When I look outside a window in New Jersey, I see pine trees, stop signs, and two-bedroom houses. New Jersey is the state I live in; it is known as the “Garden State” with a population of over nine and a half million. But back in Algeria, when I look outside my window, I see mountains, flowers, and secluded homes. Algeria is the country I’m from, and it’s the largest country in Africa, with many, many people—over 47 million! 

For me, Algeria is truly about comfort and family. But, when I tell people I’m Algerian, they ask me why I’m so pale. Little do they know that Algeria is filled with much variety in their large population—different people and places; it’s like many countries in one.

In the lower part of Algeria, they speak Arabic, in the middle, French, and in the north, where I am from, Berber, a language native to the indigenous people of the area. Only 25,000 people speak Berber in America, and I am one of them.

Like my skin color, people get surprised when they hear me speak my language because they never hear anything like that.

Algeria is surprising for those who have never been. Let me show you.