. >> reporter: half a world away from kabul in the quiet, serene peace of lincoln, nebraska, nasreenawa grapples with the nightmarish reality back home. >> i very quickly took my phone, and i read messages that someone wrote me, kabul is fallen. i'm not exaggerating, it was the worst time in my life. i cannot believe it. even i still cannot believe it. >> reporter: a journalist studying in the u.s. on a fulbright scholarship, nasreen left afghanistan friday, mere days before the government crumbled under the weight of taliban pressure. >> i really want to be there. we invested there. we planned to make a life. we have problems living there, but taliban, who are against human rights, women's rights, and who don't respect personal choice, very simple thing, it's the preliminary rights of a person. you won't have this with taliban. >> reporter: but for so many other afghans like nasreen's family, including her sister, still in afghanistan, unable to escape. >> she told me that maybe she find a way, but she cannot take my parents with her. and it really hurts. because they will be left b