Azadeh

 Your red for me

               Do not lose your inner fire. Iranians name every year's last wednesday Charshanbe Soori in Iran and they have a special ceremony for it every year. I'm really longing for our Charshanbe Soori here on the opposite side of the planet.Two thousand years ago, our Iranian ancestors believed that life comes from the fire and fire is holy as source of life and energy. Charshanbe soori begins at sunset. People gather together outdoors, eat traditional foods, dance and the special part is that they provide a big wood fire and jump over it and sing for the fire “ Your red for me, my yellow for you ”. It means give me from your energy and life, this ceremony is a national day in our culture that makes us feel  close and united as a nation.

                 Iranian people reunite with each other every year on the last Wednesday of the year. Iranians meet each other and renew their connections. It is a unique opportunity to stay in touch with others despite a busy lifestyle and get aware of everybody's wellbeing. All family and friends bring food and beverage, socialize, eat and dance together while they are smelling burning wood and feel connected again. All the people together request the fire to give us health and fortune in the coming year. However, that opportunity for a big gathering is not available in Chicago because most of Iranian immigrants do not have that many family and friends.

                 Iranian culture is a delicious culture. Iranians have a wide variety of traditional dishes and beverages. Although Chicago is a metropolitan with diverse foods, It is almost impossible to find Iranian traditional foods with original taste which Iranian people love to have in Charshanbe soori. In Iran, in Charchanbe Soori families prepare a combination of vegetable soup and kabab and some ready to use traditional snacks like nuts and dried fruits. All the people bring something and share everything beside the fire . All the nostalgic tastes are there on those burning wednesdays.

               I can not express my feeling of love and happiness on Charshanbe Soories I have attended in my life from my childhood, the sense that Iranian people are an ancient nation. Our ceremonies come  from two thousand years ago. Our fathers and mothers have kept this fire burning together even in the hardest time in our history.They sacrificed to keep our culture alive in any hardship.Now it is our generation mision to keep our culture alive and pass it to the next generations. Since Iranians do not celebrate Charshnbe soori in Chicago and I can't warm myself by the Chershanbe soori fire, I long for my home town more than always on Charshanbe soori and Chicago is colder than ever for me.

               Although Iranian immigrants celebrate Iranian new year in Chicago, it is totally different about charshanbe soori, since charshanbe soori is an outdoor gathering after sunset in the middle of the march so it is too cold in Chicago and it needs an appropriate place which is not available so far. People can not enjoy meeting a few people whom they know here and regret not tasting our nostalgic dishes together. Our participation in the ceremony is just watching photos and videos from Iran and dreaming of jumping over a big wood fire which is sparking in the dark and whispering “ your red for me, my yellow for you ”.