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In one way or another, all immigrants coming to the United States face the challenge of adjusting their native culture and customs to that of the new land. Today’s focus will be on the recent edition of New American Voices, an Uzbek woman—Hamida Monawar raised in Afghanistan talks about the experience of her own adjustment to America.
    "The only problem that I had was the language, in the beginning. I was looking forward, actually, to just starting school. Although it was a very, very tough adjustment in the beginning, I enjoyed it, it was a challenge. "
    Part of the adjustment, Hamida Monawar says, was accepting the American premise that everyone works. "Since I left Afghanistan and came to this country at the age of nineteen I’m working and going to school. So I thought this is the way of living. I left as a teenager and never worked, and then came here and I worked and they said, that’s how you live in this country, and I said, ’Okay.’"
    The clash of cultures is perhaps most evident, in Hamida Monawar’s case, on the issue of matrimony. "The only thing I think she doesn’t understand is why I’m not married. Being a mother, that’s her biggest concern. She doesn’t understand why I don’t want to get married. Because to be honest with you, I’m not the typical Uzbek, and I’m not the typical Afghan, and I’m not the typical American, so it’s hard to meet someone that morn thinks it is perfect for me, or my family thinks it is perfect for me. So I decided not to get married for a while, and then see what happens. "
    Both because of her respect for her mother’s opinion and because religion is important to her, Hamida Monawar says, she cannot envision marrying anyone who is not a Muslim. But she emphasizes, he has to be a Muslim with a broader understanding of a woman’s role.