Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 202

(4/4) “Doesn’t she look like an American? The lady who did our...

(4/4) “Doesn’t she look like an American? The lady who did our interview said that she looks like an American. She’s very excited. She’s young, so I know she’ll be able to learn English very easily. She’s a very smart girl. She’s already decided exactly what her room will look like in North Carolina. She won’t stop talking about it. She says that she’s going to do a lot of swimming and learn how to use the computer. Someone at her school told her that kids in America can do whatever they want and never get yelled at. So whenever I try to punish her, she tells me: ‘That won’t be allowed in America.’”

(Amman, Jordan)

(¾) “Because I’m a refugee, my life is on pause. My...

(¾) “Because I’m a refugee, my life is on pause. My studies have stopped. I’m not working. I don’t have a career. Because I’m Syrian, I’m not allowed to participate in society. It’s been years of doing nothing. I used to be a cheerful person. I was always invited to parties. Now I like to be alone. I’ve become more nervous and aggressive. I yell over silly things. I just want to start my life again. I learned last Thursday that I’m going to a state called North Carolina. I’m very nervous. I know nothing about it. More than anything, I want to finish my education. But mostly I hope that whatever is waiting for me there is better than what I’ve gone through.”

(Amman, Jordan)

(2/4) “I knew immediately after my husband’s death that I would...

(2/4) “I knew immediately after my husband’s death that I would have to let go of my dreams. I fell into a deep depression. I was going to be a single mother so I’d have to focus everything on raising my child. I thought that I would never be able to do anything in my life again. I skipped the orientation for the German university. I missed my German language lessons. Everything seemed to be slipping away. I gave birth to my daughter and moved in with my parents. When I saw my daughter, I realized that I needed to get my life back on track. She’d already lost her father. I didn’t want her to lose her mother too. So I enrolled at the University of Damascus and continued with my studies. I graduated once again at the top of my class. I began to work as a professor while I applied for my PhD. My daughter was getting bigger. Everything seemed to be getting back on track. Then the war came.”

(Amman, Jordan)

(¼) “I had a very brilliant teacher in elementary...

(¼) “I had a very brilliant teacher in elementary school. She was my role model. I don’t remember deciding to be a teacher so much as I remember deciding that I wanted to be just like her. My whole life became about studying. I’d learn every lesson early so that I could participate in class. When my siblings were playing games around the house, I’d plug my ears and work on my homework. Education was my passion. It was all I thought about. I didn’t even want to get married. I finished at the top of my class in both high school and university. I got a scholarship to pursue my Masters at a German university. Then I met a man who was very supportive of me going to school, so I decided to marry. But four months later he was killed in a car accident. And I was pregnant.”

(Amman, Jordan)

(4/4) “We are going to a place called Clearwater, Florida. I...

(4/4) “We are going to a place called Clearwater, Florida. I don’t know a lot about it. I saw Florida on the television and it looks like it’s close to the sea and has a lot of plants. My dad says the people are friendly and there are a lot of friendly kids there. I really hope that we can have a small farm and a horse when we get there because my grandmother really loves animals. I’d like it to be a square farm with lots of flowers and rabbits. I also hope there is a good tree in Florida because I’d like to build a tree house where we can have some adventures.”

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(¾) “I was at home when the telephone rang. It was my...

(¾) “I was at home when the telephone rang. It was my mother. She told me that there had been a bomb at the boys’ school. I immediately tried to call the school but nobody answered. Then I tried to call the bus driver but he didn’t answer either. I imagined the worst. The roads were closed so I couldn’t get to the school. All I could do was pace around the house. Finally the bus driver answered the phone and said that everyone was alive. The bomb had landed on the playground and only destroyed one wall of the school. After several hours the roads were reopened, and they came back home. When I hugged them it felt like the whole world was in my hands.”

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(2/4) “When I was in second grade, our school got attacked by a...

(2/4) “When I was in second grade, our school got attacked by a bomb. It was a barrel full of explosions. We were just opening our books to start the class and it’s hard to describe the sound but it was like a building coming apart. I ran to the other class to find my brother and he was crying because of the sound. Our bus left so we didn’t know what to do. But my brother is so smart. He ran to the market and called our grandma.”

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(2/4) “When I was in second grade, our school got attacked by a...

(2/4) “When I was in second grade, our school got attacked by a bomb. It was a barrel full of explosions. We were just opening our books to start the class and it’s hard to describe the sound but it was like a building coming apart. I ran to the other class to find my brother and he was crying because of the sound. Our bus left so we didn’t know what to do. But my brother is so smart. He ran to the market and called our grandma.”

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(¼) “I want to be a professor that examines the...

(¼) “I want to be a professor that examines the bones of dinosaurs because I like dinosaurs a lot. I also want to have a dinosaur but I know that’s impossible. I love to go to Google and type: ‘Nice dinosaur movies.’ But that uses a lot of the phone so I don’t get to do that too much. One day I’m going to open a museum full of dinosaur bones. I’m not sure where I’ll find the bones. Probably America and France. Look at this invention we made. We’ve made a lot of inventions. You can make really good things out of stuff you don’t need. We made an alien out of a speaker that we found in the trash, and then we made a person out of milk cartons, and we turned our trash can into a dinosaur because I love dinosaurs.”

(Istanbul, Turkey)

“He cried a lot as a baby. By the age of two he wasn’t speaking...

“He cried a lot as a baby. By the age of two he wasn’t speaking or eating. Our local doctor didn’t know what was wrong, but we found a good doctor in Damascus, and he told us that our son had autism. The doctor recommended a therapist. On the first day of therapy, he was too scared to even enter the office. But after a few months of treatment, he was able to concentrate and even write the alphabet. He went to therapy every week for the next few years. It was really helping him. He was learning so many things. But when the war came, the roads were closed. We couldn’t go to therapy anymore. The bombs affected him very badly. He gets scared easily. He’s even afraid of the dark. But the bombs scared him very much. He hasn’t been to therapy for years. We have no money or insurance here in Turkey. We are very isolated. It seems that all the progress has been undone. He used to want to learn. He used to get his books out of the bag and bring them to us. But now he just throws them away. He can’t sit still. I’m afraid that we’ve lost too much time now. But my husband is optimistic. He thinks that we will find the right doctor in America.”

(Gaziantep, Turkey)