Visit my author page on Amazon
New releases. Mrs.Z, the Substitute!
My name is Shama. I’m an Arab, originally from Egypt. Some of my friends called me the Muslim Santa. Ha-ha!
Maybe because they just think that I’m always there with a story to tell or a treat to give. To be honest, I thought about growing out my beard one day. 😊
Speaking of being an Arab, I want you to forgive me if I miss- say a word, mispronounce a word, or grammatically wrong some sentences. Arabic is my mother tongue, and English is my second language. You know, put yourself in my shoes. Speaking in your second language before people’s eyes is never comfortable…
Oh, you don’t feel it? Ok, how about I’ll challenge you. You say one Arabic word, and it’s just me. I’m not going to tell anyone. Ok? 😊
How about you say, Molokheya? Hard right? you can't make the "Ø®" AKA "Kh" sound
Now, you feel what I feel. Now, you totally get it!
Two years ago, I woke up in the morning, and I saw a post from one of my friends on Facebook. I believe she was an American, and she was married to a Muslim guy. She posted saying something like:
” My kids are Muslims, but they are NOT Arabs!!!!!!” and a thousand exclamation marks and angry emojis...
I feel like what’s wrong with being an Arab? Then, I googled it, and when I googled it, I came along with a video of Senator John Mccain. I believe he was giving a speech about President Obama before running for the presidency. A lady came up to him, and she was almost shivering when she asked:
“Is he an Arab?”- She meant President Obama, And the senator calmed her down and said: “No, mam. He is a decent guy”.
And I feel like what in the world!!
What’s being an Arab have to do with decency?
But, when I remembered my first year in Canada back then when I moved from Egypt, I feel like, “Yeah, maybe he is right. I totally messed up!”
Even though the Canadian folks are GREAT. They are smiley, they are sharers, they are eager to help and share information- except for that lady at the public park who ran away from me when I asked her what she used for birth control- come on, I was a newcomer, I need to ask- my first week there was not the best ever, I’ll tell you why...
I was crossing the street with both of my kids. One kid in hand, and the other one was on the stroller. And you know, as a pedestrian, you can not cross the street diagonally. You know that, right?... well, I didn’t know it, and I did cross diagonally, and I got the big fat “F” word!
Then, I didn’t look back or say anything in return because I knew from the looks in the eyes that I did something really terrible! I felt terrible for myself and for all non-decent people from non-decent countries just like me!
I felt like, Oh God, now I ruined the image! 👀👀
Then, I kept the following weeks watching over the folks in the street while crossing, so I made sure it wouldn’t happen again.
A month later, the same scene happened again… me with both kids crossing the street...this time it was a police car with a siren on and obviously a Canadian blond women officer inside it, she was coming all the way from the very end of the street. For a moment, I felt like she wouldn’t stop, and she didn’t know willy- nilly.
I stepped a few steps back, and I let her go, and I was in total shock that she didn’t look back or say anything. I whispered to myself:” Oh my God, even police in decent countries don’t no rules!”😳
It took me a couple of years to realize that the lady officer was on duty, and I was such a freaking idiot!😜
I’ve stayed in Canada for a while, and it was the happiest time in my life, then we moved to the US.
I was born and raised in Egypt. I lived there for more than twenty years, then I got to move to Saudi Arabia, then to Canada, and now to the United States.
As I moved among different countries, I'm full of stories. I can keep telling you stories until the cows go home!
In my books and blogs, I'm trying to reflect on immigrants' struggle and how it's been so hard for many of them -I won't say all to fit in.
And even it's getting harder nowadays with the chaos happening worldwide, especially in the Middle East. Ironically, I can tell that people still find it hard sometimes to distinguish between the two terms Arabs and Muslims, even my kids, LOL!, and yes, there is a significant difference, There are American Muslims, Indian Muslims, Arab Muslims, Asian and Chinese Muslims, etc. but Arabs are like Asians, Africans, Europeans, being an Arab is not a faith. Still, it's ethnic, so there are Arab Christians, Arab Jews, and Arab atheists TA... DA!😎😎
I began writing since I was twelve years old. Writing is my passion. Writing to me is like my cave where I hide whether matters were going fine or nothing good was happening at all!
Along this period, I've learned that words are my strength, and through them, I might change the world...AHEM, 😅 it shouldn't be the whole wide world I'm living in. It can be my small world... my family, my community, my neighborhood.
A few years ago, I started working on my writing skills to launch my English blog a few years later, after my Arabic blog. I've been taking courses in creative writing and English literature, and I came across one of the courses that focus on great world literature. I was over the moon when I found that "Alf Laila Wa Laila" or "The Thousand Arabian nights" novel was discussed in this course from this accredited and reputable university. However, my happiness faded away when they referred to "Aladdin," the Disneyland famous show when it was displayed, and the show alluded to Arabs in the intro song, as people with dark skins, hook noses, the barbaric folks who are ready to chop your head if they don't like your face, but hey, it's home! " this part was literally plagiarized from the song lyrics.
The good news is that the Arab anti-defamation league protested at this time, and they succeeded in making Disney take that part off the song, but of course, they failed to take it out of people's memory after watching the show.
I think now it's time for this image to change. It's time to enter each other's hearts and realize the good in each other, the common between each other, and emphasize the plethora of cultural diversity its positive outcomes in our community.
Arab community is quite large, and Arab culture is vibrant; as large as you can't ignore, and as vibrant as you can't skip.:)
We have to work on our inclusivity. We don’t have to add up to each others' personal struggles. We don’t have to make others feel like they should battle with their identities.
We can’t make people battle because of WHO THEY ARE!
We can’t make people battle because of their skin color, curly hair, where they came from, their faith, their sexual orientation, or their mental abilities.
And this is not because we are decent or not decent. This is because it’s humanity, it’s life, and how it works!
Didn’t the real Santa tell you so? I guess that’s a part of his job.😎😎
And the answer is yes, you can include everyone in the community, you can trust anyone no matter what the news says, you can have the folks who are different from you as friends. And you don’t have to be different... Just feel it, and you will totally get it!
My opinions represent me and are not affiliated with any organization I work or volunteer for.
