A Dozen Key Chains

Page 46:

"There was one bathroom on the floor for all of the girls to share. Oddly, the door to the bathroom had been removed, so any girl who needed to use the toilet or the sink could walk in on someone taking a shower. Coming from a modest culture and an even more modest family, I had never seen another person naked, not even my mother, so the idea that someone could walk into the bathroom while I was naked in the shower seemed unbelievable. I decided then and there not to bathe."

Because Firoozeh comes from such a modest family and culture, I can't imagine how she felt realizing that there was no door to the bathroom. It must have been so uncomfortable for her, and the decision not to bathe for two weeks, in order to keep her modesty, was very noble. She must have felt so out of place because she couldn't bathe. It must have been extremely hard for her to go through with that, knowing that she could possibly get criticism from the other campers.

Page 47:

"Since I wasn't going to bathe, I decided to minimize getting dirty by participating only in arts and crafts. I skipped the horseback riding, the overnight camp out, the archery lessons, the hikes to the Indian grounds,  and basically every activity outlined in the camp brochure. Every morning I showed up at the macramé station ready to make another key chain."

Firoozeh decided she wasn't going to bathe because she wanted to remain modest. She stuck by that and even missed out on all of the fun camp activities that she had been looking forward to. Most kids her age wouldn't think to not participate so that they minimized how dirty they got. Firoozeh continues to show how mature she is at such a young age. She doesn't act her age at all, and is at a lot higher of a maturity level than other kids her age. I think that all of the things she's had to go through have really made her more mature because they've required her to grow up faster and take on more responsibility. She had to learn the English language when she was only seven, and had to be the interpreter for her mother. These two things alone require a high maturity level and higher understanding on Firoozeh's part.