Aline Elmann

April 27th, 2009

Aline T. Elmann
Birthday: October 5, 1990
School: Brooklyn College
Intended Major: Psychology, Occupational Therapy
Hobbies: playing soccer, listening to music, drawing, scrap-booking, baking/cooking, running
Favorite Bands/Musical Artists: Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, Billy Joel, Elton John, Muse, John Mayer, Queen


My Life as a New Yorker

To be very honest I never really considered myself a true New Yorker. I never experienced a feeling of excitement when I took the train to Manhattan. I never felt a sense of connection to my hometown, Brooklyn. I didn’t even know where the Bronx was or how to get to Queens, let alone what the fifth borough is actually called. There are some people you speak to that love the city and the rush that comes with it. For me, it was just the place where I live. I called it home because my house happened to be located in this particular section of the world. However, last June, as I was enjoying the last days of my High School’s senior trip with my closest friends in Denver Colorado, I noticed that I was a real hardcore New Yorker, even though I didn’t know it.

My school decided to take the Senior grade on a grand trip to Denver to celebrate our graduation. On the second day of the trip we went white water rafting in the Colorado River. Our guide, Mike, was teaching us how to navigate in the rushing waters when he asked, “So, where are you guys from?” I answered him very casually, “We’re from Brooklyn” and Mike began to laugh. I asked him what was so funny and he answered, “We’re from Brooklyn,” emphasizing the B with a typical Brooklyn accent. I look at him like he was crazy. I never noticed that I had a Brooklyn accent before. On the contrary, I actually thought I had a very well developed pronunciation of the English language, without any sort of accents that might slur my speech. From that particular moment, I realized that New york, and particularly Brooklyn, is more than just my place of birth, its a part of me, even if subconsciously, and it would follow me wherever I go.

Though I was born and raised in New York, my parents are actually both immigrants who settled here together shortly after their marriage in 1985. Both my parents, Silia and Max, were born in Beirut, Lebanon, though they moved away at different times. My mother left Lebanon with her family at age three in 1968 after experiencing a high degree of religious prosecution from the Lebanese government and people. They fled to South America, arriving in Caracas, Venezuela where she spent most of her childhood, adolescent and young adult life. Despite the hardships of the time, my father’s family stayed a while longer, leaving in 1977 to escape an ensuing civil war. Because his request for a Visa to the United States was rejected, he moved to Brazil and lived there for three years until finally being granted permission to enter the states. They met in Caracas at a mutual cousins wedding, married and moved to Brooklyn, New York to start a family.

A few years later, I joined the picture. I was born in Maimonides Hospital on October 5th 1990. I spent my entire life living on the same block, playing with the same kids, doing the same thing that every child does while growing up. In terms of education, I literally moved up the street, starting in an elementary school on 10th and Ave J, moving to High School on 17th and Ave J and currently attending Brooklyn College, slightly off the straight path, on Bedford Ave between I and H. Though I did spend my whole life in the confines of a small area of Brooklyn, I realized as I grew older that simply living in a place doesn’t make you a part of it. Rather partaking in the community of that place, contributing to its development, putting your entire heart into being a part of it is what connects you to a specific location. And that’s why I consider myself a true New Yorker.

My family is part of a very strong network of Sephardic Jews based in a relatively tiny part of Brooklyn, which spans roughly from Ave X to Ave I, from East 1st Street to Bedford Ave. The origins of the community stem from different cities in the Middle Eastern countries of Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Iran, Israel and numerous others. The amazing thing is that we have all come together in New York and created a little bubble of our own, with our own schools, community centers, synagogues, charitable organizations and other institutions. Because its so tightly bound, we are all responsible for the sustenance of the community and therefore we are responsible for each others’ well being. In essence, this corner of New York acts as a central hub that binds together all the Sephardic Jews of the area, providing a sense of identity and familiarity with its location. Without it we would essentially be displaced among the vast populations of the city and our unifying identity that defines who we are and what be believe in would be lost in a stream of pedestrians that walk the city streets.

  1. pfn37
    April 30th, 2009 at 10:17 | #1

    very nice. Thank you

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