Back in October I spent 12 days in Iran. Here's my intial writeup. More on instagram and so much more to come!
Iran was fantastic. I'm a little worried that nothing will compare to the greatness of the last 12 days. In just my last two full days in Iran, in the city of Shiraz, I was stopped 4 times by strangers for a picture, passed a man smoking weed on the street, saw a woman openly breast feeding a baby on a bench on a busy corner, and was welcomed to Iran by a police officer. I lingered In an ancient bazaar where I stopped a gracious soldier carrying a dozen roses to take his picture. At least a dozen people approached me, welcomed me, asked where I'm from. I ate ice cream made from noodles (our guide insisted it's "starch"), delicious red and green jello (they call it jelly), a pomegranate stew that will likely become a staple, and a "Kentucky sandwich" (fried chicken) while learning more about the seen and unseen of Iran. I drank enough sugar filled drinks to rot out all my teeth and coffee at a hipster coffee shop. I saw the tomb of a beloved poet, a botanical garden, and a stunning stained glass mosque complete with pink tile. The crowning - I donned a chador to view a fantastic mirrored shrine that would make Liberace jealous, where women prayed on one side and men on the other. Here we were ushered into the International Relations room, served a local musk willow drink with biscuits and given hand written cards expressing acceptance of all people. I'm in glitzy Dubai now, a stark contrast to Iran. My hair is free and my arms are uncovered. The people of Iran will always be with me - their kindness and warmth, their senses of humor and the genuineness that frees them from the grasp of cynicism. I have at least a thousand pictures to go through and feel a profound sense of responsibility to share my experience. While some of the men in suits would like you to believe Iran is a bad place, please remember that for the people of Iran, though the struggle is real, their resilience is greater. More than half of Iran's 75 million people are under 35 and they want a better life- fewer restrictions, more opportunities, less ideology. So many of them look to America as a dreamland. I'm holding out hope for them. #iran4real #iran #shiraz #everydayiran #instairan (at Shiraz, Iran)