My American school, Dhahran Academy, only went to the 9th grade. After that, I would have to be sent to boarding school abroad.
My parents did not want to send me to boarding school.
We had to leave Saudi Arabia.
My parents didn’t want to return to Lebanon where there was a civil war raging.
It was either Australia or the United States, where we had relatives.
My parents decided to pursue the American Dream.
They spent months making arrangements for our move, including hiring a lawyer to get us green cards and purchase a convenience store in California from one of our relatives for income.
I was excited to move to America.
I imagined life in America like it was depicted in my favorite movie, Grease. I would be dancing off the school bus and everyone would break into song.
I was misled.
My family was misled.
America was more like Ozark and Mean Girls.
Our relatives had not made any progress on our green cards, like they had promised, and they sold the convenience store to someone else before we arrived.
Did we have to leave?
Where would we go?
I was scared.
I just wanted a home.
Just like the Armenians in Artsakh.
There is a war against Armenians.