I was at Turquoise Mountain in Afghanistan when I met them.    Suddenly it all came rushing back to me.  

I remembered as a young girl looking at the gilded frames in my mother's bedroom.  In each was a painting -- small and very detailed.

 How do they do those? I asked her. 

Very carefully, she replied.  

But how can they paint with such tiny little lines?  I insisted.  

You learn how in school.  But you have to be very talented and very patient, she answered.

 Do they have a name, these kinds of paintings?  I asked.  

Yes, my mother said.  They're called "Persian miniatures."  

Years later, it seems I was meeting Afghan miniaturists in training.  

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