To Philly from Afghanistan: ‘I miss everything’

I was born in Afghanistan, and like tens of thousands of others, I came to the United States when the war ended in 2021. My father had worked for the U.S. government for 17 years, so we knew that if we stayed, our lives would be in danger. We had no choice but to leave our home.

Everything about our departure was terrible. We had to escape with little notice; I only brought one dress with me to the Kabul airport, nothing else. My family and I arrived in the U.S. in September on a Special Immigrant Visa, and spent two months inside a camp in South Jersey.

We were given the choice of three states to live: Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California. We chose Pennsylvania, because most of the people from Afghanistan my father had worked with had settled here, either before or during the evacuation. Last year, around Thanksgiving, we got the keys to a rowhouse in Northeast Philadelphia. I work as a remote interpreter with United Language Group.

» READ MORE: An evacuated Afghan family gets what they most need on Thanksgiving — a Philly home to live in

I miss everything about Kabul. My time at school, my childhood, my friends, relatives, parties, clothes, food (like kebabs, kabuli palaw, and bolani) — all of that made up the most beautiful days of my life. But I can never go back. I studied American literature at Kabul University, and planned to complete a master’s degree before working as an instructor at Kabul University.

Now that the Taliban are in control of the country, I probably wouldn’t be able to work. If I ever had daughters, they might not be able to go to school and work, either.

I can move to other cities in Pennsylvania, but I want to stay in Philadelphia. It’s a beautiful city, and I like the people I meet. There are good job opportunities here, too. I love how Philadelphia has four seasons, just like my home in Kabul. Plus, when I look online about other cities, I see that many other states are more expensive.

I can move to other cities in Pennsylvania, but I want to stay in Philadelphia.

Still, there is so much I miss about my old life. In Kabul, we had time to sit together for meals and talk about our days, play, and share ideas with each other as a family. Now, we are all busy working different schedules, from morning to night, and we often don’t have time to eat together. I miss that a lot.

I still haven’t gotten used to how much everything here is based on technology. You can’t get anything done without a computer, cell phone, a credit card, and the internet. It wasn’t like that in Kabul, where people paid with cash, there were no security cameras, and we got around without GPS. We didn’t even have traffic lights — traffic workers stood at intersections and directed cars. Schools relied on textbooks, not computers. I like technology, but we’ve become so dependent on it. If we lose the internet or our cell phone, we have nothing.

I am very grateful to the U.S. government for helping us leave Afghanistan; without them, I might not be alive today. But I hope they make the process for future refugees easier. I have been here for one year, completed all the documents I need for a green card, and received no answer. No one will even tell me why there is a delay.

I will always miss my life in Kabul. But that life is gone. Even if I returned, I can never get it back. When I first arrived in Philadelphia, I still thought of Kabul as my home. But after more than one year here, Philadelphia is starting to feel like home, too.

Saharnaaz Muniri lives in Northeast Philadelphia. She works as remote interpreter with ULG.