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Adventures in the Islamic RepublicFebruary 06 The Adventure is OverWell I'm back in Australia now, so this will be my last entry. Sorry to disapoint all of you people who use this blog as their main source of entertainment (summer holidays can get mighty boring) or their main source of bludging while at work (yes, you've all admitted it to me).
I have to say that possibly the things i've written about iran sound a bit negative. But, well, i really did have a great time, and most of the criticisms have been exaggerated for your entertainment (that's not to say they're not real criticisms, but lets face it, a blog is hardly the place to discuss serious issues). Also I feel at liberty to say what i want because in a way i am insulting myself, or as my grandmother would say "tofeh sarbaala" ie, like spitting upwards (falls back in your face... gross!).
I am incredibly happy to be back in Australia. Back to the quiet life, back to clean air, blue skies (not spotted in Tehran), safe driving, and of course all my friends and family. So now i can stop communicating with you through the computer!
Bye Bye ;) January 28 Visiting the Shah's PalacesWe did the touristy thing and visited two of the Shah's palaces, which are now museums since the king was kicked out during the Islamic Revolution. I could go on about how everyone now loves the Shah and raves on about how great Iran used to be (it was the Golden Age!), but it tires me. Instead, I'll let you look at the photos from the sites we visited (it was very cold and we had to walk alot in the snow).
The extravagance of their lifestyle must have been a little tiring. They had hand made carpets probably bigger than my house... the biggest was 154 square metres! Racial StereotypesIf there is one thing that Iranians believe in, it's racial stereotypes. Even the most enlightened believes that certain races have certain characteristics. Outside of Iran, they basically don't accept any other race. Arabs are especially looked down upon, probably due to the denial of our Arabic heritage (i've heard this saying about arabs eating crickets so many times now!). The racial stereotypes apply to the different races within Iran. About 90% of Iranian jokes make fun of one racial minority within Iran or another. Turks are stupid, Esvehanis are stingy, Rashtis are without shame when it comes to their women, Ghazvinians are homosexuals. Well, despite this open racism at least there are no race riots here! Snow, finally!This was the first snow we'd all seen in 10 years. For Nima it was his first snow sighting, in effect, because he doesn't remember snow from when he was 2 (when we were last in Iran). This was about 3 weeks ago now, just after returning from Kish.
Nima was so happy. He said "I'm so happy I came to this country" and "now I know how beautiful snow is. Can we go to Moscow?". It snowed regularly for about a week and a half after. We had many snow ball fights and also went skiing one day with my dad's cousin Ario to Abali, a slope near Tehran. Nima gave up pretty quickly, despite my mum hiring an instructor to give me, Nima and Ario lessons. I skied down the beginers slope about 5 times, and I didn't even fall once! Ario fell over so many times, it was such a crackup.
The drive there was less than an hour, but the drive back was about 4 due to the traffic, because of the bad weather. It was really funny, the cars were all sliding around everywhere because of the snow/ice on the road. We managed to keep our spirits up by eating junk food, singing and dancing.
The photos are of my grandmother's backyard, we are with our neighbours who live in the house you can see at the end of the photo (ie, in same yard). ConfessionYes, it's my worst nightmare, I'm begining to like Persian music. I just can't help it. When I hear Afshin's sexy voice I want to bust a move. I now know all the words to the songs, and all the dance actions too.
At the wedding they put on a dance song (i think it was that awful 'blow my whistle' song) and i could not for the life of me remember how to dance to non-iranian music. I only had the instinct to move my hips back and forth and make swirling movements with my hands.
BTW, please keep this a secret. HomophobiaIf any of you have met any iranian guys over in Aus, you'll know that generally they are quite homophobic. Times that by 10 and you have the typical Iranian living in Iran. It's not called homophobia here ofcourse, it's called normality. Homosexuality is ofcourse against the law. But there are just as many gay people as anywhere else (though more closet homosexuals), and everyone knows about it and where to find them (equivelant of oxford street).
People seem to take it personally and get worked up if a man displays homosexual tendencies. Now plucking your eyebrows is ok, because it is the land of monobrows, but long hair, colourful clothes, being softly spoken, etc, is a sure sign of your guilt.
There is a member of my distant family who wants to marry this guy. They've been together for a couple of years now, but her family wont accept him. The problem is he is a little effeminate (despite the monobrow and patent balding). Basically, he speaks very softly and is very attentive, and they say, though i'm not sure i agree, that he walks funny. They are actually making him do a medical test to find out if.... he has male genetilia? male genes? I'm not sure what they are wanting to prove. But, he is accepting to go through with this! the Battle Against PatriarchyIran is not the best place for a rabid feminist like myself to come to. Sexism at a macro level is much easier to handle, sexist laws and such. But at the micro level, when it comes down to people's beliefs and culture, it is much more difficult to do anything about.
For example, it is illegal in Iran for a woman to ride a motorbike (will be legal come the new year). So the law will change, but when we were talking about girls who do ride motorbikes (blasphemy!!) my own aunty commented that yes, there are girls who do it anyway, but that "vaazeshoon kharaabeh" (literal trans: ruined state) which is a euphemism for "they're sluts". Yes, they are very much into the virgin/whore dichotomy.
Besides this you will notice that most men here do not lift a finger when it comes to housework or cooking. There is a joke that goes "how do you know you're Iranian? After dinner there is a fight to the death between the women over who will wash the dishes while the men sit and wait for their tea". Childrearing is a similar story. These are, I guess, traditional gender roles, but many women in Iran do work outside the home also. I believe that it all starts with the mothers who don't spoil their sons.
This also extends to the freedom given to girls relative to boys. The guys can basically do whatever they like, come and go as they please, while the girls are not even allowed to have a boyfriend (they just miraculously one day find a husband). Now if everyone taught their sons a little more about responsibility and respect for women then they wouldn't have to restrict the daugthers. This is all getting very old! I don't need to explain this, everybody knows!!
Let me move on, this is a very sensitive topic for me :p
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