This post originally appeared on my now defunct blog Gunsgobangbang.
I feel like I don’t know the country where my origins are from at all.
Iran – thousands of miles away, an ocean between us.
Born and raised in Canada, my exposure to Iranian culture has been solely through
my family and their tight knit 
group of friends.
I hardly have any Iranian friends, most are Canadian.
For the longest time I wished I didn’t have Iranian heritage, that I was simply Canadian like the rest. As I grew older I realized that being an individual is better than being the same.
But it’s difficult trying to connect to a country I know only a minimum of. Yes, yes, I follow the politics broadcasted on international news – but is that even accurately representing a culture?
Last year, I wrote a profile on Abjeez for McClung’smagazine. Abjeez is an Iranian sister-duo based in Sweden. They play reggae-flamenco-Persian inspired music and a lot of their lyrics are oriented around what it’s like being young in Iran. They sing about the youth-drug problem and how old archaic traditions can be limiting and suffocating. After writing the article, I wanted to know more about the culture but didn’t know where to turn.
The political situation in Iran sucks, I think we all know that, but what about the people? What about the youth? What are they like? Besides young men rocking rooster-hair cuts (thanks Vicemagazine for filling me in) what’s the culture like there?
I think it’s important to learn about your heritage, so I’m going to start.
In the meanwhile, here’s some amazing Iranian-operatic-gypsy-jazz-ska-pop 127 Band.
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