Iowa: In the eyes of an immigrant! ( In dubuque ) (neighborhood, live in)

[Darkshdwguy]

S. A. I don't know what to tell you on how to fix your problem , but I can tell you that no matter where you go you will run into that "type".
Back in 1981 as a social experiment. I sat at the intersection of Hwy 30 and 330
which is right in the middle of Iowa, in a wheelchair and a flat tire on my car. To see how many people would stop and offer help. In the eight hours I sat there I counted 379 cars go by (that just the ones going the same direction I was ) not one stopped. But just as I was getting to pack it in a young African girl stopped to help. She was from Kenya and going to school in Ames. She actually was going the other direction and turned around to offer help. Over the years I have done the same thing in five other states: Nebraska counted a total of 1289 cars with 185 stopping. Kansas 2369/85. Missouri 3587/1598. Arkansas 756/32. Illinois 6785/110. I am not sure what was gained from this but it seems to me that Missouri is by far the friendliest state I have done this in so far.

[Southside Shrek]

Darkshdwguy
that was a great experiment. I would like to try a similar study using a white guy in a wheelchair in one location and also a black guy in a different location just to see how the numbers come out. Maybe I can call Al Sharpton to see if he would volunteer for the experiment.

[Southside Shrek]

S.Asia
According to Wikipedia, Nepal's literacy rate is higher than what I had originally thought and up to around 42% for girls/females now. That's still pretty dismal.

Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Nepal

The Shaivaite Pashupatinath temple.Nepal has a total population of 27,676,547 as of July 2005, with a growth rate of 2.2%. 39% of the population is up to 14 years old, 57.3% are aged between 15 and 64, and 3.7% above 65. The median age is 20.07 (19.91 for males and 20.24 for females). There are 1,060 males for every 1,000 females. Life expectancy is 59.8 years (60.9 for males and 59.5 for females). Nepal is the only country in the world where males outlive females. Total literacy rate is 53.74% (68.51% for males and 42.49% for females).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal

[foxfireofavalon]

Born in Iowa, lived here all my life except for a year in Brazil....never have I been to the state fair...have no clue what a guinea whatchamakalit is....don't go to the casino's...avoid malls like they are the plague, unless it's to go to a book store. Walked a lot of cornfields when I was a kid as my dad worked for Pioneer....have a black brother in law...a gorgeous nephew who is a lovely cocoa brown....a Laotian nephew in law...a gay sister...and her "wife". One of my best friends was Hispanic....I'm a housewife who has a passion for astrology and anything remotely metaphysical....people look at me wierd cause I'm fat and I look at people wierd cause I'm a totally curious person and find beauty in the exotic....of course...if I were looking at you you wounldn't know what I was thinking unless you are a mind reader.(So maybe you should stop caring about what other people think?)

So ok, I live south of you, near the Quad Cities...my hubby works for a company that deals with steel...not insurance or pigs....as a matter of fact, I don't think I know any pig farmers! My neighbor is an electrician...the others mostly retired. Hmmmm lots of factory workers, teachers, real estate dealers, car sales persons, bank employees...daycare providers...dentists and doctors...my brother in law...tall, white dude, raises angus in his downtime from being a maintanence person at a local steel mill. Nope, still can't think of any pig farmers...*scratches head*

I'd be more apt to think you were odd if you were a Baptist. They just freak me out man. Soooo, go out, do your thing, let people look, live your life, and know that there is diversity in Iowa.

You can't appreciate the positive without the negative!
What you resist, persists.

As for cow dung...it's very useful! Many of the immigrants that populated Iowa used it for everything from building to burning....it's beyond silly to think Nepal is going to be a model of suberbia with ranch homes lined up in neat rows and hot tubs in every back yard. Prosperity is not how much money you have in the bank...what you wear....or drive...it's about the richness of your character and the generosity of your soul.

Random thoughts,
Nemaste,
Foxfire

[S.Asian]

lol. I for sure fall under a group of 51 % plus the rest of the World who supports George W. Bush. Lets not drag this thread into Saddam and terrorism. Also do a research on the Geography of Asia and see the feasibility/possibility of supplying water from Nepal to China. You need not tell me how women are treated here and such. Don't you know the characteristics of a developing nation? Poverty, malnutrition, pool health facility, mis treatment, discrimination, racial barrier, illeteracy, non existent human rights, u name it , Nepal is rich on it.

[S.Asian]

Originally Posted by foxfireofavalon

Born in Iowa, lived here all my life except for a year in Brazil....never have I been to the state fair...have no clue what a guinea whatchamakalit is....don't go to the casino's...avoid malls like they are the plague, unless it's to go to a book store. Walked a lot of cornfields when I was a kid as my dad worked for Pioneer....have a black brother in law...a gorgeous nephew who is a lovely cocoa brown....a Laotian nephew in law...a gay sister...and her "wife". One of my best friends was Hispanic....I'm a housewife who has a passion for astrology and anything remotely metaphysical....people look at me wierd cause I'm fat and I look at people wierd cause I'm a totally curious person and find beauty in the exotic....of course...if I were looking at you you wounldn't know what I was thinking unless you are a mind reader.(So maybe you should stop caring about what other people think?)

So ok, I live south of you, near the Quad Cities...my hubby works for a company that deals with steel...not insurance or pigs....as a matter of fact, I don't think I know any pig farmers! My neighbor is an electrician...the others mostly retired. Hmmmm lots of factory workers, teachers, real estate dealers, car sales persons, bank employees...daycare providers...dentists and doctors...my brother in law...tall, white dude, raises angus in his downtime from being a maintanence person at a local steel mill. Nope, still can't think of any pig farmers...*scratches head*

I'd be more apt to think you were odd if you were a Baptist. They just freak me out man. Soooo, go out, do your thing, let people look, live your life, and know that there is diversity in Iowa.

You can't appreciate the positive without the negative!
What you resist, persists.

As for cow dung...it's very useful! Many of the immigrants that populated Iowa used it for everything from building to burning....it's beyond silly to think Nepal is going to be a model of suberbia with ranch homes lined up in neat rows and hot tubs in every back yard. Prosperity is not how much money you have in the bank...what you wear....or drive...it's about the richness of your character and the generosity of your soul.

Random thoughts,
Nemaste,
Foxfire

I forgot to mention that I fall under less than 1 percent of Nepalese nationalities who're Christians, 99 percent of who are Protestants. Your post was extremely informative and it contained several suggestions that could better my stay here. Namaste

[Southside Shrek]

Originally Posted by S.Asian

lol. I for sure fall under a group of 51 % plus the rest of the World who supports George W. Bush. Lets not drag this thread into Saddam and terrorism. Also do a research on the Geography of Asia and see the feasibility/possibility of supplying water from Nepal to China. You need not tell me how women are treated here and such. Don't you know the characteristics of a developing nation? Poverty, malnutrition, pool health facility, mis treatment, discrimination, racial barrier, illeteracy, non existent human rights, u name it , Nepal is rich on it.

S.Asia
LOL I was planning a white water rafting drift to Nepal but decided to cancel it because of all the Maoist terrorists running loose there. Now you have to admit that Dubuque is much safer than that. During all my travels and time spent in Iowa, I never once encountered a Maoist terrorist farmer in Iowa. One very nice Iowa farmer even allowed me to take shelter and sleep in his home when our car was stuck in a snowstorm.

[S.Asian]

Originally Posted by Southside Shrek

S.Asia
LOL I was planning a white water rafting drift to Nepal but decided to cancel it because of all the Maoist terrorists running loose there. Now you have to admit that Dubuque is much safer than that. During all my travels and time spent in Iowa, I never once encountered a Maoist terrorist farmer in Iowa. One very nice Iowa farmer even allowed me to take shelter and sleep in his home when our car was stuck in a snowstorm.

If a maoist were to read this then yeah I'm sure that you'd be the FIRST american to have problems with a maoist guerilla. You should stop planning white water rafting in Nepal. They might be looking for you lol !

[Southside Shrek]

S.Asia
don't worry about me. when I travel to Nepal for white water rafting, I will have you and 5 Sherpas out front walking the point.

I really can't wait to try a Yac Donald's burger over there. do they taste like the McDonald's over here or do they have a more pungent taste?

[Mokey]

S.Asian, you're attending a private college in Iowa. Anyone different, regardless of their color or background, is going to stick out in a private college. It isn't right, but that's the way it is.

The hard lesson you've learned here is that you really need to put thought into the major decisions in your life, such as where you go to school/live. That's why a lot of people, people from all different races, are on this site researching other towns and states and making sure they know what they are getting into before they move. Even if the details of your story may vary from others on this site, most of us have made the very same mistake in the past.

Like Darkshdwguy say, an outsider is an outsider no matter who they are. I'm a white woman and I grew up in Kansas but I never felt accepted there because I guess I was too 'artsy' or something. I would never dream of going to a private college there. I just never fit in Kansas, and nowhere would that be more apparent than a private college. The best thing I ever did was leave Kansas. It was the same type of people you are talking about; work hard all week and then reward themselves by getting sick drunk every weekend and many of whom see a brown person and assume they are either a Mexican or a terrorist.

I live in southeastern Michigan now (suburban Detroit). There are lots of desis in the area. There are at least five Indian grocery stores within three miles of my house, a couple temples, and there's even a Nepali restaurant 20 minutes away. I always see desi college kids get together at the Subzi Mandi on Friday nights buying lots of things to cook together over the weekend for fun. Plenty of good colleges around here, public and private. If you're 'different', it's wise to go with a public college, there is just so much more diversity and you will likely 'your people' since there are so many more people. Private colleges are just too exclusive for my my own taste.

I guess my point is that while this isn't necessarily your fault, it isn't really Iowa's fault, either. You can't make people be who they aren't, and some parts of the midwest are pretty isolated from people who come from backgrounds outside of white or black and Mexican hispanics, and you probably will be regarded as a curiousity in places like that.

Interestingly, I was just in some pretty remote parts of northern India a few months ago, and while no one was outright mean to me, almost everyone stared at me, merchants would stand around and laugh at me, and people were very nosey about who I was and why I was there, and the women were often having me change out of my western clothes in favor of a sari, bindi and tilak. Also, I would have been overcharged for things a few times were it not for my husband being Indian.

So it goes both ways, you see. It isn't easy for someone from this part of the world to go to your part of the world, either.

And I'm sure you have learned the other lesson, which is to "look before you leap" as we say. Check a place out school/work/place to live/person you marry before you make such a big committment next time.

Good luck, and keep an open mind yourself!