bare white walls looked so shabby without all my cute animal posters I knew that other people were coming to live in our house people I would never meet Another kid would sleep in my room and I would be far away living living a different life a long way from all of my friends Macy you need to get up sweetie My dad gently patted my shoulder Only my dad and my American cousins called me Macy In Katzrin everybody everybody knew me as Meskerem Please get dressed quickly I need you to look after your sisters while Ima and I finish up the packing packing he said sitting down heavily beside me on the narrow bed His face was red and sweaty his thick blond hair dusty and disheveled I could hear my sisters sisters Abeva and Lemlem shrieking as they chased each other through the boxes I know this must be hard for you Abba started rubbing my back but I quickly yanked the sheet over my head and muttered angrily If you know it’s hard for me then why don’t you just leave me alone My dad said nothing more I felt the bed move as he got up and heard him walk quietly toward the living room Adise come and talk to your daughter he said 2
I waited for my mother thinking about all the things I wanted to say to her Not that it would help It’s not as if I hadn’t told her a million times already how totally unfair it was to make us all move because of some stupid job she got and how it was ridiculous that I couldn’t just stay in Katzrin with my grandmother grandmother But then I felt her hand gently stroking my braided hair pulling the sheet off my face I saw that like me she was crying Meskerem honey I understand how you feel It’s hard for me to leave our home too Her voice was soft and gentle her beautiful dark eyes shiny with tears Sometimes people have to choose between 3
two things that they really want because they can’t have both I chose to stay here with Grandma I pouted but you won’t let me My mother sighed heavily We’ve been through this already You’re our daughter We love you We want you with us You’re only eleven too young not to be with your parents I’ll always be only-something I thought resentfully but I said You grew up with your grandmother in Ethiopia so why can’t I grow up with my grandmother grandmother here in Katzrin Yes I grew up with my grandmother in Ethiopia Ethiopia but not because I had a choice You know my mother’s story how she walked with her friends to Sudan to reach Israel She couldn’t take me with her I was only a baby She was afraid I would not survive the long and dangerous journey It was seven years before we saw each other again and it was so hard to make up for lost time I could never be separated from you like that Ima hugged me tightly I could see it was painful for my mom to remember remember and I sensed that somehow the empty white walls and the boxes piled up in the corner made it even harder 4
The silence that followed was full of her sadness and mine Eventually instead of continuing to resist I got up and got dressed After I washed my face I lingered in the bathroom bathroom studying my reflection in the mirror My almond-colored eyes just like my mom’s stared back at me as I wondered How would it be living somewhere else Would it change me I shook my head violently No I said aloud as my long braids threaded with colored beads by my grandma clicked and danced on my shoulders My mom is an educational counselor She works for Israel’s Ministry of Education and manages the placement of the new immigrant Ethiopian kids in all of the public schools in the Golan Heights and the surrounding areas People from different schools all over the country come to Katzrin to meet with her Ima created this successful educational project putting Ethiopian kids into regular classrooms even though they don’t speak Hebrew that well and their parents are unfamiliar with what the schools expect of them Her program helps these kids fit in and be successful I helped Ima design the flyer for the project My sister Lemlem’s photo was even on the front page with the caption Young people should know about 5
