Chistmas

So my first (last?) Christmas away from home is already over. There was so much anticipation, and now it's gone.

I spent Christmas Eve-day feeling fairly miserable for myself. I moped around the dorm, trying to keep myself occupied. I looked in vain for a live stream of Carols by Candlelight. One thought crossed my mind, "I really wish mum would call, just as the Hallelujah Chorus comes on".

As a background, our family always gathers around the TV on Christmas Eve to pig out on lollies and pretzels while singing along to the carols. We light candles, get crumbs and wax on the carpet, and have a lovely time.

So I was sitting there, watching the clock ticking toward Christmas Day on the website of "The Age" newspaper.

Suddendly my phone rang! It was mum! "Hello darling! Listen to this"... It was the Hallelujah Chorus! I couldn't believe it. I sat there and developed an allergy to the airconditioning.

I was just so amazed that mum had granted my one Christmas wish! It really was magical. So after a lot of nose wiping, we had a chat for 20 minutes, it was just wonderful.

The AIESECers took pity on me and so I ended up at an Armenian cafe, complete with Christmas tree.

Christmas Day was excellent - I couldn't have asked for a better expat Chrissy. I had breakfast in the backyard with Tabiri, my Ghanian teammate, then I headed up to an Aussie Christmas Day with some of the diplomatic community.

We sat around all day being as Aussie as we could, the talk revolving around familiar bars, beers, and anything else that we can't access here! After 8 solid hours of drinking grape juice, I was a little worse for wear, but managed to grab a taxi up to Karaj to see Floor, Sepehr and Bastian for the evening.

So that was it. All over in the blink of an eye. But it was a lot of fun, that's for sure.

Missing you all back home. I'm exactly half way through my term. I know that the next half will fly, but still. xoxoxo

Have a wonderful New Years Eve everyone! See you in 2010!

Safe!

Hi everyone. I know you would have seen the new images of riots happening here over the weekend. It's a sad state of affairs, that's for sure.

Everyone I know is safe and well.

I've never seen people so passionate, so angry before. These people, (my friends, people my age, older people - everyone) care so much about their country, about their rights and the future. I think they have every right to march against this system.

I spoke to a friend today, she told me that she is happy to be Muslim, that Islam is ok with her, but the way this government does things, controls people with religion, is not ok. That it gives Islam and Iran a terrible name.

And it's true.

Happy Holidays!

Sending lots of love to family and friends. It feels so weird to be sitting here in my room, in the middle of the day, when I know my family is settled in with candles and more pretzels than you can poke a stick at, watching the Carols by Candlelight.

Iran-Turkey-Iran

I'm home from an epic trans-continental journey to Turkey and back.

The trip to Istanbul was great - really easy. It took two days, and I passed through some great scenery, including a crazy amount of snow covered mountains etc. The border crossing was a little scary, it took 2 (3?) hours, and it was so freakin' cold, but it was pretty straightforward.

I finally arrived in Istanbul, Turkey about 9am. I wandered around for a bit, went to see the famous Blue Mosque, and I saw the Pudding Shop (the place where the hippies used to meet before heading overland to India). I asked directions to a department store so I could pick up a dress for the Gala Dinner that would be coming up at the conference.

I met Miha from Romania (who is doing the same job as me, but in Macedonia), we caught the same flight down to Antalya - the playground of the Russian rich and lazy, it seems (at least in summer).

The hotel we stayed in was amazing - the full 5 stars - blatant luxury :) We had two days of pre-meetings, where we got to meet our other facilitators, and prepare our sessions. I worked with some lovely girls;

Miha (Romania/Macedonia)

Dagmar (Czech Republic/Germany)

Iwona (Poland)

Hana (Czech Republic)

I also met up with Spence, an AIESECer from the UK. Even though everyone I work with speaks excellent English, it was so nice to go 'totally native' with this beautiful Brit.

Suddenly, on the first day of conference(our third day there), we started hearing a roar coming from the other side of the door. A big roar, like a freight train coming at you. Imagine 700 people screaming, singing, yelling and beating drums....

We opened the doors and they flooded in, each group singing their LC songs as loud as they could. The music was pumping, the people were dancing, it was manic - the perfect way to start ATEMCO 2009.

We started the conference by facilitating a session to 400+ people. It was insane. Try covering History, Current State and Indirect Impact in one hour, for 400 delegates who's english level is 'basic. I hope we got enough of the content through for it to be beneficial!

The second day was the hardest by far - we divided all these newies into homegroups, and then conducted a simulation all day with them, taking them through the AIESEC Experience. It was intense, and it lasted I can't remember how many hours, but it started just after breakfast and ended after dinner.

The third day of conference was recovery day for the international facis. All the sessions for the day were to be in Turkish, so we had the day off. We went down to the beach, took a look in the sauna, and generally buggerised around for the day. As the day drew to a close, we started preparing for the Gala Dinner.

The Gala was wonderful. Everyone was suited and booted, the boys in sharp suits and the girls in so many different dresses and gowns. It was wonderful. We ate, we danced, we had a wonderful time. I'll try and find a photo of me all done up ;)

All too soon it was over. We woke up or staggered home or stopped drinking and took a shower - either way, all 700 delegates crawled out of their various hungover holes and headed to morning plenary (not surprisingly, it was a few hours late in starting). Unfortuntately, we faci's had to jet, so we had just enough time to show our goodbye video, a few quick hugs to the folks that mattered, and we were gone.

We couldn't believe it. Over. Just like that..

We found ourselves again in Istanbul, this time with a very generous AIESECer allowing us to stay at her apartment, very close to the city centre. We spent the day sightseeing again with the help of yet another AIESECer :) I took my backpack, intending to catch the 2pm bus back to Tehran.... it was not to be.

I ended up heading to the bus station (Logic's on my side here, surely?). But alas, my bus company departs from the tour agency, on the main street, not at the bus station. In any case, after much frantic calling etc, I found myself miles from the city, with 4Lira in my pocket, no bus for 24 hours and no phone to call my friends... Holy Shit was an understatement.

I borrowed a phone from a stranger, and spent 3 of those 4 lira on public transport back to meet the girls. I became a charity case - you can't do much with 1 lira! So they fed me, watered me and helped me all around until the next day, when I ended up at the right place, at the right time, on the right bus!!

Trip home was reasonably uneventful. My passport was checked on the Turkish side, then at the border, then on the Iranian side. As I crossed the border I was fingerprinted, but that at least saved me from standing in the queue. As always, the trip home feels quicker. I got into Azadi station early this morning, shhowered and got into work.

I thought I was doing fine, but I soon realised I wasn't going to be good for much today, so I'm writing this from my bed! Getting some rest and I'll try life again tomorrow ;)

snow!

This was taken from the balconey in my dorm building. Those silly little white blobs are snow flakes. No, I didn't think to actually take a photo of me with said snow.

I'm sure there will be more snow after this lot. Just wanted to show you some proof :P

Adventure time!

It's a lovely Wednesday morning here in Tehran. After being obscured by cloud for the last few days, the mountains showed themselves this morning. The sunlight gleams off the snow, which creeps lower and lower down the peaks every day.

enough of that :)

Today is Wednesday. There will be a Thursday, a Friday, a Saturday and a Sunday in pretty quick succession. Then, after all of those days, Monday will come. And Monday is the day that I'm jumping on a bus for a 48 hour journey to Istanbul, Turkey.

I will have a wonderful 6 hours or so in Istanbul (any recommendations for a walking tour starting at the bus-station and ending at the airport?), then a quick one hour flight to Antalya, on the coast. Gosh gosh gosh. Here, let me show you the place I'll be staying:

www.prestigehotel.com.tr

Ok, so I'm really excited. And nervous. But mostly excited.

Things that I predict will be weird:

• Not wearing a headscarf in public after 6 months of doing so
• Being allowed to drink alcohol in public (it'll probably even have brandnames!)
• Being in a room with 700 other people
• Wandering around a foreign city, knowing no-one, not speaking the language. Who 'drops in' to Istanbul exactly?!
• Being able to dance roll calls and hug a man in public
• Seeing the sea after 6 months
• Walking into a room where I know, literally, no-one

Things that I predict will be awesome:

• see above.

Woo hoo! Bring on an in-time visa, snacks, and patience. Let's go!