I was born on May 29, 1941 in the town of Shazand in Iran. The most known people in the town were the priests and landowners. The president at this time was a man named Memhad Razasha. I went to a school called Nayiri and my main form of transportation to there or as a matter of fact to mostly other places too was simply by walking. We did not take the car out a lot unless we needed too and if it was too far of a distance. After school we have some special events, we had our talent show where we went with friends to perform our talents such as poems and also after we went outside and played at the school. During leisure time my friends and I got together and played with a ball in front of my door or porch. We had a good time and talked, I also studied for school so I can be a good student. At this time I was about 7-8 years old. Other games or activities we did was hiding o seek, that was my favorite gam
e to play.Since it was Iran most of the population was Persian, maybe about 60% and 40% Armenian which is still a high number. That's why the radio was Persian from morning to evening and when it got to night it was Armenian. We also got the newspaper in our town; it was both Armenian and Persian. The newspapers name was Kehan and we had a paperboy deliver it to us every morning. The cost for it was about one penny, and that was considered a lot back then. We had a really big family with a family of nine and seven siblings. I had four brothers and two sisters, which I had spent a lot of time with, I actually liked it a lot and spending time with them was the most important thing to me. My most arguments were with my youngest brother, we fought a lot but in the end we love each other. I was the 4th oldest from my siblings, and my sisters were the oldest. My best memories was with them and just spending time with my friends, it was very important for me to learn, read and write both Persian and Armenian.
I can't see myself going back to this town and living there again. It was very hard compared to the lifestyle I have now, and also my two kids are here as well as my grandchildren and other relatives. But as far as going there again maybe for a little while I would only because I have small family left there and I would like to see them again. My best friend was Manoosh and still is, we both got married very young at age 18. We lost touch in Tehran because we had to move and luckily got reunited back in America. Shazand has been the very first town I have lived in, then we moved to Arak, to Tehran and finally to Glendale. I had my kids in Tehran and when they were 18-19 years old we moved to America. My first-born I had when I was twenty-one and my second child I was twenty-six.
There are a lot of differences in a small town and a city like Glendale. The atmosphere is very different and I lived in a very small house considering my family size and now I have the opportunity to live in a good one. My family was very close to other small towns near us such as Kalazah, Abazard, Sabad, and Gulizard. I had different Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins that we used to visit a lot. It was right next to us so most of the time we were walking there, and when we went we stayed for the whole day and played with my cousins. I was very close to them and went their often, also my dad had one big car that we rarely used unless for a long drive.
There were a lot of poor people in the town where they didn't have money and their Uncles, Fathers and Brothers were all at the army during this time. The weather here is how it is today where we have Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. It was hot over Summer and cold over Winter. We did not have phones back then which made it difficult but how we communicated was just at school or went over and knocked on our friend's door to come out.
The weddings in the town were very fun, they actually took 2 - 3 days altogether. At the wedding we danced, talked, drank, and ate. There was also live music and all of us played the accordion, which was really fun. Bur prior to the wedding all the girls went to the bride's house to help her get ready and after we went out to eat. This included all the bridesmaids, friends and mom. Then after eating we went to the wedding and got everything started, but the bride and groom didn't see each other before the wedding because it was considered bad luck. But sadly there were also funerals, before the funeral we met up at their house, giving our apologies and seeing everyone's depressed looks.
We also had a couple holidays that we celebrated in our town. The main one was Easter where our family went to church and lit candles. We also said our prayers and after that was done we did our fun traditional egg fighting. One really fun holiday was called Vartivoor, which was held in July. This day all we did was wet our family and friends and pull pranks on them with water. Then New Years is exactly how it is today where we went to each other's houses and did our countdown for The New Years. We danced a lot this day and just spent time with our friends and family. Shazand has been a great experience for me and taught me the values of life coming from a small town to Glendale.