A glimpse into Iran: Day 2

Kat goes to try on her wedding dress, while I walk over to the fams apt. Me, Mom, dad and Denise didn’t sleep at all b/c of jet lag. We’re really tired but still go out on our own for the first time. We find a great Kabob restaurant and I try to order in Farsi for the family.

“Doh Barreh Kabob, Lotfan” I say in broken Farsi.

The waiter replies and says a handful of things I don’t understand. He the calls for another man in the back. He comes out, evaluates the 5 of us and asks “Japones?”, “Phillipines?”. LOL. We bamboozle everyone in this country with our looks. My mom replies “Na, amrikayiam” (we’re American). He speaks some English so we order 2 kabobs and 1 order of lamb chops. They then bring us 4 kabobs and 1 lamb chop! Oh well, what can you do? It was HELLLLA good!!! Kheyli khooshmaze! We also order 3 non-alchoholic lemon flavored beers. The closest we can get to alcohol since alcohol is illegal in Iran. My dad and I expect the check to be about $50-60, but to our pleasant surprise the bill is only “Si o hasht hezar tomane” or about $38.

I’ve been studying Farsi for the past 2 months so luckily I’ve got the numbers and money conversions down and a several other basics, just enough to get by.

We then head back to Kats gmas home for dinner and to meet her family that is coming over to meet us and pay their respects. We only expected maybe 4-6 people. The first 8 people come in. Her grandma’s brothers, wifes, son, wife, daughter, etc. They all bring flowers and “Shirini” or Persian pastrys. The family is very nice, and both of Kat’s great uncles speak very good English. They both lived in the US briefly, and one had traveled to 43 states! In the next hour and a half the door bell continuously rang and about 40 people total ended up coming in and out to pay their respects and meet us. A very nice Persian tradition.

Iranians are definitely one of the most hospitable and kind people in the entire world. It is very sad that Iran is portrayed so negatively in the US media. Fuckin Bush! Idiot. I’m very happy that people are starting to realize how great the Iranian culture and people are. With people such as Rick Steve’s and other films such as “Arusi” Iran is finally getting the proper exposure and I will also do everything I can to make sure people know how great the Iranian people and culture are.