Asim Abraham - Alienation: My Life in Saudi Arabia and America

Alienation

My Life in Saudi Arabia and America

Asim Abraham

iUniverse, Inc.
Bloomington

Alienation

My Life in Saudi Arabia and America

Copyright 2012 by Asim Abraham

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-4259-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4260-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4261-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914036

iUniverse rev. date: 8/21/2012

Contents

My son, this book is dedicated first to you and then to
the rest of the world. For you, I live and breathe. Never
doubt that you can be somebody, but always do whats right;
thats what really matters.

LIVING IN A CULTURE thats known for its strict regulations and methods pushed me from an early age to write about my feelings and ideas in a hidden biography, far from my parents eyes. Ever since I woke up into this world, Ive been told never to express my feelings or ideas, not to anyone. When I acknowledged that this was the case, I came to a realization that what Im seeing isnt true and life is filled with coded areas, which Ive always been kept away from.

That drove my curiosity to explore this world of freedom of speech, and my first paper to this world came in 1994. At that time I was only thirteen or fourteen years old. I wrote about the Bosnian war that was happening and how it affected the lives of millions of families. That essay opened the doors for me to write for my schools magazine and have my own monthly column in which I wrote about world issues and their effect on human nature.

Thats not all. Although I was raised as an American, I went back to my home country, Arabia, without any introductions from my parents. My brother and I were shocked; we struggled to learn about a new culture, traditions, and religion. I was faced with many trials, including learning a new language in a short time, understanding the codes of the tribe, mastering the tribes religion, and finally, living in Arabia.

At that time, I wanted to say what I thought about all of this. But that was impossible because of my young age and the rules and regulations that took everything from us, even our right to speak what was on our minds. Life seemed to be more complicated, darker, with every passing year; we lost more than just our freedom of speech but our dignity as well.

I started to write my biography at the age of fourteen, but I never intended to make it into a book. I just wanted to put what was on my mind on paper, before I went nuts. In grade eleven, I started seriously to write about my life in book form; I wanted people of the West to know a different lifestyle than the one they were accustomed to. From that time and ever since, Ive been fighting for the freedom of speech and human dignity in my country.

I drowned myself into my work life, which gave me much to write about. I faced numerous obstacles when I tried to finish some simple paperwork in the government circle so that I could extract an ID. Rather than taking ten or twenty minutes, a process like that takes a couple of days or even weeks. That opened my eyes to a filthy world of government corruption and agendas.

Traveling back and forth from Arabia to America gave me a lot to compare and write aboutthe cultural and human rights differences in the two countries and freedom of speech versus the lack thereof were forefront on my mind. It also gave me the luxury of taking the best from both worlds and shaped me into a multicultural person, which is reflected in my style of writing and storytelling. I want this book to be a message of peace for both worldsWest and East. I hope it will help people gain an understanding of each other. We must all learn how to accept others regardless of their skin color, religion, and ethnic roots. We are all human and come from Adam and Eve.

FIRST, ID LIKE TO thank God for everything, starting from giving me life, strength, and my son. I offer a big thanks to my beloved mom and dad for raising me right during my growing-up years and for their support since the day they knew about my book. Id like to thank my brothers and sisters for their remarkable effort in making the best environment for writing.

Special thanks to all of my friends who stood next to me and believed in me. Id like to thank everyone who helped me to make this book real and put it on sale, from the publisher to the deliveryman.

Private thanks to my real inspiration and light in the dark, who was behind the idea from the startmy son, Haytham. He gave me so much to think about and believe in; I came to understand that theres a real reason for this life; I live it to be truthful to what I do and what I see.

Last, but not least, I thank everyone who believed in me, bought my book, and made something out of me.

I hope this book will be helpful and inspiring for all my readers.

THE ARABIAN PENINSULA IS known for its significant geographical placement in this worldas the center point between the West and the East; you might call it the meeting point for those two huge worlds. Forget everything youve seen on any Hollywood movies; till this moment, everything youve seen is false. The real thing is hidden from your eyes, and in this book, Ill open your eyes to whats really going on there and how people are really living.

As a boy who grew up and was raised in the United States, understanding one day that I was really a part of a culture and country about ten thousand miles from where I grew up was difficult. After spending many years living in an environment of freedom and human dignity, I flew back with my family to my place of origin, Arabia. From the moment I set foot in the airport, I was faced with another language, rules, and ideologies that were far different from my own. As a result, I isolated myself from others, trying to understand what was going on with my life.

Soon enough, I learned the language and coped with this new, hot place and its way of living, although, inside, I never agreed with many of the tribal codes and other aspects of the culture. They felt like chains for my thoughts and ideas. From an early age, I started to express my feelings and ideas, but I was faced with rejection and shameful words. That was my first step to writing what I felt and thought down and hiding my writing from my parents. I found a sanctuary in school, where I was able to write for the school magazine as one of the publications main writers.

My multicultural upbringing caused me to encounter different thoughts, methods, and ideas. That created countless problems and bumps in my life from an early age and into adulthood; I was faced with government problems, courts, and major personal issues, which led me to lose faith and disbelieve everything Id ever believed in.