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Hi, I am Kauthar Hassan and I moved from Kenya, by way of Somalia, to the United States in 2000. It was exciting to travel from there to here as we didn't travel much before and suddenly we were on a very big trip. We came to the United States because my parents wanted better things for all of our family, so they brought us to this country.
When we arrived in Georgia, the change could not have been more different. Yes, there were big cities in Kenya, but there was nothing to compare with the atmosphere of the Atlanta area where I now live. In Kenya, we had a large variety of animals and wildlife. The plains of Kenya were, seemingly, very close to the city. The joy and wonder that went with them, whether it was going on a safari or watching a beautiful sunset, seemed to be easy to find and enjoy.
Here the city seems to go on and on. Even when we travel away from the city the wide-open spaces like I knew in Kenya seem to be hard to find.
One of the things I miss most about Kenya is the early morning when I would wake up and smell the aroma of pancakes and mandozi (a Kenyan pastry). I also loved the sunsets in Kenya as the sun slid over the horizon.
Although I miss those parts of my life, I do like it here. Everyone is friendly. When I first arrived everyone would ask me about where I had come from and they wanted to know all about me. Their friendliness made me feel good. There are lots of things to do here that I couldn't do at home. There are different foods and different cultures all waiting to be explored. I have found something I like as much as the plains of Kenya and that is vacationing along the coast of Florida and enjoying the shore there.
There are some funny things that happened to me when I arrived here, things that American children take for granted. A couple of great examples are in the changes I found in kitchen. I did not know what a microwave oven was. Can you imagine? I had never seen a dishwasher as we had always washed our dishes by hand. Here there was this machine to do such as task. I liked that!
While I do miss my home, I know that was the right place for our family to come to. We have opportunities here that we would not have had in Kenya or Somalia.
To read learn more, read Kauthar's answers to your questions.
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Kauthar
Birthplace: Kenya
Born: 11/20/92
Home: Atlanta, Georgia
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