When I was 20, I decided to immigrate to Vienna to continue my education. I was planning to study, get a job and possibly live the rest of my life in that city. That was the year we voted for MirHossein Mousavi, but Ahmadinejad was elected! But everything suddenly changed. I fell in love with Mehrdad while I was busy getting a visa. Mehrdad wanted to live in Iran. He wanted to rebuild Iran. He believed that small steps can make big changes. He hoped for Iran's progress and reform. He loved Iran; Just like me. We got married and so I stayed!

Every year we said goodbye to many of our friends and relatives who went to Europe, America, Canada… for a better life. But we stayed and thought about immigration every day and night and we doubted our decision. Immigration is difficult. Being away from family and friends, learning a new language and always being a second-class citizen (especially if you are from the Middle East). And if you get old, starting again from nothing.

Reports indicate that 10,000 people left Iran in consequence of Iran's tenth presidential election and that is increasing every year. Immigration may be even harder for a Middle Eastern. We have a deep passion for family, friends and even our mother tongue language.

But on the other hand, living in a country that is facing many important problems is difficult. "How many times we can live a life?" Maybe what we are saying to ourselves every day in Iran. We have many problems in Iran like Lack of social freedom, inflation and high prices, worries about sanctions and perhaps war and even the water and environmental crisis that we have to deal with every day.

10 years have passed since I decided to emigrate (and I didn't). I still doubt every day. My husband and I run a large bookstore now in Iran, And we're still trying to make big changes in small steps. But we wake up with the thought of leaving our home (Iran), and at night we fall asleep with the same thoughts and we say to ourselves: "I wish home was a better place to live in".