This is the only blog site I've been able to find that's not blocked in Iran! Welcome. Pictures to be added later (when I remember to bring the USB cable to the "coffeenet.")

We got here a week ago, but I haven't been at a computer much. Our guide keeps us busy! and we've been in some more remote areas that didn't have any internets. The rest of the trip is going to be in more metropolitan areas, so there will be more updates.

I want to start with a few mythbusters that you probably already know, but anyway:

-Iran is not an Arab country. The language and culture are Persian, and as the Arabs invaded the country about 3000 years ago, it is considered insulting to call it part of the Arab world. The language (now called Persian more than Farsi) does use the Arabic script and some vocabulary, but the grammar is completely different, Indo-European.

-The landscape is much more mountains than desert (maybe 20-30% desert). It snows in the winter and there are ski resorts! (I had known this from 2 Iranian-American women I skied with on the Cal ski team.)

-It is not a "third world" country. Tehran, especially North Tehran, is a fashion center, believe it or not. Despite the restrictions, Iranian women dress great and generally have excellent makeup. Something like 90% of people are educated. You can drink the tap water. The economy isn't doing fabulous, but there are tons of professionals here, lawyers professors doctors etc. Apparently plastic surgery is high quality and very accessible, as you frequently see people with bandages across their nose. Anyway, I had kind of expected it to be scrappy and barren, like much of Managua or something, and it's totally not.

Anyway, back to the start of the trip! We were delayed coming thru passport control for over an hour -- they're fingerprinting all Americans entering the country. This is in direct response to the US fingerprinting (and interrogating and searching etc) Iranians visiting the US. They used the messy old kind with ink, not the Livescan like you have to get if you teach in CA.

While we were waiting, I introduced myself to the one person in the group I hadn't met yet, Glen. I automatically went to shake his hand -- but he refused. Apparently, you don't shake the hand of the opposite sex when you're standing in front of passport control officers.

But the wait wasn't terrible, and we got our luggage and exchanged money while they got it all figured out. The exchange rate at the bank there was great, though I got a big ol stack of money -- like $200 all in $2 bills. The cashier thought Glen looked like Tom Selleck, which I guess is a little bit true.

I am a little bit ambivalent about the guided tour thing (but that's pretty much the only option for coming here and even so, most tour groups from the US are being denied visas right now, so I feel pretty durn lucky), but I instantly appreciated it as we literally strolled through customs to our bus waiting outside.

Our hotel was called the International before the revolution, but now it's called the Tulip (Laleh) Hotel, the tulip being the symbol of the martyrs. It was cool to know that because I started noticing that tons of things are either named tulip or marked with the symbol.

Anyway, we got like five hours of sleep and then it was time for breakfast, which was an awesome spread! I drank 2 glasses of mango juice, just cuz it's the tastiest thing ever, and also: tea, coffee, flat bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, Iranian feta (so smooth and mild, I love it!) some soft, foil-wrapped cheese (which I also love), yogurt (if you thought European yogurt was tasty, this is a whole new level), watermelon and eggs. They have the little egg cups and hard boiled eggs so I learned to eat them that way, fancy!

After fortifying ourselves, we piled into the tour bus and headed to the National Museum. Traffic in Tehran is INSANE. Everyone goes in all directions, lane markings are merely suggestions and apparently traffic laws are more like guidelines. If that's not bad enough, pedestrians cross everywhere, literally, waiting between the (approximate) lanes.

Agh, it's time to go meet up with the group again. Please check back soon! xo