The Iran That CNN Doesn't Show You...

“We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character.”

-Henry David Thoreau

Our trip to Iran was completely different than all our other vacations because, even though the sights were incredible and the country was beautiful, the inspiring friendliness and hospitality of the people made our trip like no other. Here are some pictures, but like any other adventure, the real joy is the experience.

Kyle was allowed to wear whatever he wanted, but I, on the other hand, wore hejab: a scarf on my head that has to be covering at least a small portion of my hair, and a manteau, which is a coat type thing that has to cover most of my arms and be long enough to cover my oh so provocative behind. Not so cool in 38 degrees.

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The Family

22 years is too long to go without seeing

my loving father

my kind step mother

my generous sister, Marjan (22)

my warmhearted brother, Davood (David) (18)

and my affectionate sister, Marzieh (15)

Then there is the 58 other (yes, I counted, 58!) family members (uncles, aunts, first cousins) we met and there's still many more I haven't met. Here are a couple pictures of different gatherings we had with uncles, aunts, and first cousins. There was a lot of, "I remember you when you were this big..."

Marjan and her new husband, Ehsan, who, coincidentally, was in my pre-school class.

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The Bazaars

The smells of the spices were incredible

This old man has been making wood carvings for 60 years.

Hammering copper pots

Can you guess what the man is pulling out of the trunk of his car?

If you guessed a lamb carcass, you were right!

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The People

This man is a type of busker that sings for money in the Bazaars.

Motorcycles are nearly as popular as cars and they are all small, dirty, and really cheap to drive. I have to say, it is an Iranian talent to be able to fit an entire family on a tiny motorcycle. The most amount of people we saw on one motorcycle was 6!! including a toddler on dad's lap and a baby on mom's hip, driving down the busy highway.

Another talent: riding a bicycle through the busy streets with no handlebars. I'm amazed at his handlebar-less steering capacity as well as his ability to brake by reaching behind him and squeezing the brakes on his rear tire.

We didn't see too many strollers because babies and kids were just carried around.

Makes us wonder if we really need that Phil and Teds...

Uncle Hossein

My cousin's kids, Muhammad Ali (yes, that's really his name) and his sister Zahra dancing Iranian style at an outdoor tea house in Shiraz.

Yep, that's Kyle smoking the ol' qaylan

Kyle buying a big hat to protect himself from the desert sun.

Learning Farsi

By hanging the laundry on the roof, it only takes an hour to dry in the desert!

People are very affectionate and I was forced to burst my bubble of personal space. Women who are friends hold hands with each other, as do men. My sisters and cousins would occasionally take my hand as we were walking, or put their arm around me. No men held Kyle's hand, but they did get pretty close.

Marzieh

Walking in the shade

Excited grandparents buying clothes for their first grandchild.

My effort at breaking pink and blue stereotypes.

We were honoured guests at Marjan's English class where they had never had the chance to actually speak with a native English speaker. (Spot the white guy!)

And somehow I got recruited to teach an impromptu pronunciation lesson up at the board.

We took a trip into the Zagros mountains where the nomadic shepherds (Qashqai) live.

It's not easy driving through a herd of goats.

Battlefield of the intellectuals

Pregnancy in Iran is very different. Women don't do much of anything except sit around at home and eat and get fat (this is both their own admission and my observation).

So I was told several times that I shouldn't be doing certain things such as carry a grocery bag, reach up into a cupboard for a glass, or walk up the stairs.

But I was a bit of a radical...

I like to climb waterfalls,

and ride paddle boats,

and play volleyball.

Beautiful artwork by Marzieh, age 13-14.

Marjan playing piano

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The Architecture

Green Palace of Shah (King) Reza, Tehran, 1920.

What's left of the statue of the Shah after the revolution, 1979.

Abassi Hotel, Esfahan, built in early 1700s

We sat in the beautiful courtyard and ate soup and drank tea.

Pol e Khajoo (Khajoo Bridge), Esfahan.

The beautiful Zayandeh River normally runs under this bridge but, much to the heart ache of many Iranians, has been dry the last couple summers. (Climate change??)

Underneath the bridge the men gather to practice their singing.

They sing about social injustice and heartache.

Imam Mosque, Esfahan, built in 1611

Even though it was built 400 years ago, it was constructed with such amazing acoustics. If you stand on the black stones under the dome and speak, your voice travels clearly throughout the whole mosque, mimicking a microphone.

(If anyone knows how to get rid of this underlining, let me know.)

When people travelled to this mosque from out of town, they were given one of these nooks to sleep in.

Chehel Sotun (Forty Columns) Palace of Shah Abbas, Esfahan, 1647.

Hammam Ali Gholi Agha

Bath house my dad used to go to once a week when he was a kid, now a museum.

The ancient city of Persepolis, built in 515 BC (!!) by Cyrus the Great, destroyed by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. The foundations and many of the carvings are still in tact.

There aren't really many camels in Iran, this was just a tourist camel Kyle paid the boy to ride!

Imam Square, Esfahan, built by Shah Abbas, early 1600s.

The two short stone pillars are the goal posts for polo, a sport invented in Iran.

Apartment building my dad built. They live on top floor and we were generously given an unoccupied suite to stay in while we were there.

Some Iranian furniture is a little...lavish.

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The Food

Kebabs, stews, saffron rice, breads, spices, tea, fresh fruit, sweets...

so much yumminess...

Our daily breakfast

And for the adventurous...

ice cream with spaghetti.

Basil is sold like lettuce. And you eat it that way too!

It took us some time to get used to eating a pure basil salad.

Picnics are very popular

Even at midnight

We never really got used to the daily schedule. People get up in the morning and do their jobs, then everything shuts down at about noon. This is when everyone goes home for a huge lunch and a nap. Then everything opens again at 5:00 pm and stays open until midnight. Then they go home and have dinner at midnight and go to bed. I think the earliest we ever ate dinner was 10:30!

How to start a barbecue, Iranian style.

Step 1: Heat the coals in a wire basket over the gas stove.

Step 2: Use a hair dryer to blow air on the coals till they are nice and hot.

While passing through a town, a stranger invited us in for lunch just out of the blue.

His wife whipped up this feast for us.

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The Wedding

Iranians generally have two weddings. During the first one, the white wedding dress is worn, 300 guests are invited, vows are exchanged, rings are placed, food is eaten, and dancing ensues. After this wedding, the bride and groom still live separately at their own parent's house for about a year, then the next wedding is planned.

During this second wedding, called Aroosi, another wedding dress is worn, another 300 guests are invited, more food, and more dancing. The purpose of the second wedding is to celebrate the bride and groom consummating their marriage and beginning their life together.

Aroosi

My sister and her new husband

Due to restrictions against public dancing, the wedding was held at a garden out of the city and away from watchful eyes. The men and women are separated by a wall so that we couldn't see each other the whole night (although a couple girls and I just had to go sneek a peek at the men's side when we heard that Kyle was doing some Iranian dancing.)

Kyle was a hit at the party, mostly due to his blond hair and his willingness to party like an Iranian.

The physical affection people have toward each other, combined with the fact that it was all men on his side of the garden, meant that Kyle had his first experience dancing with another man... or rather a whole bunch of men.

The Kleenex dance?

Even holding hands

Before he knew it he was hoisted up on to someone's shoulders and was dancing with the groom.

Meanwhile, the bride is on the other side of the wall, dancing with the women, who all happily removed their coverings to reveal spaghetti straps and hair spray. Once or twice the bride put on her covering and went to see her husband, and sometimes the husband came over to the women's side as all the women madly rushed to cover their heads for the groom. (All except his immediate family and the more liberal women, who really didn't care.)

Even though I wore about as much make-up as I did for my own wedding, next to the Iranian girls I look bare-faced. They love their makeup.

This party lasted until 4:00 am, after which everyone piled into their cars and drove down the highway with their hazard lights on, honking and hanging out of the windows.

Occasionally they would all stop, block traffic, and get out and start dancing in the middle of the highway. And they all made sure Kyle didn't miss out on a dance!

Our next destination was Marjan and Ehsan's new apartment, where people went to admire their new place and their new stuff. All of which was completely furnished by the couple's parents. Everything from the furniture to the tea pot to the apartment itself.

The festivities were finally over after 5:00 am.

And in a country with prohibition, all this happens without a drop of alcohol.