I am from...

During one of our Onboard Life meetings, we each created an "I Am From" poem to share with the group.  We then took the activity to our Resident Communities to do with the students.  The poem was structured so that we just filled in the blanks with sensory words and descriptive phrases from our respective culture--And when read aloud, they all sounded so poetic!  It was interesting to think about what we consider "home" and what descriptors we chose to use.  Here is poem...

"I Am From..."

 

 

I am from a home that smells of Persian cooking, fabrics, and flowers.  A place with a faint smell of familiarity after a short time away, and a distant smell of comfort after a long time.  Where everything is kept, not because it's pretty or because it matches, but because it's a part of our home—symbols of where we have been and what we've created.

 

I'm from a culture that cooks with pomegranate juice and crushed walnuts.  Where it's not a meal without rice, and where you can never have too many kabobs.

 

I'm from a culture where it's custom to tarofe and where people say "gorboonet beram" during good-byes.

 

I'm from a line of hard workers with ambition, dedication, and the belief that the world truly is our oyster.

 

 

 

Glossary:

 

Tarofe = There is no direct equivalent for this word in English, but it basically means offering what is yours to others or putting others' needs and comforts first.  It's a distinct part of the Persian culture.

 

Gorboonet Beram = This phrase literally translates to "I will die for you" but is basically used in the context of "Take care" or "I love you."

 

And just as a disclaimer: Mom, I'm not saying our house didn't match :-)