Summer 2022 08/14/22

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Hello, All! I hope you are well. Time just keeps on flying by! I hope you are having an enjoyable summer. We have had a few adventures, but before I talk about them, I give you some updates.
And we have 10…When Mo came to live with us two years ago, he soon started talking about bringing his best friend to live here. They had grown up together and fled Sudan together, and came to the US together, but Mo came to PA and Hassan to CA. After a long and complicated process, and one very brief visit here in August during the height of the crisis in Afghanistan, Hassan became our 9th foster child on June 11th. Hassan is really tall and skinny, and having some challenges adjusting, but we are hopeful that will pass. The photo below is Mo with Hassan and their friend AZ in Florida
Ehsan started talking about bringing his friend Olfat here shortly after he joined us, but we were not sold on the idea at the beginning. Ehsan was not happy here for a while. In fact, he was pretty miserable for the first few months that he was with us. Gradually things got better. As his English improved, he became more engaged and engaging. So when the process for bringing Olfat here got to the point where Nolan and I had to commit, we said yes. Olfat joined us on July 15th. So far, he is doing well.
For those of you who are trying to keep count… we now have 5 kids living full time in the house. In the order they joined us they are: Arif, Mo, Ehsan, Hassan, and Olfat. And I think someone is going to need a nickname, because Hassan and Ehsan sound way too similar and we pretty much always have to say the name a few times until the person we are talking to knows who we are talking about. 🙂

Isa, Roshan, and Ghani all have homes in the area, are driving trucks and are supporting their families. Hedayat is still in Lansdale working at a factory and talking about moving back to Allentown after he gets his driving license restored, which should be in mid-September . And Abu is doing well in the Air Force, working in logistics in Goldsboro NC.If you are curious, the boys’ ages…Isa, Roshan, Ghani: 24 Hedayat: almost 22 Arif: 20 Ehsan: 18 Olfat: 17 Mohamed: 16 Hassan: 15
Nolan has made a couple of videos you might enjoy – the first is Foster Parenting from 2020 and the second is A New Family about the recent exponential growth of our family.
Our growing Afghan community
It also might be helpful to start with a recap here…
Aunt Jane enjoying a delicious meal with the boys at Ghani’s house.
Ghani’s Crew – Ghani brought his older sister, Sukina, and her children Yasmin (now 14), Mohammad/Manzur (now 7), and Mehran (now 5). All the kids had birthdays in June, but Ghani was in Australia with Nolan so he is planning a family birthday celebration for later in the summer. The family is living in the very nice house in Bethlehem that Ghani bought in February. Yasmin completed 7th grade with straight As and Manzur completed kindergarten.

Ghani’s family had stayed with us over the holidays and until they moved into the house in Bethlehem. Sukina is a gifted cook, and they have hosted several really large dinner parties. Sukina is still working on learning to drive and learning English, and Ghani is often on the road, but we do see them fairly regularly.
Mahran checking out the fountains at Longwood Gardens as Aunt Jane watches to make sure he doesn’t climb too high!
Isa’s Crew – Isa and Sima were on their own for a while, as Sima’s dad and Isa’s uncle who had come with them during the evacuation, moved out to Nebraska to work in a slaughterhouse. There is a large community of Afghans there and I think they are doing well.Isa’s friend Rohullah went back to Afghanistan to get his young wife out, and miraculously, they made it. So Rohullah and his wife, Bahara, are now living with Isa and Sima and that seems to be a going very well.

Isa took some time off from trucking as he had drivers for both his trucks. So he and Sima and Rohullah and Bahara have had a great time traveling. Sima had been working in housekeeping at the hospital but was ready for a change, so she left her job just before they started off on their summer vacation travels.

After several weeks of traveling, hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, and soccer, the boys have gone back to work and the girls are looking for jobs and to start school. Sima has her driving license and her own car, so they are quite independent.
Isa, Sima, Bahara, Rohullah, on the boat near Marathon, FL
Roshan’s Crew – Roshan’s little sister, Frishta, graduated from Whitehall High School. His little brother, Shawkat, is still in high school, I think he might be a senior this year, but am not sure about that. Roshan’s wife, Shegufa, and his two older sisters, Latifa and Fariza, and Frishta and Shawkat are all working at the hospital in housekeeping. The girls will all be going to the community college for the fall semester, taking English classes. Latifa did take one summer course through the LCCC ESL program, and I am sure she will be continuing with that.

Isa’s uncle, Nematullah, who came with them, and the other uncle, Arif, who came with his wife Zulaikha, and their two small children, went to the trucking school in Florida for their CDLs. They were gone for two months, but were all successful and have now started driving. Arif, Zulaikha and the kids had been staying with the same lovely couple in Alburtis that Roshan’s family stayed with when they first arrived. When Uncle Arif went to Florida, Zulaikha and the kids moved in with Roshan’s family. After much searching and with a lot of help, they were finally able to find an apartment in Whitehall and are moving in this week.
The Mohammadi Crew at Frishta’s graduation
Arif’s Crew – Esmat also went to the trucking school in FL and is now working. Aziza is home with baby Rayan who turned 1 year old on July 15th. Aziza has her license and a car, so she is very independent and doing great. She will start school at Northampton community College in the fall. Esmat and Aziza have a whole team of volunteers from the Moravian churches in Bethlehem. They have volunteers for helping with pretty much everything including college applications and financial aid, banking and budgeting, even hosting Rayan’s 1st birthday party! So they are doing great.

Neamat and Sabera, who live across the hall from Esmat and Aziza, are working at the hospital in housekeeping. They are not sure what their plans are. I know that Neamat would love to get a job in journalism and he has a scholarship to a 4 year university program in NYC, but isn’t sure how he could manage rent and other expenses while going to school in NYC. Sabera is looking forward to going to school for English and then maybe for nursing. She was a police officer in Afghanistan. They are really lovely and great dancers! I took them on a day trip to the beach and for a very quick tour of lower Manhattan via the ferry. It was a lovely day.
A few others – Laylula (I really can’t say or spell her name!) had a baby girl named Sana in early May. She is the lady who was special forces. Her brother, Hafiz, and their friend Zaki also went to Florida for the CDL training and they are on the road, working now.
A lovely visit with Abu in NC
Adventures:
Australia with Ghani The big adventure for this year was the trip that Nolan and Ghani made to Australia. Ghani has lots of family there, including a brother, sister-in-law, and nephews. In many ways, it seemed like an entire village was just transplanted from Afghanistan to Australia. Nolan spent a lot of time meeting Ghani’s extended family and he also got to spend a little time with Arif’s siblings, which was very sweet. Nolan has lots of photos and several videos of the experience. Day Trip from Melbourne: The Great Ocean Road Video – Ghani visiting with his brother, Khaliq and family Reunited Family Video After returning, Nolan has struggled lingering ear and sinus troubles, which put quite a damper on his summer, but he is doing much better now.

Florida with Boys As usual, things didn’t quite work out as planned. And some of it was lousy, but mostly it was fun. This is a whole email/blog in itself, so I think I will take that on as a separate story. 🙂 If you want to go snorkeling in the keys, please call or email me…I have some suggestions. :-)We did get to spend a few fun outings with Isa and Sima and Rohullah and his new wife Bahara.
Dinner with Abu and the boys on our way to FL
Enjoying the boat rides during our trip to FL
Fun Day TripsPhiladelphia Zoo
Taking a photo break at the Zoo
Philadelphia Art Museum
The Mohammadi girls with Zulaikha and kids at the Philly Art Museum
NYC Aquarium and Coney Island
Nolan and I are doing okay. Nolan is physically feeling better which makes him a lot less grumpy. 🙂 And work is going well, so he is in a good place. He had such a great experience with Ghani in Australia, but it took a while to recover from that.

I am in a strange place. An in-between place. The right now is still full of busy, which is usual, but not as frantic as it had been. And the bigger plan, the long range goal is not clear. I went through a bit of grieving for the pottery business. For the past dozen years, when people asked me what I do, I would say, “ I am a potter” and that felt good.

Now, “I am in between” and doing a bit of soul searching. I have a lot of directions I would like to go in, a bazillion things I would love to do, but I can’t do them all. I also don’t have as much time to waste, so giving myself a little time to choose as wisely as I can, seems like a good idea.

With the new kids, there have been plenty of challenges and I wonder if maybe I am burning out a bit? The first few months with a new kid can be tough. After Mo I thought we wouldn’t get another one. But things turned around and were really good. Then after Ehsan I thought we might be done. And he came around.

Sometimes it is a matter of riding out the storm until things get better. I keep reminding myself of how difficult things were at times with Roshan, Isa, Hedayat, and Ghani. And now they are all doing great, and we have wonderful relationships with each of them.
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