Growing Up Persian in America

It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anyone who knows anything about the Middle East knows that falafel is not Persian food but rather Arabic food. Then again what do most Americans know. This story was written by an Iranian or Persian and while it is a work of fiction it is in part autobiographical. The story is set in the Carter era, starting right before the revolution and then going through to Ronald Reagan’s election.

Zomorod is with her family in Southern California, her dad is an engineer making oil wells for a big company. For a while they were living in Compton but then they move to Newport Beach. The move to Newport Beach is not comfortable. Zomorod has no friends there and her parents are different. Zomorod does not know much about American culture. In order to better fit in she changes her name to Cindy. Incidentally the first friend she meets is named Cindy. Zomorod will call herself Cindy and her first friend Original Cindy.

Original Cindy is into herself. She likes horses and Captain and Tenil which she names her pet cats after. Zomorod does not know much about horses and she cannot follow along to the words of a song. They like to go to the pool and get a suntan. Her parents feel swimming and bicycle riding can help to make her grow taller. If she gets scratched by a cat she can lose her eye sight. These attitudes from her parents are a source of embarrassment for Zomorod.

As she starts Lincoln Junior High she goes through A socializing process. Some kids who are ignorant about Iran or Persia make racist jokes, other teacher ask her to give a report on Iran. At school she makes friends with Carolyn, Howie and Rachel. Through her friends she gets introduced to the Girl Scouts different people and different clubs. On a scout outing her dad buys everything that is on sale. The stuff that ain’t on sale and I the list of things needed for the camping trip are simply not needed.

In their condo complex they make friends and enemies with the neighbors, mostly friends though. Whenever someone comes over the mother wants to give them tea and feed them. If the family wants to say thank you they will make food and send it over. Most America’s do not follow this and to them it is different. For Zomorod it is embarrassing.

Things change when the Revolution happens and Americans are taken hostage in Iran. That is when her father looses his job, the family gets worried and stays glued to the television set. Enemies place dead hamsters on their doorstep and over load their trash can with trash thst is not theirs. But things will work out.

View all my reviews