I still miss my family, i almost know everything around here, well not EVERYTHING, coz i still don’t have a car, so i dont know all the places .. but i do know alot now, i can do stuff without waiting for people to help me …
The semester is passing really sloooowww !! and im doing much better than before, until few days ago .. there wasn’t any thing particular, but i just felt that i ran out of air, i missed everyone back home .. and i mean EVERYONE … i called my mom, talked two words .. and that was all . i couldnt talk more .. i cried .. i cried alot .. i was tired of being away and always thinking ..
I already missed christmas and new years, I missed my mom’s birthday which was on the 8th of march, then missed mother’s day which in Syria is on the 21st of march… and still to come, i will miss easter .. just thinking about how everybody will be together and I will be on the other side of the world makes it really tough.

I didn’t do much in Spring break, i was working in the school.. I work in the registrar’s office, I’m supposed to do 180 hours a semester, and i get 25% off my tuition .. and since i had nothing to do, i thought i might as well finish my hours in the school …
Speaking about the school, there is a big possibility that the Schiller campus moves to downtown St. Petersburg .. every one is excitedddd !! we went checked the bulding and the whole area … maaannn that place is awesommeee .. i hope they just sign the contract and we move there, the whole university and our life style will be different. it’s right in the middle of downtown, like all the clubs bars restaurants are across the street, everything is close to you that you don’t even need a car !!
so now every is just waiting and crossing their fingers ..

These are the people in the dorms, if it wasn’t for them, i would be dead bored here and i wouldn’t be able to keep going.
Fall 08 passed by so fast, didn’t have so much out door action but more of indoor activities.. I planned a trip to New York after the end of the semester, I went visited one of my old friends from Syria, I spent christmas there.. man those were good times, he showed me around, intensive clubbing everyday … Rami bro, i owe you big time for everything you did ..
After coming back from New York we went to Tiesto’s concert in Green Iguana in Tampa, that was a funnnn night!! the place was packed. This was on the break between semesters, so most of the people in the dorms weren’t there.

I had a calm relaxing vacation since the new year’s eve until the beginning of the spring semester, Mostly chilling home or going out with the people that were still in Florida!
I didn’t go home, because it wasn’t worth it, the plane ticket was too expensive to go home for only one month. Can’t wait for summer break ! I’m sooo going home … I wanna see my nephew, mom, dad and brother .. and the rest of the people i left behind when i came here!

The regestration day in Schiller goes on for 2 days, i was worried about all the paper work and steps as well as every other new student. But the moment we got there, i was impressed.. All the rooms that we have to visit for registration step had numbers, from 1 to 9, so that’s it .. u go to one and then 2 and so on.
I met with my advisor, picked the classes i want, and moved on to the next step .. that was the case that day, until you get to the last step.
There wasn’t anything special about that day in the school, the only thing though was that we had to wait forever in the line to be able to pay.

I walked back home With Jerry, and we decided to go grocery shopping. Neither of us had a car, i knew only 2 ppl with cars back then, Moe and another guy, Both of the guys were working so i didn’t bother calling them. We started walking to walmart, which supposedly is near by, but again .. the sun is burning.. i looked it up online, walmart was 1.3 miles away from us, and started walking… getting there was kind of easy, we were just laughing and talking, watching thing on the way … we got there, started filling the cart with i need this i need that, we bought enough food probably for a month, BUT none of us thought of how are we going to take these home… we left walmart with at least 10 bags loaded with stuff..
And there wasn’t even a second thought, we were going to walk home, like it’s nothing, it’s near by.

Well, after one minute of walking, we had to stop, reposition the bags in our hands and try to walk again, but it didn’t work.. the bags were heavy and we are wearing flip-flops, and walking under the sun.. it was a perfect combination… there was only one thing missing though !! what’s that ?? to have the cans and juice bottles falling from the bags we are carrying!! Yes one of the bags got torn, and everything started falling out of it, that’s when i thought we should call some1, but !! i called moe, he couldn’t make it .. and i called the other guy i know but same thing, he had work.
We had one solution.. and that is to WALK !! and so we did, until we saw a bus coming .. a bus that we don’t know where is going to, and that’s one thing about Largo, Busses don’t have a certain time, you just go chill in the bus stop, and the bus will come eventually.. yea that’s a fact !!
So anyway, we jumped on that bus and after talking to the driver, it turned out he is just going straight, it wasn’t quite what we wanted, but it was eough to get us just a little bit closer to our place. we got off the bus and, kept walking again with stopping every once in a while, and finally we got home after a long adventure learning the lesson that says: you can’t go major grocery shopping without a car, and that 1.3 mile, is not a short walk

the 1st few months over here, were like a movie scene put on replay, I never went out that much, although i was friends with almost everyone, but i never felt like going out. I spent my time home in front of my computer, either talking to my friends, or watching movies. It was more fun for me to be talking to my friends and parents rather than going out. This doesnt mean that i never went out, but i didn’t go that often, my dad always used to tell me: “Don’t worry, it will be better in time”, well he was right, AS ALWAYS.
Things started getting better in time, one of the key solutions over here is having a car, although i don’t have one, but still, now i have friends, friends that are close enough to me for me to ask them for a ride or anything.
I used to only hang out with the people in the dorms in the beginning, and then i got used to the situation over here, and things got better. I like going out more often, but that old feeling still hits me sometimes, that i don’t want to do anything but stay home, be my self.

The school it self has many activities for students, which is something awesome, A picnic for students in the beginning of the semester in a nice park in the area, we get to meet each others talk, play soccer, volley ball or just hang around. Oh and too much food it’s one of the cool days in the semester it’s just fun.
The next good activity was the Bowling night, always fun !! bowling food and drinks, you meet every one, and feel the love, it is great when you see International people, and when i say international i do mean it, you can literally find people from any spot in the world. Every body getting along just fine and enjoying themselves.
Another thing the school does all the time is the Open Buffet dinners, picking a different spot every time, and gather people around the same area to eat, laugh and relax after classes.

Things are going better, the train is going forward and we are on it.. I do believe my dad now, Yes! everything will be fine, I still miss him, my mom and my nephew, but again i have to do something for my future, and since I’m blessed by being in such an environment, i might as well take advantage of the chance and enjoy every single moment.

I took my stuff and bags out of the room, and headed to the dorms with Jerry.  The dorms are like a 4 minute walk from the hotel and a 3 minute walk from the school. We started walking and I was feeling the hot sun for the 1^st time. It was really hot - so hot that the 4 minute walk felt like 1 hour. I was walking and looking around at the houses, the trees and the cars.  It was a quiet neighborhood. We kept walking and talking about the school and the people he already met.

We got to our room, and I got my first surprise! I was expecting dorms like a building with rooms, but that wasn’t the case. There were a bunch of houses next to each other bought by the university and given to students. We had a living room, a small kitchen, a small bathroom, and a bedroom. I put my stuff down, stood in front of the AC for a while, then started unpacking and putting everything in its place.

I took a quick shower and we went to the school. I wanted to see how it looked and to see Moe. We walked in and everything was still weird in my head. I’m literally in the middle of nowhere, and I know only 2 people through the phone. I saw Moe, and I talked Arabic again in person for the first time since I left Egypt. I met some other people as well, everyone seemed nice. I walked in the building and started looking at the classes, the offices and the stuff in there. It is a nice place.  “Let’s see how well I adapt!” I thought to myself.

That day went by sooo slow and boring. We went back home, and all I had to do was go online. There was nothing else to do in that hot weather, and with knowing nobody at all.
I checked online for the nearest phone shop, and me and Jerry decided to walk there since he told me it was nearby.

We walked and walked and walked until around noon. The sun was so strong, and we were just walking. I was complaining that it’s far, and we should’ve taken a cab or something. He kept saying “It’s here! It’s here!” Anyway, we finally got there and I got my phone, and then a great thing happened. I tried to text my parents, but Syria wasn’t listed on the company’s system. Well that’s not what they said, but that was the fact.  I tried and tried, and then I called the customer service line and they said it should work, but it didn’t. I sent a complaint but still nothing. I couldn’t send or receive anything.

So now I got my phone, and I just wanted to go home, cool down, and escape from this hot weather. But Jerry was wanted to go the other dorms see the rest of the guys.  It was nearby, but it never felt like it! And after we walked there, nobody was there at all! So we had to walk back to our room for like another 10 minutes. Nothing special happened that day, mostly online talking to people back home and boredom. 

We had an orientation day in the school the next morning.  We woke up and rushed there.  People were jumping all over the place. We had to sit and instructors, professors and the director gave us speeches and explained some basics. Then, we had the chance to get up and grab some food during the break.

That’s when I had my 1^st conversation with Massimo, one of the closest people to me now, but he can be a pain in the rear sometimes I’m just writing this here for him to read it. 
So we ate, we talked, and then back to the meeting. We got up in front of everyone and had to say our names, where we from and what are we majoring in.

After the orientation was over, we were sent to many desks in the hall to meet representatives for different companies. Banks, insurance companies, car companies, bikes, everything that a new person in the area could possibly need. I opened a bank account, bought an insurance plan, and headed back to the school with Jerry. I met some more people there then we went home.

We had to come back the next day for registration and some other things and then start classes. I didn’t have much to do in the afternoons but to hang around with my neighbors and new friends that I met in the dorms. They lived in the main house here.  Me and jerry used to go over, order food, watch TV or just sit and talk. Pure boredom, but I was hoping things would get better.

The house was quiet.  Everyone was just sitting there doing absolutely nothing, while I was just zipping my bags closed and checking if I forget something.  Mom or Dad checked on me every once and a while and I can still see the look in their eyes when they were at the door of my room seeing me getting ready to leave.

In another spot in my city a group of ten guys and girls were gathered together getting ready to drive to the airport and meet me there.  I got in the car and started looking at everything on my street for the last time.  We weren’t talking much in the car.  Everyone was drowned in their own world of thoughts while I’m just thinking of what’s next, and what is waiting for me.

My flight was at 8:15 pm and I was in the airport at around 6:30 pm. My friends were already there, and the casual jokes started coming: “Don’t get all American on us now when you get there!” “You’re coming back here one day, so you better not get cocky.” Stuff like that, because I guess in those kinds of moments you can’t find better things to say.

The clock was ticking and my flight time was almost there. In front of the gate, everyone was gathered taking pictures with me.  I start hugging all my friends one by one and hearing their wishes that I can still hear ringing in my ears.

My mom was standing there holding my nephew as I was saying goodbye to my Dad, my brother and his wife. I had been thinking of this moment all along since I got my visa, not the whole airport moment, but saying goodbye to my mom. With some tears and pain we managed to say goodbye and the moment I wanted to walk, my nephew started crying wanting to come to me. I will never forget that moment. Everyone who was there broke down crying, but that’s life I guess.

I started walking through the gate, then security, luggage checking, and then security again. I finally got my boarding pass and ended up at the gate, waiting for it open. That’s when it all started; I was completely by myself from that point after. My brain was working so fast, things flashing in front my eyes - people I left, family, friends.  When will I see them again? When am I coming back? Then as the time was ticking and I was making my way to my seat in the airplane, I started thinking of what’s coming my way. USA - somewhere that many people dream of going to. I know nobody there. My Dad have some friends there.  I do have some friends in LA and NY, BUT, I wasn’t going anywhere near them.  My destination was a small town in Florida called Largo.

My flight was to Cairo, Egypt, where I had to stay for one night, and luckily I had a friend there from back home. We met and he showed me around, and then I rushed back to the hotel to rest before my 12 hour flight to JFK airport in NY.

I couldn’t sleep, thinking about the unknown, about this far away country that has everything. Where my favorite singer, favorite actor, and my favorite dancer come from. Who am I gonna meet? What does the university look like? How will I get along with totally random people with a totally different mentality? Questions like this were stuck in my head while I was trying to sleep, and then went on while I was making my way to the airport the next morning.

I checked my watch in the plane, and… it’s another 12 hours more to New York, where I have to wait 3 hours something and get on another plane to Tampa. In Tampa I’ll have to wait for the Super Shuttle van to take me to the hotel next to the school, because I will arrive at midnight and I can’t get to the dorms after the school’s working hours.

I met a guy on the school’s group on facebook, and he was going to be my roommate. Will we get along? Is he boring? Was it right to just pick someone online? Maybe I should’ve waited until I get there and then find someone?

I landed in New York after an exhausting flight, got out of the gate and looked around. So this is the place I see in movies? This is what the place smells like, but I think I love Germany better. That was my first impression if you asked me that moment.

I didn’t want to be late (although I had 3 hours until my next flight), so I went to the next gate to find my flight to Tampa, I checked my bags and went through security. Surprisingly, it was all simple and easy. Usually,  being Arab doesn’t help you much in the airports : D.. I mean once they see an Arabic passport, they suddenly have this look in their faces, and look at each other  as if they are saying, “We got one!” lol.  But yea everything was fine.  I was just chilling in there waiting for the flight, bought some drinks, bought a calling card and wanted to call my family.  I went to the closest phone booth, dialed my Dad’s number and: “We are unable to deliver your call, the destination requested is restricted.” Hmmm greeeeeat! What a nice start !! I mean come on .. I tried few times, but I got the same thing.  So, I called Moe and told him to call my dad and tell him I arrived and I’m fine.

That was the first time I actually sat and took a deep breath since I left my parents. It was about time to smoke a cigarette after a looooongggg flight.  I started looking around for somewhere to smoke, but I failed.  I asked somebody and they told me I have to go outside to smoke and come back in. I was like “fine”, and so I did. I finished my smoke while looking around in the airport.  I’m finally here I said to myself .  I walked back in and Damn!  I have to go through security again, and this time the line was sooooo long. Way to go.  No one told me I have to pass through security again.  I just thought it’s an exit where you can smoke and get back in. Well, I’m not in Syria anymore I guess.

I waited in the line with everyone, until a lady came and stated that for gates 1 through 16, I can follow her.  I got in the group of people who followed her, and we walked to the other side of the airport, where there was another security point and the line was really short.

It was my turn. I showed my passport.  The guy checked it for like 2 minutes then moved along, took off my shoes,  put my laptop out of my backpack and put everything on the belt to go through the monitoring machine.

Please step forward the lady said and I did. I didn’t even beep when I passed through the metal detector, but when I was waiting to get my stuff from that belt, someone asked, “Who’s bag is this,” and I said mine. She is like, “You will get it from there,”  and pointed to a corner not very far. Now someone else came and asked me to go to this glass room with them, and they started puffing some annoying air on me, then took my stuff and started analyzing it. I was done after a while,  got my stuff back and walked through.  I learned my lesson:  Once you pass the security check…No Smoking!
 

Finally, it was the time for my flight to Tampa.  I got on the plane and passed out.  I  woke up while we were touching down, got my stuff together and rushed to the baggage claim. I couldn’t wait.  I wanted to get there, but where there ?  I don’t know. Just there where I will be for the next few years.

Before I get in the van, I felt what they told me about before I got here: “it’s too hot!” I was like yea right, I come from Syria dude.  Well, they were right, because it’s not the hot that was bad, it was the humidity.

I got in the van that was supposed to drive me to the hotel. The streets were dark, it was almost 12 am, and I was checking the roads wondering when will I be heading back on this road? Back to where I’m from.

After driving for like 30 minutes, I saw the sign I was looking for, LARGO, the van made its first stop.  I thought it was me, but it wasn’t, then again, and again. Every time it stopped I thought it was me, until I saw a sign on the right that said Schiller International University, and I knew I was close because I know that the hotel is near the school. The van stopped finally, dropped my bags, and there I was, but not my final destination, because I had to move to the dorms the next morning.

I went in, got the key for my room, and there was a letter for me from my roommate saying he waited for me,  but I was late and that he will come in the morning. So here I am in the middle of Florida (not literally) in a hotel room with my computer, with nobody at all, no one to call and no one to contact.

I grabbed the phone in my room tried to call my parents, but it didn’t work, tried again and it kept giving me a weird tone. I went down to the lobby and talked to the guy at the front desk, and he told me to try the phone there. I went to the phone, trying to dial my home number, and the guy calls me.  I turned around, and he was like, “You have a call.”  Yes…it was my dad.

That phone call! I can’t forget it. It was so weird, I was holding my tears telling him it’s after midnight here and it’s around 8 am back home. I talked to him and to my mom and I went to my room. I jumped on my bed, stared at ceiling and started breathing. I couldn’t think much, cause one thing kept going round in my head…what about tomorrow ?

I got my college diploma back home from a British college franchised there (London City College), and after I got it, they closed the center for some reason.

During that period, I decided to stop school for a while and get involved in the business; I liked the deal closing and price negotiating processes, along with the correspondences and translations I used to do in the office. Due to the type of business my father runs, he travels a lot. My brother helps him in the shop. I’ve been to Germany with him a lot of times, because that’s where we import car parts from, and ship them back to Syria.

Visiting Germany a lot, and having cousins and aunts there, made me like the country. I started thinking of moving there to continue my studies, but that thought wasn’t complete, due to the war in Iraq and the entire situation in the area.  Then, the business had a heart attack, and we no longer needed to import anything from Germany because the market was full, and no one was buying.

Schiller International University’s Florida campus wasn’t my 1st choice; my plan was the campus in Heidelberg, Germany. But when things didn’t work, I contacted Schiller Florida. A few days later, I got an e-mail from a person who is now one of my best friends, Moe. Moe sent me an e-mail back asking for my phone number and the right time for him to call and answer all my questions. And so it happened, he guided me through all the steps I need to get my visa and fly to the Sunshine State.

I was so excited and ready to leave the country already, due to lots of disappointments and rough times. I wanted to be somewhere better, do something better, and help my family in the future.  I was counting the days, until few days. Everyone in the house was sad, trying to hide it, but all doing a terrible job. I started visiting my favorite places for the last time, and saying goodbye to the people I know, because I had my mind set on spending the last 2 days in the house with my mom and dad.

My family consists of: my Mom and Dad, my brother (28), his wife (25), and their son (1 year and 4 months now). That kid is my nephew, my God son, and my life. I’m a person who is so attached to his family - I know you hear this all the time, but trust me, my case is way more complicated.

My mom means something I can’t describe to you. One of the reasons that made me stop and think before making my decision to fly to Florida, was my mom. I cried a lot, she cried a lot and we both still do, but she told me, “You have to go.  It’s for your own good. I want to be proud of you.” I hardly understood what she said, because her tears were choking her.