Everytime I used to think of America. Four things will come to mind. Madonna. New York. Fast-Food. San Francisco. I considered San Francisco an icon of America. It represented so much to me. Multi-culturalism, the golden gate bridge, art and culture, roller-coaster like streets and fashionable stores. We arrived in San Francisco at 3:30 pm. After the first five minutes, I couldn't resist not thinking about living here.
We are staying at the Chateau Tivoli, a lovely Victorian bed and breakfast inn built in the 1890’s. I felt comfortable and at home at the Chateau Tivoli. Although it was a long trip and I was tired, I didn’t want to stay home. I wanted to explore the city I always dreamed of seeing. We phoned a taxi and went to one of San Francisco’s malls. During the 15 minutes taxi-ride, I was mesmerized by the cleanliness and organization of the streets of San Francisco. The city looked old but new at the same time. I saw many lovely Victorian houses , different ethnicies, art galleries and international restaurants. Things were just like I expected them to be. The mall was a good introduction to the city’s classy and unique fashion styles. There was a good representative sample of the different styles of the city . From pink hair and black clothes to long shirts and tights. From prada bags and Armani shirts to baggy jeans and extra long t-shirts. All these styles were evident at Stoneage Mall.
I sat in the food court eating and observing the different people. In san Francisco, it’s hard to miss the Asian community. They are in malls, streets, shops or even restaurants. The Asian population in San Francisco is large and prosperous. The food court consisted of 8 restaurants; four of them specialized in Asian food. The visitors were overwhelmingly Asian. Asians seemed more at home than Latino's. It could be because they are doing better in America than Latino's or because most of the Illegal immigrants are from South America so people don't look at the Asians as illegal immigrants. The Asians I heard in the mall spoke English and Chinese or Japanese. They seemed integrated yet attached to their culture and traditions. they seemed part of the American society yet part of their own society. They made me think of the true definition of integration. Did the Asians have to detach themselves from their culture and fully adopt the American way to be American? They didn't. I believe that they compromised. They took the best of the two worlds to create an integrated community that contributes so much to
San Francisco and America.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Los Olivos
A not very quiet town with expensive shops, diverse art gallery, wineries and very European-style buildings. Los Olivos is a bit lively and is home to a more chic type of people. Next to the shop selling expensive European antiques, you can notice a few social interactions. It seems that the people living there lived there for a while or at least knew most people in the small town of Los Olivos.
Afternoon at UCSB
Today our day was a mix of Latino, Arab and African. I had the chance to visit Casa De La Raza or House of the people, a community center established to help the Latino and other immigrant communities, meet an Arab-American lecturer and talk-show host and attend the production of a live show discussing the news of Third World countries.
Casa De La Raza was built n the 60’s during the civil rights movements. The center is located in a Latino neighborhood and it combines all forms of art such as theatre and music. It also provides the Latino community and other non-Latino with legal, housing, employment and medical services. Not to mention the after school programs, cultural programs and dance competitions. Casa De La Raza was similar to the refugee centers in Cairo however; they were more funded, bigger in size and offered more facilities. The classes in the refugee centers in Egypt are usually overcrowded, not very clean and they don’t have many school tools. The classes here are big and because of the small number of students, there is better interaction with the teachers. After a tour around the center, I met Marisela Marquez, a Mexican-American professor at UCSB and one of the directors of Casa De La Raza. Marquez is a second-generation immigrant who worked hard to get to where she is now and is working hard to help other Latino immigrants through her work with Casa De La Raza and the center for Chicano studies. The conversation with Marquez made me reconsider the exact definition I had for “immigrant”. Most of the Mexican immigrants in America are here for economic reasons. In other words, they were forced to leave their country to search for better living conditions. They are simply forced immigrants. You don’t have to leave a war zone to be “forced” out of your country. You can be forced out by poverty, famine or even drought. Their reasons might be different from the refugees in Cairo but they are both forced. It's interesting how a group of people living in different continents might have similar experiences.
I also found the diverse programs offered for immigrants here interesting. For example, the ART Reach program where they educate high school students about their culture through art. I thought it was a great idea to educate the youth through creative means. It made me think about the children born to refugee parents in Cairo who know nothing about their country. They are so close to it yet they are so distanced. Some of them have parents who lived through the war there, were hurt or had a family member killed. They don’t have good memories of it so talking about it to their chidren is out of the question. one can't help but think about the positive impacts this program will have on young refugee here.
My day kept getting more interesting. I had the opportunity to meet Elizabeth Robinson, a third generation Arab-American of Lebanese descent who is the director of the KCSB radio station at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the presenter and producer of Third World News Review. Robinson was an intellectual feminist and anti-racism activist. She is a proud Arab who is as American as you can get. She is very outspoken especially about the hate acts and xenophobia towards Muslims and Arabs in America. Robinson made me feel very comfortable talking to her and she related to some of the issues I had to say such as discrimination.I told her about my experience as an African in the Middle East and she shared her experience as an Arab in America. I asked about the political involvement of UCSB students and the strong activist groups here. She told me that there are a few politically involved students but I just had to see for myself. Walking around UCSB, one couldn’t help but notice the posters and the graffiti that screams “Stop the war in Iraq” , “anti-war”, “hunger strike for the Lebanon war”. Students cared about other people who are a day plane journey away. Iraq and Lebanon are not the only countries on the minds of the students there; the “Save Darfur” t-shirts can be seen too. When I saw a girl wearing the green Save Darfur t-shirt, it just reassured me that the American civil society cares about what’s happening in the world.
Robinson told us a bit about her public access tv talk show but hopefully, we were able to be there, watch her present and watch the directors and others do their job. The content of the show was interesting for me. It was about Nigeria, a country I was reading a book about, racism in France and anti-Muslims attacks in Britain. Every topic meant something to me and I was glad that they were informing the American public about topics that should be significant to everyone.
Casa De La Raza was built n the 60’s during the civil rights movements. The center is located in a Latino neighborhood and it combines all forms of art such as theatre and music. It also provides the Latino community and other non-Latino with legal, housing, employment and medical services. Not to mention the after school programs, cultural programs and dance competitions. Casa De La Raza was similar to the refugee centers in Cairo however; they were more funded, bigger in size and offered more facilities. The classes in the refugee centers in Egypt are usually overcrowded, not very clean and they don’t have many school tools. The classes here are big and because of the small number of students, there is better interaction with the teachers. After a tour around the center, I met Marisela Marquez, a Mexican-American professor at UCSB and one of the directors of Casa De La Raza. Marquez is a second-generation immigrant who worked hard to get to where she is now and is working hard to help other Latino immigrants through her work with Casa De La Raza and the center for Chicano studies. The conversation with Marquez made me reconsider the exact definition I had for “immigrant”. Most of the Mexican immigrants in America are here for economic reasons. In other words, they were forced to leave their country to search for better living conditions. They are simply forced immigrants. You don’t have to leave a war zone to be “forced” out of your country. You can be forced out by poverty, famine or even drought. Their reasons might be different from the refugees in Cairo but they are both forced. It's interesting how a group of people living in different continents might have similar experiences.
I also found the diverse programs offered for immigrants here interesting. For example, the ART Reach program where they educate high school students about their culture through art. I thought it was a great idea to educate the youth through creative means. It made me think about the children born to refugee parents in Cairo who know nothing about their country. They are so close to it yet they are so distanced. Some of them have parents who lived through the war there, were hurt or had a family member killed. They don’t have good memories of it so talking about it to their chidren is out of the question. one can't help but think about the positive impacts this program will have on young refugee here.
My day kept getting more interesting. I had the opportunity to meet Elizabeth Robinson, a third generation Arab-American of Lebanese descent who is the director of the KCSB radio station at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the presenter and producer of Third World News Review. Robinson was an intellectual feminist and anti-racism activist. She is a proud Arab who is as American as you can get. She is very outspoken especially about the hate acts and xenophobia towards Muslims and Arabs in America. Robinson made me feel very comfortable talking to her and she related to some of the issues I had to say such as discrimination.I told her about my experience as an African in the Middle East and she shared her experience as an Arab in America. I asked about the political involvement of UCSB students and the strong activist groups here. She told me that there are a few politically involved students but I just had to see for myself. Walking around UCSB, one couldn’t help but notice the posters and the graffiti that screams “Stop the war in Iraq” , “anti-war”, “hunger strike for the Lebanon war”. Students cared about other people who are a day plane journey away. Iraq and Lebanon are not the only countries on the minds of the students there; the “Save Darfur” t-shirts can be seen too. When I saw a girl wearing the green Save Darfur t-shirt, it just reassured me that the American civil society cares about what’s happening in the world.
Robinson told us a bit about her public access tv talk show but hopefully, we were able to be there, watch her present and watch the directors and others do their job. The content of the show was interesting for me. It was about Nigeria, a country I was reading a book about, racism in France and anti-Muslims attacks in Britain. Every topic meant something to me and I was glad that they were informing the American public about topics that should be significant to everyone.
Monday, July 30, 2007
The Campfire songs we never learned
The first thing that come to my mind when we entered Oakhurst, is do people actually live here? The idea of people living here seemed like a vague idea for some reason. It was just too far and isolated for me to imagine it as an actual town. America is huge. It is home to many cities and towns. Different states have different populations and California is the most populous state. At least 40 million live in California. Oakhurst was a small town and the possibility of an Arab living in such a small town was very slim. Let’s not forget that nothing is impossible. George, a middle-aged Lebanese man owns Katie’s Kitchen, a restaurant he bought from a retired woman. He first moved to America in 1981 and is as American as everybody else. The fact that he loved America , the life style in America and the American people made it easier for him to assimilate into the American society. George felt more American than Lebanese. It might be because he lived in Lebanon during the war and his memories about it are distorted or because America gave him the opportunities and luxiries he didn't have in Lebanon.
George’s opinions are usually blunt and if you didn’t pay close attention to what he said, you might misunderstand it. For example, George voted for President Bush twice. He bluntly said that he loves him and he considers that America did liberate Iraq from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. For some reason, I had a feeling that he didn’t say that because he really believes in it but he just said it because he feels that as an American citizen, he should agree with everything the president does and he should support America no matter what. I talked to a lot of Americans about Bush and many Americans don’t like him and many others don’t support the Iraq war but George is a different case. After all, George is an immigrant and he is one who badly wants to assimilate and become American. He might feel that if he didn’t support America (even if America’s position is wrong), he will not be considered American enough.
In the afternoon, we went to meet Johnny, a fisherman and local locksmith we met the day before. Last night he asked if he could take us on a boat trip and we agreed. We drove to the Pines resort. Most of the houses located there were big, luxurious and classy. Again, I noticed that most of them had the American flag in their front yard. Americans seem to be very proud of their country. I’ve seen more American flags during this trip than Sudanese flag I saw all my life. When I have my own house. I will get two Sudanese flags. One for my front yard and one for my backyard. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be proud of my country and like my flag. The flag is a simple of independence and unity. It shouldn’t be limited to Embassies and ministries. Americans know what I'm talking about,
Our boat trip was rough but I felt totally comfortable. I don’t think it is because I was with a bunch of professional swimmers. I was just more comfortable with water now. I finally felt that I’m getting over my phobia. I didn’t feel scared anymore. For the first time in a long time, I enjoyed a boat ride.
The night was totally American. After eating a very American dinner we got ready to do S’mores. We stood around our little fire and roasted our marshmallows. After that, we put chocolate bars on graham crackers and ofcourse our melted and sometimes burned marshmallow on top. Campfires are always accompanied with songs. Real American campfire songs. Janet and Brooke shared some of their childhood camp songs. I always thought of camping and summer camps as an American thing. It was a special event remembered by every American adult and longed for by every child. I finally experienced it but I just wish I knew some of the songs. The girls made me reconsider this. They started singing British songs and Egyptian songs. Afterwards, it was my turn to sign a Sudanese song. I did. I didn't even know that I know this song by heart. Mabye campfires are Americans but they definitly can be international if you want them to be.
George’s opinions are usually blunt and if you didn’t pay close attention to what he said, you might misunderstand it. For example, George voted for President Bush twice. He bluntly said that he loves him and he considers that America did liberate Iraq from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. For some reason, I had a feeling that he didn’t say that because he really believes in it but he just said it because he feels that as an American citizen, he should agree with everything the president does and he should support America no matter what. I talked to a lot of Americans about Bush and many Americans don’t like him and many others don’t support the Iraq war but George is a different case. After all, George is an immigrant and he is one who badly wants to assimilate and become American. He might feel that if he didn’t support America (even if America’s position is wrong), he will not be considered American enough.
In the afternoon, we went to meet Johnny, a fisherman and local locksmith we met the day before. Last night he asked if he could take us on a boat trip and we agreed. We drove to the Pines resort. Most of the houses located there were big, luxurious and classy. Again, I noticed that most of them had the American flag in their front yard. Americans seem to be very proud of their country. I’ve seen more American flags during this trip than Sudanese flag I saw all my life. When I have my own house. I will get two Sudanese flags. One for my front yard and one for my backyard. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be proud of my country and like my flag. The flag is a simple of independence and unity. It shouldn’t be limited to Embassies and ministries. Americans know what I'm talking about,
Our boat trip was rough but I felt totally comfortable. I don’t think it is because I was with a bunch of professional swimmers. I was just more comfortable with water now. I finally felt that I’m getting over my phobia. I didn’t feel scared anymore. For the first time in a long time, I enjoyed a boat ride.
The night was totally American. After eating a very American dinner we got ready to do S’mores. We stood around our little fire and roasted our marshmallows. After that, we put chocolate bars on graham crackers and ofcourse our melted and sometimes burned marshmallow on top. Campfires are always accompanied with songs. Real American campfire songs. Janet and Brooke shared some of their childhood camp songs. I always thought of camping and summer camps as an American thing. It was a special event remembered by every American adult and longed for by every child. I finally experienced it but I just wish I knew some of the songs. The girls made me reconsider this. They started singing British songs and Egyptian songs. Afterwards, it was my turn to sign a Sudanese song. I did. I didn't even know that I know this song by heart. Mabye campfires are Americans but they definitly can be international if you want them to be.
Santa Ynez
Santa Ynez is a quite and serene but very small version of a western style town. It is a small town in the Santa Ynez valley where the only other things you can see other than the beautiful greenarysare parked cars, almost empty streets and a few shops. There are a bunch of farm houses and ranchs there. additionally, some buildings look very modern but not as modern as Santa Barbara. The only people you see on the streets of Santa Ynez are workers and a couple of others.
Leaving Yosemite and the aftermath
Leaving Yosemite was difficult. Bass lake was beautiful. Relaxing. It insipired me to do a lot of writing.. It represented a lot of things to me. Most importantly, peace of mind and starting to get over my water-phobia. Finally, after a whole week, we were ready to leave. We packed the car with our excess luggage and drove off. The saddest thing for me wasn’t leaving but simply not being able to return to this place for sometime.
We drove away from the Miller’s Landing and away from Yosemite. We drove for hours until we reached our Motel. It is called " The Days Inn motel " a nice motel located near Solvang. Later that afternoon, we left the hotel to go eat Lunch. We ate at Andersen’s, a Danish restaurant. The hotel is full of stores selling Danish souvenirs and goods. It seems that the Danish exported their art,food and other traditional things to neighboring towns.
Mabye some of them went to other towns after they started Solvang. People say that you can buy whatever you want nowadays because of Globalization. I’m saying that if Globalization occurred in the last few decades then what do they call Danish products being available in the United States. When a group of people immigrate to another country they tend to take local things with them. This makes them not forget their roots and more in touch with their heritage. The Danish did that in Solvang. Since many communities did that , immigrants did influence globalization. If the Chinese didn’t immigrate to America, American’s wouldn’t have known fortune cookies and if Americans didn’t work and travel to the Middle East, Nike wasn’t going to be such a popular brand there. When immigrants go somewhere, they leave their imprints there. This is the real Globalization. When you travel somewhere very far and still feel at home.
We drove away from the Miller’s Landing and away from Yosemite. We drove for hours until we reached our Motel. It is called " The Days Inn motel " a nice motel located near Solvang. Later that afternoon, we left the hotel to go eat Lunch. We ate at Andersen’s, a Danish restaurant. The hotel is full of stores selling Danish souvenirs and goods. It seems that the Danish exported their art,food and other traditional things to neighboring towns.
Mabye some of them went to other towns after they started Solvang. People say that you can buy whatever you want nowadays because of Globalization. I’m saying that if Globalization occurred in the last few decades then what do they call Danish products being available in the United States. When a group of people immigrate to another country they tend to take local things with them. This makes them not forget their roots and more in touch with their heritage. The Danish did that in Solvang. Since many communities did that , immigrants did influence globalization. If the Chinese didn’t immigrate to America, American’s wouldn’t have known fortune cookies and if Americans didn’t work and travel to the Middle East, Nike wasn’t going to be such a popular brand there. When immigrants go somewhere, they leave their imprints there. This is the real Globalization. When you travel somewhere very far and still feel at home.
Around San Francisco in 4 hours
I had to be ready in 10 minutes. Whoever said shopping is fun is not lying but it is also exhausting. I wanted to sleep in and write about Fresco in my Blog but I just had to go to the tour. I didn’t feel like I wanted a tour around San Francisco and four hours is too much for an impatient individual like myself. I ended up going on the tour and it was worth every single second and every single dollar. I wholeheartedly believe that the tour is designed to make you want to live in San Francisco. It makes you love the city and makes every other American or global city boring. It’s the city they should show people applying for a green card. It's the city you should visit on your honeymoon. It’s the city you should grow old, have children and spend your summer in. It’s the city you should visit before you die.
Our tour guide was called Sergio, a Brazilian of Italian descent. He was proud of being Brazilian but at the same time, kept some of his Italian heritage and learned his language. He lived here for 10 years and he knew the city like the back of his hand.
The tour covered museums, famous streets, the beautiful painted ladies, Union Square, the Japanese tea garden and many more. Like I expected, Fresco is a very intellectual artistic city. It is home to many diverse museums. The museums represent the different cultures in the city for example: - The Asian Arts museum.
Travelling while ladies is very difficult. Although our car was big, it took us a long time to figure out where to put all our luggage. When we left San Francisco, I realized that I truely left my heart in San Francisco.
Our tour guide was called Sergio, a Brazilian of Italian descent. He was proud of being Brazilian but at the same time, kept some of his Italian heritage and learned his language. He lived here for 10 years and he knew the city like the back of his hand.
The tour covered museums, famous streets, the beautiful painted ladies, Union Square, the Japanese tea garden and many more. Like I expected, Fresco is a very intellectual artistic city. It is home to many diverse museums. The museums represent the different cultures in the city for example: - The Asian Arts museum.
Travelling while ladies is very difficult. Although our car was big, it took us a long time to figure out where to put all our luggage. When we left San Francisco, I realized that I truely left my heart in San Francisco.
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