I'm an American who has lived abroad for 10 years. Between the pandemic and the election, 2020 has been the weirdest year to be away from my home country.
r
- 2020 is a year of mixed emotions for Americans abroad.
- Other countries have handled the coronavirus pandemic better than the US, and Americans are scared to return home.
- The elections mark a turning point in whether people will want to stay abroad longer, or come back.
- Rebecca Holland is a freelance journalist based between the Midwest and the Middle East.
- This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
This has been an exceptionally weird year to be an American living abroad. I've watched the coronavirus pandemic wreak havoc across the country and been thankful I wasn't home. I proudly cheered the Black Lives Matter protesters and wished I could join. And of course I voted absentee in a pivotal election. All of these momentous events have made it surreal to watch the country from afar, feeling both part of it and very removed.
In March, my fiance and I hunkered down in our apartment in Dubai for one of the world's strictest lockdowns. We needed a permit to leave the house even for groceries. There are still high fines for not wearing masks.
Stuck inside, we watched the news in horror as cases climbed in the US. We read accounts from nurses and scrolled photo essays comparing the crisis in New York to war. Meanwhile, the US government proved incapable and unwilling to protect its citizens. To date, hundreds of thousands of people have died, lost their jobs (and with them their healthcare), and struggled to feed their families.
We cried over people dying and beloved restaurants closing and lectured our parents over Zoom about staying home. We felt relieved to be in a place taking the pandemic seriously, and when life returned to normal in Dubai in early summer and we were able to travel and drink in bars, we felt a little guilty too.
Facing down the barrage of questions
Expats always end up in positions attempting to explain the US, and always find it's impossible. The US is a geographically massive and diverse country of 330 million people, after all. Still, 2020 brought more questions than ever.
"Tell me, why do Americans like Trump?" "Why are people fighting with scientists?" "I don't understand why people are mad about masks." "Why are the police being so aggressive?"
It was exhausting to explain over and over how the electoral college works, acknowledging that yes it is an absurd system, to remove myself from anti-mask protesters, to assure people that yes many Americans do believe in science, to explain the history of racism in the country, to disprove conspiracy theories, to try not to get too offended when people generalize hundreds of millions of people as "stupid," and on and on.
I hate to admit it, but sometimes it's also hard not to want to turn the question around. "Your country isn't so great either!" I want to fire back when I've had enough. "Look at the human rights abuses! There is no press freedom! This is not a democracy!" I want to shout.
But the thing is the US is a democracy. We say we invented it. And we have the money and resources to take care of our people better than almost anywhere else, so it's more concerning that we don't. We claim we're the best in the world at so many things, so people around the world expect more, and they should.
Meanwhile, the election was looming. I submitted my absentee ballot for Wisconsin in September and saw friends around the world doing the same. From Italy, Switzerland, Jordan, Thailand, France, Pakistan and elsewhere, friends texted "I voted!" This was one thing Americans abroad could actually do.
People around the world always ask me if Chicago, where I sometimes live when in the US, is safe, because they've heard on TV it's very dangerous. "Yes, mostly," I reply.
People in the US always ask me if the Middle East is safe, because they've heard on TV it's very dangerous. "Yes, mostly." Over the last 10 years, I've lived in Jordan, Iraq, Italy, and Dubai, with extended stays elsewhere. All of it has been mostly very safe, but the US was still the place I felt most comfortable, mostly because it was home. This year, due to out of control coronavirus cases, it transitioned to somewhere that felt dangerous.
Despite that, in a twist of events, I ended up having to move back to the US just a few days before Election Day. I signed up to work at a polling place in Wisconsin and felt pride watching fellow poll workers methodically process absentee ballots despite threats, and seeing voters of all kinds come in to cast their ballots. I walked through Madison and Chicago and marveled at the street art demanding justice for Breonna Taylor and urging people to vote, all of which would mean jail time or at least hefty fines in Dubai.
Like more than half the country, I cried in relief when the election was finally called for Joe Biden. My fiance was at an Indian restaurant in Dubai and the waiters rushed over to tell him and express their relief. Joyful texts flowed in from Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey. Will we as Americans ever fully wrap our heads around how weird it is that so many other countries care––who also have to care for their own futures––about our elections?
Now, in a move reminiscent of authoritarian governments in the Middle East, Donald Trump is refusing to accept the results of the election. We don't know what will happen over the next two months before he leaves office. Friends are talking about getting second passports. Others are wondering why I moved home just in time for winter during a pandemic that is somehow still getting worse. They have a point. But after a dramatic and emotional year of watching from afar, I'm happy to be here. This is a time when it feels especially important, urgent even, to be home.
Rebecca Holland is a freelance journalist based between the Midwest and the Middle East. She writes about food, travel and human rights for publications including The Guardian, Food & Wine, Architectural Digest and more.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/3kUpAUE
No comments