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Friday 2004-05-28 - Sanandaj, Iran
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.
