Moments of being a Stranger- Part Two

A short memoir by Soran Mustafa Kurdi

In Washing DC I got into a taxi to get back to my hotel. On the way, the respectable, humble, black-skinned driver asked:

“You do not seem to be American, Where are you from?”

I did not want to mention Kurdistan to avoid myself from giving an explanation of where it was located.

“Iraq!” I answered.

“Really!” the driver said, in amazement “Welcome, Tell me whatcha doin’ here boy! We've invaded your country, we’re your enemy!?”

I came with the answer that different ethnic groups were living in Iraq, Arabs and Kurds were the two major ones.

“The Kurds consider Americans as their friend, but the Arabs don’t have the same view! This is the Iraqi Arabs who want to send the Americans out not the Kurds and I am a Kurd” I added.

“Oh! Yeah, The Kurds were discriminated during Saddam’s regime!”

My jaw dropped when I heard an American taxi driver knew about Kurdish people!