More than 100,000 Iraqis live in the U.S. Many of them have settled very successfully in Lincoln Nebraska. Language and weather are the two most difficult challenges. - - Donna Poisl
From the Mideast to the Midwest
by Nina Burleigh
Like the pioneer families in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie books, Iraqi refugees Naef and Suad and their seven children spent their initial winter on the Great Plains huddled indoors, suffering from shock and cabin fever. “The first time we saw snow, we were so excited, and the kids went outside and played,” their father recalls. “But after that we felt like prisoners in our own home. There was so much ice, we only went to the store once a week.”
But now his family, who arrived in Lincoln, Neb., 18 months ago, has adjusted to the climate and rhythms of American life. Weekdays, the four older children are on the school bus at 6:30 a.m. Naef and Suad spend their days studying English and doing volunteer work (a requirement for some government benefits). On weekends, the family goes to Pioneers Park and barbecues. The kids have even sampled the delights of Chuck E. Cheese on a few special occasions.
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