{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/3f4kk94q93/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Interview with Zina Kaissi"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/004/original/ISULogo.png?1601681107","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Preferred Citation"]},"value":{"en":["Interview with Zina Kaissi. Iowa State University. Library. Special Collections and University Archives Records (RS 25/4/4). Special Collections and University Archives, Iowa State University Library, Ames, Iowa."]}},{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["Iowa State University. Special Collections and University Archives"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["This item is protected by copyright and related rights. You are free to use this item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses, please obtain permission from the rights-holder. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Meeks, Tory (interviewer)","Kaissi, Zina (interviewee)","Iowa State University. Honors Program (sponsor)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2020-11-23"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["Iowa (spatial)","21st century (temporal)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Oral histories conducted as part of Honors Seminar 321J: Documenting the Past: An Introduction to Oral History."]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["digital audio formats"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["RS025-004-004 (Call Number)","AV205506 (UID)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Relation"]},"value":{"en":["Iowa State University. Library. Special Collections and University Archives Records (RS 25/4/4) (part of)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["Oral history--Study and teaching (topic)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["oral histories (literary works)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Ark"]},"value":{"en":["https://n2t.net/ark:/87292/w9z31nv5w"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Oral histories conducted as part of Honors Seminar 321J: Documenting the Past: An Introduction to Oral History."]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["This item is protected by copyright and related rights. You are free to use this item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses, please obtain permission from the rights-holder. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Iowa State University"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Iowa State University"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/004/original/ISULogo.png?1601681107","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/103/515/small/Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_2020_11_23.JPG?1608553229","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 2 - Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_2020_11_23_01.m4a"]},"duration":1209.16523,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/103/515/small/Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_2020_11_23.JPG?1608553229","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-iastate.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/103/515/original/Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_2020_11_23_01.m4a?1608553229","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mp3","duration":1209.16523,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515/transcript/41647","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Zina Kaissi TXT Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515/transcript/41647/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"1\n00:00:00 —\u003e 00:00:08,220\nHello, my name is Tory Meeks, it is November 23rd, 2020, and I'm here interviewing Zina Kaissi.\n\n2\n00:00:08,220 —\u003e 00:00:13,460\nIt is currently 5:45 p.m. Do you want to say hello Zee [Zina Kaissi]? \n\n3\n00:00:13,460 —\u003e 00:00:16,780\nIt’s nice to meet you, hello my name is Zina Kaissi. \n\n4\n00:00:16,780 —\u003e 00:00:26,410\nVery good all right well I will start with asking you to give me a quick summary of everywhere that you've lived in your life, as I am aware it's quite a few places.\n\n5\n00:00:26,410 -\u003e 00:00:58,860\nSo mainly I started when I was born in Wisconsin, then I moved about a year later to Monterey in California where my dad was stationed, then quickly moved to Kansas City in Missouri I believe, then moved for the remainder of 5 years in South Carolina and Mount Pleasant pretty small town, then decided to move on to the UAE in Abu Dhabi where I stayed for almost a complete decade before moving back to Ames, Iowa.\n\n6\n00:00:58,860 -\u003e 00:01:00,800\nAnd what does the UAE stand for?\n\n7\n00:01:00,800 -\u003e 00:01:04,250\nThe UAE stands for the United Arab Emirates.\n\n8\n00:01:04,250 -\u003e 00:01:07,090\nCan you give us a general idea of where it is on a map?\n\n9\n00:01:07,090 -\u003e 00:01:16,010\n So practically it's situated right beside Saudi Arabia it's about the tip of where Saudi Arabia is. They’re very close partners of Saudi Arabia.\n\n10\n00:01:16,010 -\u003e 00:01:20,320\nOkay, very interesting. Can you tell us sort of why you were there?\n\n11\n00:01:20,320 -\u003e 00:01:38,280\nSo my dad was able to get a really good job opportunity with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi because they finally opened a new hospital over there. We were planning to build it for at least 2 years which has now stretched out to 10 years, as can clearly be seen.\n\n12\n00:01:38,280 -\u003e 00:01:52,580\nYep. I can imagine. So now you're back in the States, in fact you're in Ames, Iowa right now. So of course, you're here for college as you’re a freshman in University just like I am. So, well what made you choose Iowa State University?\n\n13\n00:01:52,580 -\u003e 00:02:33,900\nIt was actually because of the community, because I did have offers all around the States some of them being in Michigan some of them being in New York, Texas, Oregon, but I decided on Iowa because they had such an interesting Community to live in. I found that it was more internationally minded and even more internationally based than let's say the College I was offered in Michigan, which was really just, how can I say, very Bland in its mixture of cultures and nationalities, because for someone like me it's easier to be with more internationally minded people.\n\n14\n00:02:33,900 -\u003e 00:02:41,540\nUnderstandable. Let’s see, what were some of your experiences with some of these other colleges that kind of turned you off from them?\n\n15\n00:02:41,540 -\u003e 00:03:16,770\nWell, online was the only way I could really interact with them cuz of covid but when I interacted with them, they were more set in their ways and they didn't seem as open-minded to having International diversity as I had hoped, because they did not find a lot of students from International backgrounds coming to their colleges which was a very sad thought. But it kind of turned me away from them to a point where I felt like if I were to go there, I'd be limited with who I'd be interacting with.\n\n16\n00:03:16,770 -\u003e 00:03,26,730\nUnderstandable, yeah. So, you’re here now, and we're into the winter months now, or almost there, so how has this weather been for you coming from the Middle East?\n\n17\n00:03,26,730 -\u003e 00:03:32,340\nTo be frank, terrible. I did not know winter could be so bad.\n\n18\n00:03:32,340 -\u003e 00:03:36,830\nFor reference, it's snowing right now, and it's not even winter it is November 23rd.\n\n19\n00:03:36,830 -\u003e 00:03:52,550\nIt is definitely winter. [laughs]. In Abu Dhabi, there is no such thing as Seasons. it is just cold summer, hot summer, hotter summer, hottest summer so I am not used to any sort of winter. Or fall.\n\n20\n00:03:52,550 -\u003e 00:03:58,830\nOh yeah. [laughs]. Are you- are you surviving, are you doing all right with the cold weather lately?\n\n21\n00:03:58,830 -\u003e 00:04:06,760\nSurviving would be an overstatement in my situation, but I am still breathing. At least that is happening.\n\n22\n00:04:06,760 -\u003e 00:04:12,460\nYeah, well, let's go back to Iowa State. So, what are you studying here?\n\n23\n00:04:12,460 -\u003e 00:04:18,280\n So, right now I'm studying pre-design because I'm aiming to go into architecture, hopefully.\n\n24\n00:04:18,280 -\u003e 00:04:25,730\nThat’s a good goal to have. And what is that? You're in pre-design?\n\n25\n00:04:25,730 -\u003e 00:04:53,910\nBecause we have to make sure to study the basics before we actually go into our designated design courses. I know for sure that I've studied with people who want to go into graphic design, who want to go into industrial design, who want to go into landscape architecture and such, but we have to get the basics down because, in all honesty, none of us really have the total basics down from high school.\n\n26\n00:04:53,910 -\u003e 00:05:06,830\nGotcha, gotcha. Speaking of high school, I understand that you went to quite a prestigious high school. Now how has Iowa State compared to your experience in high school and before then?\n\n27\n00:05:06,830 -\u003e 00:06:00,520\nWell, to put a reference into this interview, I went to an international Baccalaureate school called Al Raha, which is one of the most prestigious schools in the world regarding the IB program. And, they were very stressful in their regimented curriculums, so being able to come to a college like Iowa state which is more lax and more open-minded to different procedures and different ways to study, really has made me be able to relax and be able to open up more regarding how I study, who I study with, how I go forth with products and such. Especially with projects like my design projects. \n\n28\n00:06:00,520 -\u003e 00:06:13,800\nOkay, so it's a little more laid back, a little less stressful. I understand most high schools go at a little bit of a faster pace than universities so how has the semester been for you, I mean especially with Covid, so how has it been?\n\n29\n00:06:13,800 -\u003e 00:06:40,340\nSo, in the beginning mentally it was very taxing for me because I was not in a good mental state. But I was able to meet new people, see new faces, and see new ideas and environments, and that allowed me to kind of spread my wings and relax more so my mental health has really skyrocketed into the better areas because of that.\n\n30\n00:06:40,340 -\u003e 00:06:59,950\nThat's great, that's really good to hear. Especially like with the transition of different countries and I can imagine it would be very difficult to move countries for school. I mean, especially coming back to the US it must be very jarring, so tell me what are like the biggest differences between Ames and the UAE?\n\n31\n00:06:59,950 -\u003e 00:09:18,640\nThere are a multitude of differences. The first I can clearly say is the culture because I'm more used to a very religious culture because the UAE is proudly an Islamic country, which it has a right to be. So, it's a very young country that came from Bedouin ties, and being barely under 50 years old, so they are very stuck to their culture. So, things like wearing certain clothing, certain ways to act in public, are very, very regimented. So, for example, I as a female cannot wear anything that can expose my knees or expose my shoulders lest I insult the Emiratis, the locals, in their culture because it's not deemed appropriate. As well, women are not as powerful as men in the legal sense. For example, divorce courts, divorces are very common, and the men would get everything in a relationship compared to the women. Women also are just starting to have higher education so the country does have very backwards ideas that I clearly cannot see in the US where gender equality is much more realistic in terms of reaching that goal compared to the UAE. But the UAE has started to change its ways especially with mental health and such. Just recently they just opened their first Suicide Hotline, which is a very big step regarding the mental health industry, because in the Arab world mental health does not truly exist. For example, if you have any sort of depression it would just be seen that you were sick and most the time, he would either be hospitalized or be called insane. Which is a very backwards way of thinking I have not seen in the US, especially in college settings where they seem to be more open about it.\n\n32\n00:09:18,640 -\u003e 00:09:22,640\nYeah.\n\n33\n00:09:22,640 -\u003e 00:10:37,840\nSo that's culture, I could say as well that the politics are completely different in multiple ways. The UAE as I can see he has a much more, I cannot say totally but they have very similar government to a totalitarian government. Because each Emirate which is the 7 Emirates like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Ras al Khaimah, Umm al Quwain, Sharjah, Fujairah- I cannot remember all 7, [laughs]. They are each run by really, you know, governed by a sheikh and his family so it's like a ruling family. But overall, of the 7 Emirates there's one main ruling family and that's the Al Nahyan clan or tribe which is headed by sheikh Khalifa who is the president of all of the UAE and also, you know, the head of Abu Dhabi. And his younger brother sheikh Muhammad is the, I guess you could say, the military side of everything. \n\n34\n00:10:37,840 -\u003e 00:10:38,840\nYeah.\n\n35\n00:10:38,840 -\u003e 00:11:30,190\nHe deals in defense, offense, and in the more protecting affairs of the country. Whereas in Dubai it’s just the sheikh who's ruling Dubai and such. There is no such thing as parties, there's no voting there, it's just the the presidency is passed on to the next of kin. It's usually the oldest son, it’s never the oldest daughter, it’s never really a daughter but because the country is so young it's only really been passed on from the founder Sheikh Zayed to his eldest son Sheikh Khalifa, but there is there is one in line. Sheikh Khalifa has a son that is ready to take on the throne when his time comes.\n\n36\n00:11:30,190 -\u003e 00:11:36,360\nOkay, very interesting. So that's practically a monarchy then, when it’s passed through Bloodlines.\n\n37\n00:11:36,360 -\u003e 00:11:43,150\nYeah, I said it can definitely be considered a monarchy, but they don't like to see it as such, they like to call him the president.\n\n38\n00:11:43,150 -\u003e 00:11:45,010\nYeah, of course. [laughs].\n\n39\n00:11:45,010 -\u003e 00:14:44,100\nWell that's culture and politics, I can definitely say food and Traditions are very highly celebrated in the UAE even with all their extreme modernization of their buildings and their education system and even of their people, they still hang onto Traditions very tightly where they have something akin to a Fourth of July which is called National Day. It happens later in December, usually. It's just a full day where all schools, all companies, everyone just celebrates the traditions and the culture of the UAE, where more of their Bedouin ties come out, so like traditional food, traditional dances, traditional artworks. So, they would do basket weaving which I've personally never tried. But they also do art such as henna which is like these temporary tattoos on your arms and such and legs which actually Emirati women partake in every single month and keep these tattoos on them for years on end just the same pattern. So, it's a very heavily influenced Culture by their Bedouin ties, and because they were bad ones, they've also been influenced by surrounding countries. So, countries like Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, and Oman, in the older times before those countries had been modernized the Bedouins had also interacted with them so most of their traditions and cultures are so similar in structure that sometimes they overlap. So sometimes let's say in the Arabic language there is the modern language, but then there are the slang terms that sometimes overlap. Emirati slang sometimes overlaps with some words in Saudi slang, which actually a very common occurrence compared to, let’s say, words in the Emirati slang vocabulary compared to Moroccan slang or Egyptian slang or Iraqi slang. Because of the travel distance between them did not allow the Bedouins to interact with the Bedouins of other countries. So, it’s a very interesting culture that’s just kind of a mixing bowl of all these other, much older cultures. While at the same time, it has its own influence, their own language, their own traditions, their own dances. It’s a very interesting culture to watch and to observe over the years because you can compare it to other cultures that visit this country.\n\n40\n00:14:44,100 -\u003e 00:15:13,160\nNow that’s very interesting. Like, that’s not dissimilar to say, there's plenty of words in common with say the Nordic countries, and English even, they share lots of words in common probably because their location of origin is so close. Now that's very interesting linguistically that a country like Saudi Arabia shares so much with Abu Dhabi like, I suppose they are fairly close but they’re- I would say they're still quite different, yeah. [laughs].\n\n41\n00:15:13,160 -\u003e 00:15:58,950\n[laughs]. Definitely. Even you can clearly see the differences in the way they act, and in the way that they dress. So, let's say with a Kandura, I don't know what the modern typical Arabic word for it, but in Iraqi slang the terms that I use I call it the white dress that a male wear, in the Arab world a Kandura, and the way that they would wear it can definitely tell you what they believe in and also which country they're from. And also, be headpiece, the name is not on my tongue right now, but even the color of the headpiece and the way that the headpiece is wrapped around the head can dictate which country they're from.\n\n42\n00:15:58,950 -\u003e 00:16:08,460\nThat’s very fascinating. It seems that dress is very heavily influenced by culture there, now what sort of things to do wear while you were there?\n\n43\n00:16:08,460 -\u003e 00:17:28,110\nWell, even though I was in such a culturally rich country, I wore the basic jeans and basic t-shirts but sometimes I would partake in wearing a hijab and Abaya. Which are the female clothes. I've never personally worn a burka which is the head covering that completely covers the head except for the eyes but I have definitely visited Mosques where I would wear the Abaya and hijab as a sign of respect to the culture and the religion. I've been to many many markets, gold markets, fabric markets, any type of Market you can name I've been to it where I have seen, you know, them creating the pieces of gold for women to wear on National Day for them to create the abayas and hijab, the normal wear for women, and even though that the fabric may just look bland, maybe repetitive on many women, it is the small differences in the sewing and the crafting that really make them seem as different as these really crazy companies that are very expensive like Gucci or Fendi.\n\n44\n00:17:28,110 -\u003e 00:17:44,470\nYeah, yeah. That’s very interesting. So, when you're there you kind of learn to tell the differences between these things huh? And gold seems to be very important in fact you're wearing some gold jewelry now. If you wouldn't mind telling us a little bit about it like the significance?\n\n45\n00:17:44,470 -\u003e 00:18:42,520\nOkay well gold over in Abu Dhabi is, I wouldn't say very cheap, but I wouldn’t say very expensive, it's a common practice to trade gold and to even make your own gold if you go into a shop and you say, “hey I want gold using these gems that I have”, it's very common for you to just have those made for you. They're very very professional and even very experienced Craftsman that has maybe created gold for about 30-40 years and because of the very prominent belief in passing on traditions through lineage usually these shops and these crafters have been making these gold pieces for generations to come. So, sometimes you'll even see their younger son making the gold beside their fathers, which is a very sweet sight cuz sometimes they're like 5, 6 and they're just watching their fathers.\n\n46\n00:18:42,520 -\u003e 00:18:54,660\nOh, that’s cute. Are there a lot of things like, the word escapes me, of trade schools there were people will learn a trade rather than going to like Secondary School?\n\n47\n00:18:54,660 -\u003e 00:19:43,520\nActually, no. The country has really adapted to more modern terms of education. Because they’re are such a young country, they've adapted more British and American terms of education. I haven't really seen any from Australia or any other Western World countries over, but I've definitely seen British and American. I have been to a British and an American school before going to I.B. (International Baccalaureate). They do have the typical kindergarten, preschool, first grade to sixth grade, sixth grade to 12th grade type of education system but they don't really do the trade schools. Those trades are usually learned at home by the families.\n\n48\n00:19:43,520 -\u003e 00:19:45,250\nOkay.\n\n49\n00:19:45,250 -\u003e 00:20:07,070\nIf a family is really prominent in their trade or in their company or in such these children would learn it by themselves and would learn it in their own time. Maybe they would not focus on schoolwork but would rather focus on their trade, but they would still go to school, it's a mandatory thing. \n\n50\n00:20:07,070 -\u003e 00:20:09,160\nOkay. That makes a lot of sense.\n\n51\n00:20:09,160 -\u003e 00:20:17,420\nSo, was it jarring to come here and see women wearing different outfits and other very strong cultural differences?\n\n52\n00:20:17,420 -\u003e 00:22:20,600\nI mean definitely at first, I expected the differences, but I did not expect them to be as significant to myself as I had anticipated. I had already visited the US multiple times over the decade, but I guess suddenly realizing that I'm going to live here and the US now becoming my home its kind of hit me really hard that I'm going to be in a completely different culture for the next 5-6 years of my life if I decide to live here for a bit longer. And it definitely wasn't just the clothes. It was just the people who I interacted with. The way they interacted with me, the way that Society has built itself up in the US it's a lot of different things were completely on a 180-scale compared to the UAE, like politics. That was never something you could talk about in the UAE. You had the sheikhs, you followed what they said, and that was that. You never really talk about anything bad about them, you never really had any controversies or any such things like that happened in the US quite often, I found. People either were very nice or very rude to you depending on how they liked, well to them we were the expats, so I could find a local and either they would hate me just because I am an American or they would love me because I was an American. It just depended on their own outtake. Here I have had a multitude of people being very kind to me, but I think it's just a Midwest thing. I've never had that in Houston, especially not downtown Houston, my God.\n\n53 \n00:22:20,600 -\u003e 00:22:23,780\nIt’s a special place. [laughs].\n\n54 \n00:22:23,780 -\u003e 00:24:15,160\nYes very special. Definitely with the way that people present themselves here, they're very lax, I don't feel like there any restrictions to expressing yourself either verbally or physically with your clothes or even with your actions. I was much more reserved as a person in the UAE because you would always be judged on how you looked, on how you spoke. I'm currently wearing, just for context, boots, jeans, a bandana, and a very large shirt. I would be considered to be wearing something too boyish, or not feminine enough because I do not have any bright colors and I do not have anything that accentuates my femininity compared to other girls that may not wear in an Abaya or a hijab, which would cause me to be a very nice topic to be talked about by Elder women, especially older locals. It is very common to be judged by them, they have a very high expectation for women to present themselves to be very feminine because in their culture, which is sadly still a very prominent thing, they expect young girls to be prepared for very early marriages, even some cases being married as early as 16, which was a very common practice in Bedouin times. It is such an integrated part of their culture to a point where me, being a female going to a hospital, I was commonly asked if I am planning to be pregnant or “is your husband in the room” when I was as young as 15, simply because I was a female.\n\n55\n00:24:15,160 -\u003e 00:24:35,970\nYeah, that's crazy. I mean that's just like next level stuff, and you're only 18 now so it's hard to imagine somebody asking you that. Let's see. So, you mentioned that you were an expat. Can you kind of elaborate on what that means? That and Emiratis- like what's like the relationship there?\n\n56\n00:24:35,970 -\u003e 00:26:52,700\nOkay, so unlike the US where there's the concept of immigrants, expats are exponentially different in that sense. So, in the UAE, no matter what, you cannot get a passport. You can only be born to the passport and you cannot marry into that passport. It's a very restricted thing to have that passport. Let me give you a scenario. An Emirati man marries an American woman, they have a child. That child will have an Emirati passport whether they are female or male. The father will keep his Emirati passport but the woman, the wife, will not have an Emirati passport, she will only be registered under her husband as being his wife So eventually if he ever decides to divorce her, she can easily be kicked out of the country, which sounds very brutal but is the harsh truth. This differs to Emirati women. If an Emirati woman marries any expat or any person that is not an Emirati, they don't have an Emirati passport and I'm pretty sure the children do not have an Emirati passport either because they follow always the man’s lineage. So, if the man has children with her the children are not Emiratis. I'm pretty sure although this may have changed from when I last heard about it. Expats are called expats because we are not guaranteed to live there, so even though, let's say, for me I've lived the longest. One would usually live only for five years so living 10 years is quite an achievement in the country because usually you would be kicked out either by the company because they do not want to pay you as much anymore because promotions eventually lead to paying the expat more. Or, because they have already found an Emirati to replace you by the time five years have been completed. So being an expat practically means an immigrant, but an immigrant that does not stay long. \n\n57\n00:26:52,700 -\u003e 00:27:06,560\nSo it's much more conditional then and it’s kind of like you could be kicked out at any time. You’ve told me a bit about how people are often removed from the country. Kind of like, how often does this happen?\n\n58\n00:27:06,560 -\u003e 00:27:29,520\nWell, removed can be of multiple things. So, removed from what I was saying is just simply replaced because there's an Emirati that can replace you and your job, and if you do not have a job you cannot stay in the country. That's why there's no homeless that's why there are no Beggars. Actually, begging is illegal, I didn't realize that my first year cuz I kind of gave to the beggars.\n\n59\n00:27:29,520 -\u003e 00:27:32,730\nUh oh. \n\n60\n00:27:32,730 -\u003e 00:29:44,710\nMy mistake, my mistake. I wouldn't have been arrested but they were. But there's also you being kicked out of the gulf, and this is on criminal charges. Because in the UAE crime is practically non-existent. There are no terrorists there except for one a long time ago. It was one terrorist action, one, in all the years that I'd been there and sadly it caused the death of an American woman, a mother and a teacher. But it was such a shock that the entire country went into a practical lockdown and all Americans were essentially protected at that time, because he was, I cannot remember, but it was definitely an Arab terrorist group that was aiming at Americans. I'm not sure for what purpose, I was too young at the time. But crime is essentially nonexistent due to the fact that the UAE is so strict and so harsh with their punishments. Their jails are all in the desert, and I'm not very sure cuz I did not study this as much, but I'm pretty sure that there's a lack of AC in those jail cells, or just enough AC to make it humanly habitable, but these desert conditions are extremely devoid of any kindness or any human interaction, so I think it's practically a solitary environment, and once you’re jailed there, if you are not an Emirati, then you are immediately kicked out of the Gulf. Not the UAE, the Gulf which is the Arab Gulf which are all the countries that surround the Gulf Sea. So, this can include I think Qatar, Saudi Arabia, if I remember my geography correctly, Bahrain and countries like that. So, all of them will kick you out simply because you committed a crime in one of them, so this also applies to the other countries. The UAE is much stricter in their guidelines.\n\n61\n00:29:44,710 -\u003e 00:30:21,700\nWow, so you would just be completely removed not just from the country but from surrounding countries as well. In in that way you would almost think that the UAE is safer than the US. You said no crime, no homeless, begging is illegal, so in that sense, like, they have kind of solved problems that the US is really grappling with right now and has always been. So, like, how do the two compare on those grounds?\n\n62\n00:30:21,700 -\u003e 00:32:36,440\nWell, I can definitely say crime-wise I would rather live in the UAE, especially if I had children, which my parents did, than in the US, any place in the US. But regarding culture I think that the US is more open-minded towards self-expression. So, towards self-expression the US is much more open-minded towards things like that especially in terms of clothing and in terms of freedom of speech and such, the US is definitely more lax in their restrictions compared to the UAE which still is very very sometimes in a lot of cases backwards in their mindsets. Although the US is very devoid of its own significant culture so it can sadly become a little bland to live in some areas if you don't live in communities that may house more internationally diverse people with internationally diverse backgrounds like Iowa State. So, and that's a problem that I feel like I would face, personally, because I am more open-minded to International diverse people compared to let's say someone who's lived in a certain town for all their lives. I can definitely say politically I would rather live in the UAE, even if I cannot speak about the things I don't agree about in the UAE, they are much more controlled and what they do and they usually make the best decisions for the country even if some of those decisions may be too restrictive. They are essentially the best decisions because I can definitely say when Covid started, the UAE was very restricted on the, well I wouldn’t say all of the UAE but Abu Dhabi, where I lived was very restricted in their quarantine. Compared to what I assume the US has done?\n\n63\n00:32:36,440 -\u003e 00:32:50,830\nThat’s true. You know, if there’s anything that a somewhat totalitarian government is good at it was controlling Covid during the initial stages, and from what I hear, Abu Dhabi is doing much better than the US at this point in time. \n\n64\n00:32:50,830 -\u003e 00:33:18,550\nI can definitely say that. As someone who knows someone in the medical field in Abu Dhabi, they are doing better. They aren’t doing great, because covid still is being spread quite rapidly, due to there being no counter actives, but they’re doing much better controlling than the US, where I have seen recently multiple cases per day that really shock me.\n\n65\n00:33:18,550 -\u003e 00:33:48,390\nI mean, you don't have to look far even from our college campus, you just look out at the street, you see plenty of bars open, not a mask in sight despite the Statewide mandate. I mean that's one downside about having so much freedom, to be honest. You know the US is often characterized in its media and even in media outside the US as like a perfect place, and the American dream is really peddled to everybody, but has this been true in your experience?\n\n66\n00:33:48,390 -\u003e 00:34:33,270\nWell, I can definitely say that the American dream is false, as brutal as that is to hear, because it's just such a naive thought that the US is such a great place. Each place has its own issues but compared to the UAE I can definitely say the US has many more issues that they should have already resolved. Having such an intense history as they have, compared to the UAE which is quite literally less than half a century old even just half a century old. The US if I'm correct is over almost over two centuries old?\n\n67\n00:34:33,270 -\u003e 00:34:38,030\nAbout 270 years old.[Actually 244 years]\n\n68\n00:34:38,030 -\u003e 00:35:15,610\nSo quite literally almost three centuries old, and they still have not been able to change the ways that they are living that are very destructive to themselves. For example, gun control. I personally see that as a very insulting thing for it to still be a problem, when in the UAE there is barely such a thing. The terrorist Act was done, the terrorist Act of Killing the woman, was not done by a gun it was by a large kitchen knife purchased a store in the mall, that is it-\n\n69\n00:35:15,610 -\u003e 00:35:16,970\nWow.\n\n70\n00:35:16,970 -\u003e 00:35:19,560\nthere's complete gun control compared to the US.\n\n71\n00:35:19,560 -\u003e 00:35:23,060\nSo people, so citizens there cannot own Firearms. \n\n72\n00:35:23,060 -\u003e 00:35:39,080\n I personally don't know the specifics, but I do know that some people hunt. I assume that it is very restricted to own a firearm or not.\n\n73\n00:35:39,080 -\u003e 00:35:47,290\nSo you don't see any sights that we will sometimes see here of like guys in their trucks with a few guns in the back?\n\n74\n00:35:47,290 -\u003e 00:36:11,870\nOh no no no. There is no such thing. If you were to own a gun, I have in all my years of living in the UAE I've only seen one person own a gun. One. And that was because he was an avid Hunter and he had gotten his gun from his father who had interacted with the British civilians who he had purchased the gun from. \n\n75\n00:36:11,870 -\u003e 00:36:39,840\nOkay, that's very interesting. It’s a little bit hard to imagine a culture that isn't so, I don't want to save violence centric, but we do place a lot of emphasis on violence and gun ownership here for better or for worse. Now, do you think some of these wider systemic issues that we see in the US that we don't so much see in the UAE such as gun control, homelessness, and crime may be attributed to larger populations?\n\n76\n00:36:39,840 -\u003e 00:37:43,380\nI can definitely say that of course the US, the UAE is you know much, much smaller compared to the US but population should not be the only issue. Cuz the UAE quite literally has a smaller local population than the expat population so the expats constantly filter through and yet they still are able to manage themselves within quite literally just about 20 years of modernization. Because 20 years ago as I have known from people who have lived there 20 years ago, the UAE was nothing. It is just in the last 20 years that the UAE was able to modernize itself so rapidly, so it's a country that small and that new can make all these regulations and be able to control itself while it's still rapidly modernizing itself, how could the US not do the same? \n\n77\n00:37:43,380 -\u003e 00:38:11,180\nThat's a very good point that you bring up. Some people attribute this difficulty to how diverse the US is. I don't think homogeneity would fix these problems necessarily, but it's clear that we have a lot of people and a lot of contrasting opinions. And well, you’ve come to a college campus during an election year. Do you have anything to say about your experiences about that?\n\n78\n00:38:11,180 -\u003e 00:38:56,050\nI am so confused- I quite literally had to keep asking around about the party systems and what was going on because I found it quite clear about what should be focused on during this time, I.E., covid and gun control and violence control and even the rights of people whether they be black or any other race. But clearly there has been a diverse idea spectrum of the importance of these issues which I found really reflect the different amounts of Education levels that sadly take up the US.\n\n79\n00:38:56,050 -\u003e 00:39:27,670\nYeah, you'll find honestly the most liberal or Progressive people on college campuses I think it's a given that leftist politics tend to go with education, it just sort of works out that way. With more education people seem to care more about issues like social justice but I'm sure you agree that this year especially has felt like political theater. It's all a bit of a show if you’ve seen any of it, then yeah.\n\n80\n00:39:27,670 -\u003e 00:39:35,970\nI can definitely say that I totally get why Saturday Night Live keeps making fun of politics [laughs]-\n\n81\n00:39:35,970 -\u003e 00:39:37,500\nOh, yeah [laughs].\n\n82\n00:39:37,500 -\u003e 00:40:40,630\n-I quite literally could not understand what was going on in my first month. I was so confused to a point where I found trouble even finding out what a Democrat and a republican rally meant because I thought they were less extreme than they were shown to be in these this year's candidates. But clearly, I was wrong, and it really gave me a real shock to finally understand that the US is full of these extremes, especially when there's such a diverse population that could be able to help themselves in their situations with their violence and their lack of equality and their lack of understanding of one another. I thought that they would already try to start especially after almost centuries of living with one another.\n\n83\n00:40:40,630 -\u003e 00:41:24,110\nWell, throughout history there have been many civil rights movements, but they all tend to get shut down within a few years if you look back throughout even recent history. I'm going to hope that isn't what's going to happen to this year's Civil Rights Movement but yeah. Now, in the past 4 years especially, I think most Americans have gotten very used to hearing about politics and hearing about our president every single day we're always reminded of who he is and what he's doing and what's going on. Now is there sort of that same situation in the UAE where you're constantly reminded of what your politicians are doing or is it more of just a given that you can ignore what they're doing?\n\n84\n00:41:24,110 -\u003e 00:42:48,270\nWell the UAE is much more open to what they announce, rather than the US. I've never experienced my political leaders announcing very important issues on Twitter, but I could definitely expect an email, a text, a news channel to tell us exactly what's going on and how they're responding to it sometimes they will keep their issues and their findings secret, as a government does, but usually when they are announcing to the public what needs to happen or what they are planning to do, they will always seem to update us to make sure that we aren't in a panic or we aren't in the dark. It was especially helpful during covid because they were on top of everything, limiting travel, limiting restaurants, they actually shut down all the restaurants in Abu Dhabi immediately. They were very concise in their information, they didn't ramble-on they didn't put the blame on others they simply told us what was happening, why it was happening, to who it was happening to, and what to expect next. Compared to what I found in the US, which is a lot of, sadly, rambling.\n\n85\n00:42:48,270 -\u003e 00:43:12,130\n I can understand that perspective very well. Now I haven't thought about this much, the media in the UAE, like how is it different from the media here are they more transparent, are they very biased, are they more just straight to the point telling you the facts? Just what are they like? Just any news station that you would turn on back home.\n\n86\n00:43:12,130 -\u003e 00:43:23,320\nWell I would definitely say they aren't as open as like CNN regarding the government, but they aren't like what's the channel, Fox News?\n\n87\n00:43:23,320 -\u003e 00:43:24,720\nFox news, yeah.\n\n88\n00:43:24,720 -\u003e 00:45:06,980\nYes, as supportive or as completely gung-ho about the government. They really focused more on international issues and trying to understand what was happening around the world. Because, coincidentally, not much happened in the UAE, regarding daily news. Maybe if there was a large opening, I remember Masdar City, an eco-city, if there are updates on something like that. Or, if there are updates on the projects held in the UAE, or if there are updates on the government or government sectors. For example, the Suicide Hotline. Stuff like that would usually be put on. They’d be critical about it, they wouldn’t hide anything about it, most of the things that the UAE did not have anything to be negative about, they were very progressive, and they are very progressive in their ideas and their movements. Which is a big positive, to the people. Unlike in the US, where I would see a lot more arguments on the news between different sides of political parties or between sides of arguments, which I found to be more inclusive of maybe the opinions of the audience, compared to the news channels in the UAE which really just explain what’s going on in the world. \n\n89\n00:45:06,980 -\u003e 00:45:18,480\nOkay, that’s a good way to put it. Now there’s downsides and upsides to every place there is, but do you have a preferred place that you have lived between the US and outside of it?\n\n90\n00:45:18,480 -\u003e 00:46:17,570\nI actually cannot say, I personally did not hate the UAE, but I've had personal experiences that made me not want to continue living in the country, especially since I'm such an open-minded person is quite hard for me to go back when I've had this bit of Freedom that I've had in Ames. I definitely would not live back in South Carolina, it's a very small town and I'm not a very small-minded girl [laughs]. Ames, I like it so far, it's a very open-minded Community. I have met some people that may not share my open-mindedness, but they are not, thank God, the majority. I wouldn't say I would like to live in the US from now on, or the UAE but I haven't lived enough in the world to be able to discern if those are my final decisions.\n\n91\n00:46:17,570 -\u003e 00:46:40,820\nOkay. Now that’s a very interesting way to put it. As you have kind of expressed to me, there’s big positives and big negatives towards both, if I were in your shoes, I'm not sure which I would prefer either. Now kind of a last question to segue into, with the holidays just around the corner, what has it been like with the switch to a majority Christian country from a majority Muslim country? \n\n92\n00:46:40,820 -\u003e 00:46:55,740\nWell, things like Christmas and Easter were definitely not celebrated as religiously in the UAE, they were more seen as let’s say Valentine’s Day, where it was just you selling items.\n\n93\n00:46:55,740 -\u003e 00:46:57,620\nSo, more like a commercial holiday. \n\n94\n00:46:57,620 -\u003e 00:48:36,250\nyeah, they were more commercial holidays compared to what I’ve seen here where they are more religiously celebrated. But I definitely liked the Islamic celebrations over in the UAE because some celebrations like Eid, there are two Eids, Eid al-Fitr and I think that's the second one, I'm not very sure, those celebrations usually would last a week or two and just complete joy would be found all over the UAE. They were very proud of their religion and their culture and also with the holiday Ramadan, the fasting, the holy month. It was definitely very widely celebrated in very controlled celebration and holiday because of how the residents would fast, so it was very supportive of those religious events but that is not to say that it did not support other religious events, maybe not as nationwide but it definitely had respect towards other religions. Especially towards Christianity in general, with the Pope recently coming over to the UAE, which was a very big celebration have which happened in UAE and in the Arab world in general because the UAE is known to be a very Islamic country, but it was open enough invite the Pope which is a figurehead of Christianity.\n\n95\n00:48:36,250 -\u003e 00:48:39,170\nYes, a bit of a sign of good faith, huh.\n\n96\n00:48:39,170 -\u003e 00:49:02,570\nOh, definitely. The UAE, which most people do not know, celebrated in the arrival of the Pope for many days and we were all very interested in how it would occur. There were a lot of schools actually sending their students over to be able to witness such a historic event.\n\n97\n00:49:02,570 -\u003e 00:49:10,280\nThat’s very interesting. I mean, I’m Catholic and I haven’t even met the Pope, it’s impressive that you’ve met him. [laughs].\n\n98\n00:49:10,280 -\u003e 00:49:18,060\n[laughs] Oh, I’ve definitely not met him. My friends have, from a very large distance away, but it's been interesting.\n\n99\n00:49:18,060 -\u003e 00:49:27,650\nYeah, at least they got a glimpse of him. Alright, real last question here so we’ve got Thanksgiving coming up in just a few days. Do you have any thoughts about that?\n\n100\n00:49:27,650 -\u003e 00:49:32,900\nI really just celebrated Thanksgiving for the commercial holiday and the turkey-\n\n101\n00:49:32,900 -\u003e 00:49:34,030\nThe turkey [laughs].\n\n102\n00:49:34,030 -\u003e 00:49:59,540\n-I never really gave thanks, as sad and as devoid of emotion as that sounds, but I can definitely see that there's more of a sense of family relationships in Thanksgiving than I had thought. Where I would have seen that more in celebrations like Eid and Ramadan where I had celebrated with my own family so it's a nice twist on family celebrations in my opinion.\n\n103\n00:49:59,540 -\u003e 00:50:18,080\nYeah, I suppose it's more of a family holiday and I'm not sure specifically where it was started but I think it's a pretty American thing too. Other countries do celebrate it but it's a particularly big deal here to the point where most people refuse to put up the Christmas trees until after Thanksgiving is over with.\n\n104\n00:50:18,080 -\u003e 00:50:20,210\nI’m definitely not one of those people [laughs].\n\n105\n00:50:20,210 -\u003e 00:50:27.090\nDefinitely not [laughs]. Alright, we’ll wrap this up. Do you have any other notes you’d like to add?\n\n106\n00:50:27.090 -\u003e 00:50:29,660\nNot really no.\n\n107\n00:50:29,660 -\u003e 00:50:33,910\nAlright. I think I've gotten plenty of information out of you.\n\n108\n00:50:33,910 -\u003e 00:50:36,120\nI think you have. [laughs].\n\n109\n00:50:36,120 -\u003e 00:50:40,700\nYeah [laughs]. Alright well thank you very much for joining me for this interview.\n\n110\n00:50:40,700 -\u003e 00:50:47,380\nAnd thank you for being such a great interviewer.\n\n111\n00:50:47,380 -\u003e 00:50:50,090\nThank you very much. And also, thank you very much for listening.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515#t=0.0,1209.16523"}]},{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515/transcript/41647","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["English [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103515/transcript/41647/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"subtitling","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/file_transcripts/associated_files/000/041/647/original/Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_Interview.txt?1675807206","format":"text/vtt","language":"en"},"target":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/file_transcripts/associated_files/000/041/647/original/Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_Interview.txt?1675807206"}]}]},{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103516","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 2 of 2 - Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_2020_11_23_02.m4a"]},"duration":1840.9369,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/103/516/small/Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_2020_11_23.JPG?1608553230","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103516/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103516/content/2/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-iastate.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/103/516/original/Meeks_Tory_Kaissi_Zina_2020_11_23_02.m4a?1608553230","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mp3","duration":1840.9369,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://iastate.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1214/collection_resources/34633/file/103516","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[]}]}