With the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, thousands of Afghans scrambled for a way out of the country as it fell back under Taliban rule. There were fathers who helped the U.S. military and found themselves at risk of retaliation. There were threats of kidnappings and demands for ransom payments.
“I didn’t know I would come until I came to the airport. … I just came to the airport to see what’s happening. I didn’t know if I was going to go or not,” said Mohammad Rasooli, 18, a recent graduate of Crawford High School who grew up in Mazar-i-Sharif. He was 16 at the time, with only the clothes on his back, what amounted to $10 in his pocket, and his 14-year-old brother in tow. His parents didn’t know where they were, but he had been studying English since eighth or ninth grade and had planned to secure a scholarship to study in the U.S. (His parents ed them in 2022.) “But when the Taliban took over my country, I just went to the airport. There was no security. If you can the Taliban, you are free to go. There were NATO soldiers and they just helped you. They just move you onto a plane, they do not ask you where you are going. I didn’t know if it would go to the U.S. or somewhere else.”
More than 76,000 evacuees came to the United States, including nearly 3,000 who have resettled in San Diego, according to data from the county. Jamshid Ibrahimi and Sohail Sial, both 18 and graduates of El Cajon Valley High School, grew up in Kabul. They were sad about leaving their homes while also excited to experience a new culture and new people. All three of them (who declined to be photographed for this story) come from large immediate families of at least seven people and have been surprised by the number of people who are unhoused in America. They feel safer here, they say, and they would like to stay, go to college, and build a life here. They each took some time to share their experiences living in the U.S. for the past couple of years, and their plans now that they’ve finished high school in their new home. (These email interviews have been edited for length and clarity. )
Q: What were your expectations of America before you arrived?
Sial: I thought it would be so different from what I am living now. I thought there would be no economic problems. We would live in a big house. I was thinking it would be, kind of, a dreamy life. It is such a busy life. Here, it is full of problems. Here, it is more difficult to access anything. Daily, there is more work. We have so much work, like appointments and meetings, and we cannot access it.
Ibrahimi: I had seen California in the movies, but when I came here I didn’t expect it to be like this. Also, I didn’t think America had poor people who live outside without homes. I thought it would be more green, more trees, more tall buildings with beautiful places and beautiful parks.
Rasooli: I thought it would be a beautiful city, more clean and organized. I thought it would be a better life. It was not like this when I got here.
Q: How did those expectations match up with the reality of America once you got here?
Sial: I didn’t think there would be so many responsibilities and language problems. About the view of the USA, I thought safety would be no explosions, no sounds of weapons, and the environment of the area matches. I thought it would not be as busy and would be a more comfortable life.
Ibrahimi: Many poor people live outside of their houses. I would think USA has highest economy, but I didn’t think people didn’t have access to houses or hospitals.
Rasooli: It is much less clean and not as organized as I’d thought. Where I live now is not a very good place. We already had a bigger house than this in Afghanistan. The neighborhood I live in now is safer than Afghanistan. Back in Afghanistan, if you go out at night, there are a lot of thieves, but it’s not like this here. There are homeless people, but they don’t take your money.
Q: What are some of the things you miss most about Afghanistan?
Sial: So, first of all, I would say I miss my hometown. I miss the ground I was born [on]. I miss my friends and my relatives, I miss our culture and our food. There are foods we cannot get here. Well, they are not the same here. I miss soup, but it’s not like soup like you call in English. It’s a special soup. And bolani [a fried, stuffed flatbread]. We can get here, but it’s not the same as there. Burger is a different burger than here. I would say mantu [a dumpling filled with meat and onions]. I miss mantu.
Ibrahimi: We had a big yard. We had a lot of different trees, like pear, apple, walnut, grape and other types of trees there. I miss a lot of foods. We had a fountain in our house. It had cold water and very fresh water. And we had fresh vegetables. We had a house under the ground that we could play. I would play with my friends and siblings there.
Rasooli: I would say the food we have there. The school, which is very different from here. The people are different; like, I have good friends over there, and they are different kind of people. And teachers are different. I had more fun with them than the friends that I have here.
Q: What were some of the things that were the most difficult to adjust to when you got here, in San Diego?
Sial: So, at first, I would say we had a housing problem. They got us to Airbnb for just one month, and in just one month we could not find a house. After that, we went to the house of my dad’s friend and it was so hard to live in a small house with two families and language problems. We didn’t know about English, and when we were going to appointments and [had] social problems just getting to work and to where we needed to be. We had no transportation.
Ibrahimi: Sleeping! In Afghanistan it’s 4 or 5 in morning, and here it is afternoon. When we came here, we went to my uncle’s house for two to three days; after that, we went to our house, but we didn’t have internet for like 10 to 20 days. When we moved to our house, we couldn’t buy anything from the store [that] we needed because we didn’t have a car and we had to walk to the store.
Rasooli: I was here for four months in the youth shelter, but there was no problem with us. Everything was good. We had a place to sleep, we had food, no responsibility, we had people to take care of us. They drove us places. It was good, but when my parents get here, everything changes. I got out of shelter and my responsibility became more and more, and now I have to translate and I have to act like an interpreter and I have to figure it out on my own. It is very hard.
Q: What are some of the ways that school has been different here, compared to back home?
Sial: So, enrollment of school was different for Afghanistan, even the chairs. We learned on the floor. We didn’t have any projector, we had only a board. A difficult thing was the [Google] Chromebook. At first, for at least 10 days or more, it was so weird about the way teachers are teaching. Trying to understand the lessons was hard for me. The projects were so different from Afghanistan. The classes are so quiet; in Afghanistan, it was full of noise.
Ibrahimi: Here, school is too long. We have to study for, like, eight hours. In our country, it was like three or four hours. If we didn’t do our homework in Afghanistan, they wouldn’t punish us. When I came here, I didn’t know how to use a computer. When I was in first grade, I studied in a tent. It was very hard. When it rains, it gets mud. I just went for, like, one hour at school and then went to a park.
Rasooli: It was a tent. When I was in first to second grade, we didn’t even have a classroom. Later, we got a building, but we didn’t have chairs or tables. We sat on the floor. We finally got chairs and equipment, but the Taliban took over and I just left. The teacher was not very serious. If you don’t do your assignment or you don’t do homework, they don’t care about it, and if you don’t go [to school], they don’t care.
Q: In the short time that you’ve been here, are there things you’ve come to enjoy about living here?
Sial: I’d say I feel safer than in Afghanistan, but I am also feeling free. I wasn’t allowed to go out after evening because there were too many thieves or bad people. Daily life here, I am going outside and I am driving a car and that wasn’t an option that I had in Afghan.
Ibrahimi: There are two weekend days, and in Afghanistan it was just one weekend day. The people here are so quiet. There, it was loud and much noise.
Rasooli: I really like the weather here. It is very good. Like summer and winter, it all feels good. In Afghanistan, in winter it was cold snow; in the summer it was super hot.
Q: What are your favorite subjects in school?
Sial: I don’t like biology. I was not good at it and I was more cutting class. My favorite was English. Government was hard, too.
Ibrahimi: My favorite is math, I like math. Least favorite is science and biology.
Rasooli: Favorite is math and computer, and least favorite is biology.
Q: What are your plans now that you’ve graduated?
Sial: My plan is, first, I have to get ission in college. Also, with college I have to get a job to help with my dad and my family and economic problems. These are my temporary goals. I have filled out an application for Grossmont College. It is my dream to study computer science. I hope I can find a scholarship or help. I want to study at a very good school.
Ibrahimi: My plan is to go to college and to find a part-time job. I have to earn money so I can go to college. I hope to find a scholarship so I can study.
Rasooli: I am ed for San Diego City College. I am working full time. I am going to study computer science. I will go to a good university, but I need to find a scholarship or a way to pay for it.
Q: Have you made friends here?
Sial: Yeah, I found a lot of friends. We are doing the same thing we were doing in Afghanistan when we get together, we are just walking and making fun and talking and stuff.
Ibrahimi: I made friends, but the friends I made here are now very selfish because of the things that they can buy. Just now they are acting selfish. Buying things makes people different and they don’t want to talk to you. This is coming from all types of kids. There is a lot of judgment. When I go with them, they check their phones every time; when I text them, they leave me unread for like 15 to 16 hours.
Rasooli: I usually meet my friends at school, but after school I am busy. I don’t have time to go with all of my friends. I talk to them in class or at lunch.
Q: Do you think that you’d like to eventually return home to Afghanistan?
Sial: Yes, to visit and to hang out with relatives, but not to live there. It is possible if I know it’s safe for me, our economy is OK, and it is safe and no danger. I would go back. It is possible.
Ibrahimi: Yes, I would go on a trip for a few months, but it depends on the situation, if it’s safe.
Rasooli: Depending on the situation; as long as the Taliban is in control, I will not go back to live. Or, if the government changes, it still depends. If I have a house here and a good life here, then I won’t go back and start over; but for a visit, I would love to go for a visit. It is our homeland.
Q: What would you like people to understand or know about your home country and how you grew up?
Sial: The most things people should know about our country is our history. We have a long history. It is 5,000 years old and the people of Afghanistan are so brave and they are so kind. When you meet them, you will know. There is so much natural beauty, and rivers and water and lakes and a lot of natural places to visit.
Ibrahimi: People think that Afghanistan is what is on the television and all fighting, but there are a lot of beautiful places and culture, and beautiful people and mosques and other things.
Rasooli: Yeah, like when I first got here they took our cell phone. I asked them for a laptop or cell phone and there was a lady and she said, “Do you know how to use a laptop and cellphone?” And she asked do we have those things over there? What do you think? I want people to know we are not so dumb that we cannot use a laptop or cell phone.
