Interview transcript:

 A (ME)
M(interviewer)

A: hi, my name is A, I’m doing this interview for my class I would to ask you some questions if that is ok with you.
M: I would please to help
A: let’s start here, tell me where you from
M: I’m from Mogadishu that’s the capital city for Somalia.
A: alright, what can you tell me about Somalia?
M: Somalia is a small country in east Africa, our capital city is Mogadishu like I told you, and Somalia has been in civil war since 1991.it’s really sad because the situation hasn’t been any better ever since, that is why, you always see Somali people everywhere…hahah
A: hahah, you can say that again. If it’s not too personal how did this situation affect you?
M: oh yeah it’s not a problem. I consider myself one of the luckiest, because I left Somalia at a really young age, my family and I, left for a refugee camp in Kenya, after that I stayed in Kenya until I came to the united states 5 years ago, so sometimes it is really hard for me to identify myself because I don’t know if I feel more Somali or Kenyan, I mean Kenya was my country, I went to school over there, I speak their language, even if my parents always tell me to keep my roots, they have to understand that I have at least 2 cultures that I have to refer too.
A:waouh…now I’m confused, the questions that I have are more on people’s culture, so now on which country would you like me to ask you questions on Somali or Kenya? It is really up to you…
M: like I said I grew up in Kenya so I will feel more comfortable if you ask me questions on Kenya.
A: not a problem, ok can you tell me about the basic stuff in Kenya? How is life over there? How do they greet for instance?
M:ohhh Kenya is an a mazing country, it is hot all the year, it does rain a lot like in summer, I know weird, they have these beautiful places like mobasa,a place with only beaches and views on the Indian ocean. And about the greeting, umhh… I don’t know I guess they greet like in most western countries, we shake hands and then we hug but that depends on the relationship you have with the person.
A: it does sound like a beautiful country. What kind of government do they have?
M; it’s the republic of Kenya so it’s a democratic country, but most African countries you know they claim to be democratic when there are really not. A country where there’s no freedom of speech, ethnicity, religion, elections are fake, among other things I don’t call that democracy.
A:I know what you are talking about, myself I’m from Burundi and it’s really hard over there too, anyway how did coming to the US a democratic country affected your life?
M: oh man it is really cool you have all the rights here, I mean like people can do whatever they want as long it’s not illegal, and not being scared of going to jail at any time.
A: and how was school over there?
M:we start school at 3 years you get done with primary school at 10 then you go to high school at 11 and we graduate at 18.the school there it was nice I had many friends, and I was kind of smart so I can’t say that it stressed me that much.
A: how do you like SCSU so far? What can be done to make students more comfortable here?
M: I really like this school but the dorms are really expensive, and the classes too, so if they could lower the expenses that would be great.
A: ok, thank you very much for your time; I learned a lot from you.
M: the pleasure was all mine, I’m glad I helped.