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| The line of people on the hill are dancing |
Kurdish New Year starts on March 21 every year (coinciding with the spring equinox).
My Kurdish friends tell met his celebration began thousands of years ago when they were freed from an evil oppressive king. The legend states that the man who went to kill this king said he would light a fire on the mountain if he was successful.
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| Musicians make a living by traveling between groups of picnickers to provide live dancing music |
So, it's a celebration of freedom and light and new things. Every year on the eve of Newroz the Kurds light fires to commemorate the evil king's downfall and then they gather for three days of picnics, wearing brightly colored and sparkly traditional Kurdish clothes, and dancing.
This year I eagerly put on my traditional Kurdish dress and went on 4 different picnics with 4 different families. And I couldn't get enough!
Day 1 it rained, but that didn't stop us from dancing or eating the yummy food.
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| Iprax is vegetables (zucchini, tomato, onion, eggplant, bell pepper) stuffed with a mixture of rice and minced lamb and boiled in oil, water, and sumac (a sour seed). |
Day 2 we went up into the mountains where there was still snow.
Day 3 and 4 the weather was sunny and beautiful. On Day 3 I drove and we even stopped to dance on the side of the road on the way to this beautiful picnic spot pictured below.
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