Funny in Farsi: Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

At the time when the Iranian Revolution begins, Firoozeh is an adolescent. She’s old enough to understand that her family is going through money troubles, and she’s worried that she won’t be able to pay for college, so she decides to find babysitting jobs. After several low-paying stints, Firoozeh interviews to babysit for a wealthy French family. The family offers her five dollars an hour, and she’s thrilled.

Firoozeh begins babysitting for the French family, but quickly discovers why they pay her so well—their eight-year-old child refuses to eat or sleep. After one night of trying to get the child to eat, Firoozeh decides that the babysitting gig is more trouble than it’s worth. Later, she takes housesitting jobs, which just require her to water plants. Once, she enters her clients family’s house and hears music playing—sure that there’s a burglar inside, she runs out and doesn’t water the houseplants for the rest of the family’s vacation. Later, she learns that she heard a clock radio, not a burglar.

Later on, Firoozeh takes another housesitting job, taking care of a family’s cats. She follows directions perfectly, but notices that the cats won’t stop meowing. When the family returns, the mother is furious: Firoozeh was supposed to leave the patio door open, and as a result the cats haven’t gotten any exercise for a week. Her next gig involves scrubbing the silverware in a wealthy family’s house. She finishes her duties very quickly, and as a result she’s only paid eight dollars.

Firoozeh works at a movie theater, selling food. She found the job disgusting—especially the sight of people eating hot dogs and ordering Tab, a popular diet soda of the era. Kazem is sorry that Firoozeh has to work so hard, and feels bad that he can’t give her more college money. Around this time, Firoozeh begins writing more. She writes many scholarships essays about “my life and my dreams and my goals.” She concludes, “And the funds just flowed in.”