Shab-e-Yalda Mubarak Merry Christmas Festival Holiday Happy Happy

Several days ago, I noticed a post on an Iranian Facebook page called Must See Iran about something called Shab-e-Yalda. Instead of using my own feeble words to describe it, I'll quote from the site found at this link here.

Learning this, I felt that the Iranian celebration of Yalda was similar to the celebration of Christmas. Both have ancient beginnings related to the winter solstice, then there is some religious significance, with eventually the religious aspect being somewhat lost and/or adapted to secular terms.

As a devout Muslim, I've always been weary of celebrating Christmas from a religious point of view (since I don't think Jesus (peace be upon him) is a god). But of course, there are those who simply celebrate his birth, whatever he means to them. Muslims love Jesus (p) so of course we are joyous at his birth.

Still, even more so, the secular Santa lie really doesn't appeal to me at all. But as a HUMAN BEING, I've always been drawn to the twinkling lights set against the lovely snow and the pretty gifts and happy families. I figured if Shab-e-Yalda can be celebrated in Iran, maybe it's okay to enjoy some of the shiny perks of the Holiday season.

And so, especially since we're missing our family in America, plus all the other fun cultural aspects of America, we decided to decorate for the holiday season of Yalda and Christmas. We didn't buy all the traditional Yalda items such as watermelon or dried fruit; my husband found some almonds, pistachios, and these things called fruit rolls (which were not, as I had thought, like fruit roll-ups). And of course we didn't get a tree or ornaments, nor buy presents. Instead we made paper trees, lit candles, and wrapped up items that we already owned, hoping the recipient wouldn't notice the missing items, until we opened them up on the 25th. Haha, it was both funny and fun.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Iranian TV Channel Tamasha aired both HOME ALONE movies as well as SCROOGE, so we watched and enjoyed them.

At  BAMA restaurant, there were signs on the table saying Shab-e-Yalda Mubarak (Have a blessed Night of Yalda).

And here's a video about Shabe Yalda:

And also a video about Christmas in Iran:

Reading poetry by Persian poet Hafiz is a common tradition on Yalda, so I'll leave you with this:

40 Halloweens

There are 2 sides to Halloween: the adorable babies as pumpkins side, and the disgusting bloody zombies side. I despise the horrific side, but dressing up as cute characters is always fun. In Iran, I don't have to worry about terrifying commercials for haunted houses or horror films to suddenly appear on the TV. But, my kids were bummed that there’d be no Halloween in Iran. 

Back in America, they were not big on trick or treating, but they enjoyed getting costumes from the store. It was difficult enough to find costumes back then, so I knew it’d be impossible here. Plus, even if we did, we don’t have money to buy costumes or enough idea of where to even look. I told them to make their own from things they have around our apartment. At first they balked at this suggestion, but then they came up with some really creative costumes in the exact characters they wanted to be (well, my younger 2 did). My daughter was “Shy Guy,” from Super Mario, and my son was “Ash” from Pokémon. 

We got them some Iranian candy as well. 

These Jelly Bon Bon’s were good. Sort of melted in your mouth!

These strawberry flavored center-filled candy was exactly the same as the kind in the U.S.

This chocolate did not have that depth of yummy taste like the milk chocolate in the States, but was good enough! 

So I doubt Iranians care about Halloween, but the Sherlock Holmes episode that night on the Tamasha TV channel was The Last Vampyre. Coincidence? I think not. 

A few days after Halloween, it was my 40^th birthday! Now I’ve mentioned in a previous post, that they say life begins at 40, so that means my true self was born in Iran, how fascinating! Okay, so I know it’s not a literal thing, but somehow seems poignant. I’ve never felt truly at home in Pakistan or America, and Iran is not exactly a perfect fit for me, but it is the only place I can feel completely comfortable abut the best part of being myself, a Shia Muslim.

So anyway, that day, my husband brought me these GORGEOUS roses...

...and this DELECTABLE selection of sweets. 

Then we went into Qom. We found another BAMA restaurant there. This one was much easier to get to in that we did not have to cross the street to get in! We parked right in front by the curb. Once inside, we saw that it was 2 stories. There was this cool fish tank!

Then when we got upstairs, there was this huge window with a lovely view of Qom!

We enjoyed a tasty meal and then went back to Pardisan, where we went to a very nice park!

Since my children are too big for the playground now, we spent most of the time on these fun work-out machines, which are often found in the parks of Iran.

My husband and I at the park. 

My kids and I at the park with the sun in our eyes!

The day after my birthday, I went to visit a bunch of gals who had also moved from America to Iran that became friends with online before I arrived in Iran. And a couple of which I had already met years ago in Texas. It was so nice for me and my children to see and converse with friendly faces! Finding my friend's house was a bit confusing. When she sent me her address I could not make heads or tails of it (btw, Iranian coins don't have heads or tails)! She had assumed I was arriving by taxi cab so the cab driver would have known what the address meant. Little did my friend know, I am in no way ready to take an Iranian taxi by myself. My husband made an educated guess about how to get there and we got close and then saw one of my friends and followed her inside. The gals were kind enough to make sweet desserts, and one of my friends even brought a birthday cake for me. 

Well, thank you for reading and keeping in touch with me! Stay tuned for my next post titled, "The Terrible Story of Tahdig," in which I describe how I made the classic Iranian crispy rice dish. 

InshaaAllah (God willing).

Alhamdulillah (Thank God).

p.s. Have I had 39 or 40 Halloweens? I don't do math much.