Story of the Week
December 21, 2009
The story we have this week was written by Mahboubeh Shabadi, from Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Mahboubeh is originally from Iran. She is enrolled n literacy classes at Parkland College in Yorkton. Mahboubeh wrote this story as part of an exercise for ESL learners who are describing special days in their country.
Iranian New Year
by Mahboubeh Shabadi
Iranian New Year (NOROUZ) is always celebrated on the first day of spring. New Year is all about family time.
All Iranian families celebrate time of year together and after the New Year, it's a tradition to visit the oldest member of the family which, in most cases, is our grandparents.
Children love this time of the year as they are off from school for two weeks and get presents wherever they go to visit which in Farsi they call Eid Didani.
A few weeks before the new year each household has a spring cleaning and buy lots of Ajil (different kinds of nuts), cookies and fruits and have their "haft seen" (seven things that start with "s"): Shabzeh, Samano, Senjet, Samag, Seir, Serke, Shib, and also fish in the water. Flowers, candles, a mirror and the Koran. Everything is set up nicely.
Before the New Year, Haji Firouz, who is a man in red bright clothes, will be singing songs, dancing and playing the tambourine.
[This story was taken with permission, from the Parkland College Literacy Newsletter, February 2009.]
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