"Growing up in Iran, I was not surrounded by snow, or tanned people, but by relatives. Not surprisingly, my native language, Persian, contains many more precise words for relatives than does the English language."
Family is important in Iranian and Cambodian cultures. Sundara and Firoozeh were always surrounded with family, and although after moving they didn't see their extended family often, they still stuck together and helped each other adapt.
"When we moved to America, I no longer had access to those fragrances and I forgot all about my aunt's garden. Strolling through a market in Berkeley one day, I spotted a vaguely familiar flower. I bent down and smelled a sweet pea for the first time in fifteen years. Suddenly I was six years old again and running around chasing butterflies."
Even though both Sundara and Firoozeh left behind close relatives, especially Sundrara who left behid her immediate family, they still have all of the good memories of their family that they can never leave behind.
I like relatives!
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