Where do I start in talking about Aida Moradi Ahani — this charming, courageous, idealistic and stunning writer from Iran? We were first graced with her presence in February 2017, after a complex series of political crises took place. First, just as she was preparing for her trip, Trump’s misguided Muslim ban was put into place on January 7, 2017 which looked as if it would keep her from participating in the residency she had been chosen for at Willapa Bay AiR. Then, at the last minute, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson (now running for Washington State governor) initiated a legal action that put that ban on hold.

Would Trump’s ban rule, or would Ferguson’s law overturning it be upheld? Aida took a chance, and, as Amy Nile wrote in the February 28th edition of the Chinook Observer, “She made a beeline from her home in Tehran to Oysterville, not knowing if President Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries would stop her from coming into the U.S. She started her trip, boarding an Etihad Airways flight from Tehran to Abu Dhabi. After she landed, she learned a federal appeals court had upheld the block on Trump’s travel ban. The Feb. 9 decision meant she could catch her connecting flights to New York and Portland, and she made her way to Oysterville.” Thus began Aida’s now nearly decade-long friendship with many of us on the Long Beach Peninsula.

Women, Life, Freedom

Those of us writing in the United States of America take so much for granted, especially us women. Our freedom of speech and our right to vote underlie so many of the values we hold dear. Add to that the freedom we women have in charting our own lives: being able to drive, own property, run a business, invest. (Though let us not forget that “it wasn’t until 1974 and the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that women were finally able to apply for a credit card or a loan on their own, without a male co-signer.”)

Though we can still argue about equal pay — on average, women working full-time, year-round are paid 84% of what men are paid, meaning we must work an extra three months to match a man’s annual salary for the same job. And there is an acknowledged lack of funds for women’s health research (future column on this!). Add to that our nation’s lack of child care, and, even more egregious, the Supreme Court’s abortion ban. Yes, there is still work to do.

Nonetheless, we have privileges that so many Middle Eastern women are dying for. Quite literally. American women will not be arrested for speaking in public (a recent Taliban decree for women in Afghanistan). We will not be beaten or killed for wearing our clothing “improperly” as was the fate of 22-year old Iranian Mahsa “Jina” Amini. (Jina’s story here tinyurl.com/ywenutp9.) It was her torture and death while in police custody on Sept. 16, 2022 that sparked the protest whose call for justice is ‘Women, Life, Freedom” — a movement that seeks to mobilize action against international regimes oppressing women because of their gender.

As Aida says of her country, “Now Iranian women are not wearing their hijab in the streets. We are using this protest slogan to show our strength. In Iran ‘Women. Life. Freedom’ is a daily practice for everyone.”

Aida in Oysterville

Aida is on the Peninsula again due to the friendship, encouragement and intervention of Cyndy Hayward (director and founder of Willapa Bay AiR), Matt Winters (Chinook Observer editor and publisher), and our Senator Marie Cantwell. Aida spent last year in New York, then returned to Tehran to visit her family. But to maintain her green card, she needed to come back to the United States by August 1. New York had proven to be too difficult and expensive, so she needed an alternative place to stay.

Cyndy continues the story. “I’d been talking often with Aida about her situation and finally I said, ‘Just come here — then we can strategize next steps.’ And the people of Oysterville embraced her! Lina and David Corday opened their apartment above the garage for her, and when she needed another place to stay for a couple days, Dan and Linda Driscoll offered their beach condo. In October she’ll be back at our residency for another month at least. She has a very strict writing schedule.”

I had the opportunity to speak to Aida last weekend and I can confirm her writing discipline. “I’m working on my third novel,” she says, “It’s my fourth book, three novels and one collection of essays. [In addition, Aida is included in a recent writing compilation entitled “Femme, Revê, Liberté.”] I get up quite early in the morning and start writing until about noon. I turn my phone off. It so quiet here — it’s so important to have your own corner where you can work.”

A little background

Aida was born in Iran in the middle of the war between Iran and Iraq of 1979. As she says, “It was so hard — we couldn’t find many things, clothes, food. Many times you would hear about a friend who was jailed or executed. It was a tough time for everybody but people tried to be strong, we tried to have hope.”

Initially, Aida was invited to give a lecture at Stanford University in March of 2015 (tinyurl.com/bdcuzx6u). This gave her a taste of what America was like. “After my lecture I went to New York to visit friends and started my ‘Lost City’ novel. Then when I came back to Tehran I did some research on residencies and the experiences you can have and I applied to Willapa Bay AiR to finish my novel.” It’s now been published.

“I like Americans so much, you are so respectful. You can have conversations with all kinds of people. New York is famous for being rude, but I didn’t see any rude people. Everyone was so kind and helpful. That’s why I decided to come to the United States. Whenever I take my mother’s calls she says, ‘The Americans are so wonderful to you! They do so much for you!’”

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. If Cyndy and Matt hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have made it back here to work. These two people are great. I will never forget all the things they have done for me. Even before I was able to get my VISA approved and come back this time, Cyndy and Matt emailed me and encouraged me to be strong.”

Culture: the water we swim in

Of course there are so many things Aida misses not being home. “I miss my friends, my city, my family, my culture, my own language of Farsi.” Farsi, also called Persian, is the official language of Iran and is also spoken by large populations in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. Its roots go back to “Old Persian” derived from the cuneiform inscriptions left by the Achaemenid dynasty, 559 to 331 BC. Aida says it’s a beautiful language with many subtleties — for instance there are no male or female pronouns; “so writing about one’s lover can have many meanings.”

Pull Quote

‘I like Americans so much, you are so respectful. You can have conversations with all kinds of people. New York is famous for being rude, but I didn’t see any rude people. Everyone was so kind and helpful.’

Aida Moradi Ahani

“There are also so many foods I miss. I really miss ghormeh sabzi — a kind of a stew served with rice, lamb, spices, and beans.” Considered the national dish of Iran, it begins with sauteed herbs consisting mainly of parsley, leeks, green onions, and coriander, seasoned with dried fenugreek leaves. (Many Middle Eastern cultures have variations of this dish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghormeh_sabzi).

Aida has been married for 19 years, but unfortunately her husband Mohammad, an electrical engineer, has not been able to join her here. Though they applied for their VISAs at the same time; his has not been approved. So she simply reads and writes and walks in the quiet of Oysterville, thankful to be here, missing the tastes and sounds of her own country, and hoping for a better world.