Hello everyone. Today is 06-30-2010 and about 9:00a.m. We are leaving at about 11a.m to go to Esfehan and Shiraz for a week so I decided to write one more entry before leaving. I don’t know if I’ll get to write from there but if not I will definitely write much more when I get back.
Thursday June 24th was really the first day we were here in Iran as the night before was the first time we had slept. It was to say the least a LONG day. But I’ve learned that with the schedule planned out for us three over these weeks every day is JAMMED packed. I feel like I am learning a bit about how much I can do in Europe in a single day. There are essentially two blocks of time throughout the day it seems so you can do two things a day AT MOST. I probably will need to do one thing a day occasionally in Europe and make that “second” thing rest.
Anywho, the day started with the same breakfast as yesterday and really everyday here in Iran. A simple but delicious breakfast of FRESH bread, milk, cheese, honey, and various jams (strawberry today). Now when I say jam it is not some store-bought, packaged, jam. EVERY time I say jam it is home-made jam cooked with TWO ingredients: fresh fruit, and sugar. And when I say fresh fruit I mean hand-picked from a near-by farm a few days ago so if it is not in season you are out of luck. E.g. oranges only come in beginning of winter, strawberries only in summer, and ect. A side-note on strawberries, they are WAAAAY smaller than the ones in America. Apparently that is the real size I hear but I’ve never seen strawberries this small. They are about twice the size of American blackberries but taste delicious. The same amount of sugar that the plant makes and puts in the strawberry is spread out over a much smaller fruit. YUM.
Anywho, after breakfast, the daughter of our family friend took us to the museum of Iranian art. The entrance fee? 50 cents each. Yeah. I feel riiich here. At first I was soo tired and a bit reluctant to go but didn’t say anything and went. I was soo tired from the travel and the lack of sleep but I didn’t want to miss out on this. I’m glad I went though. There were many ceramic bowls and cups and utensils from various periods of the Persian empire. Some dated back to 5,000B.C. I think it is cool that Iran has some sort of history. As much as America can try, we are 300 years old at best. Yes, I realized here that I’m really an American with Iranian influences. Like an artist with a dead mother or something. He/she is affected by that past and I with mine, but he/she is still an artist and I am still an American. (cue team America song: America, FUCK YEAH!!).
Anywho, back to the museum of Iranian art. Outside of little ceramic bowls and the things you can imagine easily needed throughout one day, there were a few GIANT ceramic bowls. I mean bowls that would fit two of me. Ceramic bowls made 7,000 years ago that are that large. Without machines I cannot fathom how they made such a thing. Now you may ask why would they need such a big bowl? Well start thinking about all the issues a society may have had that long ago. There was no plumbing and this bowl was probably used as a storage compartment for water. Another possible use is for storing grain after harvest. The uses are endless.
The upstairs of this museum was a VERY interesting exhibit devoted to works of women. I was pleasantly surprised at the space and detail given to works of women. A lot of the works were sculptures made to represent and bring luck to fertility. There was also a mural spanning an entire wall, about 20ft. by 30 ft., that depicted many different scenes of war. It was my first time seeing a mural in person and actually paying attention to the detail. It was pretty rad.
From there we walked to the museum of Iranian glassware. It was about a 15 minute walk and I learned a few things about walking in the streets of Tehran. First, ALWAYS walk in the shade when you can. At first I was strolling along in the middle of the sidewalk because it was not that hot and there was a nice cool breeze but suddenly I realized I am burning. The sun is always direct and hot and everyone walks in even the tiniest amounts of shade a building or tree provides. It is really a cool thing to see actually and took me a bit to notice but most of the sidewalk will be pretty close to empty, except an occasional scooter going by, and everyone will be walking hugging the few feet shaded by the buildings. It makes for interesting time passing an on-coming person as they also try to remain in the shade so two people will pass within inches of each other when the rest of the sidewalk is empty. The second lesson I learned is always look where you are walking and point out to your group various holes and cracks and listen out for warnings. Walking the sidewalks is like walking a mine-field. There will be an occasional stack of blocks right in the middle or a pot-hole.
Anyway, the entrance fee to the glassware museum was again 50 cents and we went in and looked at some really cool glassware. From tiny glassware used to hold make-up, perfume, and ink for writing to larger glassware made for eating, drinking, decorative and so on. The entire museum was set in a palace and it was cool actually seeing how a person used to live here. You could tell what the various rooms were, but I wish it had writing of what they actually were. There is something neat about seeing old pieces of art in an old building it may have been used in not as art but as functional pieces.
After the museum we went over to my mom’s friend’s place for lunch. The 25 minute cab ride there cost $1.50. Taxi’s here FTW. I paid the guy $2 and my mom flipped a gasket until I made her realize it was 50 cents extra and it really doesn’t matter to us but for him it is pretty significant. The lunch we had was simple as we had not really made plans to go there but it was AMAZING as it was the first time in 12 years we all had sat together. The only person missing from the table was my dad and for one of the first times in my life his absence was missed. After lunch the perfect lunch was capped off by watching video of Pega’s (My mom’s friend’s daughter who took us to the museums) first birthday no 20 years later. The video was choppy and starting to fade but for the first time it made me realize that the annoying times my dad and uncles spent video-tapping us will actually come to good use. As annoying as it may be I will probably have to video-tape my kids also and be one of those dads because watching and laughing with the same people as in the video now 20 years later is pretty neat.
After lunch we came home and another one of my mom’s friends visited us. She is a real-estate broker and she told me stories of how some people here have SERIOUS money. She made me realize that the gap between rich and poor is FAR FAR FAR wider in Iran than America.
At night we went to an extravagant wedding of a second cousin. But the relations here don’t actually reflect closeness as a lot of people grow up next to each other or often in each other’s houses so second and third cousins sometimes are much more closer than you may think. The wedding was beautiful and so was the 17 year old bride. The tables were full of fruits and pastries and pistachios and cashews. The wedding “started” at 7p.m on paper but we got there at 8:30p.m and were one of the first to arrive and the guests didn’t really roll in until 10p.m with the bride coming around that time also. The concept of time, and on-time, is a lot different here.
The live band played many Iranian songs and amidst the repetitive “3, 2, 1” countdowns and “put your hands up” (both of which don’t sound that funny until you hear them in Farsi) me, my sister, my mom, and my aunt danced for a few minutes together. It was fun. The bride and groom had a 15minute feature film of their love-story set to songs including 50 cents “candy shop.” Yeah, I’m PRETTTTTY sure they either didn’t know what 50 meant in the song when he said “I’ll take you to the candy shop.” Oh well.
Around 11:20p.m the wedding was over and they gave dinner. Because there were not enough tables, there, as more people usually end up showing up to weddings than are actually invited, parents had sent kids to get tables. Many kids were vocal that these tables were taken and one kid, no more than 10, was protecting two tables aggressively. We came by one table with a kid no more than 5 and sat down. He didn’t really say anything but after we all sat down he ran off. You could tell he was told to protect that table and he had failed. He would OBVIOUSLY be yelled at for not being able to hold the table but that is the way it goes I guess. Such a thing makes the 10 year old protect the table so much more aggressively. The kid learns.
Throughout the night a number of people, most of whom I didn’t recognize came by and said hello and told me stories of me being a little kid. I have NO CLUE how they remember so many people and so vividly. Iranians seem to be the master of public relations. They either know exactly who you are or know who to ask before coming to see you so they seem to know exactly who you are. It is really interesting to see.
We finally got home around 2a.m from the wedding and I EXHAUSTINGLY went to asleep.
Note to self for Europe vacation: MAKE SURE TO NOT DO TOO MUCH EVERY DAY. I will burn out.
-NZ
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
06-21-2010 to 06-23-2010
Hey everyone. This is the second entry I’m making on 06-29-2010 starting about 2p.m and is about my trip from America to Iran on 06-21-2010 to 06-23-2010, yes it took three days.
My journal entries are bullet points I have made about my day’s experiences as I learned immediately if I were to write the entire story every time I would need many hours each night, many journals, and would likely give up. However I will turn these bullet-points into stories here.
Our (Me, my sister Narges, and my mom Fariba) trip to Iran started at about 10:15a.m on Monday the 21st when the shuttle driver came to drive us from Campbell to SFO. I was exhausted as I had stayed up the ENTIRE night the previous night to finish packing and making sure I will not forget anything. Also I was just trying to be as tired as possible for the flight so I can sleep the entire way.
We got to SFO at around 11:30, I slept the entire way, and we waited in line for about an hour to check-in our bags and check into our flights. The line for on-line checked-in people was about 1/10th as long. My mom and sister had ignored e-mails suggesting on-line check-in. I don’t understand why, but I think it’s interesting even though on-line check-in exists, and reminders are sent, so many people just ignore the convenience. We waited in the security line with excitement and got through without a problem. SFO is a madness and the attendants seem rude and forceful to get things done and you through as soon as possible (this was to become evident only later). Anywho, it was still two hours before our flight to Frankfurt but with such a trip you cannot risk being late. We had lunch at the café there and I watched a world-cup match. I don’t remember which one it was since I was so tired.
Once we boarded our plane, Lufthansa was the carrier, I realized how lucky I had gotten. We got one of the first rows in the economy class and there was no seat in front of me so I had essentially a first class seat. There was ample leg-room and that made the trip a lot better. I had a carry-on back-pack, REI-Flash 16 pack, to carry some stuff onto the plane. Although I was wearing shorts for the flight, in the back-pack I had a pair of pants because in Iran you cannot wear shorts in public. True story. I also had my Europe guidebooks (Lets-go Europe 2010 and Rough-guide to first time in Europe), my iPod-touch (which I learned after 10 minutes into the flight I had not charged), contact solution (the flight is 12 hours and I was planning on sleeping most of the time), a jacket (I ended up using for taking a nap), and my wallet and passports.
I spent the entire 12 hour flight to Germany asleep or reading my Rough-guide book or eating. The flight-attendants continually roamed the halls bringing food and snacks and drinks. I had myself three or four drinks, not including the two glasses of wine with dinner, throughout the flight. It was all “free” (if you don’t count the ticket price). I ended up reading about 190 pages during this time and slept the rest. I was not interested in any of the movies playing and I wanted to prepare for my trip throughout Europe after these few weeks in Iran. It was an interesting choice reading this book on the flight out as most of the book was about the things to bring with yourself and things to do to prepare for your vacation. Luckily I had done many of them, such as start a journal, get comfortable clothing, make copies of passport, driver-license, and credit cards, and buy a guidebook. There were a few things I had not done, like made a first-aid kit, which I will hopefully do before my time in Iran is up.
Since we were flying in an arch, our entire flight was day-light. Flying east also meant speeding up the time and we got to Germany around 4 or 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday the 22. The interesting thing about Frankfurt airport was that it was just as busy as SFO but it seemed orders of magnitude more calm. It was really interesting to see the security personal not rush you through security and when we all asked the person if we should take off our shoes she looked at us, smiled, and said “if you want.” I had been in Germany for 5 minutes and I think I liked the no-stress attitude.
During our 8 hour lay-over we got ridiculously expensive airport food. Each of us bought a different kind of German sausage and ate off each other’s plates. Nothing was spectacular though food wise. However, I enjoyed a really interesting tasting German beer. I can’t put my finger on what the subtle taste was but I liked it.
After sleeping for another two hours next to our terminal, we boarded the 5 hour flight to Iran. The carrier was again Lufthansa and this time I watched a soccer movie, The Miracle of Bern, once in English and once in Germany (Das Wunder von Bern). I didn’t learn a word of German but I think I was in a high of travel and wanted to make an effort to not do something in English. It seems like EVERYONE knows English and even though it is good in a sort of way of you can communicate with everyone I also think it sucks. It kind of takes the specialness and uniqueness of English as a language. I mean like when you hear someone speak German you know that only some people from certain places in the world know that language so the person is likely from that region. Not English. EVERYONE knows English. Hearing them speak English tells you little to nothing about the person.
We finally landed in Iran at 1a.m Wednesday the 23rd. Even though we had rehearsed a list of questionnaire in case the airport security decided to be hard on us we got through with ZERO problems. We approached the counter terrified and literally all three of our passports were stamped in less than 15 seconds. The guy did not even respond to our hello and our thank you. I don’t even think he looked at us.
After waiting for about 45minutes next to the belt for our luggage our 6 pieces finally came out one by one. This time we lined up in the customs line and again prepared and terrified the people were going to open our bags, search through our stuff, and pick some stupid thing to cling onto. My mom had even told me if they ask you to throw away your guidebook (there are pictures of women in there), that I should do it. I had responded with a half-hearted ok as I did not want to have to actually argue with her AND the security guy about the fact that I needed that for later. However, once again we went through with ZERO troubles. It was interesting and refreshing site.
We met with our family (my aunt, uncle, and my mom’s high-school friend who with her husband and two kids similar in age to me and my sister has become like an extended family) and said our hellos. It was thrilling to see them again. Although by now it was 3a.m the airport was very busy and when we got to the car my first real laughing/shock moment came. All cars, including our car, were double parked. With police right there I was confused how this was ok but I was told that when parking is scarce this is normal. You just leave your car in neutral and if the person being blocked comes back they push your car a bit out of their way and then get into their own car. I couldn’t believe this is how they dealt with parking but I quickly learned this was not my final driving surprise.
On the way home on the freeway I saw a car that had missed its exit backing up. I noticed most of the road have no lanes, and if they do it is not uncommon AT ALL to drive in the middle even if there is no cars around. And even though it was 3a.m and very little cars were out flashing of high-beams and horns were aplenty. I was not used to this kind of driving but I understood that the horn and light-flashes are not a sign of anger but rather a signal for the other driver of presence and approach. However, they can both be used for anger but it is clear when that is the case. For example with a quick flash of the light the car going slightly slower than us went right and a bit later with a quick hunk of our horn the car merging onto the freeway slowed down and glided behind us. The driving is TERRIFYING here, but at the same time slightly safer than it looks. People seem to fully understand the etiquette and language of driving. One of the most interesting things to me is a count-down clock for red-light and green-lights. It counts down to the next light. I did not understand the necessity of this at first since it was 3a.m when we were driving home but in the coming days it became evident that right after a light changes from green and about 10 seconds before it changes from red again to green the color is meaningless. Cars start going if stopped and if going they do not stop. It is nearly impossible to comprehend the extent of weirdness in driving here.
When we finally got near my aunt’s house, I finally began to see familiar things and recognize familiar places. The country as a whole had changed a lot. There was significantly more development going on now and the roads were much more advanced. My aunt’s house had changed a lot since I left also. There was a modern A/C, brand new fridge, brand new dishwasher, and although from the outside the house looks like a house you would expect in a 3rd world country, the insides are very similar (at least on the surface) to any 21st century home. It was interesting to see such modern equipment in her house.
When we got back around 4a.m you would think it was time to asleep but that is not ANYWEHRE near the case. Having been away from some of these people for 12 years we stayed up talking and exchanging stories and as some left for work, others woke up and came over for a visit. We talked and ate breakfast at 7a.m. Me and my aunt walked over to the corner and bought fresh baked bread. It was the same bakery me and my grandma gone to for many years during my childhood. When I was a kid the baker would give me a personal mini bread, but my aunt said he is old now and does not always come to work. We had breakfast of honey, cheese, jam, tea, and bread. Even though sounds simple, it was SOOOO good. And although I had not slept right for about 72 hours, the enthusiasm of others was giving me energy as we were all up throughout the day with people coming by to say hello and spend some time with us.
After a quick nap, we got up around 2p.m to go to the local markets to shop. The exchange rate is about 1-1,000 so it is easy to convert and name prices in dollars. Because of inflation, shopping at local markets had some tricks to it that may even be transferrable to western world. For example, my aunt rounded up prices by asking for extra bags to be added to price so she can get only bills back and not coins.
Another thing that fascinated me was the pace to life. At another local market the “cashier” was on the phone with a friend it seemed while he weighted the fresh produce of one person (entering their price from memory), and exchanging money with the previous person he had rung up (remembering what the previous price was and what change he needs to give). I was baffled how he was able to do all this. At another market, when asked for 3kg of cherries (about $2 a kg), the 12 year old who was working there eye-balled a bag of cherries for us which he weighted to be 2.97kg.
Although I can speak the language, these little things that I continually see (driving style, behavior at local markets), make me feel like a total outsider here more than I ever thought I would. People continually talk to COMPLETE strangers for directions to places, prices of items at other stores, quality of items here. It is interesting to see this style of life.
We got back from the store and made dinner with the fresh bought produce and ate the fresh-fruits. We went to bed around 9 or 10p.m I think. We deserved it.
This set of days were not very interesting in events and the writing was VERY VERY long because it was really the story of the three days it took for us to get to Iran. This is really a beautiful country filled with beautiful people. Just too bad there is SOOO much stress (as you will soon see).
-NZ
My journal entries are bullet points I have made about my day’s experiences as I learned immediately if I were to write the entire story every time I would need many hours each night, many journals, and would likely give up. However I will turn these bullet-points into stories here.
Our (Me, my sister Narges, and my mom Fariba) trip to Iran started at about 10:15a.m on Monday the 21st when the shuttle driver came to drive us from Campbell to SFO. I was exhausted as I had stayed up the ENTIRE night the previous night to finish packing and making sure I will not forget anything. Also I was just trying to be as tired as possible for the flight so I can sleep the entire way.
We got to SFO at around 11:30, I slept the entire way, and we waited in line for about an hour to check-in our bags and check into our flights. The line for on-line checked-in people was about 1/10th as long. My mom and sister had ignored e-mails suggesting on-line check-in. I don’t understand why, but I think it’s interesting even though on-line check-in exists, and reminders are sent, so many people just ignore the convenience. We waited in the security line with excitement and got through without a problem. SFO is a madness and the attendants seem rude and forceful to get things done and you through as soon as possible (this was to become evident only later). Anywho, it was still two hours before our flight to Frankfurt but with such a trip you cannot risk being late. We had lunch at the café there and I watched a world-cup match. I don’t remember which one it was since I was so tired.
Once we boarded our plane, Lufthansa was the carrier, I realized how lucky I had gotten. We got one of the first rows in the economy class and there was no seat in front of me so I had essentially a first class seat. There was ample leg-room and that made the trip a lot better. I had a carry-on back-pack, REI-Flash 16 pack, to carry some stuff onto the plane. Although I was wearing shorts for the flight, in the back-pack I had a pair of pants because in Iran you cannot wear shorts in public. True story. I also had my Europe guidebooks (Lets-go Europe 2010 and Rough-guide to first time in Europe), my iPod-touch (which I learned after 10 minutes into the flight I had not charged), contact solution (the flight is 12 hours and I was planning on sleeping most of the time), a jacket (I ended up using for taking a nap), and my wallet and passports.
I spent the entire 12 hour flight to Germany asleep or reading my Rough-guide book or eating. The flight-attendants continually roamed the halls bringing food and snacks and drinks. I had myself three or four drinks, not including the two glasses of wine with dinner, throughout the flight. It was all “free” (if you don’t count the ticket price). I ended up reading about 190 pages during this time and slept the rest. I was not interested in any of the movies playing and I wanted to prepare for my trip throughout Europe after these few weeks in Iran. It was an interesting choice reading this book on the flight out as most of the book was about the things to bring with yourself and things to do to prepare for your vacation. Luckily I had done many of them, such as start a journal, get comfortable clothing, make copies of passport, driver-license, and credit cards, and buy a guidebook. There were a few things I had not done, like made a first-aid kit, which I will hopefully do before my time in Iran is up.
Since we were flying in an arch, our entire flight was day-light. Flying east also meant speeding up the time and we got to Germany around 4 or 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday the 22. The interesting thing about Frankfurt airport was that it was just as busy as SFO but it seemed orders of magnitude more calm. It was really interesting to see the security personal not rush you through security and when we all asked the person if we should take off our shoes she looked at us, smiled, and said “if you want.” I had been in Germany for 5 minutes and I think I liked the no-stress attitude.
During our 8 hour lay-over we got ridiculously expensive airport food. Each of us bought a different kind of German sausage and ate off each other’s plates. Nothing was spectacular though food wise. However, I enjoyed a really interesting tasting German beer. I can’t put my finger on what the subtle taste was but I liked it.
After sleeping for another two hours next to our terminal, we boarded the 5 hour flight to Iran. The carrier was again Lufthansa and this time I watched a soccer movie, The Miracle of Bern, once in English and once in Germany (Das Wunder von Bern). I didn’t learn a word of German but I think I was in a high of travel and wanted to make an effort to not do something in English. It seems like EVERYONE knows English and even though it is good in a sort of way of you can communicate with everyone I also think it sucks. It kind of takes the specialness and uniqueness of English as a language. I mean like when you hear someone speak German you know that only some people from certain places in the world know that language so the person is likely from that region. Not English. EVERYONE knows English. Hearing them speak English tells you little to nothing about the person.
We finally landed in Iran at 1a.m Wednesday the 23rd. Even though we had rehearsed a list of questionnaire in case the airport security decided to be hard on us we got through with ZERO problems. We approached the counter terrified and literally all three of our passports were stamped in less than 15 seconds. The guy did not even respond to our hello and our thank you. I don’t even think he looked at us.
After waiting for about 45minutes next to the belt for our luggage our 6 pieces finally came out one by one. This time we lined up in the customs line and again prepared and terrified the people were going to open our bags, search through our stuff, and pick some stupid thing to cling onto. My mom had even told me if they ask you to throw away your guidebook (there are pictures of women in there), that I should do it. I had responded with a half-hearted ok as I did not want to have to actually argue with her AND the security guy about the fact that I needed that for later. However, once again we went through with ZERO troubles. It was interesting and refreshing site.
We met with our family (my aunt, uncle, and my mom’s high-school friend who with her husband and two kids similar in age to me and my sister has become like an extended family) and said our hellos. It was thrilling to see them again. Although by now it was 3a.m the airport was very busy and when we got to the car my first real laughing/shock moment came. All cars, including our car, were double parked. With police right there I was confused how this was ok but I was told that when parking is scarce this is normal. You just leave your car in neutral and if the person being blocked comes back they push your car a bit out of their way and then get into their own car. I couldn’t believe this is how they dealt with parking but I quickly learned this was not my final driving surprise.
On the way home on the freeway I saw a car that had missed its exit backing up. I noticed most of the road have no lanes, and if they do it is not uncommon AT ALL to drive in the middle even if there is no cars around. And even though it was 3a.m and very little cars were out flashing of high-beams and horns were aplenty. I was not used to this kind of driving but I understood that the horn and light-flashes are not a sign of anger but rather a signal for the other driver of presence and approach. However, they can both be used for anger but it is clear when that is the case. For example with a quick flash of the light the car going slightly slower than us went right and a bit later with a quick hunk of our horn the car merging onto the freeway slowed down and glided behind us. The driving is TERRIFYING here, but at the same time slightly safer than it looks. People seem to fully understand the etiquette and language of driving. One of the most interesting things to me is a count-down clock for red-light and green-lights. It counts down to the next light. I did not understand the necessity of this at first since it was 3a.m when we were driving home but in the coming days it became evident that right after a light changes from green and about 10 seconds before it changes from red again to green the color is meaningless. Cars start going if stopped and if going they do not stop. It is nearly impossible to comprehend the extent of weirdness in driving here.
When we finally got near my aunt’s house, I finally began to see familiar things and recognize familiar places. The country as a whole had changed a lot. There was significantly more development going on now and the roads were much more advanced. My aunt’s house had changed a lot since I left also. There was a modern A/C, brand new fridge, brand new dishwasher, and although from the outside the house looks like a house you would expect in a 3rd world country, the insides are very similar (at least on the surface) to any 21st century home. It was interesting to see such modern equipment in her house.
When we got back around 4a.m you would think it was time to asleep but that is not ANYWEHRE near the case. Having been away from some of these people for 12 years we stayed up talking and exchanging stories and as some left for work, others woke up and came over for a visit. We talked and ate breakfast at 7a.m. Me and my aunt walked over to the corner and bought fresh baked bread. It was the same bakery me and my grandma gone to for many years during my childhood. When I was a kid the baker would give me a personal mini bread, but my aunt said he is old now and does not always come to work. We had breakfast of honey, cheese, jam, tea, and bread. Even though sounds simple, it was SOOOO good. And although I had not slept right for about 72 hours, the enthusiasm of others was giving me energy as we were all up throughout the day with people coming by to say hello and spend some time with us.
After a quick nap, we got up around 2p.m to go to the local markets to shop. The exchange rate is about 1-1,000 so it is easy to convert and name prices in dollars. Because of inflation, shopping at local markets had some tricks to it that may even be transferrable to western world. For example, my aunt rounded up prices by asking for extra bags to be added to price so she can get only bills back and not coins.
Another thing that fascinated me was the pace to life. At another local market the “cashier” was on the phone with a friend it seemed while he weighted the fresh produce of one person (entering their price from memory), and exchanging money with the previous person he had rung up (remembering what the previous price was and what change he needs to give). I was baffled how he was able to do all this. At another market, when asked for 3kg of cherries (about $2 a kg), the 12 year old who was working there eye-balled a bag of cherries for us which he weighted to be 2.97kg.
Although I can speak the language, these little things that I continually see (driving style, behavior at local markets), make me feel like a total outsider here more than I ever thought I would. People continually talk to COMPLETE strangers for directions to places, prices of items at other stores, quality of items here. It is interesting to see this style of life.
We got back from the store and made dinner with the fresh bought produce and ate the fresh-fruits. We went to bed around 9 or 10p.m I think. We deserved it.
This set of days were not very interesting in events and the writing was VERY VERY long because it was really the story of the three days it took for us to get to Iran. This is really a beautiful country filled with beautiful people. Just too bad there is SOOO much stress (as you will soon see).
-NZ
June 29, 2010
Hey everyone. Today is June 29, 2010 at around noon. Our time difference, if you are in the West-coast, is 11.5 hours. Sorry I have not made an entry sooner but as I had suspected there are two HUGE logistical issues with making blog entries (and uploading photos) here in Iran.
ONE, access to the internet is horrendous at best. It is both pretty slow AND cuts in and out more than you could EVER imagine. Nothing is ever done with one click. I use the refresh button more times in an hour here than I do in probably a year in the U.S and I see every error message imaginable on a session basis. This makes checking e-mail, uploading pictures, sending g-voice text-messages (my number is 858-754-9349 if you care to message me), checking facebook, and really all the things you do in about 15 minutes at home turn into a complete adventure that takes couple of hours and gives me an ulcer. And even if the internet works, you never know when the electricity will cut out. I had a page and a half written when the electricity power cut out for about 10 seconds and I lost this entry. The lights stay on but the power of the current I guess goes below some threshold and the computer shuts off. Either way I am now writing on Word, with auto-save on at 1minute intervals and Ctrl+S following every period. Lesson learned.
TWO, I have close to ZERO control over my own schedule. My days and hours are planned to the minute by minute basis by my aunt and mom and although part of that is fun, as I get see many people and do many things without having to worry about planning any of it, it leaves me very little time to do what I want, when I want. Life lesson number one from this trip, being part of a extensive tour group over a number of days is NOT RECOMMENDED. You have fun but you have no freedom. Iran is a theocracy, its individual family units seem to be a reflection. I “saved” this morning for myself about 4 days ago and have had to fight and argue over two plans made that included me throughout this day. I hate having to be curt but I can only take so much ordering around.
With all that, I have actually been good with keeping up with my own journal. I make sure to do it as everyone is going to asleep or a few minutes at a time when others are busy. Free-time to myself has been scarce at best. Furthermore, I cannot upload the entries I make at night because the computer is in the living room and my aunt and uncle sleep here, as they have turned the two bedrooms into mini-hostels for us. Since I have a lot of time today, until 5p.m, I am going to make a number of entries today but will schedule blogspot to roll them out one at a time over the next few days.
I will title the entries based on the day they are coming from. I apologize if my entries are not as organized as they can be, I do not have THAT much time to proof-read and make sure my entries have a great flow and I think I rather get more entries out there (both for myself and those who are following) than to get one or two entries out there worrying about it being perfect. I also apologize if they go off on rants and tangents. As you will see life here is pretty stressful and I may inadvertently use this place to vent, I can see it coming. Read it, skip it, do as you wish. As I’ve told my sister and mom, I am so glad I will have the six weeks of Europe to actually relax afterwards and be with myself.
-NZ
ONE, access to the internet is horrendous at best. It is both pretty slow AND cuts in and out more than you could EVER imagine. Nothing is ever done with one click. I use the refresh button more times in an hour here than I do in probably a year in the U.S and I see every error message imaginable on a session basis. This makes checking e-mail, uploading pictures, sending g-voice text-messages (my number is 858-754-9349 if you care to message me), checking facebook, and really all the things you do in about 15 minutes at home turn into a complete adventure that takes couple of hours and gives me an ulcer. And even if the internet works, you never know when the electricity will cut out. I had a page and a half written when the electricity power cut out for about 10 seconds and I lost this entry. The lights stay on but the power of the current I guess goes below some threshold and the computer shuts off. Either way I am now writing on Word, with auto-save on at 1minute intervals and Ctrl+S following every period. Lesson learned.
TWO, I have close to ZERO control over my own schedule. My days and hours are planned to the minute by minute basis by my aunt and mom and although part of that is fun, as I get see many people and do many things without having to worry about planning any of it, it leaves me very little time to do what I want, when I want. Life lesson number one from this trip, being part of a extensive tour group over a number of days is NOT RECOMMENDED. You have fun but you have no freedom. Iran is a theocracy, its individual family units seem to be a reflection. I “saved” this morning for myself about 4 days ago and have had to fight and argue over two plans made that included me throughout this day. I hate having to be curt but I can only take so much ordering around.
With all that, I have actually been good with keeping up with my own journal. I make sure to do it as everyone is going to asleep or a few minutes at a time when others are busy. Free-time to myself has been scarce at best. Furthermore, I cannot upload the entries I make at night because the computer is in the living room and my aunt and uncle sleep here, as they have turned the two bedrooms into mini-hostels for us. Since I have a lot of time today, until 5p.m, I am going to make a number of entries today but will schedule blogspot to roll them out one at a time over the next few days.
I will title the entries based on the day they are coming from. I apologize if my entries are not as organized as they can be, I do not have THAT much time to proof-read and make sure my entries have a great flow and I think I rather get more entries out there (both for myself and those who are following) than to get one or two entries out there worrying about it being perfect. I also apologize if they go off on rants and tangents. As you will see life here is pretty stressful and I may inadvertently use this place to vent, I can see it coming. Read it, skip it, do as you wish. As I’ve told my sister and mom, I am so glad I will have the six weeks of Europe to actually relax afterwards and be with myself.
-NZ
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Introduction
Hey everyone.
Per request form a number of people, and a selfish desire to document my trip, I am setting up this blog for my upcoming trip abroad to Iran and Europe. I am going to be backpacking throughout Iran and Europe for the next 9 weeks from this coming Monday, June 21, 2010 until Monday, August 23, 2010. I have a personal journal that I will be updating EVERY day and I will digitize my entries into this blog as I have time.
Because my journal only requires a paper and pen while this blog requires an internet connection and a computer, I am most likely not going to update this daily. If you would like daily updates, please follow my twitter.
HERE WE GOOOOO!!!!
P.S. About the Ads: Since I think a few of my friends will be looking at my blog throughout my travels I have enabled Ads on this blog. HOWEVER, 100% of money I earn from this will be donated to charity. This is the same rule as with my other blog, myzlog.blogspot.com.
Per request form a number of people, and a selfish desire to document my trip, I am setting up this blog for my upcoming trip abroad to Iran and Europe. I am going to be backpacking throughout Iran and Europe for the next 9 weeks from this coming Monday, June 21, 2010 until Monday, August 23, 2010. I have a personal journal that I will be updating EVERY day and I will digitize my entries into this blog as I have time.
Because my journal only requires a paper and pen while this blog requires an internet connection and a computer, I am most likely not going to update this daily. If you would like daily updates, please follow my twitter.
HERE WE GOOOOO!!!!
P.S. About the Ads: Since I think a few of my friends will be looking at my blog throughout my travels I have enabled Ads on this blog. HOWEVER, 100% of money I earn from this will be donated to charity. This is the same rule as with my other blog, myzlog.blogspot.com.
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