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Friday 2004-05-28 - Sanandaj, Iran
Problems
In an Internet cafe (“coffee net”) in Sanandaj, trying to send one item to the site, I’m getting into trouble. For some reason, my mail does not seem to arrive at all. This post is a test, really: if this doesn’t arrive either, I’m giving up for today.
“You are more precious than my eyes”
We head for the mosque first, of which we had a glimpse when we walked through Sanandaj last night to watch the people shopping: the streets were busy on a Thursday evening. But today it’s Friday so naturally most stores are closed and it’s very quiet. Behind the old mosque a new prayer hall is being built; Carla and I aren’t allowed in there (Thom tells us later it’s very beautiful), so the two of us head for the women’s prayer hall to the side. Since it’s Friday, prayers are in progress — one woman praying aloud for a group, all in a row closely together. Normally non-muslims aren’t allowed in during prayers but we’re welcomed warmly all the same: we’re waved in, smiled at, and several women bring one or two hands to their eyes: a symbolic greeting we later find out means something like “you are more precious than my eyes.” We sit down at the side for a while, and watch and listen to the proceedings quietly. After a while, one of the women spots Thom waiting outside and points to him; after we take our leave, several women even wave us goodbye from behind the windows.
Internet problems
After lunch in a pizza restaurant in Sanandaj (you’re supposed to put ketchup on a pizza in Iran but I prefer mine without…) we head for the area where most Internet cafes are (they’re called “coffee net” here). We’re hoping to find one that’s actually open on Friday since we found out yesterday most will be closed today. With the help of two young men who walk us half way there when we ask for directions, we do indeed find one. It turns out to be the hardest Internet access experience so far: Internet Explorer is intermittently taken over by casino and sex sites (sex dialers sit on the desk top as well) — and then after I finally manage to send an email I can’t see the result on the travel blog site. I suspect a proxy server is serving the first-retrieved page from a cache: no amount of clearing IE’s cache, history or forced reload makes any difference. I try several times but can’t find any other reason why my mail doesn’t appear. After three tries I give up and write a short note about the problems (which also doesn’t appear though it should) - hoping my first Internet experience in Iran isn’t predictive for the rest.
Reports that sex sites are all filtered out in Iran by state-controlled proxies are definitely missing something… it’s not hard to reach them at all — in this “coffee net” it’s hard to avoid them!
A learning experience
Because most of Iran is taken up by deserts and otherwise dry areas, greenery and parks are very precious to the Iranians. Everywhere we see little parks and green strips of well-tended grass along the road sides (or in the middle between lanes) where people sit with their study books or play a game of chess. Especially on a Friday evening, the many parks here in Sanandaj are alive with young people strolling, old people sitting and watching, families picnicking, barbecuing and playing, and sellers of corn roasted on charcoal doing good business.
We sit down at a table with an Iranian ‘beer’ (a non-alcoholic drink not really tasting like beer, but refreshing and not sweet like fresh drinks) and watch it all. A man and his daughter come crossing the road, heading for the kiosk where we bought our drinks; the girl stops and stays behind to watch us while her father goes on to buy a snack. She tries to talk to us, but of course we don’t understand Farsi — something that obviously amazes her. She never met people like that before. The girl, at a guess about 12 years old, keeps trying to make herself understood; when a few passing boys shout “Hello!” at us she picks up on that clue and tries “hello” as well — that works! Then she comes up with “I love you” which I answer with “I love you, too” — she’s a really lovable girl and trying so hard to communicate with more than just a smile! That exhausts her English though and she tries Farsi again. After some more failed attempts at communicating in that language she gives up and runs to her dad to tell of her experience. We see him listen to her, and obviously telling her to try some more but sensibly he stays in the background. The girl is still fascinated, and indeed comes back to us. Behind her big brown eyes her brain is visibly grinding … even the most simple sentences and words she tries, carefully enunciated for our benefit, are not understood. How can that be?
Suddenly I remember I happen to have a Lonely Planet in my bag so I take it out to see if it has something about Farsi. That works. Now she reads aloud the “common signs” written in Farsi, and together we can go over the counting words listed, and a few other words. As a result, one little girl in Iran has learned today that there are actually people who don’t understand Farsi (but can learn) and I have learned to say “goodbye” in Farsi. With a friendly (though not completely accurate) “Khodāfez!” we leave and walk back to our hotel.
