the people.
stunning beauties and maximum politeness.
the reason for this trip is the persians i met long ago: very educated and kind, funny, a passion for good food. and the women... gorgeous.
so i was curious. maybe i was just lucky to have met people from the very right side of the gaussian curve?
what can i say: my prejudice were confirmed.
you need help?
even if you're not having a problem (and i NEVER have problems, only questions. gee, i'm a highly skilled traveler with multi decades of almost all-continent experience) there's always somebody approaching and offering help. if that bothers you, you have to show the 'situation under absolute control, no help needed, i just sit here and look at something' face to keep the potential helpers way. after 2 days of traveling i could create it instantly because it took too much time to explain each time that everything is under control, no help is needed...
a classic situation: exiting the metro station in tehran, map in my hand. i'm asking a women for directions. 10 seconds later a discussion with 5 more people starts. the street is unknown (very practical: no wrong directions are given). more chatting... 2 minutes later a guy shows up again: 'i found the street! it's three blocks down the road' ... he was doing an instant research for me. just a typical example.
welcome to iran!
midnight. walking back to my hostel in a pitch dark alley. a car approaches behind me, stops next to me with screeching tires, window is going down. in a split second i try to judge the situation. in south america this is the moment when you run as fast as you can... too late... the driver screams at me 'welcome to iran!!!', laughs out loud, and drives off again. .. most of the time i heard it in the middle of the day without screaming, though.
how about a persian wife?
asked many times. ali the taxi driver was my favorite interviewer:
- you take many pictures of woman!
- yes, best topic to take pictures of. clearly more pictures of women than pictures of persian men. the women look way better to me.
- you like persian women?
. yup, very beautiful, best phenotype in the world.
- ?
- they're gorgeous.
- aha! how about a persian wife?
- mmh, if she can cook a good fesenjoon... well. the week has many days, am i allowed to have many wives in iran?!
- my friend, my friend, one is good, but two are double trouble! i recommend just one.
... the explanation continues for the next 10 minutes (farsi is not a language that allows simple and short answers)
what made the trip so interesting was the discussions about daily life in iran... let's say the people were unexpectedly open. i've done a few trips, but i rarely got so many sophisticated and elaborate analysis. one thing i learned: life in iran is not only a complex but also a complicated issue. luckily i decided not to take an organized trip. i would have missed out on all the talks. but the more i learned, the more complicated it got...
and sometimes you meet people with a different perspective or one you simply cannot agree with:
my goal is god
i meet some students at a koran school
- why did you come to iran?
- i like to see the world. different cultures, different food, different people...iran has thousands of years of culture, fesenjoon, and nice people (today i skipped the part about the beautiful persian women... )
- ?
the student doesn't look satisfied
- what's the goal of your journey?
i have to think of a highly philosophical answer
- the goal of the journey is the journey
i'm pleased with my answer. the student still doesn't look satisfied. i have to start a counterattack...
- what is your goal?
- my goal is god
- ?
obviously we're operating on completely different levels... this is not a discussion that will ever reach some sort of common perspective.
i leave it at that (following personal travel rule #17: be a nice guest, observe, compare, make your judgment, accept the local status quo no matter how much you disagree)
hitler good!
for some reason i'm identified most of the times as german. so i heard more than the usual 'welcome to iran':
- hitler good!'
- what the fuck?!!!
- hitler good, arian brother.
- hitler was a maniac mass murderer, are you fucking crazy??
- german and iranians are brothers, we're arians.
- that's a misunderstanding... arian is originally a people from the persian high plateau, language scientists falsely used the term to explain an origin of indogermanic languages. germanic people and persians are not related. and then hitler abused the term again in a racist context. get it?
- ?
- never mind, we're not really brothers and hitler was a devil. good look.
... sometimes i got tired of that topic, skipped the lecture and waved more or less politely. some people are from the left side of the gaussian curve and there's little hope of a migration into the non-moron area.
and the gorgeous women?
scarfs can cover but not hide. quite many were simply stunning and elegant. couldn't take pictures of all of them.
and my favourite waste of time.
there is an utterly high chance of getting addicted to pomegranate juice. good news: it's dirt cheap.
speaking of pomegranate juice: fesenjoon. don't know of any persian dish that comes close ... yup, probably because of the pomegranate juice. and the walnuts. and the chicken. had also some pretty good eggplant dishes, too. and something with dried lemon, and various kebabs, ... and, .. and, ... and
best food: homemade (for once i don't mean me cooking in other people's kitchen). a very special treat. no restaurant came even close.
so i was curious. maybe i was just lucky to have met people from the very right side of the gaussian curve?
what can i say: my prejudice were confirmed.
you need help?
even if you're not having a problem (and i NEVER have problems, only questions. gee, i'm a highly skilled traveler with multi decades of almost all-continent experience) there's always somebody approaching and offering help. if that bothers you, you have to show the 'situation under absolute control, no help needed, i just sit here and look at something' face to keep the potential helpers way. after 2 days of traveling i could create it instantly because it took too much time to explain each time that everything is under control, no help is needed...
a classic situation: exiting the metro station in tehran, map in my hand. i'm asking a women for directions. 10 seconds later a discussion with 5 more people starts. the street is unknown (very practical: no wrong directions are given). more chatting... 2 minutes later a guy shows up again: 'i found the street! it's three blocks down the road' ... he was doing an instant research for me. just a typical example.
welcome to iran!
midnight. walking back to my hostel in a pitch dark alley. a car approaches behind me, stops next to me with screeching tires, window is going down. in a split second i try to judge the situation. in south america this is the moment when you run as fast as you can... too late... the driver screams at me 'welcome to iran!!!', laughs out loud, and drives off again. .. most of the time i heard it in the middle of the day without screaming, though.
how about a persian wife?
asked many times. ali the taxi driver was my favorite interviewer:
- you take many pictures of woman!
- yes, best topic to take pictures of. clearly more pictures of women than pictures of persian men. the women look way better to me.
- you like persian women?
. yup, very beautiful, best phenotype in the world.
- ?
- they're gorgeous.
- aha! how about a persian wife?
- mmh, if she can cook a good fesenjoon... well. the week has many days, am i allowed to have many wives in iran?!
- my friend, my friend, one is good, but two are double trouble! i recommend just one.
... the explanation continues for the next 10 minutes (farsi is not a language that allows simple and short answers)
what made the trip so interesting was the discussions about daily life in iran... let's say the people were unexpectedly open. i've done a few trips, but i rarely got so many sophisticated and elaborate analysis. one thing i learned: life in iran is not only a complex but also a complicated issue. luckily i decided not to take an organized trip. i would have missed out on all the talks. but the more i learned, the more complicated it got...
and sometimes you meet people with a different perspective or one you simply cannot agree with:
my goal is god
i meet some students at a koran school
- why did you come to iran?
- i like to see the world. different cultures, different food, different people...iran has thousands of years of culture, fesenjoon, and nice people (today i skipped the part about the beautiful persian women... )
- ?
the student doesn't look satisfied
- what's the goal of your journey?
i have to think of a highly philosophical answer
- the goal of the journey is the journey
i'm pleased with my answer. the student still doesn't look satisfied. i have to start a counterattack...
- what is your goal?
- my goal is god
- ?
obviously we're operating on completely different levels... this is not a discussion that will ever reach some sort of common perspective.
i leave it at that (following personal travel rule #17: be a nice guest, observe, compare, make your judgment, accept the local status quo no matter how much you disagree)
hitler good!
for some reason i'm identified most of the times as german. so i heard more than the usual 'welcome to iran':
- hitler good!'
- what the fuck?!!!
- hitler good, arian brother.
- hitler was a maniac mass murderer, are you fucking crazy??
- german and iranians are brothers, we're arians.
- that's a misunderstanding... arian is originally a people from the persian high plateau, language scientists falsely used the term to explain an origin of indogermanic languages. germanic people and persians are not related. and then hitler abused the term again in a racist context. get it?
- ?
- never mind, we're not really brothers and hitler was a devil. good look.
... sometimes i got tired of that topic, skipped the lecture and waved more or less politely. some people are from the left side of the gaussian curve and there's little hope of a migration into the non-moron area.
and the gorgeous women?
scarfs can cover but not hide. quite many were simply stunning and elegant. couldn't take pictures of all of them.
and my favourite waste of time.
there is an utterly high chance of getting addicted to pomegranate juice. good news: it's dirt cheap.
speaking of pomegranate juice: fesenjoon. don't know of any persian dish that comes close ... yup, probably because of the pomegranate juice. and the walnuts. and the chicken. had also some pretty good eggplant dishes, too. and something with dried lemon, and various kebabs, ... and, .. and, ... and
best food: homemade (for once i don't mean me cooking in other people's kitchen). a very special treat. no restaurant came even close.