Naima Saadeh Abudayyeh:
Episode 2
Naima arrives in Chicago with Hatem and her
mother, who has come for the wedding. They
are greeted by scores of eager relatives and
Naima's older sister, who lives with her children
just down the block from Hatem's family. Naima
seems to be adjusting well.
"She acts like she was born and raised
here," says Hatem. "She’s
taken to America pretty easily and pretty
well. There is no culture shock at all. I
don’t know if I should be worried about
that, if she’s internalizing things
or it’s just that she’s a lot
more sharp and confident than I knew."
After a traditional henna ceremony to welcome
Naima into Hatem's family and a large wedding
and honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico, Naima and
Hatem begin their lives as husband and wife.
They are very much in love as they set up
house in Hatem's parents' basement.
But Naima is beginning to feel the full force
of homesickness now that the whirlwind of
activity surrounding the wedding has died
down. "In Palestine I can do everything,
but here I feel I cannot do anything,"
she says. "I can’t say I’m
lost, but I need to do something, to find
myself. If I had to choose between here and
there, I would choose there."
As Naima interviews for jobs, it quickly becomes
clear that, despite her outward confidence,
her grasp of English is painfully weak. She
takes a job as a kindergarten teacher at a
Muslim school where she must wear a veil—something
she avoided at home.
Um-Mujahed is also homesick, bored and housebound.
"Old people stay home here," she
muses. "It’s good for people who
work, time passes. Back home I used to walk
around, visit people. Back home I went everywhere
alone, but here I just stay home and don’t
do much."
One year after her arrival, Um-Mujahed takes
her first and last sightseeing tour of Chicago.
She will return to El Jib in two days. Naima
is beside herself with grief as she bids farewell
to her beloved mother. "We’re going
to miss her so much," she cries into
Hatem's shoulder. "She’s like my
eyes. I can’t see anything without her."
In the spring of 2000, Hatem lands a job directing
the youth program for the Arab community organization
his parents helped found. It is his first
real job since leaving college. "The
mission for the Arab American Action Network
is the overall empowerment of the community,"
he explains. "A place like this can build
youth leaders, we can build adult leaders."
With the advent of the second Intifada in
September 2000, Hatem becomes increasingly
political, a development which will have a
profound impact on his and Naima's marriage.
Find
out more about cultural riches: henna body
art and history >
Learn
more about Arab American immigration >
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| The mother
of the bride dances at the henna ceremony |
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| Naima and Hatem's
wedding |
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