Mariam Bazeed

The year is 1990 and my twin brother and I are six years old. We've repurposed our dining room table into a bomb shelter. Now the reason for this was real. Iraq had actually just invaded Kuwait, and so we were living there.

The year is 1990 and my twin brother and I are six years old. We've repurposed our dining room table into a bomb shelter. Now the reason for this was real. Iraq had actually just invaded Kuwait, and so we were living there.

The year is 1990 and my twin brother and I are six years old. We've repurposed our dining room table into a bomb shelter. Now the reason for this was real. Iraq had actually just invaded Kuwait, and so we were living there.

And my parents told us that if ever we heard rockets sort of come too close to our house, that we should run to the dining room table and get under the wood so that we'd be protected from falling rubble. So we did this a couple of times, like drills, my twin brother and I, for fun. But we weren't really taking this too seriously because literally nothing had ever happened in Kuwait.

And my parents told us that if ever we heard rockets sort of come too close to our house, that we should run to the dining room table and get under the wood so that we'd be protected from falling rubble. So we did this a couple of times, like drills, my twin brother and I, for fun. But we weren't really taking this too seriously because literally nothing had ever happened in Kuwait.

And my parents told us that if ever we heard rockets sort of come too close to our house, that we should run to the dining room table and get under the wood so that we'd be protected from falling rubble. So we did this a couple of times, like drills, my twin brother and I, for fun. But we weren't really taking this too seriously because literally nothing had ever happened in Kuwait.

Like, except for the discovery of oil. My life proceeded like clockwork there. You know, pick up from school at 3 o'clock, then we go home and have lunch, which always started with clear vegetable soup. and then dishes and then communal family nap time. And it was like my life was so regular that we didn't need an alarm clock to know when it was time to wake up.

Like, except for the discovery of oil. My life proceeded like clockwork there. You know, pick up from school at 3 o'clock, then we go home and have lunch, which always started with clear vegetable soup. and then dishes and then communal family nap time. And it was like my life was so regular that we didn't need an alarm clock to know when it was time to wake up.

Like, except for the discovery of oil. My life proceeded like clockwork there. You know, pick up from school at 3 o'clock, then we go home and have lunch, which always started with clear vegetable soup. and then dishes and then communal family nap time. And it was like my life was so regular that we didn't need an alarm clock to know when it was time to wake up.

So the idea that there would suddenly be like rockets falling on our dining room table, I was like, all right. There's a lot of foreign labor in Kuwait because of the oil money. My family is Egyptian. I'd been born in Kuwait, but that didn't give us citizenship rights there. So our stay there was contingent on someone in my family having a work visa, right? So my parents were discussing this.

So the idea that there would suddenly be like rockets falling on our dining room table, I was like, all right. There's a lot of foreign labor in Kuwait because of the oil money. My family is Egyptian. I'd been born in Kuwait, but that didn't give us citizenship rights there. So our stay there was contingent on someone in my family having a work visa, right? So my parents were discussing this.

So the idea that there would suddenly be like rockets falling on our dining room table, I was like, all right. There's a lot of foreign labor in Kuwait because of the oil money. My family is Egyptian. I'd been born in Kuwait, but that didn't give us citizenship rights there. So our stay there was contingent on someone in my family having a work visa, right? So my parents were discussing this.

What do we do? What do we do? And they decided that my mother would take my twin brother and I back to Egypt, where we were from. and where we spent every summer. And my father would stay in Kuwait during the war to anchor us there. Now, my parents were really strong believers in the resilience of children, which made them really bad communicators.

What do we do? What do we do? And they decided that my mother would take my twin brother and I back to Egypt, where we were from. and where we spent every summer. And my father would stay in Kuwait during the war to anchor us there. Now, my parents were really strong believers in the resilience of children, which made them really bad communicators.

What do we do? What do we do? And they decided that my mother would take my twin brother and I back to Egypt, where we were from. and where we spent every summer. And my father would stay in Kuwait during the war to anchor us there. Now, my parents were really strong believers in the resilience of children, which made them really bad communicators.

So they didn't really discuss what the plan was with us. But we packed our stuff up. And with a cooler of food in the backseat of the car, we drove to the border. In 1990, there's 500,000 Kuwaiti nationals living in Kuwait. There's 1.5 million foreign nationals living there. We outnumber them three to one.

So they didn't really discuss what the plan was with us. But we packed our stuff up. And with a cooler of food in the backseat of the car, we drove to the border. In 1990, there's 500,000 Kuwaiti nationals living in Kuwait. There's 1.5 million foreign nationals living there. We outnumber them three to one.

So they didn't really discuss what the plan was with us. But we packed our stuff up. And with a cooler of food in the backseat of the car, we drove to the border. In 1990, there's 500,000 Kuwaiti nationals living in Kuwait. There's 1.5 million foreign nationals living there. We outnumber them three to one.

So if you can imagine at the border between Kuwait and Iraq, there's this enormous line of cars of families going back either temporarily or permanently to where they were actually from.

So if you can imagine at the border between Kuwait and Iraq, there's this enormous line of cars of families going back either temporarily or permanently to where they were actually from.