داستان کوتاه انگلیسی

Innocence and Youth (part1)

1- What is your name and date/place of birth?

My name is Shaima Bibi and I was born on September 20, 1966 in Suva, Fiji Islands. The most memorable thing about my birth as I was told by my mother was that I was born at home with the help of the local midwife named Kanjie Nani.

2-In what year did you migrate to America and where?

I migrated to America in 1989 after I married your dad at the age of 21. Once we were married, I immediately became pregnant and your father was already in America by the time I gave birth. It took us 7 months to finally be reunited after obtaining my visa. Your dad would meet your eldest sister when she was already 7 months old. We were picked up at the San Francisco International airport and drove home to East Palo Alto.

Jamillun Nisha, mother of Shaima

A tragedy did occur just one week before I came to America. My mother had a horrific accident where she slipped and fell whilst doing laundry. She hit her head on the cement so hard that she bled to death. My mom just became a grandmother and she was the happiest to see me so happy. I was so heartbroken to have lost her so suddenly.

3-Tell me about your siblings. How many do you have? Where do they live?

I have a total of 6 siblings which include three brothers and three sisters. I am the third eldest and I have such fond memories of all of my siblings. As of now, two of my brothers have passed away, my youngest sister still lives in Fiji, and I have a brother and sister whom live in Australia. The distance was always hard but we knew that we all would have to go far away from one another someday. We were all we had and we loved one another deeply just as much as we used to fight on a daily basis.

4-What was your life like as a kid? What were some of your chores?

All I can remember is that we always got everything we ever asked for as kids. My father was a foreman for construction and he help make the Sheraton Hotel in Nadi, Fiji. He had a well-paying job and was able to provide all of our basic necessities. Our childhood was so enjoyable and I feel rather lucky to have had experienced it. In those days there were no internet and television, and when televisions came out they were too expensive to purchase. We played with our tricycle, played basketball, soccer, hopscotch and a game called Tin Paani. Tin Paani is played by stacking cans and hitting them over with a ball. The motive of the game is to restack the cans as fast as you can before getting hit with the ball.

There was no such thing as boredom and we were very active as kids. If we weren’t walking to and from school, we would help in tending to the farm. My main chore coming home from school was to cut down grass to tiny little pieces and feed them to the calves. We would cut firewood, feed the chickens, and milk the cows. My favorite activity would be to join my grandparents when they would go shopping for fruits and vegetables. One particular day on the way back home from shopping we had a flat tire. My grandfather could drive but he only had one leg so it was hard for him to do other tasks.

I told my grandfather not to worry and I changed the tire all by myself. I was all but maybe 10 years old. One of my favorite things to do with my grandmother was to go crabbing and catch prawns under the bridge next to our farm. During school holidays us siblings were sent our aunts house in Navua to help plant rice in their rice fields. We would also grate coconuts to make oil. It definitely was a whole family effort.