Friday, March 21, 2008

New Beginnings

It's Good Friday. Spring is here! It's also the second day of the Persian New Year. It's called Norooz - meaning the dawn of a new day.
Yesterday, I spent the first day of Norooz with a lovely family. They patiently taught me the traditions and rituals of the holiday. Families normally spend 13 days making the rounds to homes of loved ones, visiting, sampling tiny delicious Persian pastries and drinking endless cups of Persian tea.
Here in LA, families don't have that luxury, so it's shorter, but just as special.
My favorite part was talking to the family's daughter, Pegah Ebrahimi. She is independent, vivavious and being girls, we gossiped about current fashions.
In Tehran, women are supposed to wear head scarves and cover their bodies. I learned young women are pushing the boundaries by wearing just a scrap of flimsy scarves - often with cutouts. Their hair is often dyed, ratted & spiked into wild bouffants, outrageous makeup. Tight pants tucked into boots....
I love it! Go ladies!

My favorite part of the holiday - aside from the goodies - was the Haft Sin table.
It's set with seven dishes on display.

sprouts : symbolizing rebirth
wheat germ pudding : symbolizing affluence
senjed, which is fruit from an oleaster tree : symbolizing love
garlic : symbolizing medicine
apples : symbolizing beauty and health
sumac berries : symbolizing (the color of) sunrise
vinegar : symbolizing age and patience
Click here for a short video on a Haft Sin table.

3 comments:

Richard said...

Suz, you could so play Audrey in a movie! You both are classic beauties with similar features.

suzannemarques said...

that is so sweet. she is my idol! i'll take that as the ultimate compliment

Jack Daniel said...

Hey, I love the picture of Audrey Hepburn. And those ladies look really nice.

Cool blog, by the way.

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