Interview Paper

Seth Van Dyke

ANTH-1010-002
April 1, 2016

For my interview paper I decided to go to Shawarma King 2 in downtown sugarhouse

and make friends with someone from the Middle East. I stumbled nervously into the restaurant,
I've been there a couple times just to pick up food or eat with some friends, so I had never tried
to befriend any of the employees more or less asked them if I could interview them for an hour. I
ordered one of my favorites from the menu, the chicken shawarma wrap. The cashier was named
Saif Suhail, he was in his 20s and is from Iraq. It was a bit awkward to ask if I could interview
him at first because I didnt quite know how to say Hey you're not white and have a different
accent so can I interview you for my class? Apparently he was used to getting that so he was a
good sport in reaction to my awkwardness.
The first question I asked him was how he would define culture. He pondered for a bit
thinking of a solid answer. He came to the conclusion that to him culture is history. He went on
to tell me about how Iraq is almost 6,766 years old, based on the Babylonian calculator. I could
tell he was proud of where he came from. He was definitely reserved in telling me, I'm guessing
it's because of all the conflict America has had with the Middle East, but I could tell in his voice
he was proud of his heritage and culture.
I asked him my second question, which was, how would you define family? He replied
timidly and unsurely. He gave me a long back-story related to his family. His father was killed in
Iraq back in 2006. It was very hard for him because he is very family oriented. He said in his
country Mother's Day and Father's Day are the most important days of the year. One of his
priorities is to spend a lot of time with family while he has them in this life.
The next question I asked was who holds the most status in the family. He said the father
in the family usually holds the most status but since his father died his mother and oldest brother

hold the most status in the family. He also mentioned the person with the most status in the
family is usually the primary source of income.
The interview was going well and we were laughing and having a good time. The next
question turned the mood a bit. I asked Saif how he would define success. This question puzzled
him immensely. It was as if he had never been asked before. Saifs body language and whole
demeanor changed. He then went on to tell me how growing up he wanted to be a professional
soccer player. He played often and was really good. When he was 14 years a scout from an
amateur pro soccer organization approached him with an opportunity to play in Europe. His
mother feared he wouldn't get an education so she turned down the opportunity for Saif. He is
still bummed to this day and he thinks that was a huge opportunity for success and he didn't get
the chance to take it. He then seemed really down, he began saying he feels he hasn't been
successful in his life yet. I followed up with some positive feedback, being that I consider going
a day without a form of success impossible. We finally reached the agreement that success is
being happy and achieving your dreams. He said he hasn't achieved that yet. I reassured him he
has had more success than many.
The next question I asked was very appropriate for the setting. I inquired which meal he
thinks is the most important of the day. He smiled and replied Rice for lunch, without rice there
is no lunch. He told me some funny stories growing up when his aunts would babysit him and
his siblings and they would often cry because there was no lunch on the table. When in reality
there was more than enough food for lunch they just didn't consider it lunch because there was
no rice to eat.

As I moved on to the next question I began to feel a bit uncomfortable. I served my LDS
mission in Romania where I encountered quite a few Middle Eastern people. They were Muslim
and out of respect for their fidelity to their faith I wasnt allowed to teach them about my faith.
So I don't have a lot of experience with Islam when it comes to discussing it with actual
Muslims. I have only done my own research. I asked Saif if he and his family were religious.
He quickly replied yes, very religious actually. I asked him where he worshipped. To my
surprise he and his family say prayers at home, which is the equivalent to My LDS church
attendance. He told me religion is very important to him and his family because it is a huge part
of his culture. He took pride in telling me his family isn't crazy strict but they still consider it
important. He told me We understand our religion. We go off what the prophets taught. But my
beliefs come from my parents and their beliefs come from their parents. We have a lot of
traditions back home.
As I moved onto the next question I already had an idea of how he would answer it. I
asked him what the biggest misconception about people in his culture is. Everyone assumes we
are terrorists, people think all Muslims are terrorists but our doctrine teaches directly if you kill
someone you are NOT a Muslim. He replied as if I already knew the stereotype, which of
course I did. This is where the interview got really good. We discussed the core beliefs of Islam.
I loved knowing a bit about his religion before the interview. I boldly told him I know that over a
third of the worlds population is Muslim but less than 1% of those people are terrorists. His
eyes lit up after I told him. I think it felt good for him to receive some acceptance and
recognition for his religion being such a beautiful belief system and such a huge part of history.
We moved on to talking about how racist Americans are towards Muslims because of the
bad reputation terrorists bring to his religion. I asked him if he had ever experienced any form of

racism. I did it with a bit of a chuckle in my voice and it was fitting because he was laughing
before I finished the question. He went on and on telling me stories from his time living in
America and all the racism he had experienced. One of the events left a big impression on me
and even left me with a sick feeling in my stomach. Saif was once pulled over by a police
officer. Saif is proud of his country so he has a small Iraqi flag on his back window of his car.
He had a slight suspicion the cop could have been more inclined to pull him over knowing he
was an Iraqi Muslim. The cop told Saif he was speeding and it shocked Saif. He wasn't known
for being much of a speeder or law breaker. He had a perfectly clean driving record. Saif
jokingly asked the cop if he pulled him over because he was Middle Eastern or Muslim. The cop
dryly replied If you feel that way sir maybe you should move back to your country. Hearing
this honestly sickened me. I experience a lot of torment while living in Romania because I was
American. If any police harassed me I got their badge number and I usually never saw them or
heard from them again. I asked Saif if he got the officers name or badge number and he didn't.
He will for sure next time!
The racism and prejudice of people in Utah drives me crazy sometimes. I assured Saif
that this would never happen from young people of our generation. He respectively disagreed,
which took me by surprise. I asked him if he thinks the younger generations have more sense of
culture. He surprised me again and said he thinks our generation needs to be more cultured. I
agreed because I honestly believe everyone can always have more culture in their life. But I went
on to try and convince him how our generation is different and how we respect culture. We came
to the conclusion that members of our generation may be more cultured, but there are many of
our generation that are likely to voice their lack of culture through racist and prejudice antics.

While the older generations are more polite and likely to keep their racist and prejudice beliefs to
themselves.
I really enjoyed doing this assignment. It was a rainy day and I had the day off from
work. I could have stayed home and played video games or done something else that was
unproductive. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to go to a foreign restaurant and make a new
friend that has a completely different background and culture then me. The biggest thing I took
away from Saifs culture after interviewing him was the importance of having a father growing
up. His father was killed in Iraq during a war back in 2006. 10 years later he still hasn't moved
on and he really just wants to be with him again. Saif told me he doesn't really live life for a
specific purpose yet. He's still figuring it all out. But he says one thing he looks forward to most
is being with his awesome father again. It breaks my heart knowing Saif had to leave Iraq
immediately after he found out his father was killed. Years later he saved up enough money just
to go back and visit his fathers grave for the first time.
Another story Saif told that really stood out to me was when his mother went to Mecca.
It is a very sacred and spiritual experience for the people that go and even the family receiving
them back after the journey. It is respectful to wear white outfits around the ones that recently
returned from Mecca if you are Muslim. Saif and his siblings are very respectful towards their
mother. They wanted to show her the utmost respect when they picked her up from the airport so
they wore their cultural white clothing. They were followed by several cops while waiting to
receive their mother home with open arms in congratulations for her major sacrifice that would
bless her and her family tremendously. Saif noticed the cops following them so he kindly asked
them if he could help them or if they would like to search him in hopes they would leave him

alone. They acted like they had no idea what he was talking about and continued following him
and his family all the way to the car once they welcomed home their mother.
After doing this assignment I learned how important family is to others. Though their
culture may seem completely different than mine, mankind can always find similarities in culture
and get along peacefully. With an open mind peace is obtainable everywhere.