Day 11: Michelle's Quest.

Michelle...

Upon coming to Austria, Marji had these ideas of what she expected her mother's friend Zozo would take her into her home with open arms. But she found herself with the sad fact that she was thrown into a boarding house run by many nuns. She probably that right off the bat, no one really want her to stay with them and was just put there just to get rid of her. She just put in a small room which she even has to share with another girl. After settling down, Marji starts to recap on how things started when she landed in Austria. She starts to recall the little things like when Zozo gave her an unkind look and didn't seem too excited on the idea of having Marji join them. Or how she began describing how she felt upset on how Shirin, Zozo's daughter, wasn't very interested in talking about the the differences between going to school in Austria than Iran. She'd rather talk about lipstick, earmuffs, and scented pens. Then there's the "wonderful" fights that Zozo has with her husband about little things. She fights with him because of that fact that he doesn't have a job of that he even bought her flowers for their anniversary. Marji doesn't seem to understand why they fight and bicker over money if her parents have never fought about money.But after, arguments wouldn't matter because they would be kicking her out and sending her off to the boarding school. At least at the school, she would have more freedom to be her own person. She would have to cook her own meals, do her own laundry, and even grocery shop on her own, which was her favorite part. Doing these kinds of things soft of encouraged her to not be so closed in like she was back at home. Then she meets her roommate Lucia who is from Sweden and both of them are so limited as to how much they can communicate with one another. Like how Lucia takes Marji to a Swedish movie and after a while, Marji feels too uncomfortable and slips away. they also have times when they clash like when Lucia uses her blow dryer at 6:30 in the morning. With all that noise going on Marji doesn't have a choice but to wake up. Not only does she have issues with her roommate, but also with the students around her. She finds it hard to fit in with the other students till she finds this rebellious group that accepts her just for being in Iran and seeing war up close; Something they haven't seen themselves.Winter break comes around and Marji doesn't have a place to go for the holidays so she goes with Lucia to visit her family in Tyrol. She experienced this whole entirely new culture and religious view.they also treated her like an equal instead of an outsider from them. Like on page 172 before she leaves, they offered her tons of things to take back home with her and gave her that feeling of acceptance she needed.