My name is Rochelle and I’m a half Egyptian, half white gal who grew up in an all-white suburb in Minnesota. My mother calls herself a Heinz 57, being a mix of French Canadian, Irish, German and many other European ethnicities. She’s a beautiful Caucasian woman with gorgeous freckles and a great smile. My father is 100% Egyptian and immigrated to the States in 1978.



I was not like any of my friends growing up. Our house always smelled of garlic and onions (since my mom did her best to be a proper Egyptian wife and cook Middle Eastern food). I was usually a little embarrassed of my dad, friends would straight up tell me they were scared of him.

In middle school (after 9/11) people teased me, asking if my dad was Osama bin Laden (at the time it didn’t occur to me how deeply racist and xenophobic this was). I desperately wanted to look like my friends, straightening my hair and plucking/shaving/waxing any excess dark hair that made me look…Arab.

I never learned Arabic and had no interest really. My mom learned it enthusiastically. The only times I heard it were when my parents spoke it if they didn’t want my brother and I to know what they were saying, or when we would go to Egypt to see my cousins. All I remember about those days in Egypt were being over-fed, hot and completely unaware of what people were saying.

Fast forward to college. I was awarded the Multi-Ethnic Leadership Scholarship, which required a commitment to meet frequently to discuss issues of diversity on campus. I began to wonder about my cultural and ethnic identity in a new way.

I realized that culturally, I am American through and through. Ethnically, I am Egyptian. Growing up I simply tolerated the existence of Egyptian culture in my life, but in college I wanted to dig into it.

I studied abroad in Cairo in 2008, and it was one of the most revealing and empowering seasons of my life. I learned conversational Arabic and really got to know my cousins for the first time.

Bridging the language gap allowed me to see them for who they are: hilarious, sarcastic, deeply loving people and not a bunch of sweaty loud people who dress funny. I took taxis on my own, ordered food, engaged with strangers on the street. I was elated.

I now have a much deeper appreciation for my Egyptian-ness. It’s so much a part my identity, in fact, that I am considering keeping my last name when I get married in a few months (yep, tying the knot with my love of two years).

After all, when women marry in Egypt they keep their last names. I feel lucky that my fiancé wholeheartedly supports this idea, if I decide to go through with it.

My father is a huge part of my life and I’m so grateful to him for all the years of patience when I had no interest in his culture or background. Now I take every opportunity to ask him about his upbringing and practice Arabic, which always ends in laughter.


 Rochelle is an Environmental Educator, Midwesterner at heart and yoga enthusiast. She lives in Los Angeles and loves to cook vegetarian food, go hiking and hang out in parks whenever she can. To learn more about her work, check out www.acespace.org.




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So I discovered Loving Day (June 12) this year when my friend Alyssa asked me to write a reflection on the day for her blog.

The holiday commemorates the 1967 Supreme Court decision which made it illegal for states to keep interracial couples from marrying. The couple's last name was actually Loving - how cool is that?

While Billy and I definitely don't encounter much open discrimination (especially since he's white), we do believe culture is such an important part of our marriage. That's one of the reasons we share our story on this blog... in hopes that it encourages other couples in similar relationships!

Check out Alyssa's post on Loving Day and hear from other interracial couples as well. It was a joy to learn more about this celebration and to participate on her blog.

Craigslist is pretty much amazing. In our household, you can almost guarantee we’re going to check Craigslist before buying any item over about $20.

What have been some of our best finds? Well, we snagged our bedroom furniture from an apartment model. Very pretty, but never used? Sure, we’ll take that off your hands. 

When Billy got a job requiring a cargo van, we bought it (and later sold it) on Craigslist. We sold our car on the site, too, which was great because apparently it’s hard to sell stick shifts. C’mon people, manual transmissions are awesome! 

We once met up with a guy while on vacation to purchase music equipment. I just hoped it would work since it’s surprisingly difficult to test in a secluded parking garage. 

Same feeling when we purchased a PSP from a teenage boy in the suburbs. Should we have waited until his parents were home? Possibly. 

We even picked up our sweet dog Daisy from a frightening rural area of Georgia. I like to think of us as “rescuing her” since she was outside in the rain and covered with so many fleas, I was itching for days. 



The only major item we didn’t buy on Craigslist was our TV because… you know, we like to buy those in the middle of the night with a mob of strangers. 

A couple of years ago (before baby), when Billy and I decided to rent out a room in our house, we naturally went to Craigslist searching for a roommate. This process made me a tad nervous because you never know who you’ll meet this way.

However, we had a few promising prospects and decided to meet one guy we’ll call Greg. I suggested we meet Greg at a nearby Wendy’s. You know… just in case he turned out to be a lunatic. Billy strongly disagreed. “Oh no. He sounded fine on the phone.” Hmmm… okay, sure. 

As the time grew nearer to Greg’s planned arrival, however, Billy seemed to become more and more concerned about the whole plan. He started unlocking the back door, assuring me we could make a quick exit… if need be. He repositioned our knives for easy access… because apparently, that might become necessary. 

He began verbally walking me through different scenarios and pointing out items that could potentially be used as weapons. I was listening intently and growing more nervous about this attacker we’d apparently invited into our home. 

Suddenly, I heard myself asking, “Do we have to kill him?” 

I’m delighted to report the answer to that question was indeed a resounding, “No.” We all got through the interview unscathed.

Billy probably mentioned that we go to church like sixteen times in the thirty minute interaction… you know, just to let him know where we stand. 

Ultimately, he seemed a bit too eager to tell us what he thought we wanted to hear. (Basically, it quickly became a “who-goes-to-church-more” contest between the two men while I looked on, utterly baffled.)

Later, we did actually have a girl we met through Craigslist move into our spare room. She was sweet and, except for the time I stumbled up her having internet installed to our house without any kind of conversation, it all worked out well.

What great finds have you discovered on Craigslist? 

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To keep up with all posts from A Life with Subtitles, you can subscribe with a reader or sign up below to receive posts via email.