We all have stories that we can share

In several of these blogs I take the huge liberty of writing about people I’ve encountered. This is through my own eyes based on my own history and experience. There will be other parallel, very different stories that each one of them might tell on their own terms with their own histories and experiences. At the same time, at a particular level, they might be very similar with just different detail. 

This is the very important sentiment expressed in Saussan-e Ghahremani-Ghajar’s Iranian primary school textbook opening:

The Turtle in our stories travels to different places, she talks to different people, she tells us about other people’s stories, and she tells her own stories that are usually my/our stories too!

In the first lesson one of the turtles travels to South America to visit her aunt. If one of the pupils asks how that can be, the answer is ‘why not?’.

Reference: Secrets of the turtle, Tehran, Iran: Centre for International Scientific Studies & Collaboration, 2009, page 1