Cross-posted at Smart Girl Nation

Rafraf Barrak is just like any other twenty-something woman trying to figure out what to do with her life.  What to apply her studies to?  What is she good at?  Can she make a living with the skills she has obtained?  Does she enjoy those skills enough that that living will be worthwhile?

Just like any other twenty-something.  Except that Rafraf never would have had those options if she had remained in the country of her birth.  You see, Rafraf might be living legally in America now, but she was born in Iraq.  She was born into a life where the government decided her education for her, her contact with others was decided by her culture, and eventually, her elders probably would have decided her marriage for her.  It’s a way of life that not many Americans can fathom.

Rafraf came to America with the help of a news correspondent.  Having been born and raised in Iraq, she had had no intention of ever leaving there.  In fact, she had never even been outside of Baghdad until she accepted a job as a translator for a news station during the tumultuous time after 9/11.   While working as a translator for NBC, she eventually landed in the care of Don Teague.

Rafraf and Don formed a friendship, and after insurgents in Iraq threatened her life, he helped her flee to the United States.  Having been raised to believe that America was the root of all evil in the world, she was understandably scared and nervous.  She hesitantly stepped off the plane and into the welcoming arms of the Teague family and a new life.

Life in America was a far cry from her life in Iraq.  She could make her own decisions.  She could go where she wanted, speak to whom she chose to, ask questions and get answers.  Men didn’t treat her as an inferior being; they looked in her eyes when they spoke to her, rater than averting their gaze as Islamic men did.  She didn’t even have to wear a headscarf.

Saved By Her Enemy is co-authored by Don Teague and Rafraf Barrak, and it is the tale of their unlikely relationship and Rafraf’s transition from second-class Iraqi citizen to liberated woman in America.  It is an eye opening must read book, detailing a way of life that will make any Smart Girl glad to be living in the land of the free.

I was able to chat with Rafraf about her experiences as a child and young woman in Iraq, and her new American life.  Listen to The Smart Girl Report podcast to hear Rafraf talk about everything from her experiences as an Iraqi living in a city being bombed by night to her dating life in America to her conversion from Islam to Christianity.

Listen to The Smart Girl Report here.

Order Saved By Her Enemy here.