When the end officially came on Dec. 8 local time, it also brought back a wave of painful memories for the 18-year-old student. In between the euphoria, Alhamwi cried while remembering the first time she hid under a desk as a 6-year-old when soldiers banged on the door and bombs collapsed houses around her.
Alhamwi and other Syrians across the United States are grappling with those questions following the end of a 53-year brutal regime and a civil war that displaced roughly half of the country's population. Many said they can't wait to reunite with family they haven't seen in years, if not decades.
They've danced and cheered outside the White House, raised the flag of the new Syrian government at the empty Syrian embassy in Washington and celebrated in countless mosques, homes and streets across the country.
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