Day 12 (5/6) Flying back through the storm

Today was probably the worst day of our trip thus far, as I woke up quite ill. Nick took me to a doctor near the shrine in Mashad. They gave me some medicine and sent me home – well, back to the hotel anyway, where I slept until about noon. While I was sleeping Nick took his parents one last time to the shrine and did some shopping for spices – especially saffron. Mashad is the capital of saffron production, and there are whole stores that sell absolutely nothing but saffron in different grades – kind of like fine tobacco shops back in the U.S.
I find it interesting that when I am in Iran, my life feels like it is suspended for the time we are there. Although I can understand much of what is being said, and generally follow most conversations, I can’t speak Farsi very well. As a result, I am much, much quieter than I normally would be at home, and spend a great deal of time just listening, learning and observing. Time alternately slows down or speeds up during days we spend with family, especially when others are orchestrating the agenda. I find I easily lose track of days. It’s an odd feeling, as I am normally so regulated by my calendar and the clock. Yet it’s also a different feeling from the only other times when we are not regulated by clock and calendar - when we are out backpacking for a few days. While we also lose track of time during those trips, we are both still in complete control of our time and our days.
By this time, during our third trip to Iran, I’ve learned to just sit back, let others do much of the planning, and go with the flow. I’m finding now that rather than it always grating on me not to be in control of my time, it is instead a good exercise for me in patience and in setting my own perceived needs aside for others – in this case to make sure mom and dad have a very memorable trip to Mashad.

Our trip back to Tehran was a bit eventful. We boarded our flight, after which the pilot came on and said that because of a high level of air traffic in Tehran, we would be delayed an hour or so, and that we would have to all disembark. People started to get out of their seats, only to have the stewards come down the aisles seconds later telling people to sit back down and that we’d be taking off soon. So we all returned to our seats, and just as they said, we took off about 10 minutes later. The IranAir plane was a Tupolov, a Russian-made aircraft, and not my favorite. I always seem to feel the turbulence more in the Tupolovs than in a Boeing or Airbus. Although I rarely get nervous flying, as we approached Tehran, we skirted very close to the outside edge of a lightning storm. It was a bit unnerving in that jet to see lightning bolts every 10-20 seconds outside my window! But we managed to land safely. The storm continued well into the evening with heavy rain, lightening strikes and the accompanying thunder every few seconds - much more than we ever see in Seattle.
As we drove home, we talked about how much Tehran has done over the past few years to be greener. They have been planting hundreds of trees and other green space all over the city along major roads. There are many more new cars on the roads than a few years ago – mostly Peugeots, Kias, and the Iranian-made Khodro. On our last couple of trips, driving in Tehran was miserable, because there would be black smoke billowing out from 40 year old cars. Come to find out, Iran has basically refused to license any cars over 30 years old now. So gone are the days of the ancient Paykan (another Iranian brand) billowing out clouds of choking fumes. The government has also greatly expanded the Tehran subway (which, by the way, is the cleanest subway I’ve seen in any major city!), as well as installed a network of rapid transit buses, with their own dedicated lanes. They have also made a huge push for everybody to replace their light bulbs with energy-efficient florescent ones by giving them to every household. The result is a city and country much cleaner than it was just four years ago.