I come from...
Dear Don,
My name is Ali but friends call me Farhad and I come from the land of
Allah, that is ayatollahs or (Iran). It's very nice
to hear from someone in Whangarie (New Zealand), that ever wonderful
place with nice people, climate and beaches and the magical scenery.
We in Iran (Persia) speak Farsi or Persian, the language that's officially
the native tongue of over half the population (48,181463 as of October
1986, including approximately 2.6 million refugees from Afghanistan and
Iraq). It is spoken as a second language by the majority of the reminder
(Turkik, Arabic, Kirmanji ...). Which all originates from Indo-European
languages.
Compared to the Majestic Whangarie, Iran's northern Caspian region is
a favorite of mine. It's like a combination of your Tikipunga and Whangarei.
To the south of Iran there is also the Persian Gulf, full of warships of
all kind. It is hot and dry. During rush hour this particular waterway
reminds me of the streets of Manhattan (very crazy). For example, you can
be flying in the sky on board a passenger plane one minute and be blasted
to the smithereens the nex!
Iran (Persia) has a very diverse climate and cultural heritage that
goes back to the Achaemenids (550-330 B.C.) . Today the Islamic Republic
of Iran is still in awe of the distinguished Shahanshahi (king's) empire
that stretched from the Aegean cost of Asia Minor to Afghanistan to Egypt.
It took men such as Alexander, Tamarlane and Khomeini to change its destiny,
that is democratically speaking!
You asked
if today wrestling is our most favorite sport? Many years back in Persia
they favored polo then there was wrestling and, to be honest with you,
today it's soccer. I don't want to mention any names of tennis champions
here ["Andre
the great"].
You said
your favorite sport is rugby. According to tradition, rugby football originated
from soccer played at Rugby school in Rugby England in 1823 when William
Webb Ellis (no relation to the WWW but close enough) broke the rules of
soccer by picking up the ball and running like hell mainly to get away
from others!
Ali Pourshariati
New York City
