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.

~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

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.

Finding My Social Bookmarking Soulmate

            Social bookmarking websites such as del.icio.us and Stumbledupon are online services that allow users to add, annotate, edit, and share bookmarks through web links. After signing up on del.icio.us, it took awhile getting use to the different features because I had never used a social bookmarking website. One feature I liked about del.icio.us was the tag bundle that allowed the user to sort their preferred tags by combining several related tags into a logical grouping. So, for instance, you might combine the tags “Persian Food”, “Music”, and “Farsi Language” into a bundle and call it “Persian Culture”. It doesn't change anything about the existing tags, but does allow you to create another level of hierarchy. When looking at your bookmarks, del.icio.us will show the bundle and all the tags grouped under it as a separate section. Another discovery engine I used to find my social bookmarking soul mate is Stumbledupon, which is a form of web search engine that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their interests. What’s cool about this website is that when you sign up it asks you to checkmark topics that are of interest to the user and it finds web feeds that are linked to those topics. The topics I selected were food, music, language, and history. It was difficult to narrow the search to “Persian or Iranian” because there was not that many search results coming up. Even if topics did appear, the users had no common interests that I was looking for. Although I didn’t find my social bookmarking soul mate, I would recommend del.icio.us rather than Stumbledupon because it was easier to use and I found similar tags related to my blog topic. The basic tags that I used to highlight the topics that are relevant to my blog are “Persian Culture”, “Farsi Language”, “Iranian Revolution”, “Persian Celebrations”, and “Persian Food”. I found a website that was of useful content called Iranchamber.com. Iran Chamber Society is a well-organized and comprehensive online source of information on Iranian/Persian history, art and culture without any membership requirement to access the data. The Iran Chamber society is a non-partisan and non-profit organization with the aim to promote Iranian culture and history. The website is divided into three sections. The Art & Culture of Iran section offers a variety of fields to look at. Some of the fields include Language and Literature, Culture & Ceremonies, and Architectural and National Monuments. Other sections include a History of Iran and Iran’s guide. The History of Iran section is unique because it is set up in a chronological time line and you can select the era and learn about the history during that specific time period. The Iran’s guide section provides updated news on media, sport, currency, weather, provinces, and politics. Overall, the website that I found through the social bookmarking tool has showed that social bookmarking tools are helpful in finding topics of interest by narrowing your search terms by using tags. Unfortunately, the website did not provide how many members or followers are signed up. 

Persian Goodies

I thought it would be interesting to share with the audience about a specific Persian candy called Gaz. It is the traditional name of Persian nougat from the city of Esfahan, the third largest city of Iran. Growing up, I would always look forward to eating these during dessert and coffee time. When I was younger I would pronounce Gaz as gas, but as awkwardly as that may sound it actually tastes really sweet. For those who are unfamiliar with nougat, it is a family of confectioneries usually made with sugar, roasted nuts, and whipped egg whites. The type of nut found in Gaz is pistachio. When chewing into the nougat it has a unique candy texture, similar to taffy texture but not that stretchable. Gaz has a distinctive flavor, making it unique compared to European nougats because of the rosewater ingredient. The reason I brought this topic of discussion in my blog is to talk about something that I didn’t know about Gaz all these years. Basically, what I’m about to address is another ingredient found in Gaz that was disturbing to hear. Apparently it is a combination of sap coming from an angebin plant shrub that is in mixture with secretions from a tiny species of insects. After hearing this from my uncle and him actually bringing a box of these candies, I could barely swallow the candy. At first I couldn’t believe my uncle because he always jokes around but he was serious about traditional ingredients used to make Gaz. But good news he told me that the ingredients don’t follow the traditional method of making Gaz now. So I probably didn’t eat any insect/plant secretion that’s for sure. For Americans this may seem like some type of insect taboo, but for Persians this is their national candy and is fairly common among Middle Eastern countries bordering Iran.

Personally, my favorite Persian candy of all time has to be Sowhan, or Iranian saffron brittle. Sowhan is a flat sweet brittle made of pistachios and saffron. It is usually packaged in intricately designed tin cylinders. Best quality Sowhan could be found, especially in the city of Qom, north-central Iran. Unlike Gaz, Sowhan crumbles and leaves a chewy chunk stuck between your teeth and at the same time an enjoyable mix of flavors and textures. The process of making Sohan is fairly simple, boiling a mixture of water, sugar, milk, and corn flour until it becomes solid. So if you haven’t tried Gaz or Sowhan and you have a sweet tooth for candy I would highly recommend it. These candies are sold at your local Armenian/persian markets. 

~Nowruz~ The Persian New Year

I found it interesting to share a blog post that discusses Persian New Year, also known as Nowruz. The word Nowruz in Farsi translates to "The New Day" in the Solar Hijri calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. This is a common traditional celebration practiced by many Persian households.  Nowruz is an official holiday lasting for 13 days during which most national functions including schools are off and festivities take place. It proclaims the end of the winter and cold and the coming of spring. Persians have a spring-cleaning in their home for new events in the New Year. Nowruz is seen as a relic of ancient times, memories of old tales and epics, "a celebration of rebirth and rejuvenation". The dark has passed and the light of hope shines in people’s hearts. The night before Iranians celebrate the last Wednesday of the year as Chahārshanbe Suri, Sur meaning feast, party or festival in Persian. The tradition includes people going into the streets and alleys to make bonfires, and jump over them while singing the traditional songs. The fire is believed to burn out all the fear (yellowness) in their subconscious or their spirit, in preparation for New Year.

 Historically, Nowruz dates back many centuries ago. Historians trace it to pre-Islamic Iran. Some historians believe that there is a connection to Jamshid Shah Jam, one of the epic kings of Persia (Iran). Engravings on ancient tablets and monuments picture Archamenid kings celebrating Nowruz some two thousand and five hundred years ago. It was, therefore, a highly auspicious occasion for the ancient Iranian peoples. It has been suggested that the famous Persepolis complex, or at least the palace of Apadana and the Hundred Columns Hall, were built for the specific purpose of celebrating Nowruz.  It is remarkable that for many centuries of history Iranians have kept their ancient way of celebrating the New Year in Iran in the midst of Arab invasions and the conversion of the nation to Islam. The practice of Nowruz is a collection of many centuries of cultural influence. Haft-Seen or the seven 'S's is a traditional table setting for Nowruz. It is made up of seven symbols of life and the interaction of human beings with nature. These are visiting elders, giving gifts, special foods, house cleaning, wearing of new clothes, forgetting old grudges and embracing new things all make up different aspects of Nowruz. This is a celebration that all Persians look forward and like to preserve their ancient roots. Even though I am of Armenian descent, my relatives that recently came to America still practice traditional Iranian celebrations because they have become so enriched by Iranian culture that it becomes second nature. I remember growing up we would celebrate Nowruz and even start a small bonfire in our backyard and hop over the fire as a way to cleanse or start off the New Year.

The Shahs Take Turkey

 So the other day, I was watching Shahs of Sunset, a reality TV show that portrays a Persian cast living an extravagant lifestyle in Los Angeles.  The show consists of a mixture of Persian Jew/Muslim cast members that are well off. However, many of my friends of Persian descent complain that the show falsely portrays what the real Persian community is all about. Some were outraged by the obnoxious behavior and use of foul language that is just unacceptable in their community. Of the cast members on the TV show, the only member that I would describe as having a lot of pride and belief of Persian history would be Asa, a Persian pop priestess, who fled the country post Islamic Revolution as a refugee with her family. Countless times on the show, she would mention that she would never be able to go back to her homeland (Iran) because they would not allow you to leave the country once you are identified as a refugee. Instead, she had the opportunity to relive her past years by visiting Turkey to reunite with her family in Istanbul.  She states that this would be the first time in many years that she would be close to her native land and is able to see her relatives that have all grown up. One of the traditional practices seen throughout the show is when Asa meets her relatives and exchanges gifts for each of the family members as a sign of respect and reciprocity. What I found interesting was the gift that her great aunt brought, a bag filled with soil from Iran. Asa was very happy because for a brief moment she thought she was back home living her dreams. The soil symbolized a lot of the Persian history/culture that was left behind. During their trip to Istanbul it was very amusing that till this day men and women are not treated equally in the Middle East. This is seen when Asa and Reza (Asa's friend) enter the blue mosque, and told that only men are able to pray in the middle of the shrine and women are told to pray by the corners. Obviously, Asa was hurt by this rule and was offended by the fact that men have more authority than women. Even in Turkey the Sharia law or moral code still is practiced. For the members of the cast to witness women covered in black veils it led them to believe that women were still treated unfairly and were unable to wear clothes that didn’t require covering the whole body. Much hasn’t changed since the enactment of Sharia laws that undermined women’s position in society as well as the separation of sexes in public settings. I believe that there is still a long way ahead for equality to be universal among all societies.