Emily and I went to Nazhla and Hameed Karzai's home in Maryland. As Nazhla is eight months pregnant, I tried to get her to consider the possibility of ordering take-out, but in the wonderful tradition of Afghani hospitality, she insisted on cooking and welcomed us as family. Em and I are not sure we've ever eaten as well as we did there, and Emily had an entire shopping bag full of leftovers to take home. Em didn't think her fridge was big enough to handle it all.
We got to see little Sameel who is now almost two years old. If you remember, the very first posting on this blog is of Dad holding Sameel in Laguna, pointing out where Sameel was going to learn to skimboard...
Nazhla talked about how when they first arrived in this country, her family couldn't figure out why they were continually visited by dad. Who was this man? They couldn't figure out why he took an interest in them, without even knowing who they are or whether they were good people. She said that moving to a new country, you feel like you've lost your individuality in the eyes of those around you, and that you're labeled, "immigrant." When she met dad, she felt like there was hope for them. Here was a man who was seeing who they really were, seeing past the label. Her family felt like dad saw them as his family, and for that they are all deeply grateful beyond words. We told them how that relationship was as important to dad as it was to them, and how happy we are to continue in it.
We heard about Hameed's older brother who was in medical school in Czechoslovakia, while the Taliban were ruling Afghanistan. All Afghani students were supposed to act supportive of the Taliban, but Hameed's brother refused. One night, one of his professors came to him and said that he (Hameed's brother) would be arrested the next morning, so he'd better leave right away. His brother escaped to Germany and did not see his family for at least ten years. Hameed was seven at the time, and so when he finally saw his brother, his brother said that the two of them were going to take a two week trip and get to know each other as adults. That trip turned out to be the cement for a deep friendship between brothers that is truly an inspiration. His brother had to repeat medical school in Germany and has lived there ever since. He claims he is way-overqualified to be a doctor since he had to go through med school two times.
When Hameed came to America, he took a job at WalMart and was handed a mop and asked to clean the floor. He thought to himself that in Afghanistan, their family wasn't rich, but they had servants, and mopping is a job for servants, not him. As he thought about it further, he said he began thinking about the life of those servants, and saw how difficult it must have been. And how he was really no different from them. It was the "mop moment" where he realized that we are all equal partners in one large community of humanity and that no one is higher or above anyone else. This "mop moment" forever changed his view of himself, America, and the world.
Nazhla said she had a similar moment when she came to America and got a job selling shoes. The first time someone told her she had to put shoes on a stranger's feet, she thought that this was not something that she should have to do. But her thinking changed and she found that same sense of equality that Hameed did.
(Hameed's cousin is Hamid Karzai, the current President of Afghanistan.)
It was a wonderful way to spend an evening, particularly right before attending the documentary on Gabor. And right before dad's favorite holiday, the 4th of July. To spend time with those who have come to this country to find freedom. A rare privilege.
