My address was 156-35 76st Howard Beach,Queens, NY 11414,USA. If they haven’t pulled the house down already, I’m sure some Sicilian family lives there now. Howard Beach was strictly a Jewish/Italian neighborhood,and as an Egyptian Muslim,oh my,I fit in just right!
Howard Beach was all white people,you could feel all the eyeballs sticking out when you walk in the street. I never understood how they walk around half-naked and make love in the park and yet find it so weird that someone chose to keep his body to themselves. The thing is,I was veiled,and when you're in new york ,it's another way of saying that you're a swearing-staring magnet!
Americans... you need encyclopedias just to write about how diverse,weird,funny,and interesting they are. I dealt with nationalities ranging from polish to African,and from Mexican to Russian. and religions! at only 14, I thought when you're a Jew you're extreme, it turned out that there is a religion encyclopedia of a thousand pages. Although there are that many religions in America,I had people swear at me for no reason,I had people come up to my face and ask what the heck I had over my head. it's because they've never seen anything like it or maybe they had their intolerance take on their wheels.
So, it was 2003 and i was a senior in high school then, I hadn't taken the SATs yet (scholastic aptitude test) which I had to take before I entered college. Therefore, I decided it's about time to take the test because otherwise, flipping burgers at McDonald’s would be a dream come true! After some small research I found a center called the Princeton review for SAT courses. I called it up and made an appointment for the following Saturday to take my placement test .Saturday came along just fine, it seemed like a normal day with the sun up in the morning and all. No adventure seemed to be heading my way. But God,did that day catch me off guard!
I left home two hours before my appointment .when I reached the subway station I had to ask someone which train to take in order to reach my destination turned out I had to take two because no train goes straight to where I was headed.
I was very nervous as usual,i just hate being late. I asked an old man who was sitting next to me how far my stop was,and the poor man answered me the whole five consecutive times I asked!. so far,the day was a normal New York City day:fast,crowded and busy. by that time,I was only 30 minutes away from my appointment and wasn't really sure if I was going to make it on time. anyways,it didn't take the second train long,this time I didn't ask anyone just in case my reputation goes public in the subway arena with a picture of me saying "Don't answer her, she's slow".
It was still day light when i got off, and the first person i saw i asked about how to reach the address on the ad. a few steps down the block and i started to feel something in the air. My mind went " and I thought Howard Beach was Jewish?? I saw crowds of men in black suits with long curly hair,women in long skirts and temples on every corner. I didn’t know Israel was so close to where i lived!! but to be honest,all the Jews i asked were pretty nice and helpful. I'm guessing God at the time left all his other duties and made me his first priority. Being lost in an obviously religious Jewish neighborhood when it's post September 11th and wearing a veil does require divine protection.
If I had joined a marathon,i would've walked less than i did that day. it seemed like this address had a different meaning to each person I asked. For God's sake ,it's a location,it cant be in more than one place! After a long journey,I reached the Princeton review an hour and a half late. the lady in charge told me that the test was almost over but she was nice enough to let me take it.
I finished my test,then I walked out of the building and it was pitch black. On my way back to the train station i did get a little lost ,just not like the first time. It was about 9pm when I hopped on the first train, just hoping New York would spare me anymore suspense for the rest of the night,but New York was a lot more generous than I'd thought.
I was finally on the second train on the way back home. it was somewhere around 10:30 at night. let me tell you this, this timing in NY is nothing like it is Cairo. It is dead silent,desert-like dark and a mini horror movie. As i was sitting in the train my eyelids were automatically shutting. a man right across,was just not taking his eyes off me.
He looked Hispanic,middle-aged,and well-built. According to the stereotype, when you mix a Hispanic male,with a 17 year-old Muslim girl in a New York City subway at almost midnight, you get a result of theft,rape,or murder! He was literally staring at me,looking me in the eye. He wasn't checking me out, it was more like examining me. I'd never felt so scared in my life,no one helps anyone in New York when it comes to life-threatening situations. While I was imagining how it is going to be like when I go to heaven,the man stood up ,came over and sat next to me.
My legs froze,my heart stopped,my lungs clogged,and my tongue was paralyzed. He bent over,looked at me and asked:
" Are you Muslim?"
" Yes"
"Oh how nice,my father is Saudi Arabian and my mom is Brazilian and I haven’t seen him since I was fifteen. I'm going to see him next month"
If I had had a knife I would’ve been the one who delivered the stroke because the guy almost gave me a heart attack. It did not occur to me that this total stranger, after causing my hair to stand on end, would come up to me hoping to have a heart-to-heart conversation about our families and backgrounds. I was home by midnight. My mom was praying and when she finished she told me that she was about to call the police because she was worried sick about me. I went to bed and kissed the day's adventure good bye.
2008
No comments:
Post a Comment