A Long Way From Home

[Dariya Zaymidoroga]

Dariya didn't know if any fighting was going on in Sevastopol, as she had not seen the news in a few days, and the US news networks would not cover anything in the Ukraine unless something huge had happened. She knew that Sevastopol was probably an hour or so away from Yalta, which may be within communicating distance for her mother if she needed to go to Yalta for her job, or if she'd stay in Sevastopol. Dasha was only grateful her mother was in linguistics, and not actually fighting but still....she was worried. Who wouldn't be? With her being in the United States, it was likely she wouldn't get any news unless she went on Ukraine news sites or newspapers.

She smiled gratefully at Khalid. It was nice to know she could either tell him about what the call was about, or they could talk about classes or something. He wasn't as stuck-up as she had thought. Maybe, just maybe, they might become friends. It'd be nice to have a friend to talk to, even if they didn't have the same classes or lived in the same house. "My sister, Oksana, just called me. She overheard my parents talking. My mom, she got ordered to move to Sevastopol, in the Crimean Republic. It's maybe an hour away from Yalta, and there's Ukrainian and Russian military bases there." She answered, deciding it'd be best to talk about it with someone who understood what it was like, instead of not telling anyone. Maybe it was a little different for Khalid, but he said his friends were like brothers so...he should be able to understand what it was like. "Thank you for being willing to listen." She added in.

She opened her purse and dug out her schedule which she had folded up. Unfolding it, she glanced at it. "I'm in English literature, biology, German, creative cooking, cross country, dressage, algebra one, world history, herbal remedies, and equine nutrition/health." She recited looking off her schedule before putting it back in her purse. "What about you?" She asked, curious to know if they shared any classes.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

Then there was Youssef and his older brother, Hassan. It was only a matter of time before if he was going to be conscripted turned into when he was going to be conscripted. Service was a year and a half, and Hassan was born in Syria unlike his younger brother who was born in Doha. There was no doubt that Hassan would die in the Syrian Civil War, and his parents made it clear that draft dodging and desertion weren't options. They loved their eldest son, but he had a duty to uphold to his country. Youssef was beside himself with fear that he would never see his big brother again. Khalid always remembered Hassan for his willingness to be there for his family. He loved making videos and was constantly uploading videos to his YouTube channel.

"La hawla wala quwata illa billah. I can pray that Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) protects your mother and keeps her safe from harm. No one deserves to be without a mother."

He didn't know if it would be appropriate to mention his own experiences with war. She was the one in pain, he was merely a bystander. Qatar was safe from riots and rebellion. His family was influential, and he could want for nothing. He couldn't fathom seeing his mother go off to war, but he was going to lose a big brother. During Ramadan, Khalid believed Hassan multiplied his blessings a million times. He spent all day serving the poor and needy. It was impossible to imagine Hassan every holding a gun much less being directly involved in the conflict.

"Those are some interesting classes. We have math, German, and cross country together for sure. Which English and biology sections are you in? I'm in A for both. I'm also in geography, martial arts, arts, driving, horse judging, jumping, hunter jumper, and mounted games. It's a busy schedule, but I don't mind."

[Dariya Zaymidoroga]

Khalid said something in Arabic, before translating it into English, or so Dariya assumed that it was a translation. "I should only be grateful she didn't get sent to Donbass or Yalta directly." She said, her thoughts flitting to the war in Donbass going on, and it wasn't a sure thing that her mother would have to go to Yalta. It certainly would be weird to live an hour or so away from a place her mother would be commuting to every day. Dasha knew that though her mother knew how to use a gun, she wouldn't be using it. After all, she was just a linguist...translating and listening/speaking foreign languages was her job.

Dariya smiled a little as she heard that they shared classes. She was a bit surprised that Khalid was taking German as he already knew at least one foreign language considering he was from Qatar and spoke Arabic. Then again, she was taking German as well and she knew Ukrainian and could understand Russian. "I'm in A for biology and English as well." She answered. "Wow. That does sound busy." She responded upon hearing how many classes he was taking.

Some of them,though, sounded rather easy such as horse judging. She wasn't aware that Blue Ridge offered driving, and she wondered what mounted games was. She hadn't heard of the term before.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

His knowledge of the situation in the Ukraine was lagging in some regards. Al Jazeera always did a good job in covering the international news, but there was a heavy bias to goings on in the GCC and Levant. He knew where Yalta was because of that conference in 1945, but Donbass meant nothing to him. The most Khalid could offer was a sympathetic nod. Actually reaching out and offering her a comforting pat on the shoulder still felt like taboo.

At home, Khalid never felt any sort of fear from foreign invaders. He knew how to defend himself with a gun, and there were a few different firearms in his father's house. Until 1999, there were no licensing restrictions on guns, and many people fired live rounds for celebratory events. Photographs from his parents' wedding depicted several young men and one young teenage boy with assault rifles. Despite active discouragement and illegality of the practice, hearing gunfire at a wedding still didn't raise any eyebrows.

"Only, um, seven classes actually have homework. And most of this is repeat of what I learned last year in school. My older brother said it was better to repeat classes so that I can focus on doing well and learning the language and not try to learn the language and um, information. Mounted games is fun. It's only team games on horse, but you ride um, you get a different horse. Sorry, my English still isn't too good."

He could pass the language proficiency test in English, but he still didn't feel fluent. There were still a lot of words he didn't know and always knowing the right words to use wasn't easy either. Ali was always good at languages and was really fluent in Arabic, English, and French. As for his little sisters, they still spoke very broken English. Fatima in particular struggled the most because she was so shy and rarely practiced. Khalid tried to help her get used to hearing English and repeating the sample conversations from school, but that only gave him a massive headache.

"Maybe we could study together sometimes. There is a room here for studying."

[Dariya Zaymidoroga]

Dariya nodded as she heard that Khalid only took seven classes that actually handed out homework. "That's smart." She commented, as she heard that his older brother had told him to take easier classes so he could focus in the language. Though, she did wonder why he'd need to focus on the language, as he seemed to be speaking it just fine. She did know that there some English words that weren't commonly spoken in Kiev but were spoken in America more often, so maybe that's why Khalid took easier classes.

She offered him a small smile. "No need to apologize, I'm still not fluent either." She stated. Though she'd been learning English for years from school, it was still different actually learning it and getting a grade for it versus actually putting it into practice and trying to converse with Americans. That's what she missed about her English class, the fact that if she didn't know a word in English she could say it in Ukrainian or Russian and be understood where as if she did that here, she was more likely to get a glare.

"I'd love to sometime." She said. It'd be nice to study with someone once school started back up. She hadn't known that there was a room for studying, but it'd be better than studying in the library or the common room. Who knows, Khalid and her might even become friends if they studied together long enough.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

Despite such a high population of expats in Doha, Khalid had few opportunities to speak English conversationally with native speakers. It was easy to pick up news online or read articles in English, and the instruction in school was good, but the boy was well aware of the gaps in his understanding. It was impossible to rely on cognates given that Arabic wasn't an Indo-European language. Trying to write out his homework without notes in Arabic was difficult, and he still struggled with interpreting some of the hand-written stuff.

"That sounds great. Are you going home for the break or staying here? I'm flying back to Doha to see my family and friends again. So um, what is the Ukraine like? Compared to here, I suppose."

His family mostly dealt with investments in Western Europe, America, Canada, and parts of Asia in addition to the expected Middle East. Those investments tended to have better returns and be more consistent. Like anything, there was some risk, and cutting losses wasn't at all unexpected in the world of business and investment. Sometimes the construction ideas and contracts from the Al Kuwari Group didn't always pan out as expected or the Al Kuwari International Group put too much stock in a risky investment that barely broke even. But their interests rarely intersected with Eastern Europe.

[Dariya Zaymidoroga]

Dariya nodded as Khalid that studying together sometime sounded good. She silently thought that Khalid was lucky to be flying back to his home for break. She didn't know if she'd be flying back home or not, depending on if her parents were moving and where to in Sevastopol. It might make more sense to stay here if they were just going to be moving in or getting things unpacked, though if they moved soon Dariya might be able to go home for the break. "I don't know if I'm going back home yet, it kinda depends on if I can find someone to take care of Ангел while I'm gone." She answered, because even she could go back home Ангел would have to stay in Kentucky and be feed and at least put out in the pasture if she wasn't being ridden. Maybe she could pay a student to take care of the mare and let her out in the pasture once a day? Or talk to a barn hand about taking care of the mare? She'd have to figure it out soon.

"It's different, and not just in the culture or language. Blue Ridge is a lot smaller than Kiev, and I'm used to seeing more people on the streets. It's colder there in the winter, though not cold enough for my tastes, and Kiev can get pretty hot in the summer. I'm not really used to all these Americans smiling, most Americans I have experience with are frustrated, want a tour, or lost." She answered, grimacing at the thought of giving tours to tourists. Though, Dariya was just grateful she didn't live in Moscow. A friend from Russia had told her that she once got asked to show a tourist Lenin's tomb, and it had been the creepiest thing ever. "I can't really speak about the rest of Ukraine, though because I've only visited Crimea once a few summers ago before it was annexed. I assume Doha's very different from Kentucky as well?" She added in. Dariya often wished she'd been able to see more of Ukraine but because of her parent's jobs they hardly got time to get away from Kiev and go somewhere else.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

Nasr's care never even crossed Khalid's mind until Dariya brought it up for her own horse. He could definitely afford to hire a groom for the break, but no one would be riding the gelding. He definitely needed regular exercise. He told himself to ask if Nasr could just spend the winter break turned out so he could at least move around. The horse did have an annoying habit of spinning and bucking the moment he was turned out, but the boy never put much consideration into fixing it. The problem was relatively minor, and Nasr was quite content to live in a stall during the school year.

He was definitely in agreement about Blue Ridge being small. Even Doha wasn't very big, but still bigger than Blue Ridge. Living in a city as large as New York sounded intimidating. There were far too many people there. Winter was still a new phenomenon and the cold temperatures during the day took some getting used to. He had to buy all new winter apparel to survive here as his own idea of a winter coat was hardly a fall jacket in America. Maybe he should have asked to go to the private school in Georgia where it was warmer.

"It's really different. Anything below fifteen is freezing. It hardly ever rains in Doha, and I'm used to seeing tall buildings, the ocean, and desert. Trees are really rare. The Americans in Doha are mostly business people. Sometimes they try to speak bad Arabic with me, but most foreigners don't mix with nationals. Arabs are friendly people, but it's a different kind of friendly than in America. My father always invited his employees to break iftar with us during Ramadan, and one of my friend's parents invited random people who didn't have anyone. I always felt safe in Doha, but here, not as much. People are so violent here. I don't know if you read the news much, but all I hear are people dying or are attacked. It's horrible."

[Dariya Zaymidoroga]

Dariya nodded as Khalid said that Diha was different from Blue Ridge as well. She couldn't imagine living in a country or city with sand and little to no trees. Tree's grew a lot in the Ukraine, and Dariya loved seeing the snow on the branches in the winter. She could understand how American friendly and Arab friendly differed because it was the same thing with American friendly and Ukrainian friendly. Americans just didn't understand the concept of 'don't just use my first name, use my first name along with my patronymic because we're not friends'.

"That's nice of them." She replied when Khalid said his family invited their employees to Ramadan and his friend's parents invited people to their house who didn't have anywhere else to go. Her parents usually had a huge party on Christmas Eve and on Easter with all their friends, and family members. Sometimes, Dariya and Oksana would be able to invite some of their friends over. Dariya enjoyed when that happened because otherwise it was her and Oksana in a house full of adults, most of whom she didn't even know but was expected to make conversation with.

"Yeah. It always seems like there's one school or university schooling somewhere in the United States. There certainly seems to be a lot about people dying because of some violent act in the news, though the campaign for the United States president also seems to be huge." She responded when Khalid mentioned that it was horrible that all the news mentioned was people dying or being attacked.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

In the same vein, he couldn't imagine winters with snow and cold. They likely had very different definitions of 'hot' as Doha could reach temperatures well over 100F. A cool summer day was in the 90sF. At least they could agree on Americans. There was something about that fake friendliness that always rubbed him wrong. Arabs were friendly and hospitable. It was an old tradition picked up from the Bedouin days when life was harsh and unforgiving. Not offering a traveler a meal and his horse some water could spell death. Of course, it was important not to take advantage of the host's hospitality and bleed them dry. Everyone needed to survive, after all.

Ramadan is the holiest month of the year when the angel Gabriel revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad. Muslims believe that during that time, the Devil, Shaitan, is locked up and unable to influence people. Thus, any bad deeds are blamed solely on the person. Muslims neither eat nor drink during the day in addition to abstaining from sinful behavior such as smoking, cursing, and sexual relations. Prayers last longer during Ramadan, and it is encouraged to read through the whole Qur'an in the month. Good deeds are rewarded seventy times during the month. Iftar is the evening meal to break the fast. It is typically eaten with family and friends. Feeding the poor is always encouraged during the month of Ramadan, but all year as well.

"I know there is a lot of violence in the Levant, Iraq, Yemen, and North Africa, but those places are in a war. Daesh is run by crazy people, and I would like to see them gone very much. They are violent people who twist the words of the Qur'an. Politics here are very confusing. Qatar is ruled by an emir. No one votes for him, and it is much simpler this way. You are lucky to be Uwkrani¹. It is not easy to be a Muslim Arab in this country. I try to avoid reading about it, but is hard sometimes."

¹ Ukrainian

[Dariya Zaymidoroga]

Dariya didn't know what the temperatures were like in Qatar, but she knew that she'd hate living there. All that sand, and heat...she almost shuddered just thinking of the place. Dariya wasn't sure she could even stand Kentucky. She did hope that they at least got some snow, though. Dariya could do without the ice but snow would be nice. Especially on Christmas, otherwise it wouldn't really feel like Christmas to Dariya.

Dariya just nodded when Khalid mentioned some places that were normally always in some sort of war. The girl had never heard of the word Daesh, but she was confused when Khalid said he'd like to see them gone. She wondered if he meant gone from power or just gone, but she could see why when he mentioned they twisted the words of the Qur'an. There were always loopholes in things, it just might take a little longer to find them than someone might want to put in. She could understand why Khalid thought the politics here were confusing, as Qatar seemed to be a monarchy from what Khalid had told her about how no one votes for the emir. Dariya couldn't imagine living in a country where the people didn't elect who they wanted to rule.

"No, I imagine it is not." She said, when Khalid said that it was hard being in this country as a Muslim Arab. Sure, she had gotten a few weird looks, but she blended in with the Americans much more easily than Khalid. If not for her accent, she suspected that no one would even know that she wasn't American. She hated how her accent made most people think that she was from Russia. Dariya could understand why they might think that, since the two countries are close and their languages are relatively similar, but still, she would think that people would ask and not just assume things.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

Just as Dariya couldn't imagine being ruled by a monarch, the idea of electing a leader sounded tedious to Khalid. He didn't know enough politics to know who would be the best leader. And with a king, the prince was raised to be a leader, so hopefully he would understand what it meant to be in charge. And how did anyone remember who was in charge if it changed ever few years? It even took him a few months to get used to saying Sheikh Tamim instead of Sheikh Hamad.

Khalid jumped when he heard the intonations of adhan coming from his phone. He completely forgot about the time and evening prayers. The boy was tempted to silence his phone and skip praying, but his mother would be furious if she ever found out. He let the muffled sound continue. Even as a recording, it would be rude to turn it off.

"Sorry to cut this short, but I need to go. Evening prayers."

Some people thought praying five times a day was a damper on productivity. But, Khalid barely noticed. He grew up in a society where daily life just stopped for a few minutes while everyone prayed, and then resumed as normal. It was a pain to pause playing video games with his friends because of prayer, but that was pretty small in the grand scheme of things.

"I'll see you later, Dariya."

The boy gave his phone a quick glance and left. They had several classes together, so there was ample time to talk about studying together later.

[Dariya Zaymidoroga]

Dariya nodded when she heard that Khalid had to go pray. She thought that she had hear something years ago that Muslims had to pray five times a day or was it that they had to fast all day sometimes? Either way, she imagined that praying five times a day was disruptive while doing something and not eating all day seemed dangerous. "I'll see you around Khalid." She said, replying to his statement about seeing her later. They shared classes so it was likely that they'd be seated next to one another in one of their classes.

After Khalid left, Dariya stayed in the lounge for a few more minutes before also leaving to go back to her dorm. It wasn't exactly late, but there wasn't much to do while the campus was dark so it was back to her room that she would go. The girl walked outside, and was pleasantly surprised by how warm it was, before starting to walk back to her dorm. Dariya would either read a book, reorganize her room or finish unpacking, though she could also go on Facebook or the Internet.

Entering her house, she walked up the stairs to her dorm and entered her room. She finished unpacking her things, and reorganized some of her things, before grabbing a book and sitting down on her bed to read.