My cousin Ali has sent me enough money for my 18th birthday to sail across the great ocean and work with him in Nova Scotia. I will miss my family very much, and they will miss me, but they agree this is the best choice for me. There just aren't any opportunities to earn a living in our village anymore. It also sounds like an exciting adventure I can share with my grandchildren someday.

Ali is a foot peddler in his new country and he says his work is very hard. Peddlers must walk many miles from village to village with large packs filled with goods, often in much colder weather than here in Lebanon. The people speak a different language and they don't always act friendly towards strangers from foreign countries.

Ali hopes to save enough money to open a store of his own, so customers can come to him, instead of him going to them. He says maybe one day, I could do the same.

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