Neema Diu is a nineteen year old Tanzanian who lives in Virginia and is relatively new to this country. So when I met up with Neema to interview her, I was particularly curious to know her thoughts and feelings about her new life in America. Unsurprisingly, Neema has found living in the States rather challenging at times which is understandable; getting used to life in a new country, which at first must have seemed completely alien to her, is no easy task. Now I must admit I am somewhat of a novice when it comes to doing interviews and on the morning of the interview itself, I was a little apprehensive quite frankly. Neema was too so it happens and she admitted to being so once we reached the conference room where the interview took place. Her fears weren’t eased when I told her that I’d be using a dictaphone to record the conversation. “Oh! No! My voice is going to sound funny,” were her exact words.

Right, let’s cut to the chase then shall we? How long have you been in the U.S.?

About a year and about a couple of months.

And how have you found your new life here so far? – Do you like it here?

Well 50-50 to be honest.

How do you mean?

It’s different compared to where you are from. Adjusting to a new place was tough. Making new friends was especially hard.

I understand completely – making that adjustment to a new culture can be overwhelming at first. Would you say you found that was the case?

Exactly.

Do you have any relatives here in the U.S?

Yeah. I have a few cousins here.

Did they help you settle in?

Yes, some live in other states but they helped me settle down. They were like: “what do you want? What do you want to do?” So they helped me out.

Did they make life easy for you?

They made it a little easier yes! (Laughs)

That’s good because when I moved here, I didn’t have a lot of family in D.C. So I think it makes a huge difference if you already have someone who can help you acclimatize to life in a new country.

Definitely.

How did you react when you were first told that you would be moving here?

The first time I was told, it was a shock to me because I was thinking that I was going to have to leave my life behind and start all over again [in America]. On the other side, I was excited because I was going to explore a new place and get to know how people think outside my country.

Weren’t you scared? – I know I was!

Yeah kind of.

Do you miss Tanzania?

Yes I do.

What do you miss about it?

I miss my brother because he’s still there. But I also miss my friends … a lot of people are out there that I miss a lot!

Do you keep in contact with them?

Yeah.

Through Facebook? Do you call them?

Everything! (Laughs) I call them, chat to them on Facebook … We’re in touch.

I take it you contact them often then?

Fairly often obviously I miss them! (Laughs)

(Laughs) I think it’s safe to assume that you’re homesick?

A little bit!

Have you been back?

Not yet but I’m planning to go back for a holiday sometime soon hopefully!

You said that you were excited about moving and that it would be interesting to see how life is different here as opposed to back home. With that said, after a year how does life in America differ from back home?

What I can say is that here, people tend to be more open minded and they have more freedom to go after what they want. Compared to back home where people are quite shy and tend to keep things to themselves.

Do you feel that suits you? The fact that Americans are more open minded – is that a good thing?

It’s a good thing because you are always able to know what’s on one’s mind whereas in Tanzania, people are more reserved toward each other.

I see. Okay for a moment let’s talk about school! Are you in college?

I was enrolled at a college for a while but I stopped due to personal reasons.

So how long were you there?

For two months.

Looking back at your time there, did you like college?

Yes I did though it was kind of tough but I did like it.

What was tough about it?

Everything to be honest. From the studies, to finding things and getting used to the people around you it was all pretty tough.

How did you find fitting in? Did you make friends?

Yes I made many friends I’m kind of talkative (Laughs). Okay at the beginning it was like: “We can’t help you because we don’t really know you.” I mean you get that a lot when you move to a new place. But as time went on they were like: “okay you’re fine we can you help out.” So it [fitting in] wasn’t that hard in the end.

Would you say that there was a cultural barrier in the sense that you felt left out?

Yes exactly at first I used to get: “Oh you’re from Africa … there are a lot of diseases there!” (Laughs) And as a result, people treated me different. Although, in terms of communication, there was a lot of confusion because they couldn’t understand my accent … then again I couldn’t understand some of what they were saying either!

The feelings were mutual then?

Yes.

That’s okay I used to have that problem myself when I went to high school. On a personal note, what does Neema do in her spare time – what does she do in ‘Neema Time’?

(Laughs) It’s tough to say because I’m not really an outgoing person. To be honest, I like staying indoors and chilling out with my brothers and sisters … I like hanging out with them more than anything.

And what are your plans for the future? Do you see yourself moving back to Tanzania?

Okay I have a lot in mind! (Laughs) All I can say is that I will go back to college and study, get a good job and help out my family and people back in my country.

Will you be studying here or in Tanzania?

Here.

Why is that? The education is better in U.S.?

I’d say so. In America, the education is more advanced and you are provided with more opportunities here.

So it’s not a case of the education being poor in Tanzania?

No it isn’t … it’s just better over here!

Henry Kerali