U.S. Flag at Night

Port of Portland

http://www.portofportland.com

Portland, City of Bikes

Portland Bus Mall

If you like to know more about the history of Portland Bus Mall, click here.

Beacon Rock Hike

Columbia River Gorge

Portland, City of Roses

International Day of Peace

The International Day of Peace occurs annually on September 21. It is dedicated to peace, or specifically the absence of war. The first year this holiday was celebrated was 1981. To inaugurate the day, the "Peace Bell" is rung at UN Headquarters. The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents. It was given as a gift by the Diet of Japan, and is referred to as "a reminder of the human cost of war." The inscription on its side reads: "Long live absolute world peace."

You see, I forgot it was my blog's birthday

Yesterday was my blog's birthday. I landed in America exactly one year ago on September 19, 2008. One year has passed and I have had such wonderful experience that not so many Iranians can have. I have learned so many things in this country. I want to thank everyone who has helped me through out this way and who has tought me something. I'm just happy and I feel I'm older as much as one year. Actually in this one year, I've learned things more than a regular single year. Living all alone by myself in a country far away from my homeland, among people with a different culture than mine, making many friends from all around the world, studying full time and working at the same time, all have been amazing and great.

Still there are several more years for me to go to reach my goals. I hope I will keep posting photos and things about myself wherever I will be in next years. At least I know, I will be in Portland for one more year but after that who knows. Hopefully, things will work out well and I will get into UC Berkeley. If this happens, then I will start my Berkeley Daily Photos and that would keep me busy for four more years. After that, I really don't know what I will be doing. My plan is looking for an academic job somewhere in the world, in Iran, Europe, Australia or in the US. There is still a long way to go.

By the way, happy birthday Portland Daily Photos! Thank you all for visiting, commenting and supporting. The above photo has been taken by one of my friends, Keivan, while he was visiting the city of Yazd, Iran. The photo shows inside of a traditional type of houses in desert regions of Iran.

Happy "Eide Fetr"

Eide Fetr (in Farsi) or Eid ul-Fitr (in Arabic) is a long day feast that marks the end of Ramadan. In the culture of Iran, Eid is a highly personal event. Charity is important in this day. Visiting the elderly and gathering with families and friends is also very common. Typically, each family gives food to those in need in this day. I've heard this year the amount of money that each person should donate is calculated to be $1.5. Let's assume half of the population of Iran (total population is 70 million) pay their donations. So at the end of the day, $52.5 million will be collected for charity.