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Nowruz: What You Need to Know About the Iranian Festival

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In every country, there's an iconic national festivity. There's Cinco de Mayo for Mexico, St. Patrick's Day for Ireland, and of course, who wouldn't know about the 4th of July. As for Iran, they have Nowruz. It's celebrated by millions of Iranians everywhere and is formally recognized as an international holiday by the UN. But, what exactly is it? Nowruz: The Persian New Year Nowruz literally means "new day." It's the Persian celebration for their New Year; a farewell to the cold days of winter, and a welcome to the first dawn of spring. It lands on the stroke of midnight of March 21st, on the first day of the vernal equinox. It's a celebration for the end of the old year and beginning of Farvardin, which is the first month of the Solar Hijri algorithmic calendar - a more accurate intercalation system than the conventional Gregorian. The Preparation Much like Christmas, people prepare for Nowruz weeks before the actual day of the fes...
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6 Common Misconceptions About Iranians

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The US and Iran have been rivals on the international stage for over 40 years. Over that time a number of myths have been spread that have created an inaccurate impression of Iranian-Americans for a lot of Americans. Here are a few inaccurate perceptions that are worth debunking. 1. Iranians Are Arabs Many Americans feel as if all Middle Eastern Muslims are of the same ethnicity. Iranians, however, are not Arab. While Iran is made up of several different ethnicities — including Arabs, Kurd's, and Azeris — the vast majority of Iranians are Persian. 2. They Speak Arabic There are several regional languages in Iran, but the most common language spoken is Persian — also known as Farsi. 3. Iran Is a Dangerous Place Many Americans feel as if Iran would be an unsafe place to visit, which is pretty weird when you think about it, given America's reputation for gun violence. Iran, on the other hand, generally has a very low crime rate, and almost no instances of vio...
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