MSU
Among all of the tables set out for the Office for International Students and Scholars, or OISS, weekly Coffee Hour, one table stuck out vividly among the rest.
While other tables offered different coffee varieties on simple black tablecloths, the Yalda table was festively decorated to reflect Persian traditions with purple and gold candles, and traditional food and drink such as pomegranate seeds, a specially-carved watermelon and Persian tea — all set on decorative red, blue and gold fabrics.
“The difficult part was designing the watermelon, you see,” Persian Student Association president Fariborz Daneshvar said, who skyped with his family on the actual holiday — the Persian equivalent of Thanksgiving — which took place Dec. 21.
Daneshvar, along with roughly 70 other Iranian students at MSU, celebrated the holiday away from his family. While it was disheartening for Daneshvar to be so far from home, he said he was happy the OISS helped him celebrate his Iranian culture on campus.