Hello out there, all you lovely people. How are you? Have you missed “Come Away With Me” in our “Love Is In Da Blog” month? I hope not and that you enjoyed some great love stories, music and poetry in February. I’ll post a short post about the participants later on today so you can still have a look 🙂

We will crisscross several Asian countries in the next couple of weeks with “Come Away With Me” and I am looking forward to it. Not sure if today’s Iran does actually belong to the Middle East or to Asia? Maybe both? Who knows.

I used to have an email friend from Iran and read several novels about Iran. One of the first might have been “Cry of the Peacock (goodreads.com)” by Gina B. Nahai. The one that I remember vividly is “The Colonel” by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (goodreads.com) It was such a strange reading experience but also an wonderful insight into the life in Iran when the revolution happened. And I think Noah Gordon’s “The Physician” plays partly in Persia now Iran and I so loved this series. Even though I think I haven’t read number 3 yet. Oh dear, another one for my reading list ;-).

I also seem to remember that a German journalists or embassy emplyee’s children were involved in the Theheran Hostage incident in 1979 but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of the people nor can I find any involvement so maybe my muddled mind makes that up. But if it did happen that would be the first I remember about Iran. So, what does the country have to offer? Let’s see some video’s. Please, follow the creators as they put a lot of work into their introductions to the countries.

Introduction to Persia/Iran

If you can get the BBC’s Iplayer and can use it please check out their “Art of Persia” series by Samira Ahmed which gives you a wonderful insight in the cultural development of Iran in history.

I assume we connect Iran mainly with cats, rugs and revolution. Above I mentioned the Iranian Revolution of the late 1970s but according to Barby of Geography Now there is currently a revolution of young people going on who do not approve of the strong religious rules and rulers. Who knows where that is going but we better keep an eye out for that.

Interesting facts: The hottest temperature was measured in Iran but they are also one of the best skiing areas in the Middle East. Woa, skiiing is so much connnected in my mind with the Alps and maybe the Rockies that I always get confused when it comes up in Eastern countries. Well, there I experience bias and it’s time I get rid of that…

Otherwise there are a lot of animals we connect with Africa like lions for example but apparently they came from Asia originally but ended up travelling to Africa and found a good place to grow there. But enough said. I hope I made you curious so here is my Come Away to Iran playlist:

An Artist of Iran/Persia

According to Culture Trip many contemporary Iranian artists had to leave the country after the Iranian Revolution. I am not sure if this is the case for Golnaz Fathi as she was trained in Calligraphy to the highest level in Teheran which is usually a priviledge of men. Her emphasis on the fact that her “Freedom” in this British exhibition is not political makes me think that she still lives in Iran but is able to exhibit all over the world. Find out more about here here on her page: Golnaz Fathi

A Environmental Activists of Persia/Iran

Trying to save endangered animals in Iran is a dangerous thing if you use cameras. Find out about these 9 scientists who tried to safe the Persian Cheetah but got imprisoned on grounds of spying on the Iranian nuclear program.

Food of Iran/Persia

Ah, we already got a glimpse of Iranian food in Barby’s video about Iran and I have to say I have a thing for Middle Eastern Cuisine. I feel, that you can see that the Middle East often connects so many parts of the world and so many cultures that their food can incoroprate many ingedients that you wouldn’t easily get in Europe for example. But let’s find out more here with this video:

I was quite surprised to find some vegetarian recipes in this post by the Olive Magazine: Easy Persian Recipes. Cool!

If you want to dive deeper into Persian food and cooking check out The Persian Pot.

A Poetess of Persia/Iran

It always amazes me where you find inspirational women who raised their voices despite patriachal societies. Forough Farrokhzad is one of them and the poem in this video shows here poetic voice beauifully:

Please find out more about Forugh Farrokhzad on her page.

To find out more about Iranian poets check out the CultureTrip’s article 10 Inspiring Iranian Poets and their Verses

Mental Health in Iran/Persia

Psychology today states that mental health issues in Iran are still a huge taboo like in many countries on this planet. It seems especially women are affected. I could not find many video’s even though there are several in Farsi but with no subtitles. So, it looks to me like Iranian’s are tackling the topic. That is why I leave you with a video from the Iranian Hospital in Dubai which seems to have a great psychiatric department:

Some musicians of Persia/Iran

Culture is important in Persia/Iran. The Islamic Revolution in the 1970s forbade many Western influences so pop music was forbidden for a long time. However the classical Persian music found a renaissance as you can read in the SongLine article from 2018. You can also check out CultureTrips article from 2017: 9 Musicians You Need To Know From Iran.

If you look for Iranian popular music you would rather find it outside the country even though Barby mentioned in his Geography Now video that here is a punk/rock evolution going on. So let’s see which artists I could find 🙂 and yes, I know, we can’t understand the lyrics but just enjoy the music 🙂

Thanks for coming away with me to Iran today and where are we going next week?

Come Away With Me 2021 Musical Challenge Country for Monday, March 8th, 2021

I am taking a rather random route around the world, but sometimes it makes sense. Next week we venture further East to Afghanistan. Please find musicians from Afghanistan on the SongLines page.

As for the suggestions to take part:

1. Join in! No matter where, when and with what. You missed the first week? Don’t worry. Just jump in when it suits you.
2. Send us the link! The ping-back option does not work as “The Bee Writes…” is private now so please leave a link in the comments of the post on the day you take part. Or leave it at the “Come Away With Me 2021 FB page“
3. Tag your post either with ” Come Away With Me Musical Challenge”/ #CoAwWiMeMuCh” / “Come Away with Me 2021 Musical Challenge” o/“CoAwWiMe2021MuCh” / . You can also use these as hashtags for Twitter and other Social Networks to give your post more exposure. If you add #blog and #music with your hashtags it will get you more readers.
4. No matter which music or country the prompt favours you create with it whatever you please. This is supposed to be a fun challenge and no chore.
5. I post a prompt for the next week with every “Come Away With Me 2021 post” I write.
6. If you like, use this picture for your readers to find the posts.

Just one more thing before you go: The hospital that is treated me for Breast Cancer is fundraising for a dedicated breast cancer unit which would allow some same-day diagnosis and better premises for patients and staff.

Please, if you can spare a little money hop over to their Just Giving Page and give as little or much as you can. Or share the page on your social media. So far the campaign has raised about half the amount needed: £446,054 of £800,000 (February 2021).

Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much.

Thanks, my dears, for staying with me until the end.

I appreciate your presence.

Please stay safe, stay kind and remember that you rock!