Meet East Noble’s Newest Foreign Exchange Student: Nayla Salem
She’s sweet. She’s kind. She’s got the best laugh. And she’s from Bahrain. Meet Nayla Salem (pronounced like solemn in English). She has a secret love for One Direction; she is great at imitating accents; and she has an owl book bag. Nayla is sixteen years old; however, she is classified as a senior here at our high school. I had the opportunity to sit down and discuss what her experience has been like thus far in America and it’s rather surprising to see all the similarities between our country and hers.
In comparison to America, Bahrain is incredibly small. The country itself is very small with about 700,000 native people, and it spans approximately 295.5 square miles (that’s even smaller than New York City). Bahrain is located in the Persian Gulf making the climate very hot and humid. To go along with its weather, the geography of Bahrain is mainly desert. Despite its arid landscape, Bahrain has exotic animals like camels and hyenas. The people themselves have a different culture than our own. For example, many of the citizens speak with a British accent (Nayla does not have a British accent, but she does a great impression). The people of Bahrain practice a very Islamic culture, but it’s not as strict as some countries, so many teenagers dress like us until they are married. Then once they are married, many women wear the hijab. Another fun fact about the country is that the legal driving age is 18!
So now that you know a little more about Nayla’s country you might be wondering how she got to be here. Well, once upon a time a young girl was working on her social studies homework, and her mother confused the homework for an application for the AFS program. This young girl proceeded to tell her mother than it was in fact her social studies homework when all of the sudden her mother told her that the young girl would be traveling to America by herself. Completely taken off guard by the revelation, the girl believed her parents were giving her away to be adopted! But, in reality, the girl was getting ready to embark on a new experience as an exchange student and she is living happily ever after in our school.
The process for actually becoming an exchange student takes about six months. It begins with an application and is promptly followed by interviews, presentations, assignments, etc. However, Nayla has traveled outside of her country before with family, so America wasn’t her first foreign experience. She has also traveled to Malaysia, Egypt, Jordan, Dubai, Abu-Dubai, and Kuwait! However, she has been in American the longest (since August).
When asked about the biggest differences and similarities between America and her country she said that teenagers are all the same. But, the couples in the hallway are something new for her to behold. In her country, public displays of affection aren’t quite as…public. Nevertheless, we’re a lot like her. We talk about our favorite music, movies, and TV Shows (she’s a huge fan of the Bachelor). One thing though that she absolutely loves about America is the seasons! She has a new love for fall and the autumnal atmosphere in general-she loves to see the leaves! The biggest drawback about being here though is that she is away from her family so much…there are times when she just misses being home.
I highly suggest getting to know Nayla. She has such a sweet and fun personality! Nayla has loads of fun stories; there is never a dull moment with Nayla around!