That's me right now

You can deal with almost any challenge if you understand its nature and how to tackle it. But issues - personal and involving others - are so complex, you're at sea. Actually, this benefits you, as it prevents your usual over-analysis and forces you to examine your feelings. These reveal that, in some cases, you don't care as much as you thought - or as much as some say you should. But others reveal a passion you've refused to accept, perhaps for fear of what it would lead to. Now you find out.

Je le note et j'y réfléchis...

Question : Chacun dans la vie doit avoir un objectif, chacun doit trouver sa voie et en trouvant sa voie on doit y mettre toute son intelligence. Est-ce qu'il y a un moyen de trouver sa voie dans la vie?

Réponse : Oui, si on mène une vie droite, une vie naturelle, on trouve intuitivement la voie droite pour avancer. En outre, quand quelqu'un a trouvé son objectif, celui qui est pour lui, alors il se sent lui-même, il se sent chez lui. Alors, il constate que toutes choses l'aident, il se sent plein d'espoir et de courage.



Question : Y a-t-il un moyen de trouver l'objectif? Je n'ai pas encore trouvé d'objectif dans la vie.

Réponse : Il faut développer l'intuition.



Question : Comment développer l'intuition chez quelqu'un qui ne la possède pas?

Réponse : La confiance en soi. On doit être prêt à faire des erreurs parce qu'on ne peut pas toujours avoir la bonne intuition; si l’on se méfie de l'intuition, alors on n'en aura pas du tout.



Question : Alors c'est un grand risque?

Réponse : Rien n'est atteint sans risque. Quand les gens disent qu'en quelque chose il y a un risque, je leur dis souvent que ne pas prendre un risque est un risque encore plus grand.



Question : Est-ce que l'intuition est supérieure à l'intelligence?

Réponse : La supériorité et l'infériorité sont des termes relatifs. Bien sûr, l'intuition vient quelquefois d'une source plus profonde que l'intellect. Par intelligence, on entend la capacité de connaissance et par intellect, ce qu'on connaît. L'intelligence est la capacité, l'intellect, la connaissance. L'intelligence est une substance pure, quelque chose de très pur. Par conséquent l'intelligence est la substance divine que l'on peut reconnaître en soi. S'il y a quelque signe de l'âme dans une personne, c'est l'intelligence. Par conséquent, plus intelligente est une personne, plus cette personne a une âme brillante. Mais je ne veux pas dire qu'une personne intellectuelle n'ait pas d'intelligence.

Source: http://www.soufi-inayat-khan.org/murshid/alch_bo/ab03.htm

I will simply write it down

Today would've been my dad's 65th birthday. I miss him.

Is there a book I need to read for that?

"Sabine wonders what is wrong with her, and who can fix it"...

Comme c'est intéressant... (How interesting)

Horoscope de la rentrée... "Evasion"

** Généralement je lis et puis j'oublie, mais là... Hmmmm... ***

Donnez le maximum, les planètes de cette rentrée vous le rendront au centuple ! En effet, ça s'exite dans le zodiaque, ça déménage, les grosses planètes, celles des changements radicaux, vous remueront la tête, le coeur et le corps. En premier lieu, Saturn dit "Je veux la sécurité", vous donne des responsabilités - certaines hors normes -, vous demande rigueur et force de caractère pour maintenir ce qui est. Ensuite, Uranus l'individualiste dit: "Je veux ma liberté" et provoque quelques bouleversements dans votre manière de vivre, d'aimer ou de travailler. Enfin, Jupiter vous offre la chance qui tombe du ciel, le coup de pouce et l'opportunité de transformer tout ça à votre avantage. Un vent cosmique souffle en rafales, hissez la voile, vous irez loin !
Osez prendre le large ou la tangente ! (...) en octobre un nouveau cycle s'enclenchera et novembre verra un changement de ton, de régime, de rythme ou de décor. Agitation, révolte, tensions, désir de liberté et d'évasion... orages et éclaircies se succéderont et, que ce soit en amour ou au travail, vous ne supporterez plus d'être enferm"s dans le même rôle, privés d'autonomie, et vous ferez sauter les verrous. Nouvel emploi, déménagement, rencontre providentielle, amour naussant, amitiés originales... fin novembre-début décembre marquera une étape importante. Ne restez pas coincés dans vos habitudes, vos certitudes. Protégés par Jupiter, choisissez d'être la Vierge folle plutôt que sage, une amélioration en flèche s'ensuivra.

Total Nintendo geek

I am actually using a wi-fi web browser installed on my nintendo DS lite to post this. So cool. I know, I have smarter things to do, like finish writing about the trip to Iran... or getting stuff ready for my new life in the UK... :-)

Do YOU have a codega?

"She is a firefly, this Linda. In Venice in the Middle Ages there was once a profession for a man called a codega - a fellow you hired to walk in front of you at night with a lit lantern, showing you the way, scaring off thieves and demons, bringing you confidence and protection through the dark streets. This is Linda - my temporary, special-order, travel-sized Venitian codega."

(from "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert)

Day 5: Isfahan

Absolutely amazing breakfast served in a gorgeous little corner of the house...

The weather is still warm but overcast... not so nice for picture taking. Oh well, as long as there's no rain. We're invited to climb up on the roof of the hotel/house to have a different view. I really fall in love with the place.

We leave for the bazaar, towards Imam Square again. In daylight, this time.

(Above: a picture on the way to the bazaar).

Even with the overcast sky, everything is still beautiful. I really like this Square.

We visit all the monuments around the Square.

Sheik Lotfollah mosque...

Then the Imam Mosque itself...

I'm still surprised at the little number of tourists. Of course there are more than in Kashan, but nothing striking... We have lunch again at the Shahrzad restaurant, this time to try the chicken & rice-made-with-butter-and-egg-creating-delicious-crust (I'm sure it has a billion calories).

After that, we walk around the river and visit the different bridges. There is the 33 arches bridge, quite famous...

But the prettiest bridge (and the furthest) is Pol-e-Khaju (Khaju bridge). Where several men come to talk to us (well, to Alain, and indirectly to me). There is this really nice old man too. Alain takes a great picture of him (link).

After the bridges and a disapointing ice cream cone, we head back towards the Square. On our way, we meet Zahra, a English language student with whom we exchange e-mail addresses. She's very kind (and we're still in touch!).

Later, around the miniaturist shop, a young man (Iman) stops us. He speaks perfect French and wants to guide us through our visit of the Square. At first we're a bit surprised, but then we go with him to Ali Qapu palace. He explains everything and politely leaves us after the visit. To be honest, I was wondering if all this kindness would have a fee or not. I'm a stupid foreigner. The guy was just being nice and showing around his city and training his French. How come we're so suprised when people are just being nice?

We get a little lost in the Bazaar until we reach the Friday (Jameh) mosque. Very old, and pretty. The place is almost empty, only 3 tourists and a few locals.

Two little girls in pink are having fun in the abblution fountain. We take pictures (after asking the mother). They have so much fun seeing themselves on the screen of Alain's digital camera!

We return at Dibai House, to have some rest before leaving for the airport. There's a cat (un chat! un shah?) in the hotel...

One strange vision on the way to the airport... On the highway, we pass a pick-up truck. In the back of the pick-up truck, I see a round black shape covered in black cloth. Oh, I think it's just some merchandise... then we get closer, and Alain & I both see that it's a women wrapped in her chador, fighting against the wind (it's a highway!). Then we see the inside of the cabin: it's filled with 3 men. I guess the woman had no choice than to go in the back, based on the rules... I'm a bit shocked. Why couldn't a guy go in the back? Were these men non-related to her? One must've been, or she wouldn't be travelling with them. This is the only time I saw such an event. So this is woman's position in society. Maybe. I only saw it once. In Europe, we're bombarded with these images. You'd think you'd see this at every street corner. Well you don't. Like the women militias driving around to check on the correctness of your outfit... never saw the shadow of one. Is it reverse propagandha to make us "afraid" of Iran? I don't know...

At the airport, hardly no signs in English, and no flight information in English. But we manage. We shop around for Coke light & "Gaz" (nougat with pistachio, you gotta love them). We understand that the flight has some delay, but no details. We'll wait, see what happens. After only 30 minutes delay, we board for a 35 minutes flight, with full comfort, bilingual announcements, a meal & drink (all this for 30 euros).

In Tehran's Mehrahbad airport, we book a taxi to return to our dear Firouzeh hotel. At the exit, some non-official taxi driver tries to convince us to go with him. That'll be the only real bother we'll have in Iran. Just this one time. But, taxi drivers, eh... same problem everywhere... After fighting to get rid of this taxi driver, we manage to find the "regular" taxi queue. I'm a bit disappointed that among all the people waiting in line nobody helped us get rid of the guy. I think in France, people would've gotten into the argument, after a while at least. (Just for the sake of getting into an argument, you know).

Anyway, after a little ride, we are back at our usual hotel. The room is not as nice as the previous one, but it'll do. The airconditionning is full blast and no way to tune it down. It stops around 2AM...

Day 4: Kashan in a day

With great difficulty we drag ourselves out of bed around 9AM... we both would've liked to sleep longer but it's a beautiful day, we're in Iran, and only for 1 day in Kashan. Tonight, we already have to leave for Isfahan!

We have a gorgeous traditional Iranian breakfast on the terrasse, with a view on the inner courtyard (see photo). The bread is yummy, the kind-of-feta cheese also...

We walk to the bazaar, we walk around, people say hello to us.

One man just stops to tell us "welcome to Iran". And it's in Kashan that I spot for the first time some Coke Light. A much more civilized country than Japan or Italy, finally ;-)

We walk back to the bazaar to climb on the roof. The view is really special. I had never seen that before, and I love it.

We then decide to go have lunch at the Delpazir restaurant, based on the recommendation of the LP guide. We search and search but cannot find it. We're told it closed a couple years ago. Oh well, that's what you get when you only edit a guidebook every other year. We end up at the only restaurant in the same area, the "Sha". Copious, cheap, maybe a bit fatty (kebab meat). After that, we head towards the area where many traditional houses have been renovated & are opened to visitors. We finally see a few tourists. Very few.

One of the houses we visit is also visited at the same time but schoolgirls & schoolboys (seperately). The schoolgirls say hello to us, start giggling, we take a picture of each other. I am laughing so much that my mouth hurts! What an atmosphere. You can hear giggles everywhere!

But it's already 4PM and time for us to think about heading towards Isfahan. A schoolgirl hands me a rose before we leave the traditional house. We walk back to the hotel & take a cab to the bus station. The taxi driver's just a kid. As soon as we are out of ear reach of people, he starts playing loud turkish dance music in his car. Woohoo! (illegal music)

We hop on the bus at 17:00 and travel through the desert... (including through Natanz, which is the nuclear testing zone). Ah, the desert...

2h50 minutes later, we're in the North Station of Isfahan, and Mohamed with whom we started a conversation in the bus, helps us find a taxi. The driver doesn't know where is our hotel (I had booked this traditional house via internet, gorgeous yet tiny place), but we find a closeby place he knows, and we say we'll finish on foot. I totally impress my brother when, once approaching our final destination, I ask (in Farsi!) the driver where is Hatef street, then based on his potive answer, I tell him "here, it's good". Well those 6 pimsleur lessons sure payed off. Just to see the face of my brother :-)

The area of the hotel (Ali Mosque) is so-so... to get to the Dibai House, you really have to look for a small door with no real sign... A young woman opens the door, no headscarf! wow! And the place is absolutely gorgeous. The colours (chosen by her mother) are amazing, and she chose the decoration.

We decide to go have a glimpse at the Imam Square by night and perhaps have some dinner. Alain takes me through dark and desert streets in the backstreets of the Grand Bazaar. I kind of freak out to be honest. But then... aaaaaaah... Imam Square. THE IMAM SQUARE. Wow. At night, it's all lit up, families are around, children playing... I was expecting tourist buses, but once again, there aren't that many. Again, people say hello & welcome us. Very nice. We sit down and absorb the moment.

It's already 9:30PM when we decide we should find something to eat. We decide to try a nice (expensive) restaurant Alain remembers as very nice. On the way there, we stop in front of Hossein Fallahi's boutique. He's a famous miniature maker. He remembers the photography Alain has sent him. He gives me his card and we promise to visit him the next day.

Again, before getting to the restaurant, we stop to have quick look at the inner courtyard of the Abbasi Hotel (5-star hotel). It's true it's absolutely gorgeous. There's a coranic school (Madresh) next to the hotel and Alain points accross the street to some blinking neon lights and tells me here stands the one and only sex shop in Iran. I stare at him blankly until he starts giggling. Ha. Ha. Ha. I almost fell for it. Not.

The restaurant ("Shahrzad") is yummy. I take "fesenjun" (chicken with a walnut & pomegranate sauce) and Alain has "zereshk polo ba morgh" (chicken with rice and "airelles"). Iranian food is amazing. So simple and tasty.

Day 3: Grab your brother & get out of here :-)

Morning: I do my little travel organizing bit. Cancel things, book new places. For hotels in Kashan, there is only 1 hotel recommended in my books. Hotel that I cannot get a hold of on the phone. I ask Mr Mousavi for help, and he recommends his friends' place, the "Ehsan Historical House", near Agha Bozorg (Bozorgh Mosque). The room I book will be a traditional room, with en-suite bathroom (I thought Alain might need that after all the travelling, and I'm not against a little comfort myself).

This morning I eat my breakfast more heartily, knowing Alain's on it's way and that we can resume travelling... not that I don't like Tehran, but I know there's so much more to see, and so little tiiiiiiiiime.

Around noon, Anna and I leave for the Golestan Palace. It's walking distance, near the bazaar. The bazaar looks huge & complex, something else than the one in Istanbul (there I go again, doing some bazaar name-dropping now!).

Golestan Palace is absolutely beautiful. A real jewel. No tourists. Very quiet. Just the sound of the call to prayer in the background. We walk around...

We return to the hotel. I decide to wait for Alain, he should be here by 16:30 or so.

...but I learn that Alain received the wrong information, and he texts me telling me he'll land at 17:00. Aaaaaargh. More waiting! So frustrating! Oh well, we'll just take a late bus for Kashan, as soon as he arrives. Apparently, they run until 22:00... In the meantime, I'm in the lobby, reading. Anna joins me for a chat, waiting for internet. Time flies rather rapidly. We talk with Mr Mousavi about the trains in Iran. Anna wants to take the train to Isfahan. He tells us there's a very good train line from Tehran to Mashhad. The 1st class coaches are all comfort, flatscreen TV, food, european toilets, clean. I think that train is called the Simorgh. It's definitely on my list for my next trip to Iran. Definitely.

While waiting for Alain, I realize that when he shows up, I won't be able to kiss or hug him (public display of affection is a no-no). Will be very odd.

Finally the long-awaited brother arrives around 19:30. It is indeed awkward not being able to hug. Anna offers him date milk to celebrate :-)

We leave rather rapidly, to catch the bus for Kashan, with a taxi which takes us to the South Station. Once arrived, and as I am about to pay, I almost fall into the trap of the "taarof". Taarof in Iran is the "politeness rule". One example of taarof you can encounter while making a purchase (or paying for a taxi) is that the seller will refuse your money. You then have to insist to pay. He will refuse maybe 2 more times, then finally accept your money. So when the taxi driver first refused the money, I thought maybe it had already been payed for by the hotel, but by the time I got to the end of that thought, I remember reading about the t'aarof... and insisted to pay, to the great relief of the taxi driver (who had seen me hesistate).

The bus station is huge. It's 20:00 and so busy. We look for company n°17, the one providing trips to Kashan, but this one's part of the few stations where the number is written only in Farsi. But thanks to our little dictionnary, we find it. The bus is at 20:30 and it's 20:27. Perfect timing :-) The tickets are all written in farsi, so we have to ask someone where are our seat (seats are numbered). Because they are separated seats, someone has to move so I don't have to sit next to a foreign man (Allah forbid!). Finally my brother and I have time to catch up on our recent adventures, mine in Tehran, his in Roissy then Bahrain.

In the bus, a movie is shown. Iranian movie, in Farsi. The buses stops a few times to drop off some passengers, and finally we'll spend 3,5 hours in the bus. We get a snack (cookies) with Apple juice bought on the side of the road in a little store. (see picture).

Once in Kashan, the taxi has no idea where our "house" is. We ask around and finally find it. The taxi driver really put a lot of effort to find the place.

The Traditional House is beautiful. A renovated house... we arrive in the patio, nice lighting, a huge bassin and fountain... we have a choice between the traditional and regular room but opt for the traditional, after all, it's not everyday you get to pay to sleep on the floor, hee hee. Nah, it's just the same system as futon actually.

Even bothered by one mosquito, we both quickly fall asleep. Let the Kashan adventure begin...

Day 2: in Tehran, no brother

This morning I have to receive our domestic flight tickets from the travel agency I had contacted from Europe (you can't buy domestic flight tickets from outside Iran - how unconvenient!). My brother & I are supposed to fly to Shiraz at 13:15. Obviously, he won't be there on time, so I have to see if rescheduling is possible.

The woman at the agency speaks great English and is very kind. Unfortunately, all flights are fully booked tomorrow. In the meantime, I call Shiraz hotel to cancel our first night... Maybe we'll have to cancel the whole Shiraz/Persepolis part of the trip :-(
The travel agency woman suggests to go to Kashan if we cannot make it to Shiraz. It's not too far and it's beautiful at this season. Why not, we'll see... I call Alain. He's still in Paris, at a hotel in CDG! Still no clear message about his flights (DO NOT EVER TRAVEL WITH GULF AIR)...


As the rest of the trip cannot be fixed for the moment, I decide to go explore a bit of Tehran with Anna, instead of staying at the hotel and worrying for nothing. We decide to go to the Jewels Museum, supposed to be something worth seeing.
I get out in the streets for the 1st time. I realize (how ironic) that the hotel is located in the "automotive" quarter of the city. Spare car parts everywhere :-) Spare tires are transported in huge piles and small carriages pulled by strong men. There is stuff everywhere, from every brand...



Further down the street, we arrive at Khomeini Square. A big, ugly square with lots of cars. We have trouble finding the museum (walk by it by mistake) but in any case, it's not supposed to open before 14:00 (and closes at 16:30!) so we decide to find some lunch.
We follow a Lonely Planet recommendation and start our quest for the lunch place. We walk though the suitcase district, then the shoes district, to finally arrive at a not-that-easy-to-find little eating place. Mostly filled with men. The window in the front of the store doesn't really advertise for food. It's really non-touristy (then again, there's nothing very touristy in general in the country). As there is no menu (not to say no English menu), I opt for the safe chicken & rice option. We're also offered some sort of delicious "purée" of tomatoes & aubergines. Sooooo good. Near then end of our meal, a couple joins our table. As a newly arrived tourist full of pre-conceived ideas, I am surprised that the man sits next to Anna (men & women are not supposed to sit next to each other if there are not related or married - which makes sitting in a bus a whole seating game). .. then again, the tiny eatery is crammed with people, so this man doesn't really have a choice.
So we head back to the museum, and Anna notices these green fruits being sold in the street. We're not sure what they are, and ask. We're shown that they should be eaten as is, with salt. We try, and discover theay are actually fresh almonds. The inside is yummy, but the Iranian seem to also eat the bitter green shell.
The museum is impressive with security measures. We are not allowed to take ANYTHING inside. Bags & purses must be given at the entrances (as well as weapons - it's mentionned on the entrance ticket). There are beautiful pieces of jewlery. And there's a group of Japanese tourists, guided by an Iranian man speaking perfect Japanese. I am in total admiration (of the language skills).
Teheran is a very beige city. Sand colour. Sometimes grey. I don't feel the pollution as much as I expected, yet it is definitely there. As for the cars and the legendary impossibility to cross a road without being ran over... well, it's true, yet living in Paris is a good training and it's possible to zig zag through the cars and every time barely making it to the other side :-) I apply the technique Anna has developped in Cairo: always cross with some local in between you & the cars, & follow their steps. Basically, you're using a wise local person as a human shield. And it works.
Story of the day: in the middle of a 4 lane road, a man asks us where we come from. He lists many countries but not including france... so I keep talking to him... during that time, a possibility to safely cross the street appears, and Anna goes away. I catch up, running a little. A few minutes later, a young woman stops us and tries to explain to Anna that the man wanted just to make some small talk and that she shouldn't take it negatively, etc. At first, we don't know what she's talking about, then we realise that she probably thought we were running away from that conversation-making man! How nice of her to come and talk to us! Wow! She introduces herself, a student in architecture at Tehran university. She gives us her phone number, if we need a guide in the city. She's all moved and trembling. (it must take courage to go and talk to strangers in a foreign language). We're moved too actually. Such kindness...
After the museum, Anna needs a rooposh (a "manteau", a coat thing, that'll cover more "reasonably" her body the way the locals do, as she is now wearing her "butterfly" outfit - very colourful piece of clothe - the good size but maybe a bit too bright I guess). She has a tip on where to go for shopping, and - hey! shopping! - I'm all for it. I wouldn't mind finding an alternative to my brown tunique. So we head for "Haft-e-tir". Based on yet another book I had read ("Les Pintades à Teheran") where this area is recommended, I am expecting quite a fashionable district. Well... it could be, if it wasn't located around a huge square, with no shade, quite ugly, and surrounded - again - by hundreds of cars in traffic. The sidewalks are packed, though. We try out three stores. Everything looks the same. Manteaus, manteaus, manteaus, headscarves. I do buy a light manteau, I kind of like it, but it's a bit big (no body-hugging clothes here!). I'm very impressed by the staff. The girls looked at me and handed me the perfect (based on local rules) size (that's like 2 sizes too big). When it's time to pay, both Anna and I get confused and - unintentionally - try to pay 10 times less the announced price. Because in Iran, the currency is Rials, but people speak in "Tomans".
Let me quote wikipedia for the explanation:
"In 1932, the rial replaced the toman at a rate of 1 toman = 10 rials (i.e., 1 rial = 1 qiran). Although the rial is the official currency of Iran, many Iranians employ the term toman in everyday transactions for an amount of 10 rials. In unofficial circumstances, a toman may also refer to either 1,000 tomans or 1,000,000 tomans. The order of the magnitude of the amount would be considered to be apparent from the context."
...so I tried to buy my coat for 2 euros, instead of 20. Very funny.
Didn't try to haggle, I'm just absolutely no good at that.
Anna & I return by subway. The Tehran subway is excellent. Clean, fast, cheap, much nicer than the one in Brussels, and much cleaner than the one in Paris, and much prettier than the one in London. It's a little like to one in Athens. (OK I'm done with the metros-I've-visited name dropping).
In the metro on the way to Haft-e-tir, we had actually met Photography students (with their very impressive digital cameras) who had asked us if they could take pictures of us. Very friendly girls, speaking english AND french.



In the evening, I offer Anna to go out in the area for a small snack. I just don't feel staying in my room all evening. Mr Mousavi (the hotel manager) recommends us a snack place further down the road. It's actually a restaurant. As we are standing on the side of the road trying to cross (it's very dark already and not many people are around to use as "human shields") we create a traffic jam, as every taxis comes up to us to ask where we are going! We just want to cross! Finally, we get to the restaurant and my light snacks turns into a very good kabab. The rice itself is delicious!
Back in my room, I hear from Alain that he'll be in Tehran tomorrow around 15:00. He's in Bahrain, in an Indian hotel. So now, all I have to do is: cancel the hotel in Shiraz, find a hotel in Kashan, find a way to go to Kashan (a bus)...
Yeah. In the meantime, I plan my visits for the next day: if I have time & energy tomorrow, I think I'll visit the Golestan Palace...
About the hotel: it's cheap & friendly, with a bunch of young & not so young backpackers and I have a good time. The only thing with having the toilets outside the room is that everytime I want to visit that place, I feel I have to dress for winter: put back pants, coat, and headscarf... it sometimes makes me too lazy to get out of my room :-)

D-Day: leaving for Iran

It's 7:30 in the morning and I'm in the TGV for Paris CDG... It's a beautiful day in Brussels, and I hope it'll be like this all day. The soundtrack to the beginning of the trip is "I turn my camera on" by Spoon... I feel overdressed (I already have my Iranian "outfit" on).
A little stress before leaving: should I or should I not take with me (in my suitcase) Shirin Ebadi's latest book? (Iran Awakening) Is it allowed? In doubt, I leave it behind and take a book of short Persian short stories with me.
I meet with my brother at the airport and we have breakfast together. He leaves to board on his Gulf Air flight, I return to the Air France terminal (we weren't flying with the same company as my brother's holiday continued for 2 more weeks after our Iran trip). Alain calls later: his flight has some technical problems and he'll probably not make it to Tehran tonight (he has a connection in Bahrain which he'll probably miss)... Oh no! ...I leave for Tehran, feeling lonely & even more unsure of what to expect. We're both worried on how to communicate, as I have no idea if my cell phone will work in Iran. The good thing is that it's already planned that someone will pick us (me) up at Tehran airport and take me to the hotel. We'll see.
The flight goes well... I enjoy my last bit of wine, before one week of alcohol-free lifestyle (not that it's a problem at all). The captain of the flight, upon arrival, tells us "And I wish you a nice stay in...hmmm... Iran".
:-)
The only thing that we're told before unboarding is that we cannot disembark without wearing the headscarf and that alcohol is strictly forbidden.
In the plane, once we've landed, all foreign women are looking at eachother, wondering when it'll be time to put our scarves on. Nobody's really comfortable. All "styles" are visible. I'm now wondering if my kind of pro-American TIME magazines in my bag will cause any trouble.
I get off the plane. My cellphone seems to work. What a relief. I get a text message from Alain. He will not be in Tehran tonight, he's still in Paris. It seems I can only use text messages, when I try to call, I get a recording that "outgoing calls are blocked".
The waiting line for passport control takes forever... I pick up my suitcase real quick then it's chaos at the (one and only) bank counter, to change money. Iran doesn't have any credit card system really (as it is VISA & Mastercard, all American stuff), so cash is all you can use. At the bank counter, I meet a french man, working for Renault in Iran. Very nice, he explains to me the money system, using only the colour of the banknotes. Because... I'm a millionnaire, just by changing 200 euros (which will be wayyyyy enough).
I finally get out into the public zone and start looking for the chauffeur for the hotel. No signs. I'm afraid he won't recognise me, as I should not be alone but with my brother. I walk up & down the area, no one... I send a message to Alain to call the hotel to say I cannot find the chauffeur, and we finally meet. Anna, a canadian girl coming from Egypt joins the chauffeur & I and we're ready to go! It's very warm. Anna is a really nice person and we have a nice talk in the car. As we're both single women here, we decide to share the room & save some money. She's waiting for her boyfriend who will join her in 3 days.
I have a little trouble falling asleep... a bit because of the street noise, the heat, and also I do feel a little sad without my brother... Arriving in Iran should have been a happy moment but at that moment, I still have no idea when he'll join me.
Finally, I fall asleep, making strange dreams about Iran and Canada.