Yalda Night

Yalda is one of the most important and interesting customs of Iran which its history backs to 7000 years ago when the Iranians could invent a calendar based on the sun. Yalda is held on the thirteenth of Azar (21st of December) which is the longest night of the year and people try to not to sleep until morning. Yalda night is only some seconds longer than the other nights but when I was a child I thought that it is some hours longer. Yalda is basically a Syriac word which means birth. Zoroastrians believed that Yalda is the day of Mithra’s birth. Not only Zoroastrians but also Europeans believe in this. It is believed that the original celebration of Christians is the birthday of Mithra. (21st of December) and this day was celebrated in Rome and other parts of Europe by Mithraists. Nowadays Christians celebrate Christmas on the day of Jesus Christ’s birthday, but this is an idea spread by the churches, because the Christians don’t know the exact day Jesus Christ’s birthday.
The coincidence of this day with Jewish Hanukkah (festival of light) is not an accident because all of them believe that this day is the birthday of Mithra. After the forth century A.D., the day of Mithra’s birthday changed to 25th of December which is the Christmas. It is supposed that the cloths of Santa Claves is like the Zoroastrian clergymen’s and the star above the pine tree is a sign of an Iranian religion. Moreover the old Iranians believe that light, warmth, and the day are the signs of God and night, darkness, and cold are the signs of evil. So the longer the days are, the more they have victory so they celebrated Yalda night, because from the next day of that night, the days were longer.
In Yalda night all the family gather in the house of a grandfather and grandmother and eat special things, the most important is watermelon; you can’t find family without watermelon on Yalda night in Iran. Other things are pomegranate, dried nuts and fruits, and roasted wheat. Each one of these things is a sign. They stand for blessing, health, happiness, and etc.. People eat watermelon because they believe that eating it can protect their health against cold of winter and other diseases.
One of the old legends about Yalda night is that in that night a rich man in cloths of a wood cutter comes to the house of poor people and gives them some pieces of wood and in the morning all the woods change to gold, so the poor family becomes rich. The best part of Yalda night is consulting with Hafiz and reading his poems.
In some parts of Iran, families read Shahnameh of Ferdosi. Some families have a kind of fortune telling with walnut. They break it and tell the fortune according to what is inside the walnut. Yalda night is the best night of the year for all the people in Iran with its stories and foods.

Drowned or Not?!

Thirteen years ago, the sun was shining directly and the weather was stifling hot and oppressive. The beach was teeming with the people who were jogging, sunbathing, playing Frisbee, and chatting. In that tumult, a little girl with short blonde hair and an azure swimsuit sat up alone on the beach, faraway her parents. She was busy making sand castle and designing it with shells, that all of a sudden a huge wave came and took her into the sea. She was bobbing up and down with the wave until she went under the water. Not knowing how to swim she started flinging her limbs about to flop, and shouting to save herself, but nobody could hear her. After a few moments her mother noticed that her daughter is not around. It passed her mind that maybe she had gone to another part of the beach so she started looking for her daughter. Some meters further away she found her daughter in the sea.
The little girl was bobbing up and down with the taste of briny water in her mouth and hearing bass sound of the water. Her eyes had a slight tingling and prickling sensation caused by the water which made her close her eyes gradually. Once when she opened her eyes, she saw lots of people assembled around the beach, looking at her. When she saw them, she wished someone to come and rescue her and she thought if somebody came and saved her, she would be a very good girl from that moment on. Suddenly she felt the touch of a powerful hand around her arms. Meanwhile she noticed the watch on the hands and found out that they were her elder brother’s hands. When her brother embraced her and brought her to the beach, she realized that she had gone only a meter from the beach and if she stood on her feet she would have been able to come out of the sea.
Thirteen years has passed and still when I remember that day my hair stands on end. I can still fill the fear of losing my life with all my heart and I thank God again and again for giving me a second chance to live.

Nowrooz!

As mentioned in some of my friends' blogs, "chahar shanbe souri" is a ceremony held on the last Tuesday of each year. But in Nahavand, my home town, they hold such a ceremony on the first day of the year. Like all other cities of Iran, all family members gather at transition to the New Year. They usually read the holy Koran and when the New Year begins they kiss and hug each other and then they eat sweets. For most of us the best part of Nowrooz is the New-Year gift. Mostly every body likes Nowrooz, because they are off and they can travel, rest, and meet their relatives. So I guess I must be an exception.

Wanna know me?

My name is Leili. I'm 19 years old and a sophomore of English literature in Azzahra University. I adore reading books but I have always had problems with writing. That's why it seems so hard to me to start blogging and write for such a wide audience.

About my personality I should say that I am a naughty and cheerful girl. Usually I have a smile upon my face but when I become angry or sad, nothing can calm me down.
I have some good friends and I enjoy spending my time with them. I love eating but shouldn't eat much. I hope this method of writing will help me write better than before and I want to thank Dr. Marandi for giving us the chance to have this new and unknown experience.