Synopsis of a weekend in Yazd

Here's a quick one just to let you know I'm still alive.

I spent the most amazing weekend in a town called Yazd, about 10 hours away by bus. (Would you go to Melbourne by bus for the weekend?)

The list of things we did is incredible - we slept for about 6 hours the entire weekend.

The briefest of highlights include:

-Wandering through a city, thousands of years old, mansions made of mud bricks

-Climbing a mountain with a Zoroastrian Towers of Silence atop them - where the Zoroasters used to leave their dead to be eaten by vultures

-Watching the sunrise over a desert, seeing camels in the distance, climbing and falling up sandhills, meeting my first Scarab (dung beetle)

-climbing the Shaking Minaret of another ancient mud brick city and getting stuck

-visiting the Zoroastrian equivalent of Mecca and being questioned by Muslims to ensure we weren't there to convert

-seeing carpets that are older than Australia as we know it

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As I said - I'll give you the run down properly soon. Now, it's 2.45am and I am catching up on all the work that I should have done on the weekend.

Thanks to the dear Dutchies Floor and Renee, and dear Sepehr for the wonderful weekend.

Please make sure you are sitting down.

I've decided to become one of those awkward people at the pub who say 'I'll just have a coke' when everyone else is sinking jugs of Pale.

Yeah, I've decided to formally, totally and irreversibly stop drinking.

It's a mixture of things that's led me to this, but that's the way it is.

Iran is already teaching me things not related to work. One thing I've found is that life continues without booze.

So there you go.

Women's Rights in Iran

*Disclaimer: Pardon the tone, everyone, but this really gets me worked up.

Ok. Before I left, everyone asked me 'aren't you worried about women's rights over there?'. Even the many travellers I meet talk about 'repression' and the fact that women have no rights here.

Bullshit.

Through and through.

I know I am a foreigner here, and I don't see what happens in individual people's homes, but honestly? I have never felt safer or more respected.

Yes, I wear hijab. No, it's not a problem - in fact I like it.

There are women's carriages at the beginning and end of every train, so we can sit seperately from men if we want to. I never have - I ride in the regular carriages, because (so far), I travel with men. If the train is crowded, one of the guys I'm with will block my body with his so I don't get pushed up against by strangers.

There is taxi etiquette that basically ensures a woman won't be squished between two men in the back seat. I sit in the passenger side or by a door, always. Even the buses have a separate space for women to travel. Again, this prevents contact with strange men.

The men are respectful, polite, and offer help when I'm lost. Otherwise, they leave me alone. There's no leering, there's no drunken 'hello beautiful', no staring at my chest. Men respect women here.

Women can work, study, drive - anything they want.

I've never had a problem.

So you can stick your stereotypes whereever you like, because they don't work here.

I just spoke to my mum for the first time since I arrived here!!

I was sitting at lunch, and my phone rang. I grabbed it and someone asked in english (!) for me. That was surprising enough!

We just chatted about the simple things - weather, am I eating, what are the people like etc. But it was like having chicken soup when you're sick, or getting into a warm bed in the middle of a rainy night. It was SO good just to hear her voice.

I love you mum!

I always wondered why blogs I loved to read tended to 'fade to black' just as it was about to get interesting. Now I know why! There's just no gosh-darn time in the day anymore :)

On July 1, I officially became Member Committee Vice President Talent Management, LC Expansion and Communications/IS, for AIESEC in Iran.

Yep - this is our baby now. There are three people in our team, doing the work of 5. But we are ready. There is going to be an horrendous amount of work to do this year, but I can already imagine the benefits that the work will bring, for the members of AIESEC Iran and for us.

In other news, three of my newest friends are leaving Iran this weekend. Martijn from Holland and David and Bastian from Germany have completed their internships here and are heading home. These guys have been invaluable to me - every tip, trick and direction has helped so much. It's like that saying about how you never ask a local for directions - they'll always miss something. These guys have taken in everything, wrapped it up and presented it to me. I'm going to miss them a lot.

Social life has been interesting too. House parties are quite common here. Everyone just gathers together and chills out. A weekend ago (two?) we headed up to Sepehr's place to celebrate his birthday. We had a crazy-massive lunch, then sat in the shady yard, smoking a water-pipe and playing charades. It was the most relaxed day, and the total opposite of how we'd celebrate a birthday back home.

Today I did a meet 'n' greet with one of our new interns, Jerry from the USA. David, Tabiri (my team mate responsible for Exchange) and I wandered around, tried to get money exchanged (today's Friday, so everything's closed), and ended up having lunch at a TERRIBLE fast food joint in Vanak Square. Then we walked up to Mellat Park, chilled out there on the grass for a while before heading home.

Sorry if this is a bit disjointed, but a crappy update is better than none at all, yes? I'll try to organise my thoughts and write some more soon.

Love and miss you all. xoxo