My dad says the dogs and cats in America are luckier than most people in the world.
Most immigrants agree that at some point, we become permanent foreigners, belonging neither here nor there. Many tomes have been written trying to describe this feeling of floating between worlds but...
Ever since we had arrived in the United States, my classmates kept asking me about magic carpets.- They don't exist-I always said. I was wrong. Magic carpets do exist. But they are called library card...
I realize that Original Cindy is a compass, but instead of pointing north, she points to horse story.
A fruit basket would have been nice, but instead we found that a flyer had been slipped under the door. Dear Brainwashed Cowards, You are nothing but puppets of the corrupt Shah. We will teach you a l...
My dad says you don’t see tanks and guns on parade in America because democracy keeps the country together, not fear of the military.
Asking my father to ask the waitress the definition of sloppy Joe or Tater Tots was no problem. His translations, however, were highly suspect.
Any gift from a true friend is valuable, even if it’s a hollow walnut shell.
Swimsuit competitions go against everything that is right and decent in this world. We're told that beauty is on the inside and that who we are matters far more than what we look like. But could you p...
It's not what we eat or don't eat that makes us good people; it's how we treat one another. As you grow older, you'll find that people of every religion think they're the best, but that's not true. Th...
It was only when I stopped pretending to be someone else that I found my real friends.
Here, those kids are called nerds and geeks and dorks. This may be the only country where people make fun of the smart kids. Now that’s stupid. I only hope that the engineer who built the bridge I dri...
At some point, someone must have yelled Good job, Kaz!, which my father interpreted as You should go on television and win a fortune! Bowling
When I announced to my family that I wanted to add an American name, they reacted with their usual laughter. Never one to let mockery or good judgment stand in my way, I proceeded to ask for suggestio...
Throughout his job ordeal, my father never complained. He remained an Iranian who loved his native country but who also believed in American ideals. He only said how sad it was that people so easily h...
The bible is foreign to me, but its concepts are not. My father always said that hatred is a waste and never an option. He learned this growing up in Ahwaz, Iran, in a Muslim household. I have tried m...
The Japanese have a saying that for every new food we try, we gain seven days of life. I may be immortal by now.
Shushtari proverb Any gift from a true friend is valuable, even if it’s a hollow walnut shell. It
[Firoozeh's dad speaking] He continued, It's not what we eat or don't eat that makes us good people; it's how we treat on another. As you grow older, you'll find that people of every religion think th...
We had always known that ours is a small country and that America is very big. But even as a seven-year-old, I was surprised that so many Americans has never noticed us on the map. Perhaps it's like d...