Iran - Day 1 [Persian New Year]

My mom's family is from the Northern part of Iran from a city called Amol. Therefore we spent New Years Day with the family in Amol. We generally stay at my grandparents' (G-unit) home and then all my Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins come over and cause a ton of excitement and commotion. I have to put out a disclaimer that I come from a big family - my mom's side of the family consists of 7 siblings. Here is the breakdown; Nasrin (3 kids), Simin (2 kids), Farah (3 kids), Reza (2 kids), Fariba (2 kids), Katie, and Hamed. My mom and my Aunt Simin are the only two siblings that don't live in Iran. All the cousins were present except my my brother and my Aunt Simin's kids (Sam & Sara). You can only imagine all the noise and goofiness 9 grand kids can cause at the G-unit home on a daily basis. God bless my grandparents for being tolerant of us and how obnoxious we are!

On the morning of New Years my Aunt Farah came over to my grandparents' home and took me and my sister out to see the hustle and bustle of the streets right before New Year. People were buying last minute gifts and getting items to prepare the traditional Norouz table.

The traditional Norouz table called "Sofreh haft-seen" consists of seven kinds of food each starting with letter “S”. The seven dishes correspond to the seven creations and holy immortals: Rebirth, Health, Happiness, Prosperity, Joy, Patience, and Beauty. The symbolic dishes consist of:

• Sabzeh: or sprouts, usually wheat or lentil, representing rebirth
• Samanu: is a sweet pudding made from wheat germ which symbolizes affluence
• Seeb: means apple and represents health and beauty
• Senjed: the sweet, dry fruit of the lotus tree represents love
• Somaq: sumac berries, represent the color of sunrise
• Serkeh: means vinegar, represent age and patience
• Sombol: flowering hyacinth

To reconfirm the hopes and wishes expressed by the traditional foods, other elements and symbols are also placed on the sofreh;

• Books of tradition and wisdom are laid out such as the holy Quran
• A few coins which represents wealth
• A basket of painted eggs which represents fertility
• A bowl of goldfish wish represent life and the end of the astral year associates with the constellation Pisces
• Candles which represent enlightenment and happiness

The New Year was rung in at 2:30pm - I really don't understand how they figure out the time and all - it is something I need to discuss with NASA and whoever is in charge of the Iranian calendar. Once we rung in the year the house was constantly filled with people coming to visit. It was great seeing everyone! We laughed, danced, exchanged gifts, ate a ton of desserts and drank enough tea for a lifetime! I made a short of video of the New Year celebration;

In addition to being civil and doing all the customary New Year celebrations - my family tends to be wild. We are all about parties, dancing, and celebrating. This video explains it ALL!

I can't get enough of my family. They are a riot and I love them oh so much!