The sun is setting as he comes down the block, dressed in jean shorts and wearing a small leather pouch around his waist. He smiles when he sees me, takes me by the hand, and sits me down on a wooden stool. Next to us are several old Turkish men […]
It wasn’t easy to find the right Ali Mohamedian on Facebook. That name is about as common in Persian as “John Smith” is in English. But I was determined to make amends, after all these years. And to thank the man who was responsible for getting me out of Iran. […]
[Trigger warning: sexual abuse, violence to children] The box-like room was freezing-cold. It had no windows or decorations, aside from an old IBM computer on the desk in front of me. The space around me seemed to be closing in on me. Despite the icy temperature, I felt sweat dripping […]
I lived in a tent for a month. Not a refugee tent, though I am an immigrant from a war-torn country. But no, this was a dark-blue camping tent pitched in the middle of the living room, because I didn’t want to have anything to do with my boyfriend. And […]
I was so happy to find out that it was normal to have imaginary friends. I learned this information in my college Child Development class one day, when my professor spoke to us at length about the “boy” who kept him company when he was young. My professor was a […]
When I was a young girl, they called me maymoon-e konjkav, the Persian version of Curious George, because my favorite question was: Why? Not much has changed. My curiosity wasn’t always well received, however. At school, it got me whipped and suspended. As a young girl in Iran, I wanted […]
My curiosity with hypnotherapy began when I was a nanny during my first year of college in the United States. When the kids were asleep, I would watch T.V. to try to improve my English. One day, I saw a talk show about a woman who could heal people through […]
