My parents were born
and raised in Pakistan and came to America around the age of 15. They went to
high school here but never went off to college because they got married at a
young age. They got married when my dad was 19 and my mom was 18, and a year
later had their first child and continued on until their 6th child,
which was me. I am
the youngest child out of 6 and it would be expected that I'd be let off easy for
things I did wrong because I was the baby in the house but it didn't go that
way. I would actually get in more trouble because I was told I should've known
better seeing my older siblings make those mistakes.
Growing up in America being
a Muslim was difficult at times due to all the rules we had to follow in our religion; Islam, such as not eating pork and other certain foods because it was haram and
being able to eat other foods because it was halal. It was also difficult because we aren't able
to show our body like our legs so I was never able to wear short dresses and
shorts. Being younger I never understood why my parents would tell me not to
wear those clothing's and I always left like the odd ball seeing all my friends in
short dresses and I’d be in jeans. Though later on in life I started
understanding more.
I also have a huge
family on both sides of my family. Therefore I go to weddings
almost all the time which is a huge part of my culture. I go to almost at least
5-6 weddings a year and not only that but Pakistani weddings are 3 days long and
before the wedding there are "pre-parties" to get us hyped up for the
actual wedding. Knowing that I have to have an outfit for each event which is
also another part of my culture. Pakistani clothing is a huge part of our
culture and there's a variety of styles. I love being able to dress up in fancy
clothes and get all dolled up to go to weddings all the time.
I'm also the youngest in my family so I know exactly what you're talking about because I went through the same stuff. I came to America from Pakistan when I was Ten so I had to get use to the whole haram and halal thing and it was very hard but I eventually got use to it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, can you embed that link as an actual video? That will make the reading of the paragraph go more smoothly, I think.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question to think about culture--especially religion. Do you find that you follow your parents' and family's belief systems now, as an adult? Is there an "honor the older siblings" belief in Pakistani culture? Do you find that you choose your friends based on similarities to personal belief systems, or something else?
Good job on your post Saira. Thank you for sharing this post with us. Not only do we learn about you, but we also learn about your culture and why it is important to you. You did a great job at organizing the format of your post and also did a great job at organizing the content itself. One thing I would suggest is to go back and reread the post because I saw some grammatical mistakes and some improper phrasing. Overall, you did a nice job. This post made me want to learn more about your culture. Also, the video was a great choice to add.
ReplyDelete