Personal Narrative: Fitriana

Fitriana’s head was covered in a hijab and she was dressed in oriental clothing in Brownsville, Texas where almost everyone is Hispanic, but I did not question why she would be in the city; my question was “What in the world is she be doing sitting in a Christian church?” Curiosity filled the air inside the temple as people stole glances at her every couple of minutes. As it turned out, she was a foreign exchange student housed by one of the families of church.
She soon became a sensation with everyone bringing a broad smile to each service and giving peacefulness to those around her. Even though she was a fish out of water, she never let her differences with those around her to interfere with the way she behaved. Moreover, barely speaking
Her culture was disparate to American culture from every aspect of her life. Hearing her talk about Indonesia was the most intriguing part of any conversation. Even though I had in the past been exposed to diversity, being so many years living in the Rio Grande Valley accustomed me to Hispanics. She brought a breath of fresh air, one unexpected but welcomed with arms wide open. We were the same, people of this earth and it was a mutual understanding between her and everyone around her. Her maturity with assisting church constantly and setting aside every difference we had with her was transmitted intensely. Enjoyment described every moment spent with her learning about each other sharing our languages with each other to learn and comprehend at a minimum was just more knowledge to accept gratefully on both parts. But by far the most important aspect of our relationship was respect. Respect never left and greater praise to her for accepting the people of the church to coexist with her and enjoy her company only led me to admire her more.
The first moment I laid eyes on her, growing a friendship between us never crossed my mind, but that was the mistake in my part. She gave me the example to set aside the exterior differences and see each other for the equal human beings we were. This America was new to her but she took it as her own, she made it her own, and she made all in it as her