What:
State College International Market at 328 S. Allen Street. Owned by: Jin and her husband, who are from Eastern Beijing, but moved to America 25 years ago. Jin: “The market has been here over 30 years. We’ve only owned it since last September. We didn’t plan on owning it. We just wanted to buy the apartment above it so we could rent out the space, but we couldn’t buy the apartment without the market, too. We decided we’d accept that deal because we really wanted this property… it comes with parking. Now we enjoy running the market.” Types of food: Jin: “We have Middle Eastern, African, Indian, Asian… so everything.” Me: “The whole world?” Jin: “Yeah. The whole world.” Top selling items: Jin: “NOODLES! Noodles, noodles, noodles.” One thing Jin wants people to know: “If you want something from our market and we don’t have it, we’ll try our best to order it and get it to the store for you.” One more thing Jin wants people to know: “We have quite a few frozen foods! People don’t seem to know that. We have them and they are ready to be cooked.” Thoughts from Khaled, an International Market customer who I respectfully stalked in the store and even made pose for a candid picture with Jin, which is not only available for viewing in the photo gallery that accompanies this piece, but is also not a true candid because I asked him to pose like a cool customer in it: “I’m Arab so I buy Arab food here— beans, breads, spices, deserts… like kunafa. That’s a desert with thin noodles. Google it.” (I Googled it. It’s a desert with thin noodles.) “I’ve been coming here for a while because the food I want is hard to find at big stores like Walmart. They [the owners] do a good job with this place.”
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When she was a little girl in kindergarten, Marlaina Elizabeth celebrated Christmas with her mother and father. She attended a private Catholic school and enjoyed life running around as a little kid with her friends and siblings. When Ameena was a little girl in third grade, she liked to ride her bike after school in the street. Under her helmet, she wore her hijab. One day, two men drove past her in a truck, pointing finger guns at her and telling her to go back where she had come from. Two different names, with two different stories, but the reality is that they have shared the same experiences. "WHAT? HOW, Kayla?!" you may be asking at me, if you a) know my name, b) are easily excitable, or c) all the above. It's because Marlaina and Ameena share the same exact DNA. Plot TWIST, yeah? Ameena told me that when she was nine years old, she chose to ditch the name Marlaina and rename herself Ameena—a symbol of her commitment to her new faith of Islam. By the time Ameena was in 6th grade, she had moved to a new public school district. One day after middle school gym class, she was changing in the girls locker room and took off her hijab to brush her hair. A girl whose locker had been across from her all year long walked into the locker room and stared at her as if she were a stranger, not realizing it was Ameena uncovered. The girl turned to her friends and asked who the girl brushing her hair was. “Is she new here?” she had asked them. Ameena did not tell me this story. I know it because I was the girl who hadn’t recognized her when she was uncovered. PLOT TWISTED YOU AGAIN. Now, a decade later, I met up with Ameena to get to know her. These are a few of the discussions we had throughout our time together. “Do you remember that, in the locker room?” “Yeah…” “I remember also being surprised that your hair was lighter and kind of red. I thought it would be much darker.” “Yeah, it’s light brown.” “Like chestnut?” “Sure, like chestnut.” “Can you explain your conversion to Islam?” “Yeah…. so. It’s complicated. My biological dad isn’t in the picture. My mom married a Muslim man from Morocco when I was one.” “And did he adopt you?” “Yes… but hang on. It’s really important for me to say that it was my mom’s decision to convert.” “As opposed to your dad making her?” “Right.” “Do people usually assume that?” “Yes. So I have to clarify.” “So what did make your mom wish to convert then?” “Well… for one, she was never very religious when she was a Christian, and she didn’t like that in Catholicism you have to confess your sins to someone else— she just wants to go straight to God.” “Oh, I believe that, too… as a Christian.” “Yeah. I think once she just started learning more about Islam she was just interested. My dad wasn’t very religious in his faith either, so we all learned together. Like he used to celebrate Christmas with us, but as we learned more, he started following Islam more closely, too.” “What did you think of the changes in your mom? Did you convert when she did? Did you understand?” “Well I wanted to do whatever my mom did, so I started covering in second grade and she explained to me how serious it was. Then I changed my name. I would say by fourth grade I actually started understanding stuff.” “How would you describe what Islam is?” “It’s one of those things where I’ve talked to so many people about what Islam is to me. I don’t just like saying what it is— only what it is to me. I know I’m just one person in this big religion so I feel like a tiny voice… I know only a few people can actually hear me, but it’s important for people to understand that this is just my take on it. I have a strong connection to my faith, but not my religion.” “So do you pray throughout the day?” “Um… I haven’t done my prayers in a while like I should, I’ll be honest.” “Why do you think that is?” “I’ve just been trying to figure myself out. I’ve been to parties; I tried walking around without my hijab.” “Is it okay if I put that in my blog?” “Yeah. To me if I can’t say it to just anyone, then I shouldn’t have done it. I want to talk about it. I’m an open book.” “Okay cool. What was that like, walking around without your hijab?” “I didn’t like it. I tried it at night because I thought it would be easier in the dark when it’s hard to see me anyway. I tried it during the day once when I was walking to my car, and I immediately thought, ‘Nope, nope, nope’ and I went back in and put it on. That was when I decided that if I couldn’t do it in the daylight, then it wasn’t for me to not wear my hijab.” “Do you read the Quran?” “I used to a lot, every day. I’ve slowed down since junior year. Then classes got real.” “Do you go to the local mosque around here?” “No.” “Why not?” “For me, if I were to go, I’d need to go with another Muslim friend because I don’t feel strong enough in my religion to go alone.” “How do you feel about being a Muslim in America?” “I like this country because the freedom, but at the same time I’m disappointed that HERE, I’m still stared at every day for what I wear. I wish people weren’t so stuck in their own bubbles. I wish everyone could just talk to each other and just walk up and say hi and not have to worry about differences. The majority is not willing to change and open up and learn in America, even though we say we are. I think tradition is great to a point, but we need to grow, too.” “Holler.” “Yeah. If I want to change that, I need to talk to all who will listen. The nice part is though, there are people who aren’t like that.” “What do you want to do after you graduate in May?” “I plan to teach English and travel to teach English in South Korea.” “No North Korea?” “DEFINITELY NOT North Korea.” “You don’t think it’d be fun?” “NO. Definitely not.” On the evening of September 19, 2016 I sat down with one of my female Muslim peers, Ameena. We discussed numerous topics, and I’ve compiled a list of quotes from her, organized by major discussion points. For the sake of her privacy, I have only referred to her by her first name. For the sake of being fancy, I have written this part in italics. On wearing her hijab: “I’ll have people say to me ‘You’re in the U.S.; you don’t have to wear that.’” “It’s not a game to take it on and off.” “I feel naked without it.” On dying her hair purple: “No one’s gonna see it but I know it’s there and I think it’s really cool.” On how she feels about others approaching her about her faith: “It depends on the tone. If you’re sassy I won’t want to talk to you. I mean… right?!” “‘I don’t want to offend you, but’ is usually how people approach questioning me… I have a prepared list of things I think they’ll ask when they start out like that. My list is usually right. ‘What kind of Muslim are you? Where are you from? Why do you wear that on your head?’” On being a Muslim woman: “As a woman in general, I feel I’m not going to be heard as much as a man.” “I don’t know where I stand when it comes to feminism and my religion. I think there should be an equality to both [genders.] One’s not better than the other.” On her mom: “My mom’s chill.” On being part of a Muslim community in the United States: “Because of the country I’m in-- because of America-- I can speak out more about my religion within the same faith, but because I’m in America I feel I can’t speak out with other religions because everyone here is… I don’t want to say cliquey… everyone here is in their own bubble.” “In any community, there’s gossip.” “I should probably learn more [about Islam.] I need to.” “I don’t see myself converting; there’s something that I feel connected to in Islam. I don’t know what it is, but I hope I figure it out.” “I’m not supposed to have a dog in my house or pictures on my walls, but because of growing up in America and what I’m used to, I DO have a dog and pictures on my wall.” On having a quarter for every crazy question she’s gotten asked and then becoming rich: “If I had a quarter for every crazy question I got asked, I’d be rich today. It’d be so nice.” On life: “I’m really getting into Indian food. My boyfriend’s Indian. We cook together. I don’t really know how to cook, and he doesn’t cook for me really…we just figure it out together.” “So I like the ‘Star Wars’ movies. I was worried about the seventh movie, but it came out nice. I’m a sci-fi nerd. That is me. I don’t talk about it much with people because I thought people would be like ‘what the heck.’ Anyway, I can’t remember what my favorite movie is. I think it had something to do with Cinderella and Drew Barrymore.” “Procrastination is real. The struggle is real. I suck at time management.” “Ice breakers are annoying. Like what do you mean you want to know something interesting about me? Like something from today? Last week? You tell me. OH YEAH... my favorite movie is ‘Ever After.’ That’s right. If I’m ever in the mood for romance, that’s my go-to. Otherwise I hate rom-coms. I hate sweet stuff… But ‘Ever After’ just gets me.” “… oh yeah, technically I’m not supposed to date.” On Weezy F. Baby: “Honestly, I’m not a big fan of Lil Wayne. Some people go ‘WHAT?!’ when I say that. Whatever.” On reflection of society: “One thing I’d want people to know is that people in a church, synagogue, mosque, what have you, are similar. We all love each other.” “I wish more people just wanted to chill and have a cup of tea or coffee-- or water, if you don’t like the other stuff-- and just talk about the world.” |
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