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Wednesday 2004-03-03 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
A thick envelope
The confirmation of my booking arrived today. A thick envelope, with a stack of papers, mostly visa application forms, with a sheet of instructions for each. Reading through it all, I noticed they stated that for the Iran visa application women need a ‘veiled’ photograph. Eerr - what exactly is ‘veiled’? That can mean a lot of different things. So I called the visa agency: it means your hair needs to be covered. Not your face(!).
Monday 2004-03-08 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Iranian outfit, part 1
On the way back I want to go to the Ten Kate market: not the biggest market in Amsterdam but it’s a nice neighborhood market with a variety of goods on offer, including clothes. I take a different route to get there than I normally do. Good thing, too: that way I discover a little store that has a clothes rack with long coats outside.
For Iran, we women will have to adapt our clothing, and apart from a head scarf, need to wear a “long raincoat”. I don’t have anything like that, but don’t intend to spend too much money either. The coats on this rack are long, and some are not too thick either. Not sure if the store is Turkish or Moroccan or something else. I don’t find anything on the market though, so I may go back to this store if I don’t find anything else.
Tuesday 2004-03-16 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
From clothes to music
Coming back from the market, I drop into Barry’s bazaar, a place where many people peddle their second-hand wares, often quite fun to browse around. This time, I’m browsing with a purpose: I’m still looking for an Iranian outfit. I soon see there are practically no clothes here (never was much, but it varies); certainly not what I’m looking for.
Suddenly I remember I’m also looking for music from Turkey and Iran: I have nothing from Turkey and only on CD with music from the Lor people in Iran. I’ve seen CDs here with arabic script - so who knows? I start talking with someone who obviously doesn’t have music, but when the man (from Turkey) asks what I’m looking for he says he can try to get something. He tells me to come back tomorrow. He also offers me coffee but I have no time for that now; that makes me feel impolite…
Wednesday 2004-04-14 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Pleasant practicing
My parents are coming over from Groningen for a visit to Amsterdam today, and the weather is glorious. An ideal occasion to test out the new lens: I must be sure it works properly before I leave. After a nice lunch near the station we go to my apartment for my parents to admire the balcony I’m transforming into a garden, and then we’re off.
I play around a lot with the lens, making the types of shots I normally make, but also some to deliberately test various aspects, from close-up shots with the extra lens, to trying out the 300mm. The children’s farm also provides some nice subjects.
While we’re walking around, I look closely at what muslim women here are wearing, and whether it looks comfortable. Much of what the young women are wearing actually isn’t appropriate for Iran, but I am getting some ideas. At the end of the afternoon, we have a delicious Turkish pizza at Larende, a Turkish neighborhood restaurant; “Turkish pizza” here is not a lamacun, but a like a regular pizza, only with Turkish ingredients like spicy ground lamb. We all had a wonderful day.
Monday 2004-04-19 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Iranian outfit - success!
On the way back from shopping in the Kinkerstraat (Amsterdam), I go back to the little store near the Ten Kate markt where I’d seen the long coats outside; this time the owner appears and I explain what I’m looking for. “In the back,” he says; he also has coats without lining, for warmer weather.
Indeed: not just a few coats, but racks full of clothing, in both Turkish and Moroccan styles. One Moroccan djellaba (a long, loose, hooded garment with full sleeves) is very nice, purple with some embroidery, but I discover a stain, and another one is a size smaller, not too narrow but not really comfortable either. Then I try on an unlined dark wine-red coat, light and supple, ankle-long and hanging wide; the fabric doesn’t easily wrinkle either, which makes it good for travel. It’s actually quite comfortable, and it looks much better on me than I had expected. It doesn’t take long to decide: it’s not expensive either. The friendly store-owner wishes me a nice trip.
Monday 2004-05-24 - Bāzargān, Iran
Compliment for the ladies
The border crossing into Iran goes amazingly smoothly; on the Turkish side, the bus is allowed to take us right up to the gate which is practically flush with the Iranian one at Bāzargān. After that is customs, which worried us most — for no reason as it turns out. All ladies in our group were already dressed “decently” before getting on the bus, and the rather grumpy tourism officer who receives us before the customs gate (for inspection?) actually compliments us for how we are dressed. Possibly as a result we get no baggage check at all!
