The perceptual process

          By reading Thu Nguyen's blog I smiled, not because of the ignorance of the people who asked those questions, but because it made me realize how calm I've been during my stay in the States. Raised in an African/Caribbean and the culture its only normal for me to take what I've learned overseas.
        Long before I came to the states, I usually see pictures and videos on TV about African kids on the floor with dirty water around them in a desert kind of land. Or maybe a worse picture of another skinny kid with flies perching all over him also having a protruding belly with big eyes, wow I thought, what a life those people are living in those places. And then I came to America, with people asking me questions about life in Africa, how I live and things, I just tell them its the same as people who live here. Questions like do you speak African or like do you do the tic-tac language rarely come up in my conversations with random people around but it came up thrice or so with different people, and it made me think of how far people can actually get ignorant or maybe curious, it was hard for me to spot the difference between both. Just last week I was asked if I enjoy my life here than back in my country Nigeria, and they expect a yes but I gave a honest no. America is a great country but a lion raised in the  free wild would always be wary  of a new environment, and besides that I lived a better easier life back home but education still remains the key, and America is arguably the best in shaping and giving opportunities. I mean I'm from a country with people of different standards, both poor and rich but anytime the word Africa is called, starving kids is what some people actually think of.  I mean I've been asked how I got to the states and how I could pay my tuition and still live a good life down here without a scholarship, and it makes me wonder why they think so. Growing up in a different setting from the States, I never thought where I came from would describe my setting and my profile automatically.
     Like they say, the emptiest barrel makes the loudest noise, so I try not to argue with anyone concerning their thoughts. I mean if I were brought up in the States from young with the media and everything, including what is being taught in school, I would probably have the same mentality. This doesn't still change the fact about people who are well informed about Africa or the Caribbean, I've actually met more well informed people than the ignorant ones, so it just makes me more aware about judging people by their nationality or race. We all strive for perfection even though its hard, its what makes us classify what we are doing now as living.