Courtesy Around the Campfire

great article about ta'arof lesons at a camp for Iranian-American teenagers

Event 12/18/08 - Shabeh Yalda: Celebration of the Winter Solstice

(From the Facebook posting by PSOM

"The Persian Student Organization of Minnesota & Iran’s House of Art are hosting a Shabeh Yalda event in honor of the ancient Iranian celebration of the winter solstice.

In the spirit of Shabeh Yalda, we will celebrate the longest night of the year by reciting poetry, enjoying live classical music, & eating delicious Persian food (aasheh reshteh-noodle & lentil soup, pomegranates, watermelon, dried nuts, sweets, & tea).

If anyone would like to bring Persian Poetry books & is interested in reciting, please feel free to do so. We hope you will all choose to be a part of this unique opportunity to socialize & learn about Iranian culture.

This is a FREE event & will start at 6:30 pm sharp!"

Thursday, December 18, 2008
6:30pm - 10:00pm

Location:
Mississippi Room: 3rd Floor of Coffman Memorial Union
300 Washington Ave. S.E.
Minneapolis, MN
map

Contact Info Phone: 815/441-2944
Email: psom@umn.edu

Next Persian/Farsi Conversation Group Dec. 10

The next Persian conversation group will be 6:00pm Wednesday, Dec. 3 at the Acadia Cafe (see link below for map).

Hope everyone can make it!

Acadia Cafe: http://www.acadiacafe.com/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38519446085

Students at Tehran University speak out at Khatami visit

Video of students at Tehran University giving Khatami hell for not following through on promises of reform (from Middle East Media Research Institute web site).

Part 1: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/401.htm
transcript: http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/401.htm
Part 2: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/408.htm
transcript: http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/408.htm

Next Persian/Farsi Conversation Group Dec. 3

The next Persian conversation group will be 6:00pm Wednesday, Dec. 3 at the Acadia Cafe (see link below for map).

Hope everyone can make it!

Acadia Cafe: http://www.acadiacafe.com/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38519446085

Pangea World Theater to perform Conference of the Birds

Pangea World Theater will be giving a performance of Conference of the Birds, adapted from the poem by Iranian poet Farid ud-Din Attar.
Performance dates: March 12-29, 7:30pm, Avalon Theater

From Pangea's web site: "Conference of The Birds metaphorically maps out the journey of the human spirit in its quest for truth. In this classic tale, the birds of the world are gathered together by their leader, the hoopoe, and told of a legendary King. Inspired by the hoopoe’s tales, the birds take flight on a pilgrimage to find their celebrated King, but the dangers and hardships encountered on the journey cause many in the flock to abandon their search. In the end, the small number that survive realize they have completed a spiritual trek to self-discovery…The King they sought was within themselves all along.
Adapted by Meena Natarajan
Directed by Dipankar Mukherjee
Post-performance discussions following all Friday and Saturday shows."

To buy tickets online and for more information, visit Pangea's web site.

Next Conversation Group Meeting: Wednesday, Nov. 19

The next Persian conversation group will be 6:00pm Wednesday, Nov. 19 at the Acadia Cafe (map). Last week we had five people, including Sara Khanzadi, a U of M graduate student in Liberal Studies. Sara taught us some new vocabulary and was very patient with our sketchy Farsi. I was happy to entertain her with my terrible spelling :-)

Hope everyone can make it on the 19th!

Next Conversation Group Meeting: Wednesday, Nov. 12

The next Persian conversation group will be 6:00pm Wednesday, Nov. 12 at the Acadia Cafe (map). Three of us met last night and worked for about 3 hours. Let me know if there are any suggestions for other places, times, dates, etc.

Next Conversation Group Meeting: TUESDAY Nov. 4

The next Farsi/Persian conversation group will be 6:00pm TUESDAY, Nov. 4 at the Acadia Cafe (map). Moved to Tues next week only bacause Pary's class was moved to Wed. If more folks from Sadrai's class want to come, we can think about a change of location.
Acadia has parking suggestions on their web site.