gezilerim

TEHRAN  12 JULY 2010 When the train arrived at Tehran Station at 7am, the ordinary life of the Teharanians had already started.  I encountered crowds who were going either left or right. With Ferhat’s help I boarded a bus to Imam Khomeini Square. I didn’t need to feel lonely as I overheard so many speak Turkish in so many places in Iran. The work of the municipality employees had begun earlier.  A few cleaners were working in the square.  I remember feeling good again that an attendant was hosing the grass in the square when the hot July sun had not yet risen over Tehran with its hot light.  Yet I saw so many plates on the walls that have similar shapes and writing.    They did not look like a normal street name or road sign.  I approached to examine them and saw that the texts were  related to Quran verses in Persian, Arabic and English.  I could not read the Persian or Arabic; I could read the Engl...

TABRIZ 11.07.2010 I woke up early in the Jahan Nama Hotel because it was no longer possible to sleep. The hotel was on the street and the sunlight entered the room directly.  There was no air conditioner and also lots of noise from the traffic. I looked for a tea house.  Iran is one country where finding one will need little effort. I found a tea house that close from my hotel that you can smoke hookah at the same place.. The people of Tabriz call it “galeyan”; we call it “Nargile” in Turkish.  It could be called “ebullition” in English.  As I sat on the wooden couch of the tea house, a few local customers came to my table to get to know me.  They were addressing each other as "Ağa Can".  I will not be able to find a suitable English equivalent for the word as the word “Mr” does not suffice.  "Ağa"  also includes the idea of  “elder”.  “Can” refers to many more words such as: life, darling, soul, heart and mor...