I was born in Egypt. I lived in Cairo until I was 23. I went to ACU (American University in Cairo), where I got a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. I graduated from college in 1996. College in Egypt is free, but you have to get at least a 80-90% score on the placement tests in order to go. I am a Coptic Christian. They represent 10% of Egypt’s population. The year I graduated, I got engaged. A local computer programming firm had recruited me. I worked there for 2 months, until I got engaged. After I married my husband, I lived in Cairo for 3 years until the birth of my first son. During this time, my husband would travel back and forth from Egypt to the United States to visit his family. He would sometimes stay in America for 2-3 months. Eventually, we decided to move to the United States. Because my husband’s family lived in New Orleans for over 30 years, we moved there. The only difference is that there is no snow in Egypt. My sons went to Phoebe Hearst Elementary School when they were younger. I did a lot of volunteer work for the school. Because the school has a high Arabic-speaking population, I was hired to act as a translator and a para-professional. I love living in New Orleans because we have the same weather in New Orleans as they do in Egypt. My hobby is cooking. I love cooking anything, especially Egyptian food. One of my favorite foods is Kushari, although it takes 3-4 hours to cook. You have to cook each ingredient separately. The recipe in the pictures above are for Kushari.

– Noha Gindy

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant