Dear Terrorists,

Chapter 11

"Hey!" greeted Amira as she returned from her uptown shopping trip. She held several large plastic shopping bags, scrunched together, in each hand.

"Hi. How was your shopping?" asked Jennie politely as she continued to organize her side of the room.

"Good. It's busy up there," explained Amira as she dropped her bags onto her bed. "Everyone's buying stuff for their rooms!"

"I bet," concurred Jennie. "I didn't think I had that much stuff to move in here, but, here I am still unpacking two hours later."

"Oh, that's nothing," she emphasized. "I moved in yesterday morning and I just finished right before you got here. I have so much stuff."

"Yeah you have more than me, that's for sure," agreed Jennie as she stood up from sitting on the floor.

"So, what are you studying? Have you decided?" asked Amira.

Jennie's eyes widened with interest.

"I'm majoring in North American History, but who knows? Maybe I'll change; I'm just taking my prerequisites the first year anyways, so we'll see. What about you?"

"Oh that's so cool, though! I've always been interested in history, there's just so much to know," said Amira. "I'm majoring in English and minoring in communications. I'm fluent in Arabic but I need to master English...speaking isn't difficult but sometimes I get confused when I'm writing. That way I can be one-hundred percent fluent in two languages."

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Jennie. "That is great! I've always wanted to learn another language. I can read and write Spanish but holding a conversation with someone fluent in Spanish is nearly impossible for me."

"It's a lot easier when you live in a place where you have to speak that language every day. I didn't really learn English until I came to the United States."

"Where are you from?" asked Jennie, curious.

"I'm from Iraq. Kubaysah, Iraq. It's just south of the Euphrates River," she explained.

"That's interesting. I don't know anything about Iraq besides the Fertile Crescent. You'll have to teach me about Iraq before the year is over," challenged Jennie.

Amira annoyingly stared at Jennie. She stood akimbo and swayed all of her weight on one hip.

"Okay," she huffed with calmness. "Say e-rock."

Jennie blushed and then repeated Amira's instructions.

"Sorry," apologized Amira. "Everyone always mispronounces Iraq and it drives me crazy. It's not 'I-Rack.' It's Iraq!"

"Sorry!" laughed Jennie. "I won't make that mistake again!"

"Oh, I have so much more to tell you about Iraq!" she accepted Jennie's challenge from just a moment before. "There's a lot of good overshadowed by the bad in Iraq. It's not often that I hear positive news about Iraq here in the United States."

"Well," thought Jennie out loud. "I'll have to do a lot of learning before I comment on anything involved in or with Iraq."

"And where are you from?" inquired Amira, ready to change the subject.

Jennie cleared her throat before she spoke.

"Ohio. It's about a five hour drive from here," she explained. "There's actually a lot to do there, just not where I'm from in Ohio."

"I know where Ohio is. The Great Lakes, the Browns, LeBron James, Ulysses S. Grant," rambled Amira.

"Well, you know much more about Ohio than I know about Iraq, that's for sure!" said Jennie, impressed.

"Yes, but I've studied the United States for quite some time now. This place has always intrigued me—all these 'freedoms' that Americans have—religion, speech, whatever else. That is so valuable and cherished around the world, to be able to believe whatever you want and be able to express that," opined Amira.

"It certainly is," responded Jennie. "But at the same time it's not. The government has kind of limited freedom of religion, especially in schools. When I was in high school, I was the president of a Christian group with some of my Christian friends, but the school wouldn't let us meet in the school anymore. We planned to meet at each others' houses, but it kind of just turned into a hang out session instead of a religious group. Then they got boyfriends and girlfriends and we all stopped meeting altogether."

"Well, in Iraq, the government discriminates against the Sunnis. We are the world's most populous religious sect, yet in our own country we are a religious inferior. That's one of the reasons why my parents supported me to leave Iraq and come here," explained Amira.

"Oh," sympathized Jennie. "I'm so sorry."

"No need," said Amira. "I like it here, life is much more enjoyable here than back home. I think my family will move here too, once I get through college and get enough money to fly them here. We can all live a big house together."

"That's adorable," said Jennie. "So you've been interested in the US for a while, you said?"

"Of course," remarked Amira. "United States has all the cool movies and stars!"

"Oh, right," said Jennie as she looked around the room.

"George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie," rambled Amira once again.

"Yes, yes, I guess I didn't realize how famous they were around the world."

"I love movies. I've already watched several since I moved into this room. I've got a whole box filled with American movies," admitted Amira.

"What's your favorite?" asked Jennie.

"I just love Life of Pi—it's so colorful and beautiful and it makes me so happy," she expressed.

"Oh, I've read that book!" exclaimed Jennie. "But I've never seen the movie. A boy eating his family members makes you happy?"

"What? No he doesn't!" laughed Amira in disbelief. "It's about survival and overcoming adversity. Pi is stranded on a boat with animals and he and Richard Parker learn to survive together."

"I understood it as Pi and his family killing each other off and eating each other, but I'll have to watch the movie to see your version of it," said Jennie. "Are you hungry? I'm starving."

"I kind of was until you mentioned people eating other people," joked Amira. "Come on, let's go try out this dining hall food. I've heard it's pretty good—and plentiful!"