[^] A Promenade through my Journey : by Christine K.

These are bits and pieces of my autobiography done in 2004

…I’ve been asked through the years the common question “Where are you from?” I grew up 15 Km north of Beirut, Lebanon in a city called Jounieh which is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It’s a beautiful city, I must say, positioned on its dazzling bay. I was raised in a house where its balcony overlooked the spacious scenery. During the summer season, a night time gaze gives a remarkable sparkling view of the area. That very view is imprinted in my mind and I think will always stay there. Now that I come to think of it, the Mediterranean climate and the location of my childhood had a great influence on my life. I came to the United States when I was twelve so it has been around seven years now. Seven years living here is daily becoming a longer and longer life, making Lebanon seem like nothing, not necessarily “home” anymore. But home is where the heart is, and my heart has always been in Lebanon…

…My culture definitely says a lot about myself, but America had an influence on me as well. I don’t think I totally fit with the Lebanese people or the Americans. Moving here made me become my own person, a person blended between two different cultures. I like the way I am because I’m not too much of the one way or the other, but I feel as if I found the middle way…

…Since education is highly valued in Lebanon, girls as well as boys are sent to private schools at an early age where French and English are heavily taught in addition to Arabic. Kids attend their first year in the Petit Jardin, Little Garden, at three years old then next are sent to the Grand Jardin, Big Garden. It’s funny how big I thought I was back then even though I was a little, tiny three year old. I was excited to go to school and be a part of the morning cycle of my sister and brothers. They used to get up early and get ready while my mom made them sandwiches, and then they would hop in my dad’s old orange Peugeot and head to school. As my dad drove around our building and went down the main street of Kouh el Louz, Curve of Almonds, my cute younger brother and my mom would go to our balcony and wave goodbye to us until we faded between the buildings on our crescent shaped view of the Bay of Jounieh…

        …The first thing I think of when I look back at those years is my first day at the Big Garden. My younger brother was going to school too now and didn’t join my mom at the balcony anymore to see the funny sight of an old car zooming, packed with five children. When we got to school, we were assigned to stand in rows with our colleagues in front of our classes. I was holding my brother’s little hand so he joined me to my row. He was so cute with curly, light hair and his innocent eyes were roaming around dazed. I still can remember the voice of his teacher as she tried to take his hand and lead him in the right direction. It took him a few minutes to accept the fact that he had to leave me and go on his own, and it was so adorable. At the end of each day after school, we would wait in the waiting room for my dad to come and pick us up. He was a commander in the Army so we knew it was him when he walked in with his uniform. He used to kneel with arms wide open as we ran fast with our big smiles towards him…

…I think my elementary years were the biggest and most memorable years of my life. I went to the private school St. Famille De Maronites, The Holy Family of the Maronites, where I made some really close friends and fun memories. And I can also remember so many stories just being at home and spending time with my three brothers and sister. I really enjoyed having a lot of siblings because our house was always full and we were never bored.  We all had our similar and different traits and when we were all together, it was just fun…

…I lived in a very cute neighborhood in Ghadir. Most people live in big apartments that they own in the cities in Lebanon. My neighborhood was all buildings with a few little houses. It was so much fun there because all the kids in that neighborhood were around the same age, so we were all friends and we hung out all the time. There were little shops at the bottom of the buildings, and people were always outside talking or doing something.  We’d always buy junk food or ice cream there and meet our friends. When we were bored, all we did was stand on our balconies and see who’s down in the street and either we’d just watch them or go join them. We had our little spot on the corner of this one street where all of us used to sit and talk and just hang out. During the summer, we used to plan days when we’d all go on a picnic in the nearby pine forest or go down to the beach. This one time we found fifty dollars on these random stairs that are everywhere in Lebanon!  We didn’t know what to do with it!  We all decided it would be fair if we used it to buy some food and beer and go for a picnic. In Lebanon there’s no age limit, and we didn’t even think it was a big deal or nothing so we never actually used to get drunk…

...My dad wanted to move to the United States back in 1987 to live close to his family and get away from the civil war that occurred in Lebanon.  Ten years later in 1997, our immigration papers came through and we were then able to move to America. The war was over for seven years now but moving close to his family still seemed a good idea. My older brother and sister couldn’t come with us anymore, because they were over the age of 21 at the time. I was very excited to move to a new country especially the United States because the movies and pictures I saw about it made it seem like such a beautiful and exciting place. We packed everything and left my sister and brother and came to the US in late August and landed in Cleveland, Ohio…