Spring, love is in the air
It is time for our new year now. I love this time of year, I love everything about it; all the customs, all the traditions (well, mmm most of them!) and the of course the weather! Our new year starts March 20 which is the beginning of spring in our country. As it is said everything becomes new when the year becomes new; even the nature, after a cold winter the nature wakes up to a new year.
There are so many traditions in Iran regarding the Norouz (New Year) some of which I am not even aware of! There are some that are commonly practised and so I have a fairly good knowledge of them too, but of course I have no idea about the historic background of many of them, so that would be a job for Khodadad to shed some light on the issue so that we all learn more about it all. We are waiting Khodadad ;)
The most important feature of this time of year is home-cleaning and I'm not talking about just a quick sweeping and washing the windows. It’s the entire house from top to bottom! We call it shaking the house and I think we mean it literally! Everything must come out of the storage or wardrobes or whatever, be washed and put back, and in the end your house must be shining bright inside out! Another thing is that people go shopping for themselves and buy new clothes and everything so that the New Year is welcomed in new clothing!
Then there is this special table that we lay for this time of year. It's called haft-sin (the seven s). We put seven things that start with the letter s in glasses or bowls (each family has its own traditional way of doing it) and put them all on an old traditional cloth called Termeh. Then at the moment that the New Year comes all the family sit around it, usually kiss and give gifts to each other.
When the year changes people call each other on the phone to congratulate, so at that time the phone lines are extremely busy. Younger members of the family call the elders and wish them a happy new year. Then the parties start! Personally, it's a bit frustrating for me. You and your family are to call on the elder relatives and acquaintances and then after a day or two they come to pay back your visit! Sounds odd, doesn’t it?! Well it does to me! So the whole New Year holidays is usually spent in each others' houses making these special social calls unless you travel! I usually ditch it all and go walking to enjoy the splendid weather :D But there are some places that my mom practically drags me to!!!
Anyhow, it's a great time of year for me and I'm enjoying every moment of anticipating it now. I hope all Iranians away from home have a happy new year :)
