داستان کوتاه انگلیسی

Escaping a Revolution to Find the “American Dream” (part2)


I was on a two-month waiting list. So in the meantime, I talked to one of the embassy employees and started helping out by getting the lists of people’s names and numbers. I used to go to the embassy everyday, because my brother Hooshang lived across the street from the American embassy. I could see the embassy’s door from his window. I’d go to check people in and take their names down, and also check my status on the wait-list.

On the day that the hostage crisis started, my turn to get my visa was supposed to be three days away. That day, I was at my brother’s house, and I started hearing a lot of commotion. I could see a lot of people crowding and yelling around embassy – I thought there was some kind of demonstration going on. I didn’t see them climbing up the gates or anything, so I assumed it was just a protest. By the time that night came around, I found out that they had actually taken over the embassy.

So, everyone who was waiting for a visa at that time was obsolete and so was mine, and that was it. I was very angry. I could’ve gotten my visa three days later. That event alone delayed my immigration another five years. The government then closed all the borders, they weren’t letting anyone get in and out, and after they opened, the only way I was able to get out was to get my visa from a European country. The only reason I was able to do that was because the business I owned worked closely with European countries.

How did your family and friends react/treat you when you left home? What were their expectations or hopes for your future?

There were mixed feelings. Everyone wanted to leave the country at the time. Of course, they were sad that I was leaving, but at the meantime, they were happy that I was able to get out. I got my visa to come to America through our company; we were working with European companies and therefore had some influence. So I got my visa from Italy, got my American student visa from there, and came directly from Italy. I was definitely considered one of the lucky ones. It wasn’t that easy for everyone to leave the country.

My family was happy that I had this opportunity to go to America for school, but they were also sad because they thought we could’ve established a good life in Iran. I had a good job and they wanted our children to be there. But they wanted the best for me, and with this lucky chance I got, they understood that I had to take it.

What were your expectations or hopes for life in America?


Back then, when I was younger, America seemed to me and everyone else like a wonderland. Everything was new, advanced, life seemed to be easier. Success seemed easier. Not only that, but the freedom was the most important thing.


Where did you start out in the US and what kind of work did you find?


I had a cousin who lived and worked in Oklahoma. We were supposed to stay and work there with him. He had a supermarket and oil well drilling company. I stayed there for a bit then ended up moving to Los Angeles because that was supposedly where all the Iranians were. I had a few close friends who lived there who grew up in the same neighborhood as me in Iran. I found a job working the night shift in a 7/11, and after like 6-7 months I moved to Northern California, to live with my cousin in Fremont. Over there I started working in a convenience store.