27, November, 2012

The Diary of John Bul Dau It is me again, John. The times in America have yet to become easy for me, it is quite different than what we imagined it to be in Kakuma. New York is a place of chance yet it can only be helpful to you if you work for it, which is not always an easy thing to accomplish. Sometimes, when things are looking incredibly bad, I can’t help but wonder if I would have been happier if I had stayed in Kakuma.
I have landed a job, three to be exact, but they are not quite what I expected when I heard that I was to come to the great land of America. People always said life in America would be easy, but finding a job alone was incredible work. All three of them are far from simple, quite the opposite really. I must wake up and be at the factory at which I work at by 5 am even though the doors do not open until 7 am. I must sleep outside on a bench until the doors open, even if the weather is bad. I only have one way to reach my workplace and I cannot risk giving it up. Despite the timing, the work itself is not too bad, but it is not my top choice. After I finish at the factory, I go on to a place called McDonalds, many of the American young people enjoy coming here to eat. I must grill the burgers for them, and it is even worse than the factory, and you can imagine how un-enjoyable that must be. The food is of poor quality, I’ve even seen better meat back in Sudan, and I do not understand why they seem to enjoy it so much. Even though I find it unusual, I will not question it, they allow there to be work for me and I am grateful for that. At the end of the day, when I should be resting for the next day, I must go to my final and third job, where I act as a security guard. This job, although tiring is probably my favourite since it does not involve me being cooped up in a tight space and following strict rules. Although these jobs consume majority of the day, I will not complain since anything that makes money is something that helps you survive in the land of America. Although I have just come to New York,