When most people think of odd couples, they're probably thinking of my boyfriend Nathaniel and myself without knowing it. I mean, we're REALLY different! My name is Elaine Fouad, and I'm a young woman of Lebanese descent living in the City of Montreal, province of Quebec. My parents Antonio and Maria Fouad moved to Quebec from the Chiyah region of Lebanon in 2000. Thirteen years later, we've adjusted fairly well to life in Canada as Lebanese Christian immigrants. My parents own a Lebanese-themed yet Latin-flavored restaurant in the north side of Montreal, Shawarma Corazon. Named after the restaurant where they met and fell in love while vacationing in Brazil, a long time ago.
Life as a young female professional in the big metropolis isn't easy. I graduated from Concordia University in 2009 at the age of twenty four with a Master's degree in business administration. I always dreamed of working for a big corporation but the only place that offered me a job was the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. I ended up working at the same CIBC where I used to go make transactions with my dad on Saturday mornings. Isn't that cool? I work as an account manager. Which is a glorified way of saying that when people come into the bank, I'm the gal behind the counter, greeting them and asking them to insert their debit or credit card into the machine so I can help them with whatever transaction they're making that day. It's a decent job, and it pays seventeen bucks per hour to start. After four years on the job, I make twenty dollars and seventy five cents per hour but I feel bored and restless. I was meant for more than this!
When I share my frustration with my parents, they just don't understand. They see that I dress like a businesswoman and I work in an office, so they assume that I'm happy since I've got a desk job. They tell me that I should be grateful for what I have. Now, don't get me wrong, I am grateful, but I just want more, I guess. Many people I knew from university have left the country altogether because university-educated professionals can't find work in their fields in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The only province with a plenitude of work is Alberta, and to me that's just too far. Besides, I don't see myself living in redneck country, so I don't think I'll ever move down there. I am a proud Lebanese woman, and I speak Lebanese Arabic and Quebec French flawlessly. I speak English fluently as well, but it's heavily accented. People always ask me if I'm from Mexico when they meet me. I'm five-foot-nine, often described as curvy and sassy, with light bronze skin, curly black hair and light brown eyes. Apparently, everything about me screams Hispanic, though I've occasionally been mistaken for Yemeni. Don't ask. I proudly tell them that I'm from the Republic of Lebanon, though I became a naturalized citizen of Canada in the summer of 2006, exactly six years after my family and I first moved here.
