Chapter 1

PREFACE

 

This book is dedicated to my parents who made the utmost sacrifice and supported me in my journey to the United States at the age of 15. Without my two loving parents, I would not be where I am today, and I owe my life to them. A special thanks goes to my brother who has shown me the true spirit of American exceptionalism, by setting up his own social network and then moving cross-country to California and then back to New York. He has strived to become a successful person and has accomplished more than any average person would as an immigrant with no help or push by anyone but himself. He really epitomizes the American dream and the way that this country has helped and continues to help any innovative person that comes here from all around the world.

 

Lastly, I want to thank my new wife, whom I love very much, and I thank her for being there for me in the past 16 months of our new journey as a married couple.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 1

 

This journey begins with me in the small and impoverished 3rd country known as Albania in its capital Tirana as a skinny 7th grader known for keeping to himself and being socially awkward at times.

 

My middle school was built in the 1960s. Its Dictator at the time, Enver Hoxha, wanted his fellow countrymen to be as literate as possible and he instituted strict laws against illiteracy. As a result of his policies, most Albanians, 97% of them to be exact became literate through mandatory schooling up until the 12th grade. This is by far is the greatest achievement of a man that brings hatred and vile comments by most Albanians. People used to say that he did one thing right and that was the fact that he adhered to Marxist ideals of communism and treated everyone the same. We were all poor, used to say my grandmother, God rest her soul, and none of us had enough food to eat.

 

People that lived in the countryside were luckier in the sense that they would grow their own crops and had livestock however our "dear" dictator fixed that problem by creating municipal cooperatives that would allot each family a portion of their livestock and fruits and vegetables. Grandma used to say that people were so hungry that they looked like shades of their former selves.

 

My dad tells me to this day that it was really challenging for him and my mother to raise me and my brother. Everything was rationed and families could only get a ration of cheese and butter, eggs and bread. Milk was hard to get and people were forced to ger up at 4am and stay in line for milk. Meat was rationed and families were given just enough to get through the week. The system believed that people should be lean and strong and always ready to work for the system because their lives should be dedicated to the prosperity of the communist system.

 

A great example of communism is modern day China where the government controls all aspects of the country's economic and political system. This country is well known for its 1.3 billion people that live there and how it is one child policy has sparked great concerns from human rights organizations. The Chinese are well known for being secretive and isolated however they have done some things right. They opened their country in the early 1990s to the world and let people come in and out of the country. It is their belief that this will help their system and it has helped them tremendously. China's economy is strong, and they have made leaps and bounds in technological advancements. It is rumored that the Chinese are good at stealing trade secrets from other advanced countries such as the United States however rumors are not substantiated and therefore 3shall remain as such.

 

My poor country of 3 million people did not advance when it finally broke out of the 50-year-old Communist regime, but it did the opposite. It sunk itself into the deep ends of corruption and for the last 30 years its ha struggled to contain its citizens from exiting the country. When I ask my countrymen the simple question of why they left the country, the answer is simple: cannot sustain ourselves.

 

There are a multitude of issues and concerns that plague it, and we can go down the line but the most important one is job security. The country is marred in total corruption from the head of the government to the local government. It seems that the current Prime Minister is trying to fix the ship however there are many problems. People complain about food security and life security which are fundamental rights that every person should be afforded under the United Nations Convention of Rights for Man.

 

However, this book is more about my experience as an immigrant in the United States than it is about my old country, so I must move forward and tell my story because it is one that resonates with millions of people that have left their homes in search for a better life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 2

 

 

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 16.12.2020
ISBN: 978-3-7487-6852-4

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Widmung:
This book is dedicated to all those who dreamed of a better place