Happy New Year....?

Happy New Year, friends.

Wait, what?

The first day of Spring marks the beginning of the Persian New Year.  Since I’m a white girl who grew up in Indiana, it seems a little odd that I’d choose to acknowledge this day, but I love the fact that I live in an environment where it’s okay for this white girl to embrace a new tradition.

My roommate is Persian - so I get the perk of living in a home with gorgeous Persian rugs and eating some of the best BBQ after her family spends the day in our backyard.  This is the first year she has chosen to celebrate the New Year on her own and she invited the other roommate and I to celebrate with her.  

Last weekend, a Persian New Year table appeared in our lounge.

thanks for the photo, D.

The table includes 7 things that being with “s” in Farsi.  Our Persian New Year table is unique in that it is made up of contributions from multiple cultures and belief systems - Muslim, Christian, Buddhist - it’s all there.  And I think it’s awesome. 

Today, she handed me $5. Apparently, you give money to people younger than you. I didn’t complain - until she reminded me that our other roommate is younger than me. :-/

With the new year should come a spotlessly clean house.  Well, I can’t speak for the rest of our house, but my sheets are washed, my floor is vacuumed, and my room is dusted. And in the cleaning process, I found a $50 gift card from Christmas I’d forgotten about, which will allow me to celebrate another Persian New Year tradition...

Buying new clothes.  Or, in my case, a new swimsuit.  Because the rain outside isn’t doing a good job of  reminding me that summer is coming.