A Thousand Farewells

 

 

For a journalism assignment I read the book A Thousand Farewells by Nahlah Ayed's. The book is about Nahlah's life, from moving to a refugee camp as a young girl, to being a reporter for CBC.

Nahlah grew up in Winnipeg Canada. From what she describes in her book, her childhood was quite normal. Out of her parent’s sight, she lived a seemingly normal Canadian life. She went to school, made friends, and would play with those friends. But when she was with her family life was a bit different. Nahlah grew up in an Arabic home.

"In those years, life for us kids was about being well behaved. It was about sitting up straight, legs together, hands on lap. It was about keeping clothes clean, about speaking only when spoken to and playing only when given permission.”

Nahlah’s parents tried to teach their children as much Arabic culture as they could. They had to learn the Arabic language, and all the rules that came with being Arabic. Even after all that their parents taught them, they still felt it wasn’t enough. So at the end of 1975 Nahlah’s family packed up and moved to Jordan

Nahlah remembers the refugee camp that they lived in quite well. She describes thing about the camp in such great detail, a lot of the times when I was reading I thought I could smell the things she was describing. Sometimes people think journalists don’t have an imagination, no creativity; they only put fact to paper. Nahlah proves those people wrong, the way she wrote this book with the vivid details really kept me interested.

“The basta was an ideal spot from which to watch the refugees walk by and sample every foul smell the market had to offer. The souk was a place where underwear, live chickens, and bell-bottom jeans coexisted, where stall-keepers advertised their wares at the top of their lungs.”

Like a lot of my classmates, I felt it was hard to keep up with all the names, and places Nahlah mentions. Maybe it’s because they are mostly foreign names like Abasah and Abdullah, but I felt like Nahlah added too many of her relatives in this story. I understand that Arab families are usually large, but I felt she could have not mentioned a couple people.

I think what journalists should take from this book is that you can’t take any experience for granted. Nahlah had a pretty terrible experience when she moved to the refugee camp. But looking back on what she had learned from that experience helped her with her work as a foreign correspondent. When other reporters flocked to the Middle East after 9-11 they had problems finding people to talk to because they didn’t know the Arab culture. Nahla on the other hand knew all of the rules that went with being in an Arab country and she used that knowledge to her advantage.

One of my all-time favourite memoirs is Russell Brand’s “Booky Wook” mainly because it’s about sex drugs and comedy (Hey I like all three of those things!) Now to be fair the two books are about two very different things, but there is one comparison I can’t overlook, both Nahlah and Russell had difficult upbringings. Nahlah grew up in a refugee camp; Russell had a crazy mother and a playboy for a father. Now I know this comparison is a stretch but the way I grew up wasn’t nearly as hard as the ways those two had to grow up. Is the secret to writing a good memoir having a hard childhood? Either way I enjoyed both memoirs. I guess I like reading about other people, I always think “What would I have done in their shoes”

Being a journalism student I learned a lot from this book, but the one thing I hope I’ll always remember is the quote from the back cover of the book.

"People are not quotes or clips, used to illustrate stories about war and conflict. People are the story, always."



Love bus

Yesterday was Valentines day so love way in the air, and in the bus. I got on the bus a little later than usual because I was guest hosting a radio show on Red River Radio. (You should listen to Red River Radio if you don't. I'm always on it, and I'm hilarious) I stood in front of the MTS centre waiting for my bus. The only other people waiting for the bus were an older couple who were in the middle of a hard core mac sesh. (It was kind of gross) My bus finally came and of course the couple got on with me. I went to the back of the bus and put my head phones on.

As I listened to my music I looked around the bus. There were maybe only 10 or 12 other people on the bus, and they were all in couples. I was the only one on the bus who wasn't with a significant other,  and it was kind of awkward.

Every one gave me that look that said "Awwee poor guy, he's all alone" which made things more... well.. kind of awkward.

I'm not the kind of person that hates on Valentines day, I think it's actually a really nice day. Every where you go people are holding hands, women walk around with flowers in their arms, and men do every thing they can so that they stay out of the dog house. Its a lovely day. And I'm also not the kind of guy that complains about Valentines day because I'm single. I love being single.

The thing I hate about Valentines day is that look you get from couples that say "Awwweee poor guy he's single" Seriously? For 364 days I can walk around and do what ever I want, but this one day I'm suppose to walk with my head down because of how I choose to live. Plus I'm 19, I thought I was at that age where I'm suppose to go out and be single.

So instead of holding my head down like the rest of the couples on the bus wanted me to, I held my head high and I was proud that I was single. As I got off the bus I pulled my phone out and did the only logical thing a single 19 year old boy would do. I called a very good friend of mine named Rachel, and I invited her to my place to have our own Valentines date. I didn't have to buy her flowers, I didn't take her to dinner, we just "hung out" and it was awesome

Back door stories

One thing I see every time I ride the bus is people having problems getting out of the back door. Those two little panels on each side of the door seem to confuse people every time. These are the top 5 stories I have about people using the back door.

#5. "Last minute sprint" A guy was sitting in the very back corner of the bus. He had his ear phones in and his head was bobbing to his tunes. The bus started to fill up with people and soon people were standing all the way in the back. Oblivious to where he was, and how full the bus was, the guy tried to make his bus ride seem a little shorter. The bus slowly came to a stop, and the guy finally looked to see where he was. He grabbed his back pack and sprinted his way through the crowd to make it to the back door in time. A women was just exiting the back door so the door was going to be open. As the light above the door turned off and the back door started to close, the guy tossed his bag in front of him and dove through the open door. As we pulled away, I looked through the window and saw him lying in the snow bank. A small triumph, for a bus hero.

#4. "BACK DOOR!!!" Everyone has seen this one, and unfortunately I've seen it multiple times. But for the sake of this post I'll tell you my favourite story. A women sitting just above the back door reached up and pulled the yellow string. As the bus slowly came to a stop she made her way to the back door. She stood in front of it and the lights above it came on. She stood there and looked at the door, waiting for something to happen. As the lights turned off and the bus started to move she yelled out "BACK DOOR" The bus stopped and the lights turned on. Again she yelled out "BACK DOOR!" At this point I've come to the conclusion that she thinks the door is suppose to open for her. Thankfuly the man sitting across from the door came to this conclusion as well. He stood up and pressed the pannels for her. "Oh" is all she said as she stepped off the bus.

#3. "Punch it open" The back door can be a problem, even when you use it properly. A young man was getting off the bus, and believe it or not, he was using the back door. He held his hands gentely over the yellow strips to open the door. When they didn't open he pushed his hand a little harder, again they didn't open. Out of know where the young man clinched his fist, wound back, and punched the yellow strip (he may have also yelled fuck.) The doors calmly opened and he stepped off.

#2. "Flipper" A women waited calmly by the back door as the bus came to a stop. The lights above the back door turned on indicating that the doors were ready to be opened. She stepped up to the doors like a batter stepping up to the plate in baseball. She pulled her arms back, her hands in the air opened wide. She then began to slap the back doors repeatedly. I'd say she got in about 6 good slaps on that door before the doors opened.

#1. "Oblivious" My number one story I saw from the back door came from earlier this year. A young man was standing right beside the back door. He had his head phones in and had his back facing the back door. The bus came to a stop and a few people jumped off. I could hear his music so I knew that he probably could't hear anything. As the back door shut, it shut on his back pack. The bell rang from the back and the doors opened. Again the doors shut, and again they hit the young mans back pack. At this point someone pointed at him and let him know his back pack was in the way. But as he turned, the door tried to shut again, again his back pack got in the way. Three times the door shut on this oblivious man's back pack. And I thought it was funny.