Finally, our child’s school – in my experience, the least common place to find friendships, but the most widely touted as a good place to form connections. Now if you aren’t a parent, this isn’t an option but if you are, most people will think that this is a good place to start. I find the school gates the least friendly place but it’s not impossible to find friends there.
Do you know that there are around 17,000 public libraries in the US? In fact, there are more public libraries than McDonald’s restaurants here in North America. I have long heard how Americans adore their public libraries. After I migrated to the Bay Area, I knew I had to pay a visit to the local library.
Hamdanil is an Indonesian who moved to Bay Area a few years ago. He and 250,000 other muslims in Bay Area are observing Ramadan this year. It’s the biggest holy month that muslims worldwide are celebrating by leveling up their spiritual game. The main focus of Ramadan is fasting, as one is required to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk. Even one sip of water is not allowed, or else the fast is invalid.
I have to admit that I was a little nervous about attending. Should I have worn a headscarf? Was this going to be an event to try to convert the general public? (As I have experienced at events I have attended for other faiths). As soon as we arrived, all of my worries were dismissed. This truly was just an opportunity to come together, to get to know each other as individuals, as humans, as neighbors, and learn.
Dian Alyan is a founder of GiveLight Foundation, a global non-profit organization that takes care of orphans who are displaced by natural disasters, extreme poverty, and conflict conditions around the globe.
As part of our new initiative to connect with a wider group of immigrants, we have been meeting with local organizations that provide essential support to refugees being resettled in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The festive season is well and truly upon us in the Bay Area, bursting through our front door without much warning just as Thanksgiving was packing its bags. A time traditionally devoted to peace, giving, generosity, family, and community, for many of us it’s a season more accustomed to baking, buying, wrapping and sending.
