually started to race.

Like drag racing?

They were just trying to see who’s car was faster. They weren’t like racing turns
and all, it was just straight for like, 30 seconds. With a teacher. It’s just like, crazy to me.

10. Why do you think your family moved that many times?

Dad’s work. And school.

11. When your family finally settled in one area, what was the house like?

In the Middle East, you know how here it’s like, everything’s like wood. You can
knock and hear that its wood. Over there it’s concrete. Like every building and every
house. It looked like a regular house, but I guess it would have more Arabic stuff. Like in
Saudi Arabia there would be more Islamic stuff. There were couches, and the same.
Everyone is caught up on what’s hip.

14. Were your parents able to own the house and land here in America?

My parents never really bought a house here. They’ve just been renting.

15. What memories do you have of your mother?

 Saudi Arabia, you know how they have to wear the scarf thing? I couldn’t find my
mom in the mall when she was wearing it, I started freaking out. I was like, six or seven
and I started yelling and crying and then she found me.
Saudi Arabia’s the only place you really have to do that. Out of all the middle
eastern countries I’ve been to. Like Dubai was chill. The only thing was you couldn’t walk
around shirtless, like as a man. And you can’t like, PDA. Like you could hold hands, but
you couldn’t kiss. Jordan, you can kinda do whatever. I keep telling everyone, Jordan is
like America, but more desert, they’re crazy.

Jordan has the dead sea which is pretty cool. Have you ever been swimming in the dead
sea? Oh yeah. I actually use to have these little things on my side. Like grown skin, I don’t know
what they were. But we went to doctors and tried taking them off and they’d grow back. I’m not
even kidding about this, I went into the dead sea, the stuff just floated off, and never came back.
I remember hearing that it had healing power, and was like, “oh my god, it actually did heal me”.
You also can’t sink, but if you get the water in your eyes, it burns.

16. What memories do you have of your father?

When we were here, in the states, my dad was working in the middle east. So it was
just me and my mom. He would come sometimes. But my father I guess…he’d teach me I
guess the driving part. He’d drink Budweiser’s that didn’t have any alcohol in them in
Saudi Arabia. Cause you can’t have alcohol there. It’s like, super illegal. So when he came
here he just partied. But work. I remember him just working. And then he’d come back
and we’d just go to the movie theaters. Oh yeah that’s right! When he was here, he took me
to see the Chucky movie. I was probably around elementary school age. Third grade.
I watched the movie It for the first time in Jordan, with my grandma. But she was
like, old and dying, so I don’t think she really understood what I was watching. So she was
just like, “so you like that movie huh?”. But it was all in Arabic.

Growing Up in their Native Land/Everyday Life

1. What do you remember most about growing up in your Jordan, and all the other countries you
grew up in?

I did have to go to school, obviously, in all of them. So I just remember waking up,
get on a bus, go to school. And the bus wasn’t like a “school” bus, it was, they didn’t look
like these yellow school buses. They just looked like a different bus. Sometimes we would
have drivers, like in Saudi Arabia we had drivers come pick us up, and then they would
take us to school or whatever.
Hmmm what else? Honestly, we had maids and stuff, over there. I remember they’d
wake me up.
Kuwait, my mom would drive us to school. Saudi Arabia, we would get driving there, and
Jordan was, I think it was my mom driving me. And in Saudi Arabia I drove some. I was
backing it up, it’s crazy now that I think about it, cause, this car, no one was really using it,
and it was parked in the garage and had no space. So, I remember just backing it up like so
slow. And sometimes I’d get a scratch and then I realized you could just wipe it off. And I
just back it, back it, back it, up and sometimes I’d hit the sign. And the security guard
watching me, knows I’m not old enough to drive. He knows and he was just like “be
careful, ok?”. Like he knows I’m not old enough and he’s opening the garage gate for me.
Oh, also in Saudi Arabia, we had a prince in our class, so we did a lot of cool stuff
with him. His dad was related to the king. So, he was like the king’s nephew or something.
We would go to his house, and he had awesome cars. And we almost took them out. People
don’t always believe these stories when I tell them, but my parents can tell you. My parents
were worried about me over there. Yeah, they were worried but I remember, they literally
had like three cars, and they would say “you can take them on rides” and stuff, but I was
like no no no. I was fifteen.

Why were they worried?

Cause they know my friends, and the people out here are just nuts. Like the kids
especially. I mean it’s just like here, when people do crazy stuff. I mean here fourteen year
olds get pot and stuff. Over there you can’t really smoke pot or drink. Like there’s no
drinking. I mean you could but it’s so tough. I mean now I see my friends on Facebook
posting that stuff, but now they’re like twenty or twenty-two.

2. Can you describe a typical day in your country for you? What type of activities did you
do? Work?

I haven’t worked over there. I wasn’t old enough. Summer days in Jordan I would
just wake up, my cousin lived literally up the hill, so I’d go there and hang out with him,
play some play station two. And then, our parents would take us out to go eat. A lot of
falafel. A lot of falafel, was involved. I’m not even kidding. Like hummus and falafel. A lot
of that was involved. And there was this sweet called Kanafa that I would eat every day. Its
super good.

3. What are some of your earliest memories of attending school?

First time I was in preschool I was here. I remember they had to pull me because I
didn’t want to go. It was like a horror movie. I was screaming. Like I was screaming “don’t
let them take me!” My dad said he wanted to not make me go to school. But I remember
they sat me next to a girl to calm down. And we started coloring.
First grade was Saudi Arabia. You had to line up over there cause it was separated. Boys
and girls by themselves. Yeah the schools were separated.

4. Can you describe what attending school was like?

We had to wear uniforms. In Kuwait I had to wear uniform, Jordan I had to wear
uniform. Saudi Arabia, remember I went back and forth? At first, I remember there were
uniforms but then I came back and I think I was too big and they couldn’t find my size. So
they told me to just wear whatever looked nice. And they always complained about my
hair. You see my hair? I love growing my hair. I just love being free with it. My teachers
would be like “You think you look like Justin Bieber?” They’re like strict over there. It
gets to a point, when the teacher and students don’t like each other. It was nuts. I
remember once, a student got hit. Like, the teacher punched him. I’ve been hit by a
teacher, I remember that. He just like, punched my shoulder. But yeah I remember he hit
him, and then that student said “you never do that”, and then the whole class just stood up,
like we had his back. And the teacher, he realized, he left the class and got the principle
and the principle was like “guys relax”. We were really cool with a lot of principles and
teachers, but sometimes there were bad ones. It was fun. Not gonna lie it was fun.

5. What were some of your favorite classes or teachers?

English class, in Saudi Arabia fifth grade Mr. Carim, and he was also like me. He
was born in America He came to the middle east and became a teacher. With him I could
actually speak great English. I remember this one time he was like “I bet you can’t even
spell enthusiastic”. And then I spelled it and he was like “what?! Ok, I’m going to keep my
eye on you”. And I remember I gave him a usb, so he could put family guy on this usb so I
could go home and watch the episodes. And he actually did that for me.

So, was English taught a lot over there?

Yeah, it was a main subject. So this is how the sciences work. Each year you take
Chemistry, physics, biology, and there’s another ology but I can’t remember. But basically
chemistry, physics and biology were the main things that you take yearly. Every year you
took it. And then math class, every year. P.E., you took every year. Some other schools
would teach you, like this school in Saudi Arabia taught Saudi Arabian history, and
American history, history we would learn that. I was in American schools….how do I
explain this?...so like a lot of rich Saudi Arabians or Quaits sometimes they go to the
government schools. There, everything is in Arabic. Even the math is in Arabic. The
schools I went to were just like, international schools, like private schools in a way, you
know like you’d wear a uniform and stuff. Over there, the uniforms in the government
schools are actually what you think of. Like do you know the dasha, like that white thing.
Do you know what I’m talking about? That little long white thing.

Do you get to choose which school you get to go to? Government versus international?

Yeah, if you have the money to pay for it and you can get in and you know English
well enough. I remember this one kid, his parents had the money to get him in but he was
just not getting it. But he had so much money that they literally were passing him.
I got a B in my biology class cause I could sing. Yeah, I had my friends over one weekend,
and my teacher heard from my friends that I could play the guitar and stuff. And he was
like “bring the guitar and sing and if you impress me I’ll give you a B”. And I literally got
a B. And then I moved here and when I transferred to Battlefield they saw that I had a B.
And then I got an F at the end of the year in that class. But the fact that I had a B with the
F made it a C (laughs).
6.What do you remember about your childhood friends?

My mom would always complain. Everywhere. Any country I’ve been. Even here.
Always complaining about my friends. It’s always the same bunch of kids…wild. But,
it’s not like we’re stupid though or we didn’t care. Every friend that I had was good
hearted though. I’ve seen that everywhere I’ve went, they actually cared about people
and tried to help them. Sometimes you just have these urges to go nuts.

7. Where did you play or hang out?

Saudi Arabia we were on the roads a lot. Driving around, smoking Huka. We
smoked a lot of huka in the compound. I was in the compound a lot. It was cool, it had a
soccer field and a basketball, swimming pool, and a gym. Like all this stuff.

Is a compound like an apartment complex?

Yeah, it is but it’s just gated. Like me, getting in that gate, I couldn’t really bring
friends with me unless I go to my apartment if they’re guys. But I could bring as many girls
as I want. Any girl could walk into that place. Any girl. But if you’re a guy you have to be
checked. You have to be like “why are you coming here? Blah blah, you’re going to go
straight there” the security guard has to walk you there. I remember my cousin use to live
in the same compound, her name is Sarah. So I was talking to her. And she had friends,
and I had two friends but I was talking to her though. And he comes and ask why I was
talking to her. And then he goes and talks to my dad. My dad’s like “that’s my nice, and
that’s her cousin, she’s my sister’s daughter”. And he just felt so stupid.

Why is it like that?

That’s just how Saudi Arabia is. They think women are pure and a man’s so filthy
basically. No women are treated really well over there. They’re actually treated really well.
I mean obviously sometimes you’d fine cases where someone gets beat or something, but
you find that everywhere in the world. They have commercials about don’t beat your wife,
and don’t beat your kids. But now they can drive. I can’t even imagine the traffic there
now. Cause they use to have drivers. And they would just be driving everywhere by their
drivers. Now they can go whenever they want. But they still have to wear the scarf. I think
the whole scarf thing is so that men don’t look at you like that. And that’s why they’re not
a lot of rapes and stuff like that.

So in that culture, does it but more of the responsibility on the women or is it more on the
men not to look at them like that? Like You know how here in America it sometimes is like
“Oh well by the way she was dressing she was asking for it”. Is that the was it is over there
or not as much?

Don’t dress that way, and don’t let her dress that way. Saudi Arabia she can’t go
out like that. But in Dubai they probably could, in Jordan they definitely could. Girls there
are more open minded. But Saudi Arabia you can’t do that. This girl I knew would try to
dress like a guy and cut her hair like a guy so she could drive. I remember seeing her, she
was walking and she went to some market and she got in the car. I thought it was a guy. I
was like “I know you”.

So is that excepted by the women there, or is that just the society?

Yeah, it’s excepted by the women. It’s actually pretty now, like they make it
beautiful.

8. What activities did you and your friends do?

Saudi Arabia I introduced all my friends to skate boarding and baseball. And that
was the coolest thing. Skate boarding was cool, cause a lot of the younger kids would ask
me how to do it. But the boys would always mess up my skate boards. I would be so mad,
like the nose of it would be completely broken off. And I’m like “What did you do to it!?”
and they said “I was smashing it into the wall”. But I was like “why would you do that?” I
remember seeing them one day, and his brother started yelling, “you’ll have to buy him a
new skateboard, and where are you gonna get him a new skateboard from”? Cause they
didn’t have skateboard shops.

How did you get skate boards?

I brought them back with me from Kuwait.

9. Can you please describe your interactions with people who were not of your same culture?

In Saudi Arabia, everyone knew that I was American. So that was brought up a lot.
Like “Hey white boy”

They called you white boy?

Kuwait I was a white boy. Kuwait I was definitely a white boy. They’d call me “yeil
‘abyad” That means white boy. I’m not even kidding. I remember seeing two guys and they
would say imf imf, and this is in Kuwait, it was like the weirdest thing. They would shake
hands and touch noses. Like the tips. And that means your bros.
But I was cool with everyone. Every country I went to, everyone was my friend. I tried to
do it that way too. I tried learning from everywhere. Like I know how to speak different
types of Arabic accents. And I know some of the slangs.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait I don’t think they like each other. Cause when they heard I came
from Saudi Arabia they would be like “what?!”. But they knew I was like, American and
everything, But they knew I was in Saudi Arabia. But they were joking though. I was
friends with all of them. I remember I liked this Kuwaiti girl, and everyone was like..dude.
And I’m from Jordan so it was like this whole thing. Like your white, you’re from Jordan,
and Saudi Arabia don’t even try. And I was like “man come on”! But I told her and she
thought it was cute but obviously we can’t date over there.
But I was cool with all of them. Oh, this is interesting. In Kuwait, I was friends with a lot of
Kuwait people, and my parents left me there for two weeks while they went back to Saudi
Arabia. And I was sleeping at my friend’s house. We were in a band together, and one of
the people that we would hang out with, it turns out that his dad turned out to be this
famous singer in Kuwait. And we went to his house. He had a monster truck and a huge
house. I was tight with the Kuwaitis. And the Saudi Arabians. Jordan was a cool place too.
My uncle owned hospitals over there. So I would stay with him some. It was cool.

10. When you think back about growing up in your country, what types of foods come to
mind? For example, what would be a typical breakfast?

Falafel. For breakfast. In Jordan, my aunts would make falafel and eggs with fries
in them. They had Martadelah, which is bologna, and then lebene. That’s just something
we put on pita bread. Its yogurt but its sour. But we would also go to McDonalds and
Burger King a lot.

11. What kinds of activities did you do at home?

Played video games. I actually would read. I actually read a lot when I was younger.
I had a guitar in the compound and would play it and sing. The parents didn’t like it.

Your parents didn’t like it?

No, the girl’s parents. I got into so much trouble. Imagine this; I was the American
kid that came and was ruining their whole life style. Like they just wanted to live peacefully
and I was like “I’m gonna date your daughter”!

12. What responsibilities at home did you and your brothers/sisters have?

Nothing. We had maids. My mom’s regretting that right now. I think I’m regretting
that right now. Like there’s a lot I need to learn.

13. How did these responsibilities differ between boys and girls?

Like it’s not like the girls were expected to clean and cook. But they’d want to.
Which is weird, cause their moms would. So it was something for them to do. Cause
basically, women are kinda supposed to stay at home and raise kids… like if they want to
they could. And some of them like that idea. It’s still hard work and stuff, but they then
don’t have to go to work. I think they like just being at home and taking care of the house
and taking care of the family. And guys would just do their stupid stuff.

14. What kinds of work/responsibilities around the house were considered the domain
of women?

Everyone had maids. Like for real everyone had maids. The moms would definitely
cook, and they would definitely clean, but they had help. Whether it be the kids, or actually
hire someone. Most people really hired maids. They would just be there with the kids
really. If that makes senses. They would like, live with us. They would also help clean and
stuff like that, but they would mostly take care of the kids.

15. What kinds of work/responsibilities around the house were considered the domain
of men?

Dads would just go to work. That’s all they had to do, was go to work and take care
of the family. Like me, my maid taught me how to swim, how to whistle, you know I was
tight with all of them. Because they would travel with us. Like if they stayed long enough
and didn’t run away. Cause honestly, it’s a depressing job if you think about it. I mean you
just stay at these people’s house and you have family in another country. But whenever
something like that would happen to us, my parents would support. You know like, here’s
money, you can go. One of them decided to run away though. She just like, left Sandra
while she was like, six years old. Just like down stairs in the compound. But then she called
like, two weeks later and she was crying, she called from another maid’s phone. And she
was crying and saying she was sorry.
16.Do your parents have different expectations for you then they do for your other siblings?

No they have the same. My sister and me, they definitely want us to be doctors or
that kind of stereotypical thing. Like we had to be good at school and wait to get married.
You couldn’t get married till after you graduated.

But its not different between you and your sister?

My mom probably knows like deep down that my sister is gonna find a guy and be
taken care of. But she wants her to still graduate and become like, a heart surgeon. That’s
what my sister wants to do. But I’m like doing the complete opposite. Like right now I want
to become a singer. Which they support now. Cause I had to work hard to get here. But my
mom is still like “blahblahblah school”, like still to this day. And I’m like “mom I have two
million views almost”. Like I’m gonna get somewhere eventually. But she’s like “no, you
can make a billion dollars off of music, but you still didn’t study, so your stupid.”

So your parents value education?

Yes, like too much.

17. How did you and your family members spend your day(s) of rest?

So Fridays. Fridays you’d go to the mosques. But they also prayed five times a day.
And everything closes. In Saudi Arabia, everything closes when its prayer time. Five times
a day everything would just shut down. Everyone would go and pray and everyone had off.
And Ramadan sometimes the streets are DEAD. I remember once, me and my mom were
trying to get to this restaurant so the whole family could eat with some other families. And
this cab driver was running red lights, like he didn’t care cause no one was there.
Ramadan’s a cool time cause everyone just gathers up together and eats every night. It’s
like a party every night with just food. They expect less of you. Just relax that month.

18.What religion did your family practice?

Islam. So in Saudi Arabia. There’s this thing, and they’re not the police, they’re
called heja. But they’re authority. Like religious police. And when everything shuts down
five times a day, they’re out on the road, telling people if their Muslim to go pray. And I
remember they stopped us once cause we were walking down the street. And I just cut off
my Arabic. I was like “I’m sorry I don’t know what you’re talking about. Here’s my I.D.”.
And it said that I was an American citizen. So he just told me to go. It’s basically old
culture, is what it is. Most restaurants are divided into women, men, and families.

What about dating?

There was no dating

How do you get married?

Families. If a girl likes a guy, families just set it up. That’s what my parents
expected of me. To marry an Arabic woman who was a family friend.

19.Were you raised under this religion?

Yeah, but I was exposed to Christianity too, in America.

20.Have you or any of your family in Jordan had any issues with the recent influx of refugees?

No. They shouldn’t. They are Refugees. I would complain.

21.Do you know where your family came from before Jordan?

They came from Jerusalem.

Life in the U.S.

1. What were your initial memories of the United States?

So me doing this with my life. There are parts that are confusing. You know just
moving around a lot. But this is what I remember coming back at eight and seeing the snow
for the first time.

2. Do you remember why you came to the United States?

Dad’s job.
4. How does your community life in the United States differ from your homeland, if at all?

It’s more like, family here. Like my mom would have a bunch of friends and she
would just be hanging out with people. Here she hangs out more with her cousins. I’m
absolutely to the same thing as I always do. Just try to have a good life. Try to have fun.
And be good.

5. Were you ever discriminated against?

Not really. I mean my family thought I was too white. They still think that.

Being remembered
1. How would you like to be remembered?

I would like to become big and famous, so I can bring more of the world together.

2. What would you want your grandchildren to know about you.

I got a million plays. My song got a million views.

End of Interview

Our interview is finished now. Thank you for your time.