How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
Soon after the attacks, America bombed Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance moved in, and the Taliban scurried like rats into the caves. Suddenly, people were standing in grocery store lines and talking about the cities of my childhood, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif. When I was very little, Baba took Hassan and me to Kunduz. I don't remember much about the trip, except sitting in the shade of an acacia tree with Baba and Hassan, taking turns sipping fresh watermelon juice from a clay pot and seeing who could spit the seeds farther. Now Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz, the Taliban's last stronghold in the north. That December, Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras gathered in Bonn and, under the watchful eye of the UN, began the process that might someday end over twenty years of unhappiness in their watan. Hamid Karzai's caracul hat and green chapan became famous. (25.106)
We at Shmoop never thought about the weirdness Afghan-Americans must have felt when their country suddenly burst into the national consciousness. Before September 11, 2001 most Americans probably said things like Afghani-what? Now, Amir hears about his homeland (or, for those of you keeping track of the Dari language in the book, his watan) in Starbucks and in grocery stories. It has got to be weird. Just imagine that your hometown – for whatever reason – suddenly attracts (inter)national media coverage. People like Dan Rather are talking about the park where you used to picnic, strangers weigh in on the strategic advantage of the hill where you used to sled. Well, it wouldn't be exactly like that because Afghanistan is a lot bigger than your hometown. But you get the idea.