English 100 Spring 2019 Blogs

The direction I decided to take for my research paper has to deal with the children. I am wanting to understand what the children refugees are going through and what is happening to them. I chose to do this because I want my paper to appeal to people and open their eyes about what the children are going through so more people would feel like they want to help. If more people change their perspectives and actually open their eyes we all could accomplish so much more then turning a blind eye to the problem at hand.

I think based on my research I’m reading so far, I think that my main concern is about the refugee women. After coming from such harsh experiences, I feel like I’m most concern about how woman might have a difficult time in starting a new life. After being in so many sexual and domestic violences, I think there past experiences might affect these women in either beginning a new family or continuing with their current ones. In general, I think that anyone whose experienced a sexual or domestic abuse would potentially have a hard time in their day to day basis. I feel like they would have a harder time trying to socialize and meet someone new because they have that past of experience of being sexually and domestically abused. Not only do I think they might have a hard time adjusting, I feel like refugee women might have a harder time to financially start their new life in US/European society. Through different customs, I’m not totally sure if the men were the ones to bring everything home to the family but if they were, these refugee women might have a harder time trying to create a financially sustainable place for them or their families.

I don’t believe the Syrian refugees will be able to integrate easily into other countries. I feel that if they want to, they will find a way to make it work. There are a lot of different things one must try to be okay with. Such as religious differences. How do you put aside your beliefs if your new country because it is their way? What about language barriers? If you don’t speak the native tongue how do you suppose to be able to communicate effectively? There are several people that do not want to accept a new culture but are forced to because they now live in a new place. A lot of them struggle with the depression of not having a job, not being able to communicate, loss of their family and a sense of identity.

I believe that integration could happen in time. They need to be open to differences in the culture and way of life in their new place of residence.

I feel like it would be difficult to integrate to the US or Europe. I say this because we are far away and majority of the refugees travel by foot or sometimes boat and even if they were able to make it to either country its not a guarantee that they would be accepted in. It’s hard to watch as they face all these struggles and no one is really willing to take a lot of the refugees in because of their concerns for their own citizens. There is just so many refugees that are trying to seek asylum its gonna be hard for them to get into anywhere. My concerns are other countries aren’t really putting in an effort to help these people who are risking their lives for survival, what can we do to help stop this problem? or at least make it slightly better. Another concern I have is their family they are leaving them behind to try and find a better life but the woman and children are by themselves they are more prone to be attacked or robbed.

Just wow! Finally Dr. Kim realized her country may not have been the best country. She always believed in her country, was thankful for the opportunity for education that allowed her to become a doctor. Years pressed on and nothing was getting any better. She found herself starving and weighing under eighty pounds. She finally decided to go across the border with the list of names her dad gave her while on his death bed. She had relatives in China and she was going to defect.

Her first encounter after crossing the river was a section of farmhouses. She attempted the gates and found one unlocked. When she steps in she sees a bowl of white rice with meat in a bowl on the ground. She was shocked because she herself hadn’t seen a bowl of white rice in years. And to think there was a bowl sitting right in front of her. It wasn’t until the dog started barking that she realized that the food she saw, the food she would have loved to have had, belonged to the dog.

But now she couldn’t deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.

pg. 220

“It seems to be that if someone is upset with their life they are quick to hate but when they are content with their life they have a capacity to be loving and compassionate.”(franki101)

It seemed to me that the refugees leaving Syria in Crossing the Sea were building trust and friendships amongst the other refugees. This was the furthest from truth. They passed the time while waiting to flee, but I don’t think trust was ever fully established. When they finally did reach the boats it became a panicked frenzy with people running ahead to secure their place on a boat. One man who had a life jacket promised to help a little girl through the water to the boat, but when he saw the boat and others running, it was not longer in his best interest to help others. He wanted his asylum like everyone else. No matter if he made a promise to a young girl and her family, he was going to get on the boat no matter if she was left behind. It was survival of the fittest at this point.

These smuggler stories depicted in Crossing the Sea by Wolfgang Bauer, remind me of the stereotypical used car salesman. They have a way with words to convince even the most desperate person to do something they probably shouldn’t.

In the chapter, The Sea I, it describes smuggling as a business. With expenses, overhead, risk and reward. It’s a fiercely competitive business against other smugglers.

“They damage their competitors’ reputations to boost their own”

pg. 39

The smugglers like to make it known that it is an expensive operation, maybe to make the refugees feel that what they paid was a fair market price. One of the original group members, Elias succumbs to the offer from a different smugglers gang. He was guaranteed to board a boat sooner that the group he started with. With much back and forth, Elias decided to give it a try. He failed. His new group was in the same predicament as his original group. He thought he was getting a better deal and found himself being swindled by a really good salesman.

March 25 2019

Notes:

Up to page 35

Syrian refugees experience many challenges before reaching Europe. Many of these challenges include the Baltagiya gangs. These gangs deal with protection of money, deal drugs, run prostitution rings and mafia trades. The syrians are also at risk of being killed because the Egyptians carry weapons under their clothing. Another challenge that they go through is being blackmailed for money and being kidnapped. “These men, who wanted to finally be free, have never been less free than now,” (Bauer 32). This quote illustrates how the Syrians tried to be free in Europe and got kidnapped throughout the process. Another challenge the Syrians have to go through is hiding their identity. The biggest challenge of all was the living environment that they were kidnapped and confined in. The place was filthy, the toilet had no water, and the rooms were cluttered.

I predict that this group will continue to face many obstacles until they reach a safe harbor.

Thoughts:

• Inflation $3000-$3500
• Robbed
• Arrested
• Smugglers

So many characters are introduced to us in this book by Wolfgang Bauer. It’s almost hard to keep them straight. The gist of the book so far are a group of 13 people wanting to escape Syria and try at a better life in Europe. One must be wealthy it seems, in order to try at this idea of escaping. It costs quite a bit to hire a smuggler “travel agent”, who orchestrates the whole trip. They pick them up in Syria, arrange various apartments for them to hide out in along the way and even organize the transportation to and from various points. None of this is as appealing as it sounds. Not like an American wanting to explore Europe for leisure.

These men are faced with seriously harsh circumstances. Before they even make it to the boat to attempt the crossing of the sea, they are kidnapped from their smugglers and held for ransom. No one tells them what is going on, they must have faith in their hired travel agents to get them to the ports on time, when it is safest to cross. Near death experiences just in their bus rides to various places has them on edge. Will they ever make it to the port? Or will they be turned in before they even start their crossing?