Imagine all the things that make your life how it is right now: your daily routines, your school, your job, or your friends and family. Imagine all the things from your past: things that you remember by memory, places you’ve visited, and maybe a special event like a concert, or a movie that you saw. Basically, imagine all the things that make you, you. Now, imagine that one day, all of that changed. You’re put in a place where you can hardly speak the native language, and everything you see around you is almost completely foreign. You don’t see any of your favorite restaurants anywhere, you can’t understand any signs or media, and the only things of any normality to you are the clothes on your back, the family you came with, and the small handful of people you knew In your home country. What do you do? Meet Abdullah, a lawyer from Afghanistan. Abdullah came from Afghanistan to America amidst the crisis among the people of Afghanistan. Abdullah’s’ story is one of the ups and downs as he navigated his way through life as an Afghani refugee in America.
To understand Abdullah’s story, you must start at the beginning in his home country of Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Abdullah was very successful: he had a law degree, where he prioritized family law, as well as working for World Bank, where he oversaw over 50 employees. Not to mention, his wife worked with the government where she oversaw the VISA process, and they also have two daughters together. It was fulfilling for Abdullah and his family. However, with their immigration from Afghanistan to America, it left a road of uncertainty. After all, it was a completely brand-new place for them starting in Richmond, Virginia, and they had close to nothing, including no jobs or permanent home. But, for someone who is so impactful to the world of law in Afghanistan, it shouldn’t be that hard to find a long-term job, right?
“For the first month and a half that we were in The United States of America, I worked as a pizza cook at Domino’s Pizza”, said Abdullah from his Chicago home. “It was a big adjustment for all of us”.
After a few months of living in Virginia, Abdullah, and his family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In Pittsburgh, Abdullah and his wife started to make great strides for their new future in America. Abdullah got into contact with Hello Neighbor, where he could make new friends and find like-minded people of the Afghani culture. Abdullah and his wife were both able to get law degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, and his wife even earned a scholarship, so they didn’t have to worry about rent or utilities anymore. After a while of being in Pittsburgh, the family moved to the city of Chicago, where Abdullah’s wife was offered a job in Law, and Abdullah was able to be a stay-at-home father for his two daughters.
“My wife has always been very supportive of me”, Abdullah said. “So, when she wanted us to move to Chicago for her new job, I was in complete support of it”.
In his time here in the States, Abdullah has made quite a life for himself and his family, and they have made plenty of friends and met many new people during their residence here In America. However, this journey that he’s been on has had its fair share of twists and turns. For instance, Abdullah had some trouble driving in America when he first got here.
“In Afghanistan, there aren’t really any rules as far as driving”, Abdullah said. “When I got to America, I was so scared to drive on the freeway. There are so many rules, rules that I wasn’t familiar with in my time in Afghanistan”.
Although it took some time for Abdullah to get used to the road, there were also things that he enjoys about America as well. Although most of us wish that we could have more time to relax, Abdullah seems to enjoy the busy lifestyle in America.
“In Afghanistan, we would usually have time to go on a vacation or trip during our weekend”, Abdullah said. “In America, it’s much different. I’m much busier with life, and I think that’s something I would take back with me to Afghanistan”.
Moving to a new place with new people and foreign things can be rough. Having to transition into a culture that you don’t know about can be extremely difficult, impossible even. However, Abdullah showed me in our interview together that one’s culture isn’t represented by their location, but through their character. To represent that idea, Abdullah left me one final message to close out our time together.
“Just, love. Love yourself. Love your people and love your society. Love is what makes happiness”.
Well said, Abdullah.
