Coffee Spoons and Afternoons

A beautiful wind blew in through the open living room window, wafting in and filling the flat with a clean, fresh and above all, cool, scent. As I sat reading my book for the day, one of the neighbours across the way began his usual weekend electric guitar practice. I smiled to myself as I read and listened to the unmistakable chords of Green Day and Blink-182 being carefully plucked out, reverberating all over the stairways and garden downstairs.

I was reading the book, To See and See Again, by Tara Bahrampour, an autobiographical tale of a half-Persian, half-American woman trying to rediscover her roots in Iran so unceremoniously ripped away from her after the Revolution in 1979. It's really been striking a chord with me - also being half-blooded, or "double-veined" as the Iranian term implies, I've felt a resonance within me reading about a life I never actually had but have always wanted to experience. What might it have been like to grow up in Iran, learning about the language and culture that is so intrinsically a part of me? But I know it wouldn't have been easy; I'm a Baha'i, who to a fundamentalist Islamic regime would be considered a lower-class citizen, if even considered a citizen at all. Even in her book Tara, a recognised Muslim, had her share of hardships visited upon her due to her dual heritage and her inherent flaw of being born a woman. Hmmmmm...

An excellent afternoon nonetheless. Tonight Andre and I are going to an FMD BBQ at Isidro's flat, should be a lot of fun. I'm making veggie skewers, yum...