I have grown incredibly attached to my Syrian friends, whom I volunteer with at Catholic Charities in Atlanta. Fardos, who had needed computer literacy help, was my first volunteer case.
She was always so gracious and thankful of my help. She had shared so many of her culture’s cuisine with me. I would have so many foods to bring home to share with my own family. She shared food with me that I would not have known about otherwise.
She is a wonderful woman, with 5 beautiful children: Hanin 10, Nemin 8, Hazem 7, Nagham 5, Reffef 3. These kids are full of energy, questions, intelligence. They love watching Youtube cooking shows and hacker channels.
Visiting her reminds me of my family when we first immigrated to the United States. Seeing her small 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment be enough for all 7 people.
I had loved her since my first visit, how she had learned so quickly. Our bond had grown over the 3 months that I have volunteered with her. We talked about our cultures and our religions. There is still so much to learn. She was a fiery ambitious, life-loving, dancer and it was exhilarating to see her around her children.
They are moving today to Nebraska, where they can make a better living. I’ll miss them all.
How much can you change in a year? It’s been more than a year after my reflection in May 2017. I have my journal and blog to thank for keeping track of my reflections and goals of in the past, present and future.
As with a lot of things in life, less is more. Here are some things I did the past couple of months!
Highlights:
I moved to Atlanta!
Since last May’s reflections, I have moved out of NYC and onto Atlanta. I have also taken a lot of time to travel and worked remotely in between. I spent 3 months in Vietnam in 2018, and recovered a little bit at home before launching my new adventures in Atlanta.
So I feel like my life is a bit of a mess right now, but at least it’s my mess. I’m doing the things I like to do, and following my guts to get me there. So far, so good. Except for initial panic of being alone.
For the first time in a long time, I was by myself.
Having no pre-aquainted friends or family in the city, the strange new city was intimidating to me. I was afraid of the crazy traffic, and the notoriously highway I-85 with a horrible accident rate of at least 1x/day. The summer heat of high 90 degrees also didn’t help. I wanted to give up and run away, back to the safe haven of my small mountain town.
Thankfully, with plenty of encouragement from loved ones, I calmed down. I spent the 1 month rent money; if worse comes to worse, I will just pack up my car and drive home. I stayed.
Things I learned in my solitude:
The importance of making connections
I was elated to find out that my classmate, from studying abroad in Singapore, happens to live 20 minutes away from my apartment. I also have relatives going back generations, also living 20 minutes from me. Great news! They want me to move in with them until I can find a job that can support me!
A time to self-reflect
Being alone allows time to reflect on the things I want to do and my goals in life. I started pursuing my hobbies again- something I haven’t done since HIGH SCHOOL. There’s a good 8 years washing along the waves of life. These days, I have been spending a lot time reading, writing, up-keeping photography, listening/playing music, and exploring the city.
On a Hedonic Treadmill
At this point in life, I’m finding many things I do or want to do quite confusing. Chasing after things will get boring after awhile, as happiness comes down to equilibrium. It’s not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. I’m struggling with what I want to do.
A Proud Sister and Daughter!
While I enjoy living on my own, I also learned to appreciate my time with family a lot more. I particularly appreciate my parents for their support.
My 12 year old sister and 10 year old brother are animators on Youtube now! I’m so, so proud of them!
Please check it out and I would love to know what you think!
Winthanh, my 12-year-old sister is borderline obsessive with her artwork. Her DeviantArt contains amazing digital art, so proud of how far she’s come!
10-year-old brother takes after his artistic sister, creating his own style of animation. I don’t get the music they’re into these days, but the talent is real!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU7z5W_bUVY
My parents are taking more time to relax and travel, which I’m very proud for. They have been working too hard in life, and it’s time they let loose a bit and relax.
Trying New Things
Volunteered at a refugee assistance program, something that I’ve wanted to do since coming to the United States.
Made artichoke for the first time. It’s so delicious, my favorite method is roasting them! This is the recipe I used for roasting.
Gardened for the first time, which is a big deal, because I have a deep-rooted fear of earthworms. I’m now thinking of starting my own hot compost pile!
I now have a fitness tracker! At first, I resisted, for fear of becoming too reliant on having fancy technology attached to me at all times. After 2 months of use, I disabled most of my notifications, and now loving the sleep tracking, step tracking, calling/messaging, and waterproof feature!
On a Hedonic Treadmill
