Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Easter Celebrations Among Christians and Jewish Persians


         Easter also known as Pascha or Resurrection Sunday is a festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred three days after his crucifixion at Calvary.
        
         In Christianity it commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred three days after his crucifixion at Calvary, and is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday), commemorating the Last Supper and its preceding foot washing, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called Eastertide, or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday.
        
         Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the March equinox. The date of Easter varies from March 22 to April 25 inclusive. Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar, whose 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar, and in which therefore the celebration of Easter varies between 4 April and 8 May.
         Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover as well as by its position in the calendar. In many languages, the words for "Easter" and "Passover" are identical or similar. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church and decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb. Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades. There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally.

The long standing tradition of egg painting in areas of the world influenced by the Persian culture may be an evidence for the long history of the use of eggs in Iranian Plateau. (In the Iranian New Year called Nowruz, which coincides with the first day of spring, March 20 or 21, each family member decorates a hard-boiled egg and sets them together in a bowl. A similar tradition of egg decorating exists in areas of the world where Easter is celebrated and it is accompanied with the decoration of hard-boiled eggs, usually by dyeing but often by spray-painting).

          In the Western culture, eggs are used in many games associated with Easter, the most important annual religious feast in Christianity. Egg Throwing, aka Egg Tossing, Egg Rolling, Egg Tapping, Egg Dance, and Egg Hunt are among the various games played in Easter. This past Easter, my family practiced both traditions, such as Egg painting and egg hunting. In doing so, our family keeps a balance between the traditions followed by Persians as well following our Christian faith.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Chahar Shanbeh Soori


The last Tuesday night of the Iranian year, Iranians everywhere gather around bonfires with family and friends to celebrate the eve of Chahar Shanbeh Soori, or Fiery Wednesday. Traditionally, this ancient holiday is practiced by jumping over flames and chanting phrases like, "Sorkhiye toh az man, zardiye man az toh”. Meaning, your (the fire's) glow/ruddiness in exchange for my (the jumper's) fatigue. Although my family does not practice this tradition, my first Chahar Shanbeh Soori took place at my aunt’s house.


Sometimes, this celebration can get out of line when fireworks are involved. I read an article discussing the last Chahar Shanbeh Soori. The article discussed the strict enforcement by officers to monitor firework activities because for many of Tehran’s youths, Chahar Shanbeh Soori starts about a month early, when firecrackers can be bought from street vendors.

Aside from the legal variety, teens and kids in their 20s manage to get their hands on Molotov cocktails, grenade-type concoctions that discharge a bunch of stones upon explosion, and other items that are illegal. These fireworks are also thrown at pedestrians, windshields of moving cars, high school teachers within campus buildings, and other inappropriate targets. Some of these amateur pyrotechnists also spit gasoline from their mouths into a lit match, creating a fireball effect.

On Iranian T.V. stations, they aired a number of hour-long primetime specials on Iran’s Chahar Shanbeh Soori. These cautionary documentaries show the chilling effects of recklessly setting off fireworks, such as the third-degree burns on kids' faces, young men who'd gone blind after a firecracker burst too close to their faces, the boy missing his eyeball because he was hit by a random explosive, hospital burn units overcrowded with patients, and other incidents reflecting the gory aftermath of pyrotechnics gone bad.

Tehran's police force has tried to contain this wildly unsafe way of celebrating Chahar Shanbeh Soori. Outlawing the holiday, at least in public streets where passersby can be targeted, simply doesn't work; instead, officers set out to guard the streets weeks ahead, hoping to arrest individuals with illegal firecrackers, while also collaborating with the news station to inform the public about the consequences of unrestrained fire play. Most people refuse to leave their homes from Tuesday morning, with students voluntarily taking the day off from school to avoid accidents.


On a similar account, my aunt told me stories of tragic events happening on the eve of Chahar Shanbeh Soori. On one occasion, a boy spit gasoline onto a lit match creating a huge flame. This flame reached the windshield of a car catching on fire. Only several feet away, my aunt rushed away from the car to avoid the sudden explosion. Luckily, she did not get burned from the explosion. However, this was an unforeseen event that traumatized my aunt because of the possibility of burning to death. At the time, she said she would not forget that day and would reconsider celebrating this tradition. However, this event did not stop her from continuing to celebrate Chahar Shanbeh Soori because of her close tie to Iranian culture.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Trifecta

Culture & Identity Among The Persian Community


            Hello everyone, I will be blogging about how life for a typical Persian living in the United States has drastically changed before and after the Iranian Revolution.

            As a Persian Armenian, I would like to know how life changed for the first and second generation immigrants from Iran and how the Iranian Revolution impacted this transition. The revolution was a turning point in the political regime from a monarchial rule to a theocratic Islamic republic. Both my parents were born in Tehran, Iran and left before the revolution.
           
            I plan on interviewing both my parents to understand the differences between gender roles back home. I will also talk to my grandparents from my mother’s side who witnessed the horrendous events that took place during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Leaving behind the memories of the past, my family moved to the states and lived their life without any previous restrictions. However, many of the cultural practices they were accustomed to back home are still imminent to this day. One of the most important cultural aspects that I notice from my parents is when they speak Farsi with one another.

            When my parents don’t want anyone to understand what they’re talking about, they always speak in Farsi. Over the years, I came to realize when they choose to talk Farsi, the setting always consists of having a cup of fine Persian tea, specifically earl grey. Another common trend I notice from my family members is the separation of the sexes during big events. Men will be on one side playing backgammon, while the women are in the kitchen. This is not always the case, but back home this was usually how the setting took place.

            One of my favorite aspects of Persian culture is Persian food. There are a variety of dishes that we prepare during special occasions for family gatherings, grand celebrations, weddings, and birthdays. A popular Persian dish that I like a lot and is common in Iran and in the U.S. is called Ghormeh Sabzi—a Persian herb stew. But my all time favorite is Tah-dig—rice with a crusty layer seasoned with spices.
           
            Among Persians, Persian literature is important because it teaches many important disciplines and morals. Many popular poems and art, such as calligraphy are preserved because Persians value their history. As a social aspect of Persian culture, many young adults will spend their late afternoons at local hookah bars, but majority of the people allowed are men. I myself smoke hookah and this popular trend is not only practiced back home but in the states as well.
           
            As I have mentioned throughout this blog, Persian culture is widespread in the United States—encompassing all aspects such as religion, art, music, and history. Thus, I would like to discover if Persian identity is still present in the United States. I also want to know how life has changed for Persian immigrants “refugees”. The goal of my blog is to establish that Persians in the United States have a lot to offer for our society. I want to help get rid of the notion that Persians are not a group of people associated with terrorists and others who are constantly looking for ways to hurt and bring down our country, but instead are a part of the melting pot of the United States.



~Profile A Blog~

            Finding a profile blog that is associated with Persian culture was not as difficult as it seemed. The name of the blog I discovered is “My Persian Corner” and is written by Pontia, who is an Iranian American. Born and raised in the United States, she grew up with Persian language and culture inside the house and American language and culture outside. If I were to describe this blog in a few words, it would be something along these lines, “Everything you want to know about Persian culture, language, and travel”. The intent of this blog was to give readers an insight into a misunderstood country through its history, food, culture, travel, traditions, and random anecdotes. Reading her blog posts gave a sense of strong national ethnic identity. Her relation to my field is strong because she is a Persian language teacher offering Farsi lessons. She says “being the language teacher that I am, I can’t help but throw in some useful phrases along the way so you can impress your Iranian friends”. I can see that she is really passionate about her culture.
           
            As a blogger, she writes frequently to enrich readers about the culture that remains hidden to the world and describes the country of Iran as if it were like a black hole and people didn’t know anything about Iran’s history. Although she didn’t appear on the technorati website to assess the popularity of her blog site, two interesting blogs she posted were “Zoroastrians In The Neighborhood of Yazd” and the “Zoroastrian Calendar”.  I believe her religious background is Zoroastrian but never explicitly mentions so that she doesn’t narrow her scope of readers. For those who don’t know what Zoroastrianism is, it is an ancient Iranian religion, filled with philosophical principles and ideologies.

            Of the many blog pages that I have seen that relate to my work, Pontia by far captures all of the aspects of Iranian culture. The reason I say this is because my work is more about the history behind Iranian’s dynasty and how politics and religion are always clashing together. Skimming through her content on her blog page, which is a variety of academic and scholarly material, I am more convinced that her blogs are useful resources for future blog posts that pertain to Iranian culture. Especially, when she describes religion and the various fanatical groups. Controversial yet curious, these are elements that blog readers are driven by to read other blogger’s posts. Whether Iranian or American, she delivers a multicultural audience that is fascinated by her subject matter, like Middle Eastern Norms. In the blogging world, her followers are students that are American born but have roots to Iranian culture. Thus, I find this beneficial in feeding my work because I can have a larger community of Iranian Americans giving me different insights on what it is to be Iranian. Finally, I would want to follow the same methods and styles that Pontia uses such as weekly updates and keeping an organized format by grouping blogs by subject.





Voice Post

            Marg bar bādemjun, death to eggplants or would you rather have me say, Marg bar [Amrika]! death to [America]! For a typical Iranian, the terminology of death can be interchangeably used to express different meanings that are not interpreted literally. Those who are American reading this blog don take it offensively. These phrases are just a taste of what Pontia offers in her blog titled “The Iranian Death Wish”. Her blog uses all sorts of Persian phrases (death) and makes reference to a comedy called Shahgoosh. Instead, her reference to the comedy is to show that these phrases are understood as dramatically funny and sarcastic. Likewise, Pontia’s tone of voice can be heard throughout her blog that captures American pop culture and humor.

            Phrases such as “marg!, death!, boro bemir!, go die!, che margeshe?, what's his death?” all capture a similar theme which is death. The last phrase she states, “then the mother phrase of them all came to me: marg bar [Amrika]!, death to [America]! It seems we Iranians have a death wish worse than Charles Bronson”. In her last sentence she makes a similarity with Iranian death wish to Charles Bronson’s Death Wish movie. It’s fascinating that she makes such a comparison to an American actor, whose movie is titled Death Wish. Her voice suggests that she is familiar with American pop culture and that she is not one of those FOBs (Fresh Of The Boat). So back off Americans, now you know she is not an anti-American hater.

             In another Persian phrase, she states that “ the other day I was feeling frustrated and muttered under my breath, khabare margeshun!, the news of their death!, and chuckled upon realizing what I had said”. The audience once again experiences Pontia’s voice. “Feeling frustrated and muttered,” she says “the news of their death!” in italics with an exclamation and yet didn’t realize what she said. This suggests that she would not repeat the same statement, let alone with the same tone towards a person. It was only during that moment or situation that she felt she had to project her voice to release her frustration by using phrases like “khabare margeshun!”

            When discussing phrases that are referenced to death she says “Suddenly all these phrases related to death started piling up in my head like Jenga”. Then again she makes a similarity with the game of Jenga. She is trying to come up with different words that all use death but have different connotations. But we also note the reference to American pop culture by referencing the game of Jenga.

            However, the fact that she makes a bold statement, death to America, contradicts with her relationship to American pop culture. But, she specifically states that she is not referring to the American people but to the government because she says “, the way I see it, Iranians don’t view governments as representative of the people”. Her wording of “the way I see it” implies that she is taking a neutral stance. Instead, Iranian society views government not representative of the people. From this wording, we can tell Pontia is not the type of character that is assertive and quick to make absolute claims.
             
            Going back to death-related phrases, Pontia says that “ You’d think that being the poetic creatures that we are, we’d find a more lyrical way of expressing ourselves, but I guess death is, after all, the ultimate sacrifice. One minute we are willing to die for you, but get on our bad side, and we will just as soon wish for your death” In the previous quote, Pontia reveals a sarcastic/ humoristic side by saying “death is, after all, the ultimate sacrifice” I think what she is trying to reveal is that Iranians can be poetic but it always ends with expressions related to death. Death is not taken literally but can be understood differently in context. As she states, “one minute we are willing to die for you, but we will just as soon wish for your death”.
           
             In her second blog post titled “The Things That Don't Translate: Persian Idioms Part 1,” Pontia presents different Persian idioms. She says, “Iranians speak in poems. Iranians speak in proverbs. Iranians speak in idioms. It’s no wonder we have so much trouble communicating with the U.S.” In her last sentence, Pontia’s voice expresses humor because what Persians say is interpreted differently for another person listening to the same statement. Lastly, she offers a list of statements and asks readers to interpret what they mean. “For the Persian-learners, try to guess what on earth this phrase could possible mean. Answers below, but no cheating ;)” She puts a smiley face at the end of her sentence to show that maybe cheating is tolerated because those statements are probably only understood by Persians and no one else but those that speak Farsi that are familiar with Persian idioms.

            Comparing the two different blog posts that express voice, I definitely see a contrast between the first blog and second blog.  At first her voice is very serious and then becomes subtle and eventually becomes funny.


Friday, April 4, 2014

Tea Etiquette


       Not a day goes by without having a cup of tea. The same could be said for Iranians. Not only do Persians have tea with breakfast, lunch and dinner, but they also have tea several times throughout the day. Personally, I drink tea twice a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Whether you go to a friend’s house or have a business meeting, there will be tea offered. My grandmother told me, that back in Tehran, it would be rude not to serve tea. She says, don’t offer it, and the insulted Iranian will think, “ Yek chai taroof nakard!”. This Persian saying translates to “she or he didn’t even offer me tea”.
       Iranians tend to judge people and even restaurants, based on their chai-making skills. I can just hear my grandmother (dad’s mom) saying she doesn’t like a restaurant because “ I don’t like they way they serve Lipton!”. Note that Lipton is a universal term for teabags. Tea is evaluated on its color, strength, taste, temperature, and presentation. Quality tea is always loose-leaf. A good host usually asks if guests like their tea por rangdeep color (strong tea) or kam ranglight color (weak tea). If the color is too light either it wasn't brewed long enough or not enough tea was used, thereby affecting the taste. Big problem. Expect a stare down or a comment of some sort. 
       Most Iranians prefer just a hint of cardamon or cinnamon in their tea. No milk. No lemon. And if it's anything other than scalding when you first serve it, it's too cold. Apparently, Iranians are absolutely horrified that iced tea is an option in the U.S. For a brief period, Iranians disbelieved that people in the U.S. put ice in their tea.

       Finally, tea must be served in a clear glass to be able to gauge the color and strength. Elegant kamar baareek, slim wasted- glasses (like the picture above) are favored. Depending on the cup, it can be served on a saucer. Many people (mostly men or children) pour the tea in the saucer and drink it from there. Since there is more surface area, the tea cools quicker this way.
            Luckily, Iranian women have some sharp chai-making abilities, and no doubt you will enjoy it with sugar cubes or shirini, pastries. Here's a nice phrase you can try after witnessing the perfection of the color, taste, and presentation: Bah bah! Ajab chai! That's the Persian equivalent of Mmmm! What a tea! Among Iranian Armenians, we tend to drink a special blend tea called Sadaf, which comes in earl grey, jasmine, and cardamon. My personal favorite has to be jasmine tea, but the most common you’ll see in households is early grey. Earl grey tea is more traditional and mostly the elderly prefer to drink. With that being said, drinking tea attracts many ages and is common throughout many Iranian households.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Voice Post

In My Persian Corner by Pontia, several of her blog posts can be identified with voice while other posts require delving deeper to understand what she is trying to convey to the reader. In the first blog post titled “The Iranian Death Wish,” the blog captures a glimpse of Pontia’s style of voice. The blog relates a Persian show called “Shahgoosh” to the everyday Persian phrases that Pontia uses. Phrases such as “marg!, death!, boro bemir!, go die!, che margeshe?, what's his death?” all capture a similar theme which is death. The last phrase she states, “then the mother phrase of them all came to me: marg bar [Amrika]!, death to [America]! It seems we Iranians have a death wish worse than Charles Bronson”. In her last sentence she makes a similarity with Iranian death wish phrase to Charles Bronson’s Death Wish movie. It’s fascinating that she makes such a comparison to an American actor, whose movie is titled Death Wish. Her voice suggests that she is familiar with American pop culture and that she is not one of those FOBs (fresh of the boat). 

 In another Persian phrase, she states that “ the other day I was feeling frustrated and muttered under my breath, khabare margeshun!, the news of their death!, and chuckled upon realizing what I had said”. In this previous statement, we once again experience Pontia’s voice. “Feeling frustrated and muttered,” she says “the news of their death!” in italics with an explanation point and yet didn’t realize what she had said. This suggests that she would not make that same statement towards a person. It seems that it was at the moment or situation that she felt she had to release her frustration by using Persian phrases like “khabare margeshun!”. When discussing phrases that are referenced to death she says “Suddenly all these phrases related to death started piling up in my head like Jenga”. Then again she makes a similarity with phrases related to the game of Jenga. She is trying to come up with different words that all use death but have different connotations. After making the bold statement death to America, she is not referring to the people but to the government because she says “, the way I see it, Iranians don’t view governments as representative of the people”. Her wording of “the way I see it” implies that she is taking a neutral stance of the way Iranian society doesn’t view government representative of the people. From this wording, we can tell Pontia is not the type of character that is assertive and quick to make absolute claims.
             Going back to death-related phrases, Pontia says that “ You’d think that being the poetic creatures that we are, we’d find a more lyrical way of expressing ourselves, but I guess death is, after all, the ultimate sacrifice. One minute we are willing to die for you, but get on our bad side, and we will just as soon wish for your death” In the previous quote, Pontia reveals a sarcastic/ humoristic side by saying “death is, after all, the ultimate sacrifice” I think what she is trying to reveal is that Iranians can be poetic but it always ends with expressions related to death. Death is not taken literally but can be understood differently in context. As she states, “one minute we are willing to die for you, but we will just as soon wish for your death”.
            In her second blog post titled “The Things That Don't Translate: Persian Idioms Part 1,” Pontia presents different Persian idioms. She says, “Iranians speak in poems. Iranians speak in proverbs. Iranians speak in idioms. It’s no wonder we have so much trouble communicating with the U.S.” In her last sentence, Pontia’s voice expresses humor because what Persians say is interpreted differently for another person listening to the same statement. Lastly, she offers a list of statements and asks readers to interpret what they mean. “For the Persian-learners, try to guess what on earth this phrase could possible mean. Answers below, but no cheating ;)” She puts a smiley face at the end of her sentence to show that maybe cheating is tolerated because those statements are probably only understood by Persians and no one else but those that speak Farsi and are familiar with Persian idioms.

Comparing the two different blog posts that express voice, I definitely see a contrast between the first blog and second blog.  At first her voice is very serious and then becomes subtle and eventually becomes funny.

Friday, March 14, 2014

~Profile A Blog~

Finding a profile blog that is related to Persian culture was not as difficult as it seemed. The name of the blog I discovered is “My Persian Corner” and is written by Pontia, who is an Iranian American. Born and raised in the United States, she grew up with Persian language and culture inside the house and American language and culture outside. If I were to describe this blog in a few words, it would be something along these lines, “Everything you want to know about Persian culture, language, and travel”. The intent of this blog was to give readers an insight into a misunderstood country through its history, food, culture, travel, traditions, and random anecdotes. Reading her blog posts gave a sense of strong national ethnic identity. Her relation to my field is strong because she is a Persian language teacher offering Farsi lessons. She says “being the language teacher that I am, I can’t help but throw in some useful phrases along the way so you can impress your Iranian friends”. I can see that she is really passionate about her culture and where she is coming from. 
            As a blogger, she writes frequently to enrich readers about the culture that remains hidden to the world and describes the country of Iran as if it were like a black hole and people didn’t know anything about Iran’s history. Although she didn’t appear on the technorati website to rate how active her blog appears, two interesting blogs she posted were on the topics of Zoroastrians in the neighborhood of Yazd and the Zoroastrian calendar.  I believe her religious background is Zoroastrian but never explicitly mentions so that she doesn’t narrow her scope of readers. For those who don’t know what Zoroastrianism is, it is an ancient Iranian religion, filled with philosophical principles.
            Of the many blog pages that I have seen that relate to my work, Pontia by far captures all of the aspects of Iranian culture. The reason I say this is because my work is more about the history behind Iranian’s dynasty and how politics and religion are always clashing together. Her content on her blog page consists of academic and scholarly material that students and professors can relate to. Also, she does get detailed with many of her blogs related to religion as it relate to fanatics and all. Thus, making it easier for others to understand something new that is difficult to grasp at first. I think her audience mostly pertains to people of similar origin but does reach out to others that are unfamiliar with Middle Eastern norms. In the blogging world, the society that is relevant to her work is mostly students that are American born but have roots to Iranian culture. Thus, this is really beneficial in feeding my work because I can have a larger community of Iranian Americans giving me different perspective and attitudes on topics that fascinate me. Finally, I would want to follow the same methods and styles that Pontia uses such as weekly updates and keeping an organized routine of what I would blog about.


http://mypersiancorner.blogspot.com/2014/02/zoroastrian-make-up-alleys.html
http://mypersiancorner.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-zoroastrian-calendar.html



Monday, March 3, 2014

My Journey to the Hookah Bar



Over the weekend, I had the chance to go to a local hookah bar in Encino called The Spot. The purpose of this blog is to get a sense of the different Persian cultural aspects of music, dance, food, and of course hookah. On the side note, I am analyzing Persian Americans within their environment that occasionally go to The Spot as a social pastime. The reason I am doing this is for my paper # 2 topic that will discuss the relevance of Iranian immigration/acculturation with traditional/Americanized hookah bars that influence Iranian American’s perception of hookah.  My assumption before going to this place was that there would be a Middle Eastern crowd predominantly Persian because the location is in Encino. The lounge itself is located within a shopping center that is both indoor and outdoor. It has a unique ambiance and decorative style with Persian rugs laid out for those who want to get cozy. Couple of my friends requested to be seated on these comfortable rugs with pillows that looked like they were from the Middle East. Glancing over the dinner menu, we were glad we came with empty stomachs because the food at this hookah lounge looked fantastic. I ordered the beef kebab plate that came with rice and grilled tomatoes and green peppers. The food and service was excellent. After we were all done eating, the waiter brought the hookah menu and started speaking Farsi with us because we looked Persian. With his Persian American accent, he asked what flavor we would like and gave a few recommendations as well as the house special. We ordered Starbuzz Pirate’s Cave and Code-69 with mint. The waiter asked us if we would like a flip head for our hookah that was an additional 10 dollars. Basically, a flip-head doesn’t have charcoals touching the foil but in close proximity. The packed shisha head is in a upside down head that is adjusted by a knob that increases or decreases the height from the charcoals. Although we didn’t get this option on our hookah, we had an amazing hookah that neither burned nor died out quickly. The combination of these three flavors felt like I was smoking green skittles with a hint of mint. The best part of our night at The Spot had to be the Persian Mint tea. I am a big fan of tea and I have to admit the tea was excellent due to the Nane (Mint) that was added to the tea.  The music was a mixture of Persian to Arabic songs that the crowd was familiar with. However, they did play hip-hop music from time to time. If I were to rate this hookah lounge out of a 10 I would give it a score of 7.5. One aspect of the lounge that I did not like was the seating. I felt to close to other people. Other than that I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to drive down to Encino for some hookah.