When we wanted to make Aliya, we sent a letter to my cousin who had been living in Israel for seven years already. She replied: "aunt, you want to eat sour pistachios? Here in Israel there is none. Here we live on the mountains" (meaning that in Israel there is no luxury and living conditions are rough).

When we wanted to make Aliya, we went to Tehran to a place called Maḥane, Maḥane Olim (in Hebrew). Houses there were like a train, with no doors or windows. It was all open space. Men, women, children, and even chickens, were roaming around.

Translation to Hebrew: Miriam Shergian. Comment brackets: Galit Peleg