Multicultural Identity

Growing up with a bicultural identity, it was difficult for me to get accustomed to different cultures. I was born in the capital city of Ethiopia from an Egyptian mother and an Ethiopian father. Egypt and Ethiopia are located in North East and East Africa respectively. My mother being an Orthodox and my father a Muslim, they shared different religious beliefs and cultures. They used Arabic, Amharic, Tigrigna and French to communicate with me and my sisters at home. At such a very young age I got exposed to different cultures that has shaped me to become the bicultural person I am today. At the age of 2, my family and I moved to Egypt. Even though both countries shared similar conservative cultures it wasn’t easy adopting

Years went by, and during third grade things turned left for me. Even though I was half Egyptian I have always felt like an outsider. I was a minority in my own culture due to the qualities I didn’t fulfill. The students would criticize and bully me for something I do that’s different from the way they did it. For example, I didn’t wear a hijab nor did I have a straight black hair so they would always ask me questions such as, why I’ve a different skin tone or why my hair is curly. I was young during that time therefore, I’d feel bad about myself and I cry to my mother everyday after school. I tried to learn and adapt the culture in order to blend in but it wasn’t working out because I was raised in a different way from the rest of my friends. My parents traveled abroad therefore, they weren’t one sided or as conservative as the rest parents. I thought I didn’t fit in therefore, I blocked myself from learning the culture of Egypt due to the problems I’ve faced. I detested everything. I stayed at home most of the time when my friends would go out after school. Two years later, we moved back to Ethiopia and I was very delighted to move out of Egypt. However, it wasn’t as exciting as I expected it to be because I was still facing the same problem in school. We had a morning presentation every Wednesday where students will introduce the different ethnicities of Ethiopia. Even though I knew about the cultures of Ethiopia, I was considered more Egyptian and therefore, students would not involve me in such activities. I had an identity crisis because I didn’t know where I belonged. After living in Ethiopia for five years, my parents decided to move to the U.S. in order for my older sisters to attend