My experience having a driver license

Me

      Where I came from, TOGO,West Africa, having a car is a luxury. People over there think that only rich people can have cars. Those who have cars think themselves  superior to the other. In fact most African drive without a drivers license. They do not have any experience. In contrast, in the USA having a car is a necessity. People over here need cars in order to get to work on time. Cars are not a rich thing in the USA and to have it, you need to have a drivers license.

    My first year in the USA was not so good. I had a chance to be hired by one of my uncles' store, but I lived in STRATFORD and my job was in BRIDGEPORT. So in order to get there, I had to take the bus, but at that time I did not know the bus schedule. It was really difficult for me to get to work on time. Sometimes when I missed the bus, my uncle's wife would come and pick me up. I was so scared to get lost or not be able to find my way home after work.

      One day I was in the car with my uncle when he started telling me that I needed a car but firstly I needed to get a drivers license. He explained to me the steps that I had to take to get my drivers license. He also said that it would be easier for me if I have a car. I got scared because I never drove before. I stayed silent for a moment and then suggested to have a motorcycle instead of a car. The reason why I chose a motorcycle was because I knew how to drive it back to my country. But my uncle said that it was dangerous to drive a motorcycle over here, that it was not safe. So I quickly forget that idea and started reading a driving license booklet. After that I went to the driving school for 8 hours which cost me $150. The driving school gave me a receipt to bring to the D.M.V.( department of motor vehicle) of Bridgeport to take a knowledge test. The knowledge test was $80, it was a test of 25 questions and in order to pass it you have to have 20 out of 25 correct. I did it and passed. After the knowledge test, they gave me an appointment in three months to come back and take the road test which I paid $40.

        At home when I was off, my uncle's wife would take me out and teach me how to drive. I remember the first time I sat on the drivers seat, I was so scared that my two legs started shaking. She told me to take a deep breath and when I was ready to let her know so we can go. In addition to pass the road test I went back to the driving school so that they could teach me to drive. I did three hours of driving with them and paid $125. The instructor taught me how to park the car and some other things.

      The first time I took the road test, I failed. I was so scared for no reason. I got nervous so I did not
park well, especially the reverse parking. Therefore, I took another appointment which I paid $40. The day of the appointment, I failed again. The instructor told me that I was so nervous that I needed to relax and focus on the road. He also said that I did not stop at the red light which I did not remember. Again I paid another $40 for a third appointment  and failed again the day of the test. I was heart broken and that day I was crying. I did not know that having a drivers license was that hard. I started losing hope but at the same time I was tired of taking the bus all the time. I wanted to have my own car. After that experience I gave up but now that am going to San Antonio, Texas to live with my husband and looking to start all over again. Even though I have already spend a lot  of money. I hope I will  get in San Antonio Texas.

  Dad I want a cat!

ANOUAR

           My nephew is 12 years old and he is in sixth grade. His name is ANOUAR ABDOUL SADATH. Anouar is 5 feet tall and a little chunky. He is really good at electronics. He loves playing games. Anouar has four electronic devices which are X box 360, wii, nintendo 3D and a kindle fire. Despite of his obsession of electronics, he also loves animals especially cats. It all started when I bought him a little fish, it was in a plastic container. To keep the fish alive, he was supposed to change the water very often. He did not do that and the fish died.

ANOUAR and his mom

           After that incident, he went crazy with frogs. Anouar wanted to have a frog so badly that he always bothered his mom all the time. He ended up getting a frog. After a couple of days, the frog escaped from the cage and ran away. His mom told me about the escape one night when I came from work. Anouar was so sad. After the loss of his fish and the frog, he started saying that he wanted a turtle. He would spent a lot of hours searching for companies who were selling turtles. One afternoon. when I was off  he finally found a website where he could buy the turtle and the company would delivere it. The small turtle was $30, the food and the cage were $ 20. The total was $50. He bothered his mom like all ways to use her debit card and bought the small turtle online. He was supposed to receive the turtle in a short amount of time, he waited and waited like a month. When he called them to know why they did not send his turtle , the company said that the turtle would be sent by plane that it would cost more money than before. Therefore, Anouar's mom got angry. She called them back and told them to cancel the transaction and put the money back in her debit card. She also said that, that was not part of the deal. His mom waited for another month again but the company did not do the refund. It was obvious that the company was fake. She went to the bank and explained the problem. The bank put the money in her account number and promised her to prosecute the company and get the money.

    One day we were home when I heard Anouar telling his mom that he wanted a cat. Her mom said no right away but he insisted, so she told him to wait for his dad, that if his dad approved he could get it.

            When my uncle came home from work that night, Anouar asked him and he also said no, but Anouar did not give up. The next morning he got a big picture of  beautiful cats and stuck it on the frig. His dad took it off. He took it back and put it in the living room against the wall right next to the curtains. He wanted everybody in the house to know how bad he wanted a cat, especially his dad. In every conversation, we had he would talk about how cute and smart were cats.


The cats picture in the living room.

         To make him forget the idea of having cat, his grandma told him a story about the cats who are taking young kids' intelligence when they play with them to much. It was sort of a witch craft story. He got scared. He came to me and asked if what grandma said was true and I agreed. Anouar did not buy it. He still loves cats, spending time online looking for cat videos, The most funny thing is that he still has the cats picture hanging on the wall hopping that one day his dad will change his mind and let him get a cat.

trip to San Atonio Texas

 My one week in San Antonio Texas




My husband and I

September 22, 2014, my husband and I flew to San Antonio, Texas after our wedding. Early in the morning that day, my husband woke me up around 9 AM. We were at the hotel ( Marriott New York Long Island City). I took a shower and then we got down to take our breakfast. After that we went back in our room and started packing our stuff to leave the hotel.
   We talked a lot about us that morning , what we would do in the future, how many kids we would have and how we would support each other. We were both so exited about our new life.
   We were supposed to check out at  11 o'clock and our flight was at 5 PM. I was thinking about how we were going to spend the rest of the time before taking the flight when I heard my husband calling me. He said "honey", I would like to bring you to the Italian restaurant. I said: what about we go to Town Square in  MANHATTAN?. He did not like my idea at all. He told me that we were not going to be comfortable  having fun in Town Square by carrying our suits cases. For a moment I stayed silent and then I looked at him and still I said nothing. He was staring at me the whole time. I knew he was waiting for an answer. Finally, I agreed to go to the Italian restaurant with him.
We checked out in the hotel and called the cab. My husband asked the driver if he knew an Italian restaurant near LaGuardia Airport. The driver took us to a very fancy Italian restaurant. My first impression when we arrived in front of the restaurant, was
that the restaurant was small. But when we got inside, it was biger than I thought. A white lady with a blond hair welcomed us and took us to the table. She was so nice to us. She asked my husband where were we come from and my husband said that we were from TOGO west Africa. She said that she likes Africa, that she is been in SENEGAL ones before, that she loved it.



The view when we were in the plane

My husband and I had a good time in that restaurant. The food was good. For the entry, they served us some kind of bread with butter which I loved. I liked the way it melted in my mouth. It was so good. Then they served us mushrooms with shrimps and vegetables. I did not really like it but it was ok. My husband loved it. Finally, we got pasta with tomatoes sauce. That was my husband's favor dish. Of course it was an Italian restaurant and they were really good at making pasta. I remember my husband asking me if I like the food or not. I told him that I liked it, everything was clean and the customer service was excellent. After that, the same taxi driver came and pick us up from there to the LaGuardia Airport. The taxi drive was also nice to us. But he was kind of annoying because the whole time, he was telling us his story. How his brother and him run the taxi business. His accent was so strong that I could not quiet understood what he was saying. I noticed that my husband was answering his questions. I was suprised so I asked him in our language if he understood what the man was saying. He said "baby I do not enderstand what he is saying but I dont want him to feel bad because no one is talking to him"



Me sleeping in the plane

When my husband and I were entering the average airport, firstly, we printed our tickets, checked our bags, went through the security area then found our gate. At 5:30 PM, our plane took off. We had a layover at Washington DC Airport for like an hour. I was angry, so my husband went to buy me something to eat. We changed another plane and finally, we arrived at San Antonio Airport around 12 AM. I was so tired. all I wanted to do was to  sleep. One of his friend came and bring us home. When we got home I went straight to bed.




My husband and I at the movie

 Me at the pool.

I woke up at 12 PM, and my husband took me to the grocery store to buy food and cook for him. Later he invited his friend to come over for dinner. The next day he took me to the pool because it was  really hot. The pool was in his building. We walked like three blocks away and we were there. The water was clean and there was not a lot of people in the pool. The pool was 4 to 5 feet tall. I liked it. My husband and I had such a good time together even if he did not swim. He was
siting on the bench and watching me swim. At night we went to the cinema. We end up going, home because we felt sleepy. On Friday we went at the mosque for the prayer around 1 PM. Friday is a blessing day for all Muslim. In this occasion, all Muslim get together and pray at the mosque. After the prayer, we came
back at home and then my husband went to work. Saturday was my last day in San Antonio so we went in the mall. It


My husband and I at the mosque

was crowded, we stay there for an hour and then we went to another mall. They got nice stuff over there and the price was reasonable so my husband
bought me some clothes.




The ice cream place.

Later on that day, we went to the ice cream place. I ordered cinnamon mix with chocolate, vanilla and banana. My husband ordered vanilla mix with banana. After that we went to visit one of his friend. Her name was MIRIYAM, she cooked a SENEGALESE food called DIBI. We enjoyed her food. What I really liked about her was her kids. They were nice to us. You could tell that they were

well educated. When we got home, we watched TV little bit and then we went back to sleep because I had to catch my flight on Sunday at 6 in the morning. My husband did not want me to go back to CONNECTICUT but I did not have any choice because I was in the middle of my semester and also my uncle and his wife was traveling to SAUDI ARABIA so I had to come back and take care of the house.

    My husband and I understand each other. After we got married I was really worried about moving in San Antonio Texas. Since I have been in this country, I have had a chance to stay in family. I was really scared to leave my family because I had to live miles away from them. It is really hard for me to digest it. but after that one week spent with my husband, I can not wait to go back. I am so exited to go back. He make me so confortable and always make sure that am fine. I love him.



kagueni's life

Coming to America!




       Everyday, people around the world travel to the USA for a better life. Growing up in my native country, TOGO West Africa we do not have a lot of opportunities in school or in any other fields. When I was teenager, I always dream to come in the USA and finish my education, have a better life and a happy family one day.



         At the age of twenty two, I got a visa to come to the USA. I was so exited that day. I still remenber it like it was yesterday. My mom and dad were all happy, my sister too. I can not even describe how I felt that day. I was so greatful . That night I could not sleep I was wondering how my life was going to change forever. I was going to see new cities of the USA, an urban agglomeration, learn a new language, explore the American way of life and meet new people. It is was a great feeling.



Me in Pittsburg

Me at the bus stop

My first days in the USA were  pretty good because I have my uncles and aunties from my dad's side. So everything was great. I got to visite and see these beautiful places in the USA, until I started working. Everything changed and that was the moment I realized how hard it was to live in this great nation.

   In my native country I was not working. Now not only did  I have to go to school, I had to work at the same time to support my parents back home.I could not handle the presure.The stress was so high on me. I remenber the first day I went to work, it was in a grocery store where one of my uncles is a manager. My job was to fix stuff and make sure everything was clean. I did not even know that wages was per hours.I worked that day from twelve PM to eight PM. At night I could not sleep or got up on my bed and go use the bathroom. I was feeling the fatigue. It was a worst experience ever. The next day, I had to take the bus to go to work again. I remenber me siting down on the bench waiting for the the bus. We were in December and it was freezing outside. I was crying like a little baby because I was cold . I felt like they were burning my fingers and my toes. I was thinking about how people make such a big deal about the USA back to my country and the reality that I was leaving was totaly different.

Regine's store where I work

Me standing in my section at work

 I did not stay a long time in my uncle's work because he was too protective. I remenber when the customers asked me a question because I did not speak English at all, my uncle would come and tell them what they want. I felt like I was lack of communication. I wanted to have a communication with the customers even if I did not speak very well English and learned  from my mistakes. So I found another job after seven months working in my uncle's store. It was a clothing store and started working there since then.

Me at my graduation day.

my high school diplomat

I got lucky because I leave with one of my uncles. I do not pay rent. He is a pharmacist at Walgreens. He is married and have three children. My uncle is so nice to me. I look up to him. he really is my inspiration. Looking up to him motivated my gumption to be someone in the future even though I had to start all over again. I guess everything work out like I want it. I went to adult education school of Brigeport, got my GED( high school diploma) graduted and now am in second semester in college taking general studies classes.

Me at school.

Me at the lab.

I know everything will be find. It is going to be hard but am getting there step by step. I have a wonderful husband who loves me, cares about me and understand me. I can be more greatful than that. At the end of  day, coming to America was worth it even if it was really difficult for the beginning. I really like the transition.