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Aug
1
Yasmin Rahmani

A Home Away from Home

Here is an article I submitted for the Fulbright Applicant Blog.  Below is the introduction, and you can read the rest of the article here. Enjoy! The world begins and ends in Amrika. For my parents, that would be “um-REE-kah,” the Farsi-infused pronunciation of America. This was my family’s motto when we joined the multitude of transplanted souls who traded the familiarity of home for an embryonic...
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Jul
14
Yasmin Rahmani

A letter to my grandfather

Baba-Fazlollah-joon, More than anything, I wanted your recognition. I wanted to catch the twinkle of pride in your eyes (like we used to catch fireflies, remember?). You always had such high expectations. Mom never liked it, but I did.  Your limitless ambition flows in my blood, flooding dreams of daring scope that never run dry. I was busy growing up waiting for the day to make you proud. But you started fading...
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Apr
4
Yasmin Rahmani

Video: Fulbright Presentation

As I had promised, here is the video version of my presentation. For those of you who have not yet read the previous post, I traveled to Santander to present my research at the Fulbright midyear meeting.  It just barely covers all of the exciting work I’ve been involved with in the past year, but we were only given five-minutes to present.  I really enjoyed making this video, and for those of you interested,...
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Mar
25
Yasmin Rahmani

Las Fallas or Santander?

It’s truly an unfortunate predicament.  As a foreigner living in Valencia for the first time, missing Las Fallas is all but blasphemous.  It is arguably the most important week in Valencia.  However, thanks to some untimely planning, La Comisión Fulbright decided that this would be the week to have our obligatory mid-year meeting. Of course, only in Spain would a “mid” year meeting be held when the...
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Mar
21
Yasmin Rahmani

Norooz, Spanish Style

I miss Iran.  My memories are dated some 15-odd years, but they always manage to creep up on me.   Each has its own hidden trigger, buried deep within the dusty archives of my mind.  I never know when or what will set it off. Burning kerosene lamps.  Mona Lisa’s smile.  The black of asphalt.  Salty, burnt corn.  Water running in dirty streams. Meaningless to you, but these are the momentary sparks. ...
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Mar
8
Yasmin Rahmani

The art of keeping up with yesterday

The blog gods should punish me for this, but it was inevitable.  A quarter of a year has gone by, so where in the world is Yasmin? Did she fell off the face of the earth?  It would be a great excuse, but evidence of my presence on the social media map remains thanks to inferior means. And by inferior, I am referring to facebook status updates.  Ah yes, facebook, also known as the ultimate expression of procrastination. My...
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Nov
28
Yasmin Rahmani

Thanksgiving in Spain

As is the case with all past Thanksgivings, I always end up at someone else’s Thanksgiving dinner.  Why?  Well, for one, my parents have never cooked turkey.  Ever.  In fact, my mother hates it.  My grandparents sometimes get around to it, but my fragile little grandmother just can’t do a turkey like it ought to be done.  Besides, turkey done by Persians is simply not recommended.  And second,...
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Nov
18
Yasmin Rahmani

Stories from the couch

After our wonderful experience in Zaragoza with Spencer, I really wanted to take the role of the host with the Couch Surfing project.  I don’t recall how I ended up hearing about couch surfing, but I do remember that it was my nickname during my college years.  Okay, okay so it hasn’t been that long since I graduated, but it sure feels like it.  I lived about 20 miles away from my university in...
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Nov
15
Yasmin Rahmani

Tarjeta de Residencia

Por la primera vez, voy a escribir una entrada de blog en Español.  Aunque tenga miedo (a mis horrores con la gramática), voy a hacerlo  por fin.  Además, siempre hay errors. Estoy segura de eso, pero de todos modos, es una otra manera de practicar el español.  También es una forma muy buena para contar mis  aventuras a mis amigos Españoles (aquí en España y también en EE.UU.). Sin embargo, hay...
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Nov
12
Yasmin Rahmani

Hookah Happy

Hookah, pipa Turca, shisha, ghalyoon, or whatever lovely name you have for it, it’s as popular here as it is in the States.  If I recall correctly, it started in India and made it’s way to Iran, Turkey, and well, the rest of the world.  After about 3 months, I finally had a chance to enjoy one.  Daddy would be so proud of me!  I don’t smoke cigarettes and I really don’t like them,...
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