Immigrant stories are written, romanticised & recorded so so much more than the stories of those who stay behind. Those who don’t come in contact with the money and influence of the western world never get to be seen in the same way as those who make it amongst the powerful.

The stories of people who crossed oceans & continents, who got to build something of their lives, are told as default stories of triumph over adversity, but having heard & seen so many of those (stories that interest westerners b/c they are ultimately about them & their lands)..

I enjoy the stories of those who stayed. Stories that aren’t for the western gaze and largely elude it. Stories that reference cultures so deeply they would be impossible to follow if you don’t bother to immerse yourself in an alien cultural universe.