You Owe Me?

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Even after all this time
The Sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens
With a love like that,
It lights the whole sky.

--Hafiz

A Special Message to Fattemeh and Faranak:

The story of your long-term friendship touched my heart. Cherish your friends for they are the breath of life, itself. We learn from our friends, and can practice sympathy, kindness, concern, love and all those desirable human qualities on them. They accept our faults and still love us. What more can we ask from life? Here is a story I wrote about a friend I had many years ago.

Affection and caring is shown in many ways. When my two children were babies, Phyllis was my next door neighbor. As it is for most young mothers, it was a terrifically busy time for me. Phyllis was farther along in the mothering game; her children were teenagers. She was one of those super-kind people whose purpose in life is to do good, and I became embarrassed at how often she dropped goodness into my lap: a cup of tea here, a piece of pie there, babysitting for an hour, or lending me her children to entertain my babies. Phyllis was a Godsend in those busy days.
Beset with a vicious case of asthma, she never stopped using her time to the best advantage for both friends and family; there was never time to feel sorry for herself. I began to feel badly about the uneven balance of our friendship, and mentioned that I could never repay her for all she did.
Phyllis shared with me her secret of "payback", and now let me share it with you: "You don't have to pay me back," she said. "When you're able, you can lend someone else a hand and make their days easier. That's the way God's work is done." She was so right; God’s work is done in one random act of kindness at a time.
There have been three women in my life who have caused me to wish I could become more like them, and Phyllis was one. Though long gone to us physically, her lessons on life live on in my heart and I never worry about being paid back, or, on the other hand, of accepting an act of kindness with a simple, "Thank you."

Thank you, my friends in Iran, for being there.

Sue

Fattemeh's writing

Hi Dear Sue,
I'm Fattemeh Ramezani. I'm a new member of the site. I'm 20 years old. After 43 days, I will be 21 years old.
I'm university student. My field is civil engineering. My field is full of calculations and formulas but I like it very much. I have studied in the university for 3 years and I am junior. next year, I will graduate from university.
I have one sister and one brother. My sister is 15 years old and my brother is 13 years old.
Faranak is one of my best friend. Faranak and I were classmate in the high school and now we are classmate in the English class.
We are reading your writing in our English classes and they are very good and useful for me. I'm very happy that I become familiar with you.
Take care, Fattemeh.

Bahman's Writings

Dear Sue,
American popular music is good. I like Modern Talking band. Their music is very nice. They can make a beautiful music with creativity. The piece that I sent to you was a simple santour piece. I can play that piece. Payvar has a piece called Farparak. That was very beautiful. I am trying to find Farparak for you.
My father likes Elvis Prisly and a piece called Self control.
I saw a TV program about American singers. I don’t know if most of singers have not a successful life

Faranak's Writing

Dear Sue,
Sorry because of I answer late.
Today I'm very happy. I have written a program for a ministry and today it was finished.
This project is very easy for a skilled person but it was very difficult for me, it was the first project that I have written alone, I learned a lot of new things and I think it was worth.
Sue, Although written a program is very important in my course and it has a good income unfortunately, girls shows interest in writing codes less than boys in Iran. I hope that the number of girls, in this field, increase in future.

Dear friend, you asked me "Are governmental colleges actually better in Iran?"
Yes, they are really better from different aspects among training, quality, professors, etc.
Of course we have good professors and students in other universities too, but in governmental ones are more.

I have a question: Can we say to a first year student, a freshman, a second year one, a sophomore, a third year one, a junior and a forth year, a senior?

Your friend, Faranak.

A quote from Dr. Zhivago

I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them.


Doctor Zhivago

Bahman's Writings

Dear Sue,
American popular music is good. I like Modern Talking band. Their music is very nice. They can make a beautiful music with creativity. The piece that I sent to you was a simple santour piece. I can play that piece. Payvar has a piece called Farparak. That was very beautiful. I am trying to find Farparak for you.
My father likes Elvis Prisly and a piece called Self control.
I saw a TV program about American singers. I don’t know if most of singers have not a successful life.

Beware beginners

There is a Persian proverb that says, "Where the eagles' wings are broken what can a tiny mosquito do?" (In Persian: Anja ke oghab par berizad / Az pasheye lagharin che khizad?)

One day you may become a national hereo.  There may be a moment in your life when literally hundreds of millions of people all over the world watch you with awe and admiration.  But if you fail to use the indefinite article "a" properly with your nouns, the sin Iranians frequently commit, you may be slashed for decades.  Here is what the media will say about you:

"Armstrong has faced his share of controversy. For decades he was thought to have flubbed his first words spoken on the moon, by dropping the "a" in speaking of a small step "for man."

It was 37 years later that an Australian expert said high-tech analysis of the static-ridden transmission found the missing adjective, and that history should remember Armstrong saying what he had intended: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

And if you don't believe me go see for yourself: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100803/ts_alt_afp/usspacemoonanniversaryarmstrong_20100803075234
T

Doogh

Sue,
Here is a perfect place for you to learn everything about the "Doogh" and other Persian dishes.  I don't think you or any other American would be able to pronounce the word precisely correctly.  Never mind! It is just the taste that matters.  See the blog and let me know what you think.

T

http://mypersiankitchen.com/doogh/

Can Anyone Help me????

Recently I visited an Iranian market here in Denver and bought some delicious treats. However, there are two things that I just don't know how to use: I bought a jar of Pickled Mangos, or, as it says, Anbeh Torshi. I know what mangos are, but how does one use pickled mangos? The other is a jar of "Yogourt Soda". Why did I buy it? I don't know. Help!
The contents say it has yogurt, salt, carbonated water and flavoring. Now what can I do with this?

Sue

By the way

July 29 was my birthday on calendars.  Real birth, however, is another story.
T