-Tamimi
EL CAJON — Their neighboring Middle Eastern countries went to war within recent memory, but Shahad Dawood and Ramzi Ali met at Grossmont College, where they fell in love. Just this month, on March 11, they were married.
Shahad, 19, is from Iraq, the country that in 1991, invaded Kuwait, where Ramzi, 27, once made his home. Though Shahad was not yet born, and Ramzi was only 6 when the war occurred, for many people in the region the wounds have not healed.
Shahad, a business administration major, plans to graduate from Grossmont and continue studying at San Diego State University. “I should have my degree and work to support my husband,” she said.
This is different from expectations in the Middle East, where the responsibility is entirely upon the man to pay the family’s expenses. Here in the United States, both partners work to pay their bills.
Born in the United States, though living in Kuwait where his father had a job when the war broke out, Ramzi, a graduate of UCSD who now works as a bank officer, says he looks forward to eating home-cooked meals prepared by his bride. “I hate the junk food that I used to eat in the past.”
They met when Ramzi accompanied to Grossmont College a relative who needed help registering. When he saw Shahad, he said his heart dropped the height of the Empire State Building. His relative asked around about her, and they met again in a parking lot. The next time, he brought a red flower and told her his feelings.
The bride’s parents were at first reluctant to give their consent to the marriage, not because of the Iraq-Kuwait War but because they considered Shahad too young for matrimony. They wanted their daughter to complete her college education first, but eventually the two families agreed.
The couple feels a sentimental attachment to Grossmont College, the place of their meeting. They say they plan to celebrate their first anniversary on the campus.
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Al Tamimi is El Cajon bureau chief for the GC Summit. He may be contacted at [email protected]
