![]() ![]() ![]() But in LA, there was no dress code at her public school. But I literally did not understand, really, where I was, or the greater geography of the state or the country."Īt school, she also became acutely aware of the rich-poor gap.īack in Nigeria, she wore a school uniform. Uh, I don’t know?’ I was very confused, and all of the other kids started laughing. “I remember being at a party and another Sri Lankan girl saying, ‘So are you from LA?’ And I literally didn’t know that LA meant Los Angeles, so I said, ‘No. She just published her first novel, “Island of a Thousand Mirrors,” about life during Sri Lanka’s civil war and, in parts, about migrating to the United States.īut when she came to the US at age 12, Munaweera remembers feeling confused about the basics. Today, Munaweera is a 41-year-old writer in Oakland. She has definitely found her footing in America. ![]() “I think I was in a state of shock for at least three months.” ![]() “It was September, so we were immediately enrolled in school,” Munaweera says. “We had to leave quite abruptly,” she says. Then, a military coup hit Nigeria in 1984. Take Nayomi Munaweera’s journey: She was born in Sri Lanka in 1973, but a brewing civil war convinced her family to move to Nigeria when she was 3. Some immigrants can trace a straight line from their native land to the US. ![]()
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