Dolled up in a traditional Yemeni costume, Amal walks out of her apartment’s back door. The black veil which covered half of her face was embroidered with golden threads. The check and flower pattern made it alluring. The never ending red Chador with its kaleidoscopic print flowed down from her head to toe. Struggling with her costume, she walked toward the car and squeezed herself in. She was all set to hit the party, her first ever costume party. “My first and last Halloween party” Amal says.
Amal Waleed ‘24 is from Yemen, the bottom of Arab world as she herself puts it. She is in the US for a year as a visiting student. Coming from a deeply conservative society, Amal’s stay in the US has made her discover her new self. Overwhelmed by the American ideals but still clutching to her cultural values, Amal is enjoying the difference. “I will be a changed person once I go back to Yemen, I will never be the same,” Amal admitted.
Her stint in the US has brought many “firsts” in her life. She had her first Halloween party this weekend, first concert, first football match and first picnic. She got to meet gays for the first time, smoked Shisha and watched movie in a theatre.
These new experiences are changing her every day. For better or for worse, she herself doesn’t know. She has let herself free, free from her norms and beliefs. She is willing to try new things.
But she knows the reality. In the end she is a Yemeni girl. No matter how much change she undergoes, she will go back to Yemen, a society too narrow-minded to accept the new Amal. Calling her first Halloween party to be the last one reflected her fears.
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