Syria Edition
World Careful Driver Day leads today's complete edition for Syria.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
A day for buses, taxis, rideshare cars, delivery vans, trucks, bicycles, scooters, and everyone trusting strangers on the road.
Yalda is one of the oldest continuous celebrations in Syria, dating back to ancient Mesopotamia. The word "Yalda" means "birth" in Syriac, and the celebration marks the longest night of the year : and the triumph of light over darkness. The tradition is to stay awake all night, gathered around the korsi (a low table with a brazier underneath), eating red foods that symbolize the dawn: watermelon, pomegranate, and dried red fruits. The pomegranate is split open and its seeds are scattered : a symbol of abundance and fertility. Poetry is read, stories are told, and the oldest member of the family reads from the Divan of Hafez or the Shahnameh. Yalda is celebrated by Syrians of all faiths : Muslim, Christian, Alawite, and Kurdish : and it is a reminder that the cultural traditions of Syria predate any single religion. The watermelon, preserved from summer, is the centrepiece of the Yalda table, and the pomegranate is the symbol of the night.
The foods of Yalda are not arbitrary : they are deeply symbolic. The red foods (watermelon, pomegranate, dried red fruits) symbolize the crimson of dawn and the triumph of light over darkness. The watermelon, preserved from summer, is the centrepiece of the Yalda table, and the belief is that if you eat watermelon on Yalda night, you will be protected from illness all winter. The pomegranate is split open and its seeds are scattered : a symbol of abundance and fertility. Other Yalda foods include ajil (a mix of nuts and dried fruits), shalgham (turnip pickles), and halva. The oldest member of the family reads from the Divan of Hafez or the Shahnameh, and the poetry is as important as the food. Yalda is celebrated by Syrians of all faiths : Muslim, Christian, Alawite, and Kurdish : and it is a reminder that the cultural traditions of Syria predate any single religion.
A day for mending the little thing before it becomes the expensive thing.
A day for the footwear that knows the job better than the person wearing it wants to admit.
You discover lemurs, tenrecs, and Réunion kestrels as the distinctive wildlife of this Indian Ocean island. You observe that residents commonly keep dogs, cats, and introduced species like chukar partridges as pets. ACADA celebrates the world's pets, and helps assure better care.
