Hi everyone,
Just another quick one to keep you in the loop.
Yes, there were mass demonstrations yesterday, but of course I was no-where near them.
Honestly, I am fine, everyone I know is also fine, and I will continue to update you all as things move along.
If only we could get some work done! :)
Monday, June 15, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Holy crap I’m living in a movie set.
I woke up this morning to find piles of burning rubbish spaced out between the dormitory buildings. I thought “woah, the girls must have been angry last night”. Then I walked through the guard room and onto the street.
There is the smell of burning still hanging in the air. There are giant, dumpster-sized piles of rubbish now smouldering in the street. There is broken glass everywhere, probably from the smashed in bus stop. There are gates lying all over the road. I start to walk to work.
I walk past a charity box standing on it’s head. I wonder if the money is still inside. What’s that over there? Oh, a public telephone box on the street. How they ripped that up is beyond me.
I prepare to cross the street. More debris, cars trying to negotiate a T junction with junk in the middle of it, traffic lights shattered and lying in the gutter. It’s surprisingly easy to cross this morning. I get over, to see the ATM completely ruined. I’ve never seen the inside of an ATM before.
I get inside the university and everything is quiet. Turns out all the universities are closed today. Exams have been cancelled or delayed.
Should I call someone? Turns out I cannot – not only are SMS blocked, but calls now too. TV? Don’t bother. All satellites are off. We are lucky that we have access to internet, if you can call it access. The speeds have been slowed to a crawl, to prevent people uploading video and pictures to the outside world (I’m trying to download a 9.4mb file, at 650b/second). Facebook has again joined BBC on the ‘blocked’ list.
Thank God for gmail. It seems innocuous enough to be let through by the sensors.
The first questions everyone asks are ‘are you ok? Were you involved? Are X and Y ok? Have you heard from anyone?’. Of course, no one has, because the phones are down. We just have to hope that sanity has prevailed in some cases at least.
Now there’s a strange feeling over the place. Tehranis appear to be taking in their stride. Myself and the Dutch intern (I haven’t seen the Germans yet) are wandering around, wondering what the hell must have happened.
This is what happens when you don’t play fair with 30 million young people. They get mad. Really mad.
And rightly so.
If you read anything interesting or relevant in the news today about Tehran, Iran or the elections, can you please copy the text of the article into an email and send it to me? Please don’t put it in a word file, it’ll never download.
Much love, from your SAFE but sooty friend.
I woke up this morning to find piles of burning rubbish spaced out between the dormitory buildings. I thought “woah, the girls must have been angry last night”. Then I walked through the guard room and onto the street.
There is the smell of burning still hanging in the air. There are giant, dumpster-sized piles of rubbish now smouldering in the street. There is broken glass everywhere, probably from the smashed in bus stop. There are gates lying all over the road. I start to walk to work.
I walk past a charity box standing on it’s head. I wonder if the money is still inside. What’s that over there? Oh, a public telephone box on the street. How they ripped that up is beyond me.
I prepare to cross the street. More debris, cars trying to negotiate a T junction with junk in the middle of it, traffic lights shattered and lying in the gutter. It’s surprisingly easy to cross this morning. I get over, to see the ATM completely ruined. I’ve never seen the inside of an ATM before.
I get inside the university and everything is quiet. Turns out all the universities are closed today. Exams have been cancelled or delayed.
Should I call someone? Turns out I cannot – not only are SMS blocked, but calls now too. TV? Don’t bother. All satellites are off. We are lucky that we have access to internet, if you can call it access. The speeds have been slowed to a crawl, to prevent people uploading video and pictures to the outside world (I’m trying to download a 9.4mb file, at 650b/second). Facebook has again joined BBC on the ‘blocked’ list.
Thank God for gmail. It seems innocuous enough to be let through by the sensors.
The first questions everyone asks are ‘are you ok? Were you involved? Are X and Y ok? Have you heard from anyone?’. Of course, no one has, because the phones are down. We just have to hope that sanity has prevailed in some cases at least.
Now there’s a strange feeling over the place. Tehranis appear to be taking in their stride. Myself and the Dutch intern (I haven’t seen the Germans yet) are wandering around, wondering what the hell must have happened.
This is what happens when you don’t play fair with 30 million young people. They get mad. Really mad.
And rightly so.
If you read anything interesting or relevant in the news today about Tehran, Iran or the elections, can you please copy the text of the article into an email and send it to me? Please don’t put it in a word file, it’ll never download.
Much love, from your SAFE but sooty friend.
Elections
It’s difficult to explain what’s been going on the last few days. But suffice to say that yesterday was voting day for the Presidential elections here.
The popular Reformist candidate, Mousavi was tipped to win, as he had a groundswell of support from youth, particularly in Tehran.
The current President, Ahmedinejad also ran. He’s the guy that you see on TV, ranting about Israel and causing people at the UN to walk out on his speeches.
Ahmedinejad won. Supposedly.
There are widespread rumours of vote rigging. Polls being closed early in the cities (where Mousavi’s voter base is) and kept open in the villages (where Ahmedinejad’s voter base is). Crates of votes being ‘lost’.
SMS services were down all day yesterday (not surprising – again, a service used widely by Mousavi organisers).
Certain sites on the internet have been blocked (e.g. BBC etc)
And I’m not even going to begin about Amedinejad’s terrible economic policy, and subsidising (read: bribing) rural people.
In short, it appears to be complete bullshit. Now, if the election process had been completely transparent, and he won fair and square, then fine. I wouldn’t be happy about it, but I’d know that it was the will of the people that got him into Government.
But it’s not transparent, at all. And no one is happy about it.
The mood when I got into the office this morning was grim. Everyone was very upset indeed. They still are. Some of the boys went to a protest earlier. It’s not safe for them to go, but they want their voices heard.
Either way, the election is the topic of discussion for today, period. Don’t even bother asking about the weather.
The popular Reformist candidate, Mousavi was tipped to win, as he had a groundswell of support from youth, particularly in Tehran.
The current President, Ahmedinejad also ran. He’s the guy that you see on TV, ranting about Israel and causing people at the UN to walk out on his speeches.
Ahmedinejad won. Supposedly.
There are widespread rumours of vote rigging. Polls being closed early in the cities (where Mousavi’s voter base is) and kept open in the villages (where Ahmedinejad’s voter base is). Crates of votes being ‘lost’.
SMS services were down all day yesterday (not surprising – again, a service used widely by Mousavi organisers).
Certain sites on the internet have been blocked (e.g. BBC etc)
And I’m not even going to begin about Amedinejad’s terrible economic policy, and subsidising (read: bribing) rural people.
In short, it appears to be complete bullshit. Now, if the election process had been completely transparent, and he won fair and square, then fine. I wouldn’t be happy about it, but I’d know that it was the will of the people that got him into Government.
But it’s not transparent, at all. And no one is happy about it.
The mood when I got into the office this morning was grim. Everyone was very upset indeed. They still are. Some of the boys went to a protest earlier. It’s not safe for them to go, but they want their voices heard.
Either way, the election is the topic of discussion for today, period. Don’t even bother asking about the weather.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Frustrating days and redemption
Yesterday was one of the out-of-the-ordinary days I’ve had here.
Rainbow, the current Extension Coordinator and MCVPTM went to MENAXPROS in Egypt in March.
Translation: (Rainbow, the girl that is currently doing the job I moved to Iran for, went to an international conference in March).
Unfortunately, she needed to apply for another visa to re-enter Iran when she wanted to come home. It was rejected, twice, causing her to spend nearly 3 months in Egypt. It’s understandably difficult to be a VP-anything (national director) remotely, even with the blessing of the internet.
Rainbow eventually decided to fly to Iran anyway, and apply for a visa-on-arrival. It’s not uncommon, and from what I can tell, the success rate of entry is usually pretty high.
Well, there was no success for Rainbow. Alireza, Neda, Saman and I spent almost 8 hours at the airport, trying to negotiate with airport people, Ministry of that-and-that people, anyone really, all to no avail. We ended up having to send for a taxi to pick up all Rainbow’s things from Neda’s place and bring it to the airport. (Imam Khomeini International Airport is about an hour from anywhere, and Neda lives on the other side of town).
We were unable to spend any time with Rain, except a few stolen minutes through an open security door. It was gut-wrenching to see her. I’ve never met Rainbow before now, and I felt so bad for her. I also felt terrible for her team. An MC team spends a year living in each other’s pockets, and the current team did not get to have the proper closure that a team like that should have.
Not only is this a totally crap situation for the current team, I have to say it’s also a crap situation for me and my team. Rainbow is current VPTM (doing my job), and so the month of May was meant to be spent with her, learning every aspect of my new role. Transition is such a vital part of a new leadership role, and we’d even discussed the fact that virtual transition online would be crap.
What’s done is done. I believe firmly in two things. 1. The world is as small as you make it. 2. Everything happens for a reason. I know they sound quite trite, but I have to keep repeating those clichés (Especially no. 2) whenever anything shitty happens like this.
We will make the best of the situation. We will overcome these new challenges. I will be successful in my new role. This challenge is only asking me to step up even further.
In other news, I came home today feeling entirely like crap again. Ghazal took me shopping for shoes. I have clown feet, and no matter which store we went to, we couldn’t find any in my size. Shopping is a nightmare in Australia, and it’s no freaking different here. Anyway. We did get some things I’d needed, and all of a sudden I was in a taxi by myself, with bags of crap, my handbag and my laptop bag.
I knew where I was heading, but I was so scared. I hate catching taxis by myself, because I can barely tell the driver to stop, and I never know how much they ask for (They don’t use meters here). I just chuck them a mid-sized note and hope for change.
After making it to my room I had a good sulk for a while. (The whole, ‘God, you’re useless! Can’t even catch a taxi’ kind of sulk.) I know it’s completely unreasonable, but I’m getting used to feeling the feeling, then getting the hell over it.
It’s amazing what a little autonomy and control will do to a soul. I washed my own damn clothes today. I did my own dishes with my own washing up liquid. Those two things are possibly the most routine things a person could do, and I know plenty of people who resent having to do it. But bloody hell – it felt so good just to be able to do something successfully, completely on my own.
So now I’m kicking back, reflecting on the new plans that are sure to lie ahead, and I’m feeling good about it all.
It’s all good :)
Rainbow, the current Extension Coordinator and MCVPTM went to MENAXPROS in Egypt in March.
Translation: (Rainbow, the girl that is currently doing the job I moved to Iran for, went to an international conference in March).
Unfortunately, she needed to apply for another visa to re-enter Iran when she wanted to come home. It was rejected, twice, causing her to spend nearly 3 months in Egypt. It’s understandably difficult to be a VP-anything (national director) remotely, even with the blessing of the internet.
Rainbow eventually decided to fly to Iran anyway, and apply for a visa-on-arrival. It’s not uncommon, and from what I can tell, the success rate of entry is usually pretty high.
Well, there was no success for Rainbow. Alireza, Neda, Saman and I spent almost 8 hours at the airport, trying to negotiate with airport people, Ministry of that-and-that people, anyone really, all to no avail. We ended up having to send for a taxi to pick up all Rainbow’s things from Neda’s place and bring it to the airport. (Imam Khomeini International Airport is about an hour from anywhere, and Neda lives on the other side of town).
We were unable to spend any time with Rain, except a few stolen minutes through an open security door. It was gut-wrenching to see her. I’ve never met Rainbow before now, and I felt so bad for her. I also felt terrible for her team. An MC team spends a year living in each other’s pockets, and the current team did not get to have the proper closure that a team like that should have.
Not only is this a totally crap situation for the current team, I have to say it’s also a crap situation for me and my team. Rainbow is current VPTM (doing my job), and so the month of May was meant to be spent with her, learning every aspect of my new role. Transition is such a vital part of a new leadership role, and we’d even discussed the fact that virtual transition online would be crap.
What’s done is done. I believe firmly in two things. 1. The world is as small as you make it. 2. Everything happens for a reason. I know they sound quite trite, but I have to keep repeating those clichés (Especially no. 2) whenever anything shitty happens like this.
We will make the best of the situation. We will overcome these new challenges. I will be successful in my new role. This challenge is only asking me to step up even further.
In other news, I came home today feeling entirely like crap again. Ghazal took me shopping for shoes. I have clown feet, and no matter which store we went to, we couldn’t find any in my size. Shopping is a nightmare in Australia, and it’s no freaking different here. Anyway. We did get some things I’d needed, and all of a sudden I was in a taxi by myself, with bags of crap, my handbag and my laptop bag.
I knew where I was heading, but I was so scared. I hate catching taxis by myself, because I can barely tell the driver to stop, and I never know how much they ask for (They don’t use meters here). I just chuck them a mid-sized note and hope for change.
After making it to my room I had a good sulk for a while. (The whole, ‘God, you’re useless! Can’t even catch a taxi’ kind of sulk.) I know it’s completely unreasonable, but I’m getting used to feeling the feeling, then getting the hell over it.
It’s amazing what a little autonomy and control will do to a soul. I washed my own damn clothes today. I did my own dishes with my own washing up liquid. Those two things are possibly the most routine things a person could do, and I know plenty of people who resent having to do it. But bloody hell – it felt so good just to be able to do something successfully, completely on my own.
So now I’m kicking back, reflecting on the new plans that are sure to lie ahead, and I’m feeling good about it all.
It’s all good :)
New home
Huzzah! I’m going to move into my new home tomorrow! I’ve been staying with Hojat, who is one of the loveliest people I know. (But he’s a lawyer? I don’t get it either haha). Living with someone has been great, because I’ve been able to find my feet a bit, but with a safety net.
All the same, I’ve been looking forward to setting up camp. I am so looking forward to unpacking my suitcase and settling in. Tonight, I’m staying in the ‘guest house’, usually reserved for visiting lecturers, because my room is being vacated tonight. I’ll be sharing with three other women.
The dorm set-up is a little like a small community. It’s gated (complete with security). Men are not allowed past said gate. (If it’s necessary for a bloke to come in, ‘Ya’Allah’ (attention/look out) is broadcast across the place, so we know to put hijab on). There are a few little shops, from seamstresses to supermarkets, with laundry and kitchen facilities. There’s also a gym! (Hmm ... now there’s an internal debate). Now, don’t get me wrong – this is not the Hyatt, or Wisteria Lane. It’s kind-of old school, like someone fenced off a few blocks of Elizabeth or something.
Last night was probably the best night I’ve had in Iran so far. Ten of us piled into two cars and went for a massive drive (car party, sans booze). We ended up in this crazy little maze of streets, filled with stalls and shops. The vendors were selling everything from fresh berries to used cars. It was really lovely, but the best was yet to come! We got through the very narrow streets and parked the car. Then we headed into what could be described as a grotto. It was this oasis, built down the side of a hill. Fruit trees, fountains, and daybeds were everywhere. It was just magical. We all sat on one of these daybed-things, all covered in beautiful red Persian rugs. Next thing I know, out comes the tea and SHISHA! There were two pipes, in Sib (apple) and Portogahl (orange) flavours. It was fantastic! We were all chilled out on this red big rug, surrounded by greens and blues, smoking great big water-pipes. It was just fantastic. We kicked back, chilled out and took heaps of photos (of course).
When the coals died down, we headed off, back into the city for dinner. We had Italian (!), sharing pizza and garlic bread. Too soon it was time to head home to sleep.
Of course I’m in the office again now, half working on this update, half proof-reading a document, half Facebooking...
Once I’ve taken some photos of the scenery etc, I will have to put up some posts about Tehran and the upcoming presidential elections.
Until next time,
Khodafez (seeya)
Traffic Again.
The other day we were driving along in the taxi and a driver tried to nudge into the lane. Our driver didn’t see, so it resulted in a little bump to the back left side of the taxi. Woo – my first accident in Iran! (the noted difference between Australia and Iran is that no-one seems to care, actually. A ding is just a ding – the car still drives, right?)
Then yesterday I had my second and third mishaps. I got hit by a car! I was standing by our car after getting icecream. All of a sudden, my handbag went ‘boof’ and I looked around to see a car driving by. My handbag was hit by the wing-mirror, haha! Stupid traffic. I’ll learn.
The third time was a sudden stop into the back of yet another taxi. The AIESECer I was with lost his headlight and indicator, but really, all was well. I did get acquainted with the headrest though. (I was in the back.) We were only going about 20 k’s onto a ramp, so we were ok, but I’m beginning to be a bit more stringent about those seatbelts, particularly when you’ve got a young girl behind the wheel of a new Camry going 120 screaming ‘wheeeeeeeeee’.
Hmmm.. If you want me to start sugar coating my posts, I’m sure I can do that.
... Iran is fun. The weather is nice, and I love the food. The people are friendly and I think tomorrow I shall go to the beach... Better?
Then yesterday I had my second and third mishaps. I got hit by a car! I was standing by our car after getting icecream. All of a sudden, my handbag went ‘boof’ and I looked around to see a car driving by. My handbag was hit by the wing-mirror, haha! Stupid traffic. I’ll learn.
The third time was a sudden stop into the back of yet another taxi. The AIESECer I was with lost his headlight and indicator, but really, all was well. I did get acquainted with the headrest though. (I was in the back.) We were only going about 20 k’s onto a ramp, so we were ok, but I’m beginning to be a bit more stringent about those seatbelts, particularly when you’ve got a young girl behind the wheel of a new Camry going 120 screaming ‘wheeeeeeeeee’.
Hmmm.. If you want me to start sugar coating my posts, I’m sure I can do that.
... Iran is fun. The weather is nice, and I love the food. The people are friendly and I think tomorrow I shall go to the beach... Better?
Wonderland
I remember when I was telling people I was headed to Iran. There was usually a particular kind of shock displayed on people’s faces. Sort of, “I’m too polite to say anything but are you freaking insane?”
Well, I brushed them off, extolled the virtues of Iranian hospitality and sent them on their way.
Sorry, you were right.
I’ve been trying to keep up with the news here, which is hard, because I can’t read the newspapers (duh) and most of my favourite news sites are blocked. (But they leave news.com.au? The sensor has a sense of humour I see). So I jumped onto abc.net.au, and I’m busy reading about a SUICIDE BOMBING of a Shi’a mosque that occurred last Thursday, followed by the swift EXECUTION of three people responsible.
Ok, I’m cool. That’s fine. The thing that is freaking me out more is that no-one seemed to give a shit. It’s all happening down in the very opposite end of the country, at the junction between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But I don’t think that’s the point. Can you imagine if the Baptist Church out in the middle of the Pilbarra blew up? Just because it’s remote doesn’t preclude us from caring.
I won’t mention that there was a home made bomb found and diffused on a domestic flight today, either.
(Sorry if this is busting your bubble of ‘of course she’ll be fine’).
So yesterday, i went to ‘Wonderland’, basically a mini-Marion shopping centre, with the entire top floor being devoted to an arcade similar to Intencity or whatever. I met some new AIESECers, they were all crazy-fun. I also got to know the German interns a bit better too, and that’s great, because they tell you the things the locals take for granted.
I was dropped off to Saman and Hojat in one of the squares. There happened to be a political rally going on. I thought it was pretty exciting. There were people everywhere, even an impromptu street march. The traffic was chaotic, and there was a definite ‘mood for change’ vibe going on. I took some photos, and then we all jumped into a taxi to head home.
We didn’t get far when a car pulled up beside ours. A man stuck something black out the window and indicated for us to pull over. (Yes, my first thought was a gun. It was a walkie-talkie). We were all asked to get out of the taxi. These two burly men in casual clothes started to have a rapid discussion in Farsi with Saman. Then Saman translated to ask if I had taken any photos of the rally, and that I was required to delete them. I did so, very quickly. Once that was done we were sent on our way.
Later, I asked ‘um, were they good people or bad people?’.
*pause*
Apparently they are some kind of politically affiliated, security and intelligence police. Or something. Unmarked car, no uniform, no ID. *insert frustrated swear-words*
I think the thing that is doing my head in the most is that everything seems to be taken in their stride. I, on the other hand, have never been pulled over for taking photos. I’ve never had a suicide bomber in my country. So I just have to play it cool, like it was no worries. Actually, in my head I’m a little...shocked.
BUT (and here’s the obligatory ‘I’m fine’ part)
I’m fine.
Really.
Tehran is still safe, there’s nothing deadly going on here. I should be more worried about crossing the street than an extremist. I’ve decided that I’ve just got to take every day and enjoy it. If something crazy happens, well, there’s really not much to do, is there? I’m loving my life here, and there is honestly VERY VERY VERY LITTLE risk of anything happening.
Love you all.
Xoxo
Well, I brushed them off, extolled the virtues of Iranian hospitality and sent them on their way.
Sorry, you were right.
I’ve been trying to keep up with the news here, which is hard, because I can’t read the newspapers (duh) and most of my favourite news sites are blocked. (But they leave news.com.au? The sensor has a sense of humour I see). So I jumped onto abc.net.au, and I’m busy reading about a SUICIDE BOMBING of a Shi’a mosque that occurred last Thursday, followed by the swift EXECUTION of three people responsible.
Ok, I’m cool. That’s fine. The thing that is freaking me out more is that no-one seemed to give a shit. It’s all happening down in the very opposite end of the country, at the junction between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But I don’t think that’s the point. Can you imagine if the Baptist Church out in the middle of the Pilbarra blew up? Just because it’s remote doesn’t preclude us from caring.
I won’t mention that there was a home made bomb found and diffused on a domestic flight today, either.
(Sorry if this is busting your bubble of ‘of course she’ll be fine’).
So yesterday, i went to ‘Wonderland’, basically a mini-Marion shopping centre, with the entire top floor being devoted to an arcade similar to Intencity or whatever. I met some new AIESECers, they were all crazy-fun. I also got to know the German interns a bit better too, and that’s great, because they tell you the things the locals take for granted.
I was dropped off to Saman and Hojat in one of the squares. There happened to be a political rally going on. I thought it was pretty exciting. There were people everywhere, even an impromptu street march. The traffic was chaotic, and there was a definite ‘mood for change’ vibe going on. I took some photos, and then we all jumped into a taxi to head home.
We didn’t get far when a car pulled up beside ours. A man stuck something black out the window and indicated for us to pull over. (Yes, my first thought was a gun. It was a walkie-talkie). We were all asked to get out of the taxi. These two burly men in casual clothes started to have a rapid discussion in Farsi with Saman. Then Saman translated to ask if I had taken any photos of the rally, and that I was required to delete them. I did so, very quickly. Once that was done we were sent on our way.
Later, I asked ‘um, were they good people or bad people?’.
*pause*
Apparently they are some kind of politically affiliated, security and intelligence police. Or something. Unmarked car, no uniform, no ID. *insert frustrated swear-words*
I think the thing that is doing my head in the most is that everything seems to be taken in their stride. I, on the other hand, have never been pulled over for taking photos. I’ve never had a suicide bomber in my country. So I just have to play it cool, like it was no worries. Actually, in my head I’m a little...shocked.
BUT (and here’s the obligatory ‘I’m fine’ part)
I’m fine.
Really.
Tehran is still safe, there’s nothing deadly going on here. I should be more worried about crossing the street than an extremist. I’ve decided that I’ve just got to take every day and enjoy it. If something crazy happens, well, there’s really not much to do, is there? I’m loving my life here, and there is honestly VERY VERY VERY LITTLE risk of anything happening.
Love you all.
Xoxo
Kylie’s first 3 days in Iran (golly, I’m still alive!)
Kylie’s first 3 days in Iran (golly, I’m still alive!)
Wow. That was some ride. Let’s start from the beginning.
Saying goodbye at the airport in Adelaide was hard, but kind of exciting at the same time. The first flight was a little anti-climatic, actually. Adelaide to Sydney was an easy two hours in the air. (I love QANTAS food). A very tense wait in the transit lounge preceded a very simple customs walk through, followed by a 9 hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand with a lovely Scottish couple going home for the first time in 30 years.
I got into Bangkok and realized that there was going to be absolutely nothing to do for the next 9 hours. I was too afraid to leave the airport, especially considering I arrived at 11.30pm on Saturday night! I walked around a lot, changed some cash to ‘baht’ and ate lentil soup, and generally wasted time. I slept rather awkwardly on the chairs for a couple of hours before dusting myself off and heading for the transit desk about 7am.
“Oh, you’re going to Tehran? Where is your return ticket please?”
“My what?”
Even though there had been ABSOLUTELY no mention of requiring a return ticket to enter the country, not from the embassy, not from the people who organized my visa, not from ANYONE, Etihad Airlines insisted that I required a flight out of Iran before they would let me on the plane. Period. No negotiations. Well, that was the end of me. I’m not too proud to say that I lost my shit right then and there. I was so tired, and I honestly thought I had everything organized, and to be half-way from nowhere to be told ‘no’. No further. I was gutted. And I had no idea what to do next.
I think the lady ended up taking pity on me. (I was a pretty big mess by then). She checked how much money I had on me and helped me to swap it to baht, and purchase a return ticket back to Bangkok for the 21st of June. It was the only option I had. It’s also cleaned me out. But, the end result of purchasing that ticket means I can write to you from the AIESEC office in Tehran.
The 6 hours from Bangkok to Abu Dhabi went quickly. The plane was decked out to the 9’s. I thought it was business class, but it kept going all the way to the back of the plane! I had a row to myself, so a stretched out, watched movies and slept. Two hours in Abu Dhabi, and onto the last flight of the journey. By then, I was such a nervous wreck. Would they let me through customs? Had I really got everything in order? What happens if I get knocked back there? In the end, Customs took 15 minutes, they did not ask to see any bloody return ticket at all, I got a stamp in my passport, and ta-da, I’m in Iran.
I was met by Saman MCPe (my boss) and Alireza MCP (the current boss).We got a taxi back to an AIESECer’s place and chilled out for a while. All the way from the airport to Hojat’s place, I was jumping and tensing at every moment, because of that crazy driving. I’m going to sit in the front one day and film some of it so you can see what I’m talking about!
I was taken out for a fantastic traditional Iranian dinner, and finally went home to sleep.
The last couple of days have been pretty cool. Tehran is huge. It’s inconceivable. You have to take a taxi everywhere. There’s no ‘ducking down to the shops’ here. Or if there is, you take a taxi! I’ve been at the AIESEC office at the University of Tehran most of the time, just doing ‘stuff’. Neda (MCVPX) took me out to help me buy a manteau (the coat all the girls are required to wear here). It was majorly stressful, because you might know that I hate shopping at the best of times. It was like shopping at Supre at sale time, in 40 degree heat. But we triumphed in the end, and I’m much cooler now, wearing this lovely pale green coat.
I certainly learned something today, and that is: “Culture shock is a. not just something that happens to other people, and b. shit.”
I thought I was doing just fine, you know? Going with the flow, enjoying everything. But, little tiny things started to build up without me noticing. There’s no toilet paper here, for example. There’s hoses in every cubicle instead. I have to blow my nose every two seconds because I have a cold, and I keep running out of tissues. The pollution is something out of a movie. My hijab never sits straight, and it’s clear I’m a foreigner. I was having a bit of trouble writing a session outline, and managed to totally misunderstand the brief. Just add saying ‘please’ (lotfan) instead of ‘thankyou’ (merci) at the end of transactions, and you’ve got a girl who’s had it. Tears over lunch followed, but everything is much better now (promise!) I’m sure it’s just going to take a bit of getting used to.
This has turned into a novel, so I’ll come back later to tell you some more. Xoxo.
Sometimes it's smart...
....to stick with what you know.
I tried a new blog provider for my travel blog, but it doesn't work here. I can read it, but I can't edit it, which seems a bit pointless, really.
So, I'm going to post up what I've written so far, and this will be the place to find the updates from now on.
xoxo
I tried a new blog provider for my travel blog, but it doesn't work here. I can read it, but I can't edit it, which seems a bit pointless, really.
So, I'm going to post up what I've written so far, and this will be the place to find the updates from now on.
xoxo
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