People Like Us - S3 E7 Ibtihal Ahmed - TCK Podcast

People Like Us

It's Wednesday podcast day!

People Like Us is a collection of interviews with TCKs about their TCK journey and where they are now.

Ibtihal Ahmed grew up the daughter of her diplomat dad, being raised in 6 countries – USA, Algeria, Sudan, Japan Malaysia and India. She talks about being the girl with the American accent and describes how locals in your native country just know that you’re not a local, despite you thinking that you look like one.

Ibtihal writes about her TCK experiences, both in Arabic and English. Here is a sample of her work, on being a TCK:

Crossing oceans was quite the experience. I hid every piece of my being underneath the promising tide lines. I was here and there, but neither here nor there. I was fascinated with arrival signs the same way departure tunnels propelled me with the exhilaration of make-believe presence. I have always been excited to leave and arrive at the same time. It’s like my identity was tied to in-betweenness and a fog that surrounded my soul whenever I was asked where I was from.