Iraqi girl, interrupted

A teenager flees her war-torn country and ends up in Sacramento, where she’s faced with learning English and fulfilling her father’s dream—all while navigating the high-school shark tank. What sounds like next summer’s young adult hit is actually the life of Mouj Al-Azzawi, a 17-year-old Natomas student driven out of her native Iraq in 2006 due to post-invasion violence that overtook much of the country. Aided by a $500 scholarship from the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance, Al-Azzawi started her first semester at American River College this summer. With her fractured nation mired in a second wave of sectarian bloodshed, the acclimating refugee reflected on why her family left, why they chose Sacramento and the trick to making friends when you don’t speak “mean girl.”

Let’s talk about where you grew up.

I grew up in Iraq. Baghdad.

Right in the capital.

Yeah, it was really dangerous to stay there. Because we were kids and then seeing … dead bodies and all this.

What do you remember?

I do remember there was one time I was going to my grandma’s house, and my mom was driving. It was like 7 p.m. We seen soldiers. They start shooting each other in front of us. My mom … was like, “Just close your eyes. We’re going back.” She was pretty strong. So we drove back. We were screaming. We seen the blood and everything.

How old were you?

I think 9. We went home, and then we never went outside again. We were like, “No.” (Laughs.)

Did your family move out of Baghdad then?

Yes. After that happened, my mom was like, “I don't want you guys to stay here, because you're still young and we're looking to your future.” Because if we stayed there, we wouldn't be able to go to school no more. We didn't even go to our neighbors no more. We moved to a couple of countries. We moved from Iraq to Syria, and then from Syria to Jordan. … We stayed there a couple of months. After that, we moved to Egypt. We stayed there like five years.

Are your uncles still in Iraq?

Two uncles died there. And then one [went missing]. He just went outside and didn’t come back. We don’t know if he’s alive or not. My dad has a lot of brothers. One … just moved. Another is still there with my grandma.

What made your folks choose Sacramento?

My dad had a friend here, so he called him, and he was like, “If you want to come to Sacramento, it’s not real expensive, and people are nice.”

Did you speak any English at the time?

No, we didn’t. My dad went to Google translator and Googled words.

Where did you go to high school?

I went to Encina [Preparatory] High School. Encina has many different languages, students there. There was an Arabic girl. She helped me at first. And then I tried to help myself.

How?

Like, OK, the first day was horrible. (Laughs.) The [students were] speaking to me, but I don't know what they are saying, so I'm just ignoring them, not answering. When I went home, I was thinking about it. I was like, “If I stay like this, I'm not going to succeed. How am I going to overcome this challenge?” I started studying vocabulary words at first, like, “Hi, how are you?” and all this. Then the next day, I start practicing it with my teacher.

What about making friends? Was that tough with the language barrier?

Classmates, they were making fun of me, but I was not getting mad at them because I understand.

High school can be brutal.

I tried to be nice. I bring them Arabic food. They start liking me because I tell them about Arabic gum, Arabic candy, Arabic this. I was really trying with my heart to become friends because, by communicating with them, I learned. I still text my high-school friends, because it was hard to make them my friends, and I don’t want to lose them.

And now you’re hoping to go into dentistry?

Yeah, I chose this because of my dad. He wants that. He was like, “I try my hardest to bring you guys here because education is better. You can make everything you want become true and reality. I couldn't be that, so can you?”

Are there other things you would like to do as well?

Yeah, I would like to be a counselor. I'm involved in many activities and programs in my school. One of them was sitting with someone who has hard feelings, hard times, and you just talk to them.

How are your folks doing?

They are happy in seeing us succeeding. They don’t even want to go back.

I wonder how long it takes to create a home.

It was very hard to get used to here. The first few months, we don’t want to make friends, we don’t want to go outside, we’re fine here. Parents, daughters, that’s it. To be honest, for the first few months, I just want to go back to Egypt. I don’t want to continue here. But now, when my parents ask me the same question, “Do you still want to go back there?” I’m like, “No, I’m fine here.”