Currently I have been reading and thoroughly enjoying a memoir by Firoozah Dumas. She named her memoir Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America. She combines humor and reality into a great blend that make readers feel connected and related to her life even if you have never even been outside of your home country. People in the world realize how different cultures can be, and while reading Funny in Farsi you get a first hand experience of how two completely different cultures, Iranian and American, can coexist. My mother is from Sweden and I have been blessed to have family I visit every year there. It truly was a culture shock in the beginning of my travels to Europe, but quickly learned to appreciate the differences and grasp a whole new meaning to the world we live in. Swedes do a lot of things different; how they greet each other, speak to strangers passing by, and even how and when they eat. These experiences in my life have helped me enjoy reading about Firoozeh’s story and transformation if you will of life. This led me to appreciate the chapter title “You Can Call Me Al.” In this chapter, Firoozah tells us stories of her past vacation spots she used to travel with her family back in Iran along with her dad’s new favorite locations to visit, now living in America. As you can imagine, the two destinations for a family vacation is the complete opposite of each other. In Iran Firoozah would speak of long beautiful trips between Tehran and the Caspian Sea along the coast. Her nostalgic admirable tone gives you a sense of paradise while reading her descriptions. I love reading these passages because it takes me back to family trips in Sweden that we take. I would travel to an island off the coast of Sweden call Gotland, and that was the Hawaii of Sweden. Girls, beaches, sun and warm water. Couldn’t ask for much more than that. These trips make me appreciate traveling and learn about new cultures just as when I listen to Firoozah speak of her own trips. Nothing can replace memories like those or replace the feeling you get remembering them. And after hearing about her trips in America I can tell how much she misses that with her family. Her father’s favorite location in America is Las Vegas to go to. A lit up circle of desert and blandness once compared to her vacations back home. This is an important chapter in my opinion because if you have never travelled outside of America and love Las Vegas as much as Firoozah’s dad did then you are really missing out. In Sweden, almost every family has a summer home on the lake where they either visit constantly or live there for the season’s months. Vacationing at these homes was unbelievable. This isn’t to say that I travel to Las Vegas in America. I still have plenty of adventurous scenic trips in California, but my point is that without experiencing more than just your circle of