Travelogue: Iran
I've ingested about a gallon of chai here. The hospitality here is absolutely amazing. The average joe on the street will inconvenience himself for a good thirty minutes or so to teach you how to use a phone card or just do it for you when your Farsi is too poor to understand his/ her direction (sigh).
Riding the metro today was quite remarkable. They have these women-only cars which until rush hour this afternoon i didn't realize the absolute necessity of them. One is quite literally SHOVED into these cars like SARDINES. I swear someone gave me a thorough, though inadvertent, rectal examination. Much better coming from a woman... or her handbag.
So one minute you are in a metro that if it weren't for the chadors and the mullahs you'd think you were in London. The system is effective and clean and very modern. Then perhaps you might spend the afternoon in the bazaar which is absolutely nothing like the Turkish bazaar... the purpose of which is primarily the amusement of tourists. The Iranian bazaar is medieval, more labyrinthian, and full of brooms, underwear, spices (the useful kind, not the exotic), cleaning solutions, tarps, etc. Nothing sexy at all... just life as it has been for a thousand years. and it astounds you to think that this is the economnic system that struggles to support a modern nation and arguably the hegemonic power in the region! The Tehran bazaar accounts for something like 30% of the country's business dealings and sets the standard for prices everywhere. Compare that to wall street with its largely digitalized processes.
Riding the metro today was quite remarkable. They have these women-only cars which until rush hour this afternoon i didn't realize the absolute necessity of them. One is quite literally SHOVED into these cars like SARDINES. I swear someone gave me a thorough, though inadvertent, rectal examination. Much better coming from a woman... or her handbag.
So one minute you are in a metro that if it weren't for the chadors and the mullahs you'd think you were in London. The system is effective and clean and very modern. Then perhaps you might spend the afternoon in the bazaar which is absolutely nothing like the Turkish bazaar... the purpose of which is primarily the amusement of tourists. The Iranian bazaar is medieval, more labyrinthian, and full of brooms, underwear, spices (the useful kind, not the exotic), cleaning solutions, tarps, etc. Nothing sexy at all... just life as it has been for a thousand years. and it astounds you to think that this is the economnic system that struggles to support a modern nation and arguably the hegemonic power in the region! The Tehran bazaar accounts for something like 30% of the country's business dealings and sets the standard for prices everywhere. Compare that to wall street with its largely digitalized processes.
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