The author is talking about how her family was poor. Mentioning the fact that they moved from houses to houses constantly. I relate this story on the first time I came to America. Settling in America is not any easy thing as you can imagine. The first house my family settled in was an apartment in downtown Fredericksburg. It was not easy living on that side of the city. For one my dad didn't have a well paying job. The rent payment was always coming hard on us for the first few months. The apartment we lived in didn't have a big backyard. My brothers and I didn't like it because we didn't have enough room to kick the soccer ball around. Also just like in her story I had to share a room with my older brother. Even though I was quite fascinated by the american way of life. I still wished we had a bigger house with a nice backyard. Finally after spending five months there, my family decided to rent a home in Stafford County. We all were very excited when all heard this news. The new house had a huge backyard to play soccer in.Living in that house was like a dream come true. The house reminded me of the amazing houses I saw in Television shows. I was really excited to start life in America. All hope now is that stay in this new house.

I definitely I agree with her perception of boys and girls. Boys and girls are very much different from every aspect of life. Boys tend to like more dangerous and adventures activities. Girls however are more interested in their outfits and going shopping. I would like to say that most of the time boys are the ones that handle pressure really well. Her passage "The boys and girls live in separate worlds" is completely true as in boys live a much more simpler and easy life. Unfortunately for girls everywhere there will always be this unspoken jealousy that will lead to drama. Being a guy I find girls very interesting. They are all very different in their perception of things. As for us guys, we usually all act the same when it comes to girls. I have five brothers. There is eight of us in the family. I don't know how my mom manages to keep her cool with all this boys in the house. After all this years living with my brothers, I wouldn't trade them for anything. With that being said I don't want a sister. Girls are too complicated for me. I feel that if we had a sister, me and her wouldn't get along. There all lots of things that both worlds can offer. All I really care about is respect. If you respect me in return I'll respect you. This what I live my life on!

I can definitely related to her troubles she been though with her name. My full name is Nshimirimana Nehemia. My parents are die hard Christians as so am I. Which is why I think one the major reasons why they named me Nehemia was because of the prophet Nehemiah from the Bible. As for Nshimirimana it roughly translates to "thank God" in my native language Swahili. So I guess I can also accept to be called Thank God Nehemia. Just like Esperanza, people I encountered through my first months in america had difficulty Pronouncing Nehemia. In school my teachers pronounced Nehemia in weird ways. Don't even get me started on how they attempted to pronounce Nshimirimana. I overcame all that very quickly as I realized nobody will ever get my name right on their first try. In all honesty I'm not ashamed of my name, in fact I love it. Having people miss pronounce my name sparks up conversation about my past which I'm very proud of. I've gotten to meet and become really close to people because of the first conversation we had about my name. Well, I guess we'll have to wait until next year when all my teachers struggle to say my name. I think we should all appreciate our name more. I dislike it when people don't want to be recognized by their birth name. Your name is what makes you different from everyone else. It's a part of your identity. Even though my name is complex and hard to pronounce it. I wouldn't dare change anything about it.

Laughter is the greatest thing in the world. Most of us laugh because were happy. How often we laugh really says a lot about our happiness. When I laugh its usually because something is funny of because i'm just simply happy. Me and my older brother don't look alike at all, you probably would have trouble figuring out if we were even brothers. But those who didn't know we were brothers tend to tell me that I act and have somewhat the same laughter as him. My family as a whole have very different laughs I think. I think everybody should laughing at least everyday. Because deep down we all laugh when were happy. Doctors often say laughter is the best medicine they offer. Now I'm not necessary a professional on the different laughs each one of my siblings have. But I can likely tell which one brothers it is based on their laughs. My older brother and I have very similar sort of laugh. But as for the rest of my brothers, they laugh loud and crazy. My dad is laugh is one of my favorite laughs. He barely does it but when he laughs, you can see that his very happy. My mom is laugh always has me smiling for no reason. I don't care where your from. Whether from the east or west nor north or south. We all laugh when we happy.

Back in Africa, in the region I lived in all the houses were made by hand. There wasn't really a company that was made specifically for building houses. That meant if you wanted to build a house you would have to do it all on your own. But usually that wasn't the case for many of the families I grew up with. When someone wanted to build a house they would tell the community about it. Once they did that, his or her close relatives or friends would help provide the materials necessary to build that house. I remember helping this one friend build his house. I was quite astonished on how all of our community came together and help this man out. We all started by making bricks out of mud. It was great since I loved playing in mud. After making the bricks, I was in charged of them until they were completely harden. When the house was all finished, I was amazed by all the work that went into it. The house looked surprisingly great. As you can imagine, I wasn't there when my house was built. But you could tell it was built long time ago. I come to this conclusion because of many cracks it had on the side of it. At one point it had a huge crack on its side that you could even see outside. I'm really glad that we moved out of that old cracked house to America. Because once we left the house,we heard news that it collapsed down. All in all I wouldn't mind building another house out of mud. It's fun for a while until it finally collapses.

When I first arrived in America, one of the first place I lived in was in a town house. The townhouse was in the Fredericksburg. Where I lived had all different kinds of races. From Latin Americans to well straight up African just like myself. The point is that not we didn't get a lot of visitors or people strolling by the neighborhood. And when they did come, they quickly went through it. I think the reason for that is because since it was a poor neighborhood. Perhaps we were thought to be very mean and ghetto. But truthfully that wasn't the case. My neighbors were quite friendly and helpful. Especially since my family didn't really speak any English. My house didn't really have a big yard. So every once and a while I went to the park. At the park I would play soccer with my friendly neighbors. Even though I didn't speak English, the friends that I played with taught me most of it. On school days we would all warn each when the school bus was coming. I think what I'm trying to say is that there no such thing is a bad neighborhood. Its just that our perception of a place tends to get negative based on where they live. So next time you go through a sketchy neighborhood don't start giving it names. Be thankful for what they have and that you don't have.

Family is family! Whether your an only child or perhaps a family of a many.Though living as only child does have its perks. Having a lot of sibling has its ups and downs. Family is family and always will be family no matter how you look at. Living in Africa as you can imagine, the families there are quite large. I would say the minimum children a mother had was probably five. From there it would go to where some families consisted of fourteen members. As of right now my family has six children and two parents. As scary and fun that could be, I wouldn't trade them for anyone. Five out of the six children were born in Africa. As for the youngest, he was born it USA. Now I cannot stress to you on how stressful it can be living with six brothers. I don't how mom does it, taking care of six boys. But she somehow has managed. Being the second oldest I tend to have a lot of work to do for a boy my age. As painful and stressful it can be I still manage to play soccer for MHS and get honor roll. Believe I sometime wish that I didn't have the many brothers. We all have to shared most of our items. Personally I'm not a big of sharing my belongings with other. I feel like being an only child would benefit me better at times. But that 's life, we all have our ups and downs. Either you look at it family is and will always be family.

I don't like being normal is too simple. I also don't like being normal people. I like being with people who have other interests. I'm a huge fan of diversity. Coming from Africa, I have a lot of talents that you wouldn't be able to notice. If you couldn't tell by now I speak two languages. One of the languages I speak is English and off course my native language Kirundi. The language kirundi is spoken in my family's native country Burundi. But I was born in Tanzania where the natives there speak Swahili. Even though I'm not fluent in Swahili. I can understand it. But unfortunately I cannot speak it. Almost my whole family speaks two language except for my dad. My dad speaks Kirundi, Swahili, and English. It's great to see that to this day, he still speaks all those languages fluently. As of right now, I'm in Spanish three. My hope is too hopefully become fluent in it. Speaking two languages is one of my most treasured talent. As for my other ones I can make a ball out of strings and trash bags. When I was in Africa me and my friends did that all the time since we couldn't afford a soccer ball. Having a talent in general makes you stand out and more than anything I love standing out from the crowd.

Since my name is Nshimirimana Nehemia, it's not easy to find me a nicknames. But throughout my life I have gotten some nicknames. Many of them didn't stick to me though. The older I grew the more unsuccessful nicknames people developed. Honestly I'm kind of glad I don't have one. Nicknames can lead to bad reputations. Therefore its nice I don't have one that hasn't stuck with me. As for my other five brothers they too don't get nicknames either. Mainly because their names are just as complex as mine. All these is true except for my older brother BIzimana Alexander. His a senior at Massaponax. Through his high school years he has made himself many nicknames. From BIz Khalifa to Akon, both artists which he admired. But the one that really stuck was Biz. He nicknamed himself this name while back in his late sophomore year. The name has managed to stay with him until now. Now you have to understand at home we call him Alex. The nickname Biz has stuck with him so much that at school no one knows him by Alex. So when I call him Alex on accident no ones seems to know who Alex is. The nickname Biz has forever stuck with him.

Today in this passage I'm going to talk about school in Africa. I'm going to go more in depth about they way students had lunch. The thing in Africa there's no such thing as "school lunch" in Africa. Well because no one ever had lunch in the school building. The way lunch work was that at noon all the students and teachers would all go home and eat lunch. Now depending on how your schedule was you would some times go back to school. As for others they would be done for the day. The school schedule was very complicated and inconsistent. Many days you would go home eat lunch and go back. Normally you would return back home in the evening. As for other days you would sometimes go to school in the morning early. That meant once you got back home and ate you were done for the day. When the students got home the other half that didn't go in the morning would go to school. They would finish in the evening. Through all this

Out of all holidays there are internationally, Christmas is my favorite. It always has and as far as I'm concerned it always will. There's nothing more I loved than Christmas in my native country Tanzania. I'm pretty sure every kid I grew up with looked forward to it. It all began with Christmas Eve, when everybody was either shopping all getting their outfit and plans set for Christmas. Everybody in the town would go all out and buy nice things. Since we were all fairly poor our parents bought food that most of got to see only on Christmas. The traditional foods that almost everybody was rice and beans with chicken on top. We would eat this on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. One Christmas Eve night me and my brother finished three full plates of the food. Now you have to understand that for two little small boys to finish three plates was a lot. Aside from all that my favorite thing about Christmas day was the early morning service. At around 5 am every kid would go to church and just celebrate and party until it was time for Sunday school. Once church was over many families went to their relatives is house and usually had a big feast. As for presents each child usually got only one present. Aside from going to church at 5 am, Christmas in America is very similar to the one in Africa. The thing I like about an American Christmas is the that we now get more presents. I've experienced Christmas being celebrated in two completely different cultures and continents. But thing that they both have in common is the love and appreciation of Jesus Christ.

To be honest I really don't know what I want to do in the future. All I know for sure is that is going to be great. I promised myself that I'm going to live a better life than right now. That is my goal for the rest of my life. As for the dream job if I really had to pick it would probably be a businessman. There are so many reasons why I picked this career path. For one I like wearing suits and looking nice everyday. Other reasons include that I'm taking a lot of marketing class. I've been also told I'm should consider a path in the world of business by my teachers. I don't really know what about business that really drives me to go in the career path.Whether its the suits you get to wear constantly or the mind games you play with your clients. I will work hard to achieve my dreams. By the time I'm done with college I hope I don't have to call a "dream" job anymore. It shall be a job in my real life. I also shall not stop dreaming because dreams come true.

There is nothing in this world sadder or happier than death. Especially if its the death of a family member. It depends on you look at it. Personally hearing about people's deaths gives me head aches. I can't stand hearing about one's death. I would probably be the kid that starts crying at a funeral. I applaud those who don't go crazy after a person's death. I've been been only to two funerals in my lifetime. The feeling to describe the funerals is quite interesting. Hopefully I don't have to go to anymore funerals. I remember the first death in my family just like it was yesterday. It was the death of my uncle. Words can't describe how much I loved the guy. He was my favorite uncle. He had been sick for quite sometime and was in the hospital. His conditions improved from time to time. When he finally was a good shape and perhaps ready to return home. He died the next morning. When I heard this news, I felt like I was abandoned. I was mad at everyone and couldn't stand being around them. It took me a while to go over his death. I have finally come to realize that his in a better place now.

Out of all the places we moved to, there hasn't been a neighbor's kid that I got along with. Even back in Africa, I still wasn't a big fan of our neighbor's kids. Our neighbors from Africa and the ones from here act completely different. It's kind of interesting to see how kids from two different continents spend their time. I came to realize that all kids love to play especially with a playmate. In Africa the kids played soccer and hopscotch all the time. As for the US my neighbors played basketball and played with their hot wheels. Aside from all of that my neighbor's kids always wanted me to play with them. Usually I would make my little brothers do it. But when they weren't home, I was stuck with not choice. I actually really don't mind playing with them. It's just that when they start being controlling, I have a problem with that. I've come to find out that goes to both of my neighbors in Africa and here. They always end up controlling you and taking advantages of you. One of the most quite obnoxious neighbor's kid I've met was back when I lived in Stafford. This kid was good friends with my little brothers. He would sometimes come over and my little brothers would go to his house also. As fun that was for them, I usually didn't try to get in their way. Now you have to understand that's not what made this kid obnoxious. When my little brothers weren't home, the kid would come over looking for them. Once he knew they weren't there, he wanted me to play with him. I would sometimes and go and play with him. Others times I didn't want to do it. He would get so annoying and sometimes start crying if I said no. I've had way too many bad neighbor's kid, but not all of them were as bad as the kid from Stafford.

English as a second language also know as ESL, is a class that many immigrants know too well about. This class helps teach English to immigrants. I spent three years in that class and I couldn't be more gratefully. Coming in America was quite scary, but very interesting. When I first walked out of the plane, I was amazed by what I saw. The lights, buildings, the people, it was very different from my mainland country Tanzania. Living in America was really fun and exciting for the first few months. It wasn't fun for us kids when we started going to school. Truth is if you don't know English, your basically screwed. But the students and teachers were quite helpful. I came to find out that many of the immigrants were put in a class called ESL. Purpose of this class was to teach us about the US culture and the language. This class literally started you to the basics of English. We literally spent a week learning our ABC's.

Oh how I miss back home, says every African parent. If I had a dollar for every time my parents said that, I would be richer than rich. What amazes me is that they still miss after all the troubles we had there. As for the many African kids here, we don't really want to go back home. If it was up to me I wouldn't go back in Africa. Perhaps for a summer visit but definitely not to live there. I would stay in America since this country offers a lot. I would also want my family to grow up and be a part of this industrialized country. I guess I kinda understand why my parents are homesick sometimes. In Africa you were on your on and there wasn't bills to pay. In fact you could live for week without money. As for America we all find it hard to live without money. All the payments are all overwhelming. Every time I see my parents opening up a bill. I can see in their faces that they wish they were back home. After I see the faces they make, I guess going back home wouldn't be such a bad idea. Other reasons why my parents miss Africa is because their families and relatives. In America we have a family of relatives. This may sound pretty good, except that our relatives live in Washington State.

My dream is to become a professional soccer player. I love to play the sport. I've the meaning of life while playing this sport. The meaning of life is to be happy with yourself. When I'm on the field there's no other place I'll rather be. With that being said my hope is to be a millionaire. Hopefully my club and endorsements deals can make that happen. My other dream is too live on a private island. I want to live in a place where its peaceful. I want to hear the waves of the ocean in the morning. Also I want to see the stars shinning bright at night. This world is too much and I really want to get away from it. At my private island I would have many houses and parks built. To make sure I'm making even more money I would let visitors come stay there for vacations. I will treat my private island as a business where I can make profit from it. Every holiday I would have all my family and friends for the whole week to celebrate. As a generous athlete I would also give out a lot of donations all over the world. My other major goal is too hopefully make the island houses and parks all have solar panels. I want my electricity to be from the sun. My island will be one to be remember through history.

There is nothing more in this world I love more than my mother. My mom is very precious to me. Her stories really make me what I am today. Even though I make her mad sometimes. She is and will always be there for me. My mom is name is Ciza Estherine. She is the daughter of a pastor. The rest of her family and relatives are back home in Africa. You can imagine how that's hard for her. But everyday I see her with a smile on her face. I don't know how she quite does it. My mom was a nurse at our local hospital. Every morning she woke up at 7 am and walked to work. Now you have to understand the hospital was a good mile and half away from our house. What I admire about her the most is that she never complained not even once. All in all she had rough childhood just like every other kid in Africa. So when I complain about something or having a bad day. She likes to remind me of her troubles back in the good all days. She taught me the importance of school here. Even if that meant she would have to ground me. She is a hard working women and I wish her the best.

I have the pleasure of living with five brothers. I'm the second oldest in the family. My older brother Biz is a senior here at MHS. If you didn't live with five brothers you would think it would be fun. But for those who do, we can tell you it's not a easy task. Since my parents are always busy working, they expect the oldest to babysit. In other words I'm there full time nanny. I don't usually mind babysitting them, but when your doing that constantly it gets overwhelming. Each one of us have different personalities that make us stand out. The oldest one Biz, is the most serious one out of all of us. The one under me Gadsoni, is very comic of the family. Godfrey is consider to be the smart one. Yahaya is just like Godfrey but a little more easygoing. All of them were all born in Africa. Finally there is my youngest brother Samuel, who was born in America. Samuel is always energetic and likes his toy cars very much. One thing that we all have in common is our love for the game of soccer. We live all our lives around soccer. Living in a house with five brothers is a challenge. But we family you can always make it work.

I hate saying goodbye. Whether it's saying goodbye to friends or to a relative. I've been through a lot all my life. I've lost some close relatives. I've also lost friends year after year. These are some of the reasons why I hate saying goodbye. Even though saying goodbye sucks, it always worked out of my favor. I've said goodbye to things and ended up saying hello to new things. It's especially really hard to say goodbye to your old environment. One of the hardest things I had to do was goodbye to my home in Africa. When I heard that we were moving to America. I had very mixed feelings on the idea. It was obviously going to be better for our family. When the days got closer to move, I was quite excited. We all said our goodbye's before we got on the bus. I started bursting in tears at the fact that I wasn't going to see my friends and family again. I guess saying goodbye to them was harder than I thought. In life we say goodbye to the old and go off to the new. For my family we felt coming here was the what would get us far in life. Once we finally got settled here, we experienced things we only saw on television back in Africa.