A couple months ago I took an hour to explore Westwood Blvd. in between Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds. This area is the economic center of the Los Angeles Persian (Iranian) community - affectionately known as "Tehrangeles." Above is a photo of Westwood Blvd. looking north towards Westwood Village.
As I mentioned in the previous post, there are dozens of Persian owned business, shops, and restaruants along Westwood Blvd. I particularly liked the "Jordan Market".
This is reminiscent of small neighborhood grocercy stores once found throughout the United States, and are still common in other parts of the world, including - I assume - Iran. I liked seeing the colorful fruit in baskets out front.
Ever have saffron or rose (or is it saffron and rose?) flavored ice cream? A friend of mine (who is not Persian) tried it - said it tasted terrible! Must be an acquired taste.
The local bookstore featured foam Persian alphabet foam mats for kids. In addition to learning A, B, C's, Persian-Americans can make sure their kids learn their Z, D, X's (I looked up the first three letters of the Persian alphabet on-line).
A poster in the same bookstore, highlighting the culture and history of Iran (Persia).
As a Christian, I'm also reminded that Persia is mentioned several times by the Hebrew Prophet Daniel, and is the origin of the Wise Men (the "Kings of the East") cited in the gospel accounts.
According to rawstory.com
Although Iranians are commonly thought of as mainly Muslims, there are populations of Jews, Bahai’s, Armenian and Nestorian (Assyrian) Christians, Zoroastrians and various Sufi orders of Iranians in Los Angeles.
Although Iranians are commonly thought of as mainly Muslims, there are populations of Jews, Bahai’s, Armenian and Nestorian (Assyrian) Christians, Zoroastrians and various Sufi orders of Iranians in Los Angeles.
There's also a small but growing non-denominational Iranian Church meeting a couple of miles away at 505 N Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Here's their link - with information in both English and Farsi.
Tehrangeles: a reminder to me to extend peace, shalom, solh to the Iranians in our city.
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2 comments:
Shalom is Hebrew. While you are correct in addressing a large majority of the Persian population in West Los Angeles (specifically Westwood and Beverly Hills) in Hebrew, as this is the primary area where Persian Jews live today, there is also a large Muslim Persian population in Los Angeles, of which a good number also live near Westwood, but also in parts of the San Fernando Valley. To them, 'Salamati' would mean peace in Farsi, (while Salam means hello).
Thank you so much for the comment - and clarification.
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