Mary in Tehran

We started our last day in Tehran with a woman guide. I really missed connecting with the women. This guide was willing to talk to me and to answer my questions about life in Iran. 

We went to the Tehran Bazaar but the best part was talking to her as a woman about how they live. During our tour she was stopped by a woman who berated her because Bob was taking pictures on the street. The woman said, ‘is he authorized to take pictures?’ ‘You must be careful of what you allow foreigners to do, as they may take pictures of a young girl who may not have her hijab on correctly’ ‘or an old woman begging or........’  and ‘they could do things with the photo’s that would put them in a bad light.’  As I looked back I realized that we had similar experiences with people talking to our guide. We may have had others say the same thing but our other guide was not willing to include us in the conversation. Later, on the subway. the security guard told Bob not to take pictures of the subway.

The Iranian women live two lives, one outside and one inside. I asked about how they dress in their homes and she said they might be wearing shorts or short sleeved blouses, it is only outside that they cover. She lived away from her family. She was a very pretty woman, 27 years old. We talked some about the government and she said most of them would like to change it. She was somewhat defiant about her scarf letting  it slip & not caring that she was not covered.

 We traveled 15 days in Iran and at some point I came around to the thought that there were some attributes of the dreaded scarf.

1. You can hold the scarf over your nose when the gas from the traffic is over bearing or when the toilets are too much to bear/that is if you have a hand to use while doing the squat toilet thing.
2. You can dry your hands on it when there are no paper towels. (which is always)
3. You can use as a sun screen for your neck and ears, though your nose will need sunscreen as it has no protection.  (I believe my nose has grown since I have been here)
4. You can block out the sun while driving in a car by using it as a curtain.
5. On the cold days it will keep you warm, though on hot days you just want to rip it off.
6. At the end of the trip I will use it to blow my nose.

Mary and our Tehran guide

The streets of Tehran

Shopping for Material at theBazaar