My informant is an Iranian immigrant to the United States. She is a classical pianist and teaches piano.

“So we have Norooz which literally means “new day” … “no” means new and “rooz” means day. It’s Persian new year as well as many other middle eastern countries. Its rebirth. The first day of spring! We set up a table called ” haft seen” means seven Ss. We put 7 items that starts with S which each symbolizing different meaning…Symbolizing health, beauty, rebirth, patience, love, prosperity, and affluence, as well as self reflection. We have a special food and dishes for new year. Parents grand parents aunt and uncles gives gifts which is almost always money. We celebrate Nowruz for 13 days, you visit families and friends during these days starting from older member of the family like grandparents. We call it ” eid didani.” On the last day which is the 13th. Families go out to the parks and nature and spend the day outdoors in a picnic manner.”

Analysis:

This is a tradition that my informant still celebrates every year, even though she has been in the US for 12 years. It reminds her of where she came from and her family that is still in Iran. She gets together with her Persian community here in the United States and celebrates this holiday to remember her identity.