My TCK Story

MY TCK STORY

I was only six years old when we moved to Bahrain. I didn't know what an awesome, adventurous childhood I was in for! We lived in Bahrain for six years. I had the opportunity to go to an international school. Some of my best friends were Turkish, Swedish, Irish, Filipino, Bahraini, Saudi, and Egyptian to name a few. I got to ride camels and wear henna. I got a nose ring because I loved seeing the Indian women with their faces adorned in beautiful jewelry. I always got upset because Ramadan fell during my birthday and I could never have an outdoor birthday party. I loved singing along to the mosque calls and it was a Wednesday night specialty to watch the Indian films that came on TV with Arabic subtitles. Granted, we couldn't understand what was going on! Our weekends were Thursday and Friday, so yes we went to church on Fridays. I made the bidet in my bathroom into Barbie’s swimming pool. These are a couple of my childhood memories.

We then moved to the Portuguese Azores, to the island of Terceira (which I will refer to as Lajes) when I was twelve years old. I also lived there six years, but my parents stayed for a total of eight so it is the place that I consider my "home". The school I went to here was much smaller. We only had about 182 students 7-12th grade. My graduating class was one of the largest with 21, where as my sisters was only 11. My friends and I would go down to the cliffs and climb down (didn't tell that to my parents until recently) with only a twine rope. We had hurricanes and water spouts and rainbows galore! You know the scene in Forrest Gump where he talks about all the ways the rain would fall?! That was Lajes! And forget brushing your hair during the winter, the rain and wind would just mess it up. School didn't get canceled until we had 100 mph winds (I think they've since changed it to 80 mph). The bull fights were always a blast. However, we do not kill our bulls like the Spanish do because when the Spanish Conquistadors tried to invade the islands, the local farmers let the bulls go and it drove the Spaniards into the water. They, of course, drowned with all their heavy militant gear on. Hydrangeas would cascade down the hilltops during the summer to where it looked like there were actually hydrangea waterfalls. The people! Oh, the Portuguese people were some of the most awesome, kindest, most loving people I've ever encountered.

I consider myself an island girl! I don't like the snow. I miss the sunshine and seeing the ocean everyday. I've had the opportunity to visit 17 different countries and plan to visit (and perhaps even live) in many more. I met so many interesting people during my youth and I miss that lifestyle more than anything else. Those were the happiest times of my life. I did not realize how content and happy I was until I moved back to the states. It has been difficult getting acclimated in my passport country where I don't feel like a local. We are called "hidden immigrants".