It has always amazed me that even some well educated Iranian women accept without comment the statements made by shop owners and salesmen. Don’t they know that these guys will tell you anything just so you’ll buy? But I must admit, when you try to correct them, you’ll end up with a fight, so perhaps the ladies would rather ignore them?
Some years ago, my good friend Barbara got me started on quilting. She makes very beautiful quilts in large quantities, and I did my best to talk her into giving one to me. No such luck, but she did teach me the basic principles of quilting and presented me with enough material for several quilts. I have enjoyed quilting ever since, even though I do not produce master pieces. Most of the quilting necessities I must bring from abroad, as cotton thread and materials, quilting needles, magazines, etc., etc., are not available in Iran.
One day I had run out of cotton thread and even though I knew better, I went to the Tajrish bazar in Northern Tehran to see if I could find any. Of course not. In the last shop I tried, I explained to the shop owner what I needed and hallelujah, he had cotton thread. But when I picked up the spool he had put in front of me, I saw that the label mentioned “100% polyester”. So that’s what I told him. His firm answer was “No, there’s cotton in it also”.
This time I decided not to argue but I couldn’t help laughing. That was the wrong thing to do as his verbal abuse was worse than it would have been if we had argued.
Therefore ladies, when shopping in Iran, remember that the shop owner is king.
A waiter in a desert city in Iran brings the American and Iran flags to our table
In Tehran a waiter brought the UN flag to our table when I had lunch there. “We used to have American flags,” he explained. “But our restaurant was raided and they took all the American flags.” Well in more conservative Yazd, restaurants still have their American flags. This waiter was thrilled to bring a flag for me and a flag for Kamran. Later he brought the Dutch flag to our table as well.
Kamran's mother
Kamran just called from a conference on media. “Thirty years and one day ago I went to Qom to hear Khomeini speak. Today I am in Budapest.”
I recommend seeing his series on the chador.
Even before the Revolution, one had to put a lot of effort into celebrating Christmas in Iran. However, because of the large number of foreigners living here at that time, it was possible to make the day enjoyable. Christmas trees and ornaments were available everywhere, American turkeys could be bought in the supermarkets, Christmas carols were played on radio and TV and Iranians in the street wished us a “Happy New Year”. They always mixed up Christmas and New Year’s Eve and then applied the rules for the Iranian New Year (March 21) to it. As a result, just when I wanted to sit down with my family to enjoy Christmas dinner, Iranian friends started to drop in one after the other to wish me a “Happy New Year”. The children all knew about Christmas presents and kept on looking at the tree to see if anything was there for them. Luckily I had expected this and had purchased and wrapped a lot of extra little presents, so there always was something for everyone, even the grown-ups. Also a blessing that the American turkeys were so big and fat so that there was enough to eat for all.
But nowadays, Christmas in Iran is the saddest day of the year for me. Nothing on radio or TV, only some sick-looking turkeys are available in a few of the market places, hardly any trees can be found, and most Iranians have no idea it’s Christmas. It’s a normal working day, no lights, no decorations and most of all, no Christmas atmosphere. Just the usual air pollution, traffic jams, and stressed people.
I’m glad it’s finished for another year.