Yesterday, I took my first walkabout along Nejatollahi Street and
Taleghani Avenue at downtown Tehran to see what was going on at
late afternoon just before sunset at about 4:45pm local time.
I never expected to see anything to do with Advent and
Christmas at Shia Iran! But I did ... there I saw one shop all decked
out in lovely Xmas streamers and a grand Xmas tree right in the
large front window all done up nicely in bright red ornaments and
shiny royal blue and green tinsel ... Here then was the symbol
of Christmas for me some 4.000 miles away from England!!
I was overjoyed and surprised, but I also sad that in England
all one sees today is the almost deChristianization of Christmas
at the stores in Covent Garden and the West End.
What decorations they use are simply perfunctionary at
best and at worst as deChristianized as possible as they can get.
So much for an English Christmas of once upon a time, I guess ...
Here in Tehran, I also did my first grocery shopping at less
than 24 hours of being here and to find the food pretty cheap. My
full shopping bag of milk, orange juices, chocolate biscuits, and
sugar for my tea, cost me around 3 quid -- 60.000 Rials -- while
in England the same would have cost me at good 10 to 12 quid
with nobody helping to fill my bag of groceries for me like I found
at this Islamic city ... Nor would I have been given a "thank you" at
Tesco or Asda or Sainsbury or Marks and Spencer for my purchase
like I was given here at the grocery store. My only problem was
being sure I was buying the right stuff since everything was printed
in the Farsi or the Persian language. What one thinks is milk could
easily be nothing more than sour white yogurt or something that
tastes so bitter one wants to immediately spit the stuff out of
one's mouth, especially someone like me who has a very sweet
tooth. Luckily and by sheer chance I got what I thought I had
like real milk and sugar that wasn't white rice ...
For once in my life I got it right!!
I must now run since by "bodyguard" known simply as "K"
and who tries to charge me bodyguard price, is here to yank
me off around town this morning where the sun is shining and
the day is mild. I am so excited to be here in Shia Iran that
no matter how much this may have cost me -- as you all
know I am so poor and yet so rich in spirit -- so whatever I
must go for now ... Cheers, Monty. +St. Lucas, 2oo7.
I'm back from a full day of seeing alot more of Tehran.
Spending some of the morning at the grand Golestan
Palace was fascinating to me with the historic paintings
of the late 18th and early 19th century "Fathalishahs" of
the once powerful Peacock Throne. In primitive art style,
the images were remarkable to view simply because of the
period of dress and the nobility of the subjects so well
painted or depicted. The last of the Peacock Throne was,
of course, Shah Pahlav of Iran, who was overthrown in
1979 by the rise of the Islamic Revolution here and who
died in Egypt as a rather forlorn, pitiful, and hated
figure by his own Iranian people ... The interior and
exterior of the palace, like most old palaces, was of
outstanding craftmanship and taste, and in this case,
of acclaimed historic Islamic artwork ... I must have
taken at least 20 photographs of the Golestan Palace
and could have taken more that's for sure ... Inside
the Coronation Room was furbished by imported
German stained glass and bevelled mirrors that
covered all the walls and the entire ceiling along with
handcrafted tablets of Farsi inscriptions and carved
fable figures that have stood the test of time by still,
for the most part, being intact to this day and are
now preserved for all time ... What I find odd is
that with the hatred against the then dreaded
Shah Regime, that today items related to the Shah
himself are readily offered for sale to foreign visitors
like me as if the Shah was somehow a relic of the
past who did no wrong under his brutal regime.
Time can play tricks on the people, too. When such
folkz benefit from selling such itims, they are in a
certain way diminishing and forgiving all that was
wrong about the man. In fact, the selling of such
Shah items should be outlawed much like we see in
Germany where items relating to Hitler and his
Nazi regime are forbidden under law not to be sold
at the public marketplace. So should the Shah ...
What I enjoyed most about today was being caught-up
in the city milieu of Tehran and getting stopped by folkz
asking me for street directions that I assume was what
they wanted of me even though I didn't understand a
word of their native Farsi. And, being here a mere 36
hours so far and to have folkz treat me like I'm a native
in such a short time is to me quite complimentary ...
On main Valiasr Street, I saw long lines of waiting
drivers to get their gas or petrol at the station. Iran
being, I believe, the world's second largest oil producer
it shouldn't have much of a problem providing oil for
her people. I assume there is no rationing and that the
price of petrol is relatively cheap here compared to
other countries like the UK. Maybe it was the time of
day at around 5:30pm and that since most city workers
leave their job then and live in suburban Tehran that it
was just a very busy time for the gas station to cope
with all those waiting to fill-up ...
What I have seen of Tehran from Javadiye to Majidiyeh
to Kavoosiyeh and to Shahrake Gharb by car, and
also by my free walkabouts, I would say the city is
quite humble and poor and flat and unshowy. The city
roads and streets seem in okay condition, but the side-
walks or pavements are pretty treacherous to walk
and in disrepair with potholes, broken chunks of
asphalt or concrete, and steep steps that join one part
of the street to another. If you don't watch yourself
you could easily be injured badly by falling flat on your
face or back or dislocating some part of your body or
slipping on your heels and screaming like mad.
As for traffic, it's a case of the survival of the fittest!
Cars are the weapons and the people are the targets.
The streets are wide and open, but clogged to the
hilt with choking cars and masses of people. The
two elements converge on each other like a daily
battle of mind over matter. The "mind" is the person
and the "matter" is the car. If there are enough people
trying to cross the street, the cars are forced to stop
only with seconds given and then off they go again.
Usually, there are more cars than people, so the
cars usually win one way or another. So be alert,
quick and very careful when you venture across
any street or road in Iran's Tehran.
A few other quick observations for today:
Never have I seen a city with so banks!! Every
street seems to have a bank despite America's
unilateral sanctions against the Iranian banking
system ... At also every few hundred yards there
are charity collection boxes for the city to raise
money to help house and feed the poor. The blue and
yellow boxes depict two hands together and a sad
figure of a needy mother and unfed child. I haven't
seen anybody put some money in such boxes yet,
but I'm pretty sure kind folkz do. This Tuesday
evening here, I see the shops seem quite
full and busy with customers especially at the
many jewellery stores and at the new fangled
phone stores full of cheap cellphones. Cellphones
are not by far as widely used as I see in London
although it seems the young city workers are
more drawn to using mobiles than the older folkz
from what I have seen here. As for the weather, its
been perfect with clear skies and dry and mild
degrees in the upper 60's/lower 70's f.
Tomorrow I head out of town to the Caspian
Sea by going to Rasht and Bezvanshar that will take
a good five to six hour chauffeur-driven ride for me.
I will make contact with you all again once I return
to Tehran. Shortly after that, I shall then go by
Iran Air onto Esfahan and Yazd. See you then!!
My regards, Monty.
Just got this from you know who ... So I'll leave
it unedited as it is written and sent to me. Glad
always to get such frank and open comments ...
From: Anonymous noreply-comment@blogger.com
To: thebiggerissue@k.st Subject: [thebiggerissue.org]
New comment on AT THE CAPITAL OF IRAN, I NOW
STAND .... Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007
05:08:16 -0800 (PST)
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post
"Monty THings you must do: 1- See the Crown Jewels 2- Hike
the mountain trails around Tehran (probably snowy now so
bring boots) especially Darekeh (I think they're open in
winter) 3- Quick trip to the Caspian coast 4- See the bazaar5-
Get out of Tehran (dirty crowded ugly) and See Isfahan and
Shiraz and Persepolis AND WATCH OUT FOR TRAFFIC ... "
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