Funny In Farsi

Dumas begins the chapter in the present tense, discussing the ways her Iranian family celebrates American Thanksgiving. Her father is especially proud and thankful of his opportunity to vote in American elections. She segues from this detail to another discussion of his idiosyncrasies: seeking out free samples at the local Price Club. Kazem and Nematollah meet there for lunch and eat as many of the free samples as they can. Dumas describes some of Kazem’s and her mother’s quirks, such as hoarding freebies given away on airplanes. She then discusses how Kazem exploits his favorite restaurant, Denny’s, and their free birthday meal promotion. Finally, she mentions his retirement hobby, which is visiting time-share seminars in various places in California.

Kazem returns to center stage, this time to discuss his love of ham. Dumas provides background information on the state of Iran during her youth and reveals how it became influenced to a small degree by the West. This was in large part because of the oil industry. She speaks about the Shah and his wife and mentions that her parents were among his supporters. She also mentions how the British Petroleum Company exerted a negative influence in Iran through its attempts to control oil production.