Christmas Hanukkah Yalda

Since Christmas coincides nicely with the longest night of the year that we celebrate as Yalda we decided to give Yalda cards for the holidays this year and hopefully for the years to come.

I have realized that Hanukkah is being advertised and celebrated more publicly these days. I think it rhymes very nicely with the festivities of the Christmas Holidays. At around the same time we Iranians celebrate Yalda, the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. We celebrate the light conquering the darkness. We recognize that even though till then the length of night was increasing, from then on the length of the day increases and spring is in sight. We cherish how darkness, even though trying, can never prevail. We celebrate the hope and beauty of light.

It is as if we are keeping all these meanings and celebrations to ourselves. It is indeed a Persian celebration but how nicely it alludes into the spirit of Christmas and Hanukkah.  Yalda is more ancient than them both and  I think Yalda can very well be recognized more widely.  How about giving away Yalda cards for the holidays?

Imagine a card with the pictures of pomegranate and Hafez and Shahnameh poetry books and nuts in the middle of red and green cards of Santa Claus and blue and white cards with Menorah.  It will be festive, peaceful, united, and global. It will be understanding and accepting. It will expand horizons and exude friendship.
I wish you all happy holidays in advance!
 

http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Celebrating_Yalda_2.htm

Add http://live.longhill.org.uk/?p=7193

http://www.localnomad.com/en/blog/2012/12/05/why-decorate-the-christmas-tree/

Arash the Archer by Bayzai - The Play Reading at Stanford

The story of Arash the Archer has been rewritten in the modern Persian by Bahram Bayzai about half a century ago.  It was performed at Stanford last night, directed by Bayzai himself for the first time.
The endearing mythology of Arash the Archer is about this hero, Arash, whose heroic act indicated the border of Iran when it was invaded by non Iranians of the time, called Touranians.  At the time, Touranians had taken over a vast land of Iran's, many killed and many lands destroyed.  To end the blood shed it was agreed that the war would end and the land would be depicted by Arash's landing of a single shot of an arrow. Arash hence climbed the Damavand, the tallest mountain in northern Iran, and shot a single arrow that was shot beyond any ordinary man could have shot.  There are different versions of how long the shot arrow was travelling in the air or how far it landed or whether it landed at all.
Bayzai's rendition of the story is written in the form of a screenplay and is somewhat different than the ones written in the ancient Shahnameh or the modern retelling of the story by Sivash Kasrai. In Bayzai's rendition, Arash was a simple man who was not a proper archer; he was betrayed by both Iranians and Aniranians. Yet, he honored the peace pledge, climbed the Damavand, and shot the arrow not by the strength of his elbow, but by the strength of his willpower.  The arrow has never landed and no one has seen him descending from Damavand since.
Bayzai's screenplay was directed by others and was screened a few times already.  However, it was directed by himself for the first time and played last night at Stanford.  It was not a real "play", but a "play reading" in fact. There were only two actors who literally narrated the actual screenplay, and they did a unique and fantastic job in my opinion.
Mojdeh Shamsaei and Mohsen Namjoo "played" the screenplay by reading it, seated at all time, depicting different scenes and characters using different ton of their voice.  It was really a different version of acting.  The fundamental difference of this version compared to a real "play" for me was how the play reading needed a good deal of attention to be comprehended.  There was hardly any visual clues, any motion, any change of color or light even.  It was all reading, demanding the audience to pay attention to the words and intonations.  It needed some getting used to.  But after a while, it was easier to follow and imagining the scenes.
The play reading is repeated tonight at Stanford.

Mojdeh Shamsaei, Mohsen Namjoo, Bahram Bayzai

Happy Father's Day!

To all the fathers, Happy Father's Day!
To all the good fathers, Happy Father's Day! You deserve it!
To my M, as an observer I really applaud you in your fatherhood.  You are indeed a kind, reliable, wise dad and I am happy for my kids having you as a father.  Happy Father's Day!

Notes from a Woman with a Bump - Finding Baby Name

It's a huge deal for us; name of the baby. We like the name to be Persian, meaningful, strong, and global. We want it to pronounce well and mean good, at least not bad, in most common languages. We want it not to be too popular, too foreign, too old, too new. We want the name to have our parents approval in the end.  We want it to be short and sweet.
It's a project by itself.
I realized that we had more possible options with the name of my son compared to a girl's name. One theory I have is that Persian girls' names, even though meaningful and strong, but hard to pronounce in English. For example, some of my favorite names: Mehrangiz, Saghi, Shaghayegh.
There are several websites with name ranking and name meaning, and several forum asking for suggestions (not my kind of thing). But I found this website the best:
http://www.thinkbabynames.com/
It provides with the name's meaning, other names that rhyme with it, some statistics, and different  prononciation and spelling. What's really cool is that you can search for names that rhyme with another name, for example an older siniling's name.
It's a cumbersome yet fun project in the end. Kids deserve pretty and meaningful names. Good lunch finding yours!

Mom's Day Back Home

Happy Mother's Day to all moms! Many of my friends are moms now.  Amazing! Alhamdolella!
Above all, happy Mother's Day to my mom. For all her love and patience and wisdom I adore her for ever!

Happy Nowruz!

All the blessed wishes for the New Year!

charshanbe suri

Tomorrow is the last Wednesday before the new Spring, which marks the beginning of the Persian New Year.  So people are out having parties and cleansing themselves with the fire.  We are planning on an outing next Tuesday night.  But it was fun to hear the announcement on NPR on my way home.

The Missing Thing

A girl friend.
The thought of it makes me feel so lonely. The thought of confessing to it, even more so.
Once my aunt asked me about a series of questions the answers to which would tell you about you... So there is a road ... It ends to a hut... You open the door... There is a table... What's on the table? I said a bowl of fruit. She said you like company and you care for your friends.
I do. Both.
But I miss my friends. Someone who cares deeply for me.  You has my back. Who is strong when I'm weak and who shares her weaknesses with me wanting my strengths.
I am so lonely here. May be it is like so everywhere.

A Few More Hours in Budapest

Got an hour of boat tour on the Danube.  It was very cold and not much enjoyable but still I got some sun burn.  Beauty of it was that I floated on Danube for an hour which sounded very romantic.  Got to see some old buildings from afar and mark the places I would like to explore when I am here again with my family enshala.
Walked back to the hotel from the pier using the internal streets.  Two blocks eat of the river there was a promenade for a few blocks that was really charming to walk in.  I found a souvenir shop in an inner alley which was also an antic shop.  It was really interesting exploring the old china and dolls and medals from communist era.  The first thing that caught my eyes was a Hungarian doll I fell in love immediately.  It was very bizarre as I never played with dolls growing up but now expecting a baby girl I thought I wanted to buy it for 2000 Hungarian Flute, $8.  I also got to buy a hand rafted table cloth with needle works and crochet.  I found A a hand made wooden game of balance I hope he enjoys experimenting with.  Wish I could find M a decent present but alas.  But got our household a bag of paprika and a couple porcelain small dishes I hope he enjoys.
These kind of promenade is exactly what I like about Europe.  Especially in cheaper places like Budapest.  I hope to go back one day with my family.  In fact a colleague from the area recommended that I should combine visiting Prague, Vienna, and Budapest in one trip and I liked the idea.  Until then.

Me, the Baby, and Budapest

The meeting I am attending is in Sofitel hotel, Budapest.  It is a nice hotel actually and what makes it nice is the service.  People are super friendly.  The waiters at the breakfast buffet smile at you and watch for your every need.  I thought may be it was only in the hotel but even outside people are not afraid to ask if you needed direction if you were looking on the map.  People seem relax and feeling safe.  And those who serve, don't act as if you are burden.  It is refreshing.
Yesterday the ladies in the Event team asked me if I wanted anything especial in my room, being pregnant and all.  I requested fruit graciously and received and enjoyed it.  Today in the elevator I got to meet a waiter who asked if I liked my fruit!!  I must be the only pregnant lady in the whole hotel.  It is kind of neat now actually as I feel like a celebrity.  My international colleagues are also really careful and complementing which is real nice.

Exploring Budapest for 2 Hours

Got to explore the center of the city a little bit.  In fact, only the Pest side of the city.  Apparently the name Budapest is composed of the name of the two cities neighboring the Danube: Buda and Pest.My colleagues and I got a Hop On Hop Off bus tour for $25 that is valid for two days and allows you take a boat tour as well.  I thought it was quite a good deal.
We embarked after the general sessions of the Sales Meeting I am attending and presenting at during this trip. Got to visit a couple monuments and few buildings that looked old, but were only from 1800s.  One of my colleagues, K.C. and I, hop off at Heroes' Square to explore on foot.  There were some statues and then a bridge below which, on the frozen platform, people were ice skating.  It was real neat to watch. Then there was a garden with a few old buildings and a church, all old looking but only from 1800s which was interesting to me.
When we got back to the station K.C. realized that he had lost his ticket.  So we got to explore some sections of the city on foot.  It was right around noon and not too cold so it actually turned out nicely.
We had a quick lunch at a Turkish Halal buffet-like place.  At the counter the guy said marhaba to me, meaning welcome in Arabic.  So I responded back: marhaba.  And ordered a large Turkish tea as I was somewhat freezing.  He asked if I was Iranian!  I confirmed but asked how he knew and he responded from the color of my skin and my accent!!  I had hardly said anything and I was sure compared to the rest of European and Middle Easterners I had a more American accent than not.  So was puzzled until I realized the accent he was referring to was my Arabic accent in saying marhaba.  The food was real good and I got to chat a bit deeper than ever with K.C. which was real nice.
Close to the hotel there was a park with a local market we got to go through with no cash in our pockets.  Otherwise there were many interesting things and delicious looking foods we had to pass on.
I have a more appreciation for the city now.  I hope to come back with M and A and the baby enshala.

Iran and America Through a Different Lense

A photographer from New York embarked a journey to Iran in December.  I admire his vision and his fact-finding nature in not limiting himself to political media to learn about Iran, especially at this time out of all times.

Enjoy his blog as I absolutely enjoyed every word and every picture!

Take This Waltz (2011)

Hated it so much I loved it.



"Life has a gap in it it just does.  You don't go crazy trying to fill it."
" - New things are shiny
- New things get old"

Super Bowl, First Time I Watched

Since I have emigrated to US, this was the first time I watched the Super Bowl.  What enticed me was the fact that the San Francisco 49ers were playing after many years.  At the beginning of the game M reviewed the rules for me and this time I actually could follow it as I paid attention.  We watched the first quarter with friends who had a new baby boy and then joined our relatives in Walnut Creek for the rest if the game.  It was almost unbelievable that there was a power outage in the middle of rhe game.  But seems that was the time needed by 49ers to gather their focus as they made up very nicely with a couple scored fumbles and touch downs.  I found the 49ers quarterback very humble looking and that seemed a huge contrast to the Ravens erogant looking quaterback. In the end 49ers lost with only 3 point difference and more than feeling sorry for their loss I felt bad for the Ravens win. At least though I enjoyed the game for the first time ... more and more infused in the American life ...

Turquoise Howz

I want to build howz, a fountain.  I want to bring in those blue turquoise mosaics and decorate my howz inch by inch.  Those mosaics that are baked in a local shop deep in the bazaar, and painted the perfect smooth color of turquoise by the artistic fingers of an old man. I want to buy the smallest mosaics, and carry them all the way from that land of my grandparents and build a fountain in the middle of my garden.  I want my children to remember the color of blue such that it was in those ancient fountains in the middle of those gardens.  I want to build a turquoise blue fountain.

An Unexpected Trip to Paris

Work summoned me to Paris.  It was a couple hectic days with early morning raise, metro rides, hospital visits, and case summaries.  All the work part ended up being super good, thank God!  Made all the hardships of the recent months feel rewarding.
Paris was cloudy and rainy and colder even perhaps compared to Odense.  But it was busy none the less, particularly many pedestrians despite the cold, which is one feature I admire in big cities.
I learned how my life style in US is unhealthy and against the rhythm of my body.  I need to feel the air on my skin, cold or hot, and I need to walk.  In my life in California, I need to carve out time for such walks while both in Odense and Paris I had to walk, a lot, and it all felt good and natural even more so on my pregnant body.
I got the opportunity to spend the last evening with friends and relax.  It was such a great pleasure.
My last transit via Frankfurt was uneventful.  Even though the security guy on US flights seems not to have changed, I was familiar with his borderline rude gestures and interrogations.
The business lounge and priority boarding lines can be quite interesting sometimes, as if when some people gain status they lose common sense of society and rights.  For example there was a lady ready to board the plane and was insisting that she was the beginning off the line.  But she was not even standing behind the gate but rather further away.  Plus her seat is predetermined, there wont be any loss or gain whether or not she is the first on board or the 10th.  That was enough for me to pray that she was not my companion in the eleven hour ride.  Thankfully, she was not.  And even better, my companion ended up being a young and polite gentleman who was also a product manager with technical background. We got to chat about work and societies and politics and movies and foods. It was easy to chat with him.  His companionship made the trip feel shorter and more pleasant. Plus I could sleep a few hours in the flight which was what my body  needed desperately.
I got to watch Hemingway and Gellhorn (TV 2012) which was a nice coincidence to the leisure book I am reading, The Paris Wife.  It was enough to know Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen were staring in it and that it was about Ernest Hemingway, my new passion.  I really enjoyed watching it.  I got to know how writing was a challenge even for greatest writers like Hemingway in the book I was reading.  Then, in this movie also, Martha Gellhorn said once "there is a lot happening [in the war] but when I sit down to write, nothing."  I liked it, although not even a emote comparison but I had felt the same thing exactly many times.  The other coincidental matter about the movie was the depiction of the Franco era in Spain.  Funnily, I got to hear about this part of Spanish history through Dr G.G. in Denmark over the 2nd day lunch.  Made me wonder at the world connectivity even at such trivial level.  Or is such matters like hearing the story of a fascist via person born and raised in a communist country and then watching it in an american movie really that trivial?
Wars.  And all the boys and girls who watched their mothers die in front of their eyes living their tiny little hands stained with their innocent bloods. "little by little I am getting really angry" as Gellhorn sited from a young boy in the war.
It should have been really tough and dark living in 1920-1945 era in the world with all the enmities and famines.
Now the reality of this time is the enmity against particular religions.  Such a pity!
On the subject of love Gellhorn said "the greatest enemy of love is boredom" and not jealousy.  Made me wonder.  Hemingway had written to Gellhorn "love is infinitely more durable than hate"; why is that?  To me, hate is not the opposite to love, hate is an excess anger, and hence can be coexisting with love.  But the opposite of love?  I think it is disappointment.
I took the 280 route back home which was indeed a pleasure.  Particularly since it was sunny in California after a week of rain, mist, and clouds in Odense and Paris.  The good music I was listening to made everything even more likable.
Now out to a carved out time to walk in the fade sub of this Sunday afternoon.

Last Night - Odense - Denmark

I was impressed with Odense in this trip spending 3 nights here.  It is a calm and green city.  We walked from hospital back to hotel both today and yesterday which was a 30 minute walk.  This got us an opportunity to observe the city and the people a bit more closely.

The city is humid, and naturally green.  The buildings are mainly old but well maintained.  There are many strange status and fountains around the city.  People walk a lot, and bike a lot, even now which is winter time.  There are special bike bath everywhere and there are many Christiana's Bikes around the city, some even carry their kids and baby's in the front cabin.

It seems like the handy crafts are still valuable here.  I observed a sewing shop with many sewing machines and people working on them.  And many many yard shops.  Apparently people knit a lot here because they were all very crowded too.  Also wood works and straw utensils abundant in the shops.  Kids appear relax and I found groups of kids chatting or walking or even sitting in a cafe having a snack by themselves.  No sign of paranoia as I am used to observe in kids in US.

People are not rushed.  They walk and bike and leisurely go through the shops.  I was impressed how the cafes were crowded, always parties of two or more, and all the time chatting!  I observed many women groups.  It was real fun to watch. In the restaurants and cafes waiters and waitresses are friendly but they do not smile.  And they wont check on you unless you ask for it.

I did not see many foreign looking people I must say.  Even though one of the neurosurgeons in the hospital is actually Persian. But not many black-haired people in the street I must say.

All in all, after a work assignment accomplished successfully and satisfactorily, I am happy with the city and ready to leave for Paris tomorrow.
.

First Morning - Odense - Denmark

I turned off the lights at 12:45 AM and got up at 4 AM local time.  Now, that is called a good night sleep!!  Of course I am being sarcastic in case you were wondering.
I gave up hope at 6:45 and got up and worked some.  It is 7:35 AM and the sky is pitch black!!  I saw a couple school kids heading to school on foot.  It should be hard waking up and heading out while it still feels like the middle of the night.
We are meeting with colleagues at 8:30 for breakfast so I made a cup of green tea to carry some more work.  Talk to you later.

Christmas Eve and A

This is a unique Christmas eve at our house. For the first time in A's life we are actually home. Add to that the fact that my dad and stepmom are here and my siste S and brother-inlay are arriving from Canada in an hour enshala.  On top of this all we have a Christmas tree and lots of presents.

I have tried imagining A a few times waking up to,or row and opening all the presents that are his.  He was worried that someone would stay up past midnight tonight and Santa doesnt show up. We assured him before putting him to bed that we will make sure all is quiet at home by midnight.

I am glad he can imagin all the magic. I think this will help him undesrtand later on that not all he sees is real and not all he cannot see is unreal. It's essentially a philosophical teaching in addition to developing his imagination.

Merry Christmas to all who believe and all that can imagine!

The amazed lady

It is really amusing for me when I tell some one about my background and when I find them, well, surprised, to tell the least. Here is the story:

We were sitting at the table and there was this middle aged lady with Chinese background sitting beside me. Every one was talking here and there and then this question of which school we had graduated from was raised. The answer on my side of the table left this lady stunned. She told us that she had done her undergrad in Beijing and later her PhD in England where she had met many Iranians at school all of whom were men and married and their wives were "just wives", as she phrased it. She added that she had come to this conclusion that all Iranian ladies had been "just wives" with no education. From the Iranian people she had met in England she had also concluded that we were people with dark skin since none of those she had met "had fair skins as I had"! And for those who have not met me, I am no snow white! I tried to explain to this Dr that I was one among many Iranian women not only being educated but being accepted in many reputable universities across the globe, and I was no body among those. I added that there were many different climates in Iran and so were many different skin colors, from fairly fair to olive shades...

This kind of cultural conversation is among the reasons I like participating in conferences.