Searching for my own culture in a foreign land

Searching for my own culture in a foreign land

“Eagerly waiting for the Eid .” It creates stimulation of Muslim's inner side. Because after longtime this is day for enjoyment. We people usually want to enjoy every single moment of our lives. When I was in Bangladesh, enjoyment came too many times in my life. I spent days full of fun in our religious and traditional festivals like Bangla New Year, Victory day, and Independence Day. My beautiful days with my sweet family members and cute friends seemed to be lost from my life now. However, all those unforgettable moments are being stored in my memory forever. I have been living in Chicago for almost six months.I have many opportunities to enjoy in America but I am not getting that fun which I did before i holidays and traditional foods.

Celebrating Eid in America is nothing compared to Bangladesh. Eid is the major religious festival for the Muslim world. For every Muslim, there are two Eid festivals in an Arabic year. After a month of fasting,the Muslim community all over the world celebrates the Eid-ul-Fitr all over the world. In Bangladesh, my home country, I celebrated the Eid day gorgeously. On this day, first I

had to take a shower in the morning and then I put on new dress. The male members

of the house went to the Mosque to pray the Eid prayer. After finishing the prayer they came back home and we exchanged greetings. We shared happiness with each other. In addition little kids and teenagers eagerly waited for money as gifts from their parents, elder sisters, brothers and relatives. Then, my family members and I went to visit all my relatives’ houses. That was the last Eid day in Bangladesh for me, all my friends decided to go outside and enjoy the day differently. We rented a car to go to different places and had food together. We were joking and laughing the entire day. On the contrary, my Eid day at the USA, I woke up early in the morning. Then, I got ready to go to college. In my country it is a public holiday. But in Chicago, I had class the entire day. I came home at 2 pm. Then, I went to one of my relative house. But I did not get the same enjoyment because most of all were busy with their work. Conversely, in my country usually I enjoy this day with my family, relatives and friendstogether. This experience made me feel like I am actually losing my golden traditional

occasion from my life .

Another holiday that I am really missing, my country's traditional festival New Year that is observed on April 14th (it is called Pahela Baishakh) in every year. On this day people get together in some specific places like parks. During the New Year in Bangladesh, men and women must wear red and white color combination traditional dresses such as sari, salwar kamij,or panjabi etc . Last year of New Year celebration in Bangladesh I wore red and white dress like others . The day before New Year I and all my friends would plan to wear same colored dresses and visit the places where different organizations would arrange some cultural programs. I would meet with all of my friends in the morning. Then we would have our traditional food named Pantha bhat, (which is water rice) and Hilsha fish with pickles in clay plates. For this day the vehicles are restricted in order to not be in the way of the people gathering at specific places for the program. People would walk, gather, and talk on the road. I drew tattoos on my face and hand with henna . We joined other people in various programs. I participated in the cultural program and I was part of the audience. On this day people get so excited and happy all over the country.

They make different fireworks in the open sky. Every person tries to make others happy and they try their best to be happy anyway. However in Chicago this enjoyment is not never imagined. After coming here I celebrated the 14th of April in 2011. Although here I have many in law family members, I could not enjoy the celebration the same as in my country. The Bangladeshi community arranged some programs in the Chicago land. That was a dull enjoyment without any friends.

I also miss my traditional foods. In fact, I am not adapted to American foods. When I came here I was having problems finding appropriate foods in Chicago. In my country, when I was outside of my home, for example, when I was in the shopping center, I used to eat some of our traditional foods with my friends. Here when I go outside, there is not asingle restaurant that makes the same foods as Bangladesh. If I make our country foods, the taste is totally different because most of the Bangladeshi foods come in U.S.A. as frozen. Even though some vegetables are not fresh, I have to eat it every day. However, I am not getting my native foods here I am trying to adjust foods to America. In Bangladesh I made homemade foods for the breakfast, but here for the time limitations simply I have to eat cereal and milk. Most of the time family members eat together, here it is rare to eat together. That is really made me cry.

Finally, I can say that although I had lost my country’s culture, customs, foods and traditions here, I will try to enjoy new culture, and I believe one day I will have new friends. Therefore I think I can enjoy my cultural festivals. And then my enjoyment days will be back again. I will share my traditional culture and foods with people of the United States. As a result I believe I will be able to bring my country's traditional festival and customs in Chicago.