I can live alone

There is nothing that really upsets me over here, even being an Arab from a different world and with a veil. This was surprising. I expected it to be much more difficult. Maybe it is because of Bonn. If I would go to the eastern part of Germany, maybe it would be different.

What have you learned during the two years in Germany?

That, as a girl, I can live alone, away from family. That I have the power to do it. In Egypt, you don’t even have a chance to live alone. A girl stays in the parents house until moving in with her husband.

I have become more open to the world. In Egypt I was only meeting Egyptians. Here I have learned that it is OK to be different. We are all different, but we can live together and be friends. Before it simply did not cross my mind. You live in your own country and don’t think about these things. But here you meet the people and find out that there are more connections than differences. We are all human beings. Of course, it depends on the perspective. If you want to see differences, then you will find only differences.

Anything you found particularly odd when moving here?

I get so many letters here in Germany. We don’t use mail services that often in Egypt. It was a culture shock. I did not open the letters at first. I did not know that you have to. Because of that I started getting requests for payment and I did not realize something was wrong. Then I had to learn that.