Beneath the Surface

Our guide Abdullah is a Muslim, but not a practicing one, so we had plenty of opportunities to ask him a lot of societal questions. Abdullah dreams of immigrating to France. He feels there are too many restrictions in Iran. He goes to private parties where they drink alcohol. A bottle of wine costs about 50 USD. If you're caught drunk on the street, you get 75 lashes. If it happens three times, you could be sentenced to death—but no one has ever actually been executed for this. Abdullah was upset that their government has given the people a bad reputation. Not everyone in the country shares the government's views on the West. We compared it a bit to the U.S., where Bush contributed to giving the American people a bad name. But not all Americans share his opinions, either. Iranians can be divided into three groups: 50% are very religious, 40% are somewhat religious, and 10% are not religious at all. Today, some of the rules for women that were imposed after the revolution in 1979 have been relaxed a bit. An Iranian woman can request a divorce if her husband is unable to have children or is not able to support the family. Women no longer have to wear a chador; they can wear makeup and dye their hair. They can go out alone without a male relative accompanying them. They can pursue an education and work if they want to. A chador is a tent-like black piece of fabric that covers a woman from head to toe, leaving only her face, hands, and feet visible. It’s not a burqa. Some websites are blocked, like JB—could there be a connection? Facebook and Ekstra Bladet are also blocked. But people have learned how to bypass these restrictions, so they still have access to everything. Satellite dishes with access to foreign channels are also common, although they are still illegal. If discovered, people can end up in jail. Afghans are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. They take jobs that no one else wants, working as construction workers, garbage collectors, etc. Iraqis, on the other hand, are seen as immigrants who are easier to integrate into society. We met an Afghan named Sammi, who was born to Afghan parents in Iran. Still, he has no right to pursue a long-term education. Afghans can only get an education equivalent to elementary school, and that’s it. When he had to tell us he was Afghan, he whispered it. No one was allowed to hear. The Iranian government wants to get rid of all Afghans. They use spies to uncover various things that can be used against them to have them deported. Sammi has to be careful with everyone who approaches him—even other Afghans. Spies might pretend to be tired of the government to get him to talk too much. The government might also approach him, demanding that he go to Afghanistan to find out things. If he refuses, he could be deported. He works as a masseur and once had to give a massage to some people from the British embassy. The massage room was bugged, so the government could monitor everything that was said. Hangings can still occur in Iran. It doesn’t happen often, but when the government wants to carry one out, they try to cover it up by focusing on something else that the media can get distracted by, like tightening laws around women's clothing and their right to study. This morning, the car wouldn’t start; it hadn’t handled the cold well and had to be pushed to get going. But luckily, it wasn’t completely dead, so we set off towards the mountains for a hike. We had several conversations with locals in the village at the foot of the mountain before heading up—was it safe to hike alone up there, or would we need a guard? We decided to take a shorter but completely safe route. We trekked through a valley between two mountains, crossing the river several times to continue along the riverbank. The current was strong, and the rocks were very slippery. People in the villages we passed through generously offered us the most delicious pomegranates. There are large orchards, especially of pomegranates. Our guide supplied us with large amounts of dried figs—yum, they actually taste really good. Iranians prefer nuts or dried fruits over candy, although the younger generation is starting to change their tastes. We wrapped up our trip with a city tour in Shiraz, where we first had lunch: kebab, bread, and grilled tomatoes. After that, we visited two tombs—two of Iran's greatest writers ever: Hafez and Saadi. Hafez's body is physically buried next to his tomb to prevent grave robbers from stealing it. The garden around Hafez's resting place is a meeting spot for young people. They come here to find potential future spouses. There’s no kissing—just exchanging phone numbers. Couples kiss and have sex before marriage; they just have to make sure no one sees or knows about it. We ended the whole trip with an Iranian dessert that our guide insisted we try. It had ice cream at the bottom and noodle-like things on top. It tasted incredibly sweet!