Fitting Into a New World

The American culture, being so shockingly different than the culture of Sudan, is hard for the "Lost Boys" to get used to, and takes time. Peter, after moving into Kansas, and enrolling into high school, starts engaging in many American cultural actives, a lot more than the boys whom with he set out with. However, nothing was quite the same, even then, for Peter. In a large school of American kids, all 'rich', and with parents, he felt very poor and lonely, and 'lower' than the others. When playing basketball with the other kids, there were a lot of moves which Peter didn't know, things which everyone else knew from earlier practise. Also, Peter tried attending a religious gathering with other students. However, he was at the back, and sort of lonely, not quite feeling part of the group, and Peter didn't know any of the words to the songs that were played. In small ways such as these, fitting into the American culture is a bit tricky, even when trying extremely hard. Another problem faced in America is discrimination. At work, Peter was told by his boss that he should work outside in the heat, since he came from a really hot place, and was already 'sun burnt', his boss being very racist about Peter's skin color. Acts such as these make life in America a bit depressing. Those who told the refugees about America's 'heaven-like' qualities may not have known about this, because they themselves are probably American, and were born in or have lived in America for most of their lives.

There were many cultural divisions between the 'Lost Boys' who were sent to America, and the Americans themselves. One of the ways to deal with this shock was a 'summer camp', only for these Africans, in which they would get together to do fun activities, and would talk about their life, how they had progressed, where they lived, etc. The 'Lost Boys who continued to live in Texas would still celebrate their cultural events, by coming together in a group and dancing/singing. Some of the 'Lost Boys' did make friends, with people from work, or school, and they told them about their lives, usually gaining the sympathy of others, and at least a little better understanding. Most all of the 'Lost Boys' stayed in contact, and made sure the others we're doing allright. The 'Lost Boys', especially Peter, tried hard to fit in culturally and socially with other Americans, but they didn't forget about each other, either.