greetings to all my friends - i am now in isfahan which was a six-hour drive south of tehran. i have been unable to email b/c the phone cable here was differnt. i bought one today! i thought i would start this mailing by trying to answer the questions i have received, then tell you the stories of the last few days. so. . .

* are you going to be spending most of you time in Tehran, or just allover?

well now i am in isfahan (we stopped in qom on the way. from here we will go farther south - shiraz then borazjan. from here we will go many places including mashad and yazd. we will be back in tehran for the last two weeks of april and my parents will leave on the 30th.

*how is the food?

ok. well for those of you who haven't had the displeasure of trying to find a place to eat with me, i am a picky eater who really only likes two places 1) la carreta, 2) 1221 partridge lane -- my mom's kitchen happens to be located there! so. . . but i have been eating some mouth watering kababs and my cousin here afshin has introduced me to "shir-moze" = banana milk! oh man it's great! i have had 3 in the last 2 days!

*Are you starting to work on the script?

i am writing most mornings before anyone wakes up. time is limited but things are flowing very very well. i am working on a script that takes place here starring my star, sheema!

* Can you understand people over there?

Do they understand you, or is it like Dad speaking english here? my persian is getting better and better. i find myself mumbling and cursing to myself in persian now! of course sometimes i dont understand exactly what they are saying but i can get the gist of it. what's funny is my dad mixing english with persian quite often and people look at him confused! oh! i gave someone a "thumbs up" sign forgetting that that's like giving someone a middle finger! oops.

* what's up with P. and S.?

these are my cousins. i will get into this later! the love story!

* what's the temp?

getting better and better. today, now that i am further south, i was wearing short sleeves, but tonight it was cold. like arizona. can get hot in the day but cool at night. desert.

that's that for the questions.

i am trying to remember the last things i wrote. . . well let's start with my cousin P. (he's 17). one thing on his mind = being cool for the girls. we went out with his younger brother (14) and one of his friends (16) to meet his girlfriend (15) and her friends. what i have learned is that the basis of their relationship is on the phone, somewhat like america at that age. his routine is to go to a certain part of town where all the young people gather. he spots a girl. through a friend or something, he meets the girl. talks for a second and exchanges numbers then the phone relationship begins. . . so that night we met at a "pizza/burger" joint. because there were many people, the girls sat at one table (about 6 people) and the four of us at the other. almost didn't talk across tables during the dinner.

us guys were talking when P.'s friend asks me what i would do if we had to fight! i asked him what the hell he was talking about. it turned out a few boys were checking out the girls from another table. this means it's time to fight. well i assured them that there was no need to fight and we moved on. P. went and told his girlfriend, M., that we would be outside in the local shopping area waiting for her. while waiting, the four of us kept walking. standing still attracts attention and the infamous komiteh will come to get us! 10 minutes later she arrived. we said our hellos -- one hour after seeing each other -- and then P. and M. walked the shopping area together while us 3 guys walked around.

after they walked the upstairs and downstairs of the "mall," they seperated for a time. P. came back to us. we asked him how things were. then he would go back and meet her and walk again. of course not touching. this pattern repeated itself 3 times and then it was time to go home. her mom came to pick her up (we went with a taxi) and she offered us a ride home. we took it and that was that! this was a date of sorts i guess. not action packed but i found it fascinating. . .

now for action -- today we went to a famous kings palace here in isfahan. on our way out a lady and a man were screaming. then there were just two men. then the "police" got involved and dragged one man away. I discovered that one woman had told another "you are wearing too much make-up. remove some." the other woman told her to mind her own business and buzz off! then the husbands got involved; there was pushing and shoving and the husband of the lady wearing a lot of make-up was taken away by the police! a huge crowd had gatehred to watch and try to convince the police otherwise but to no avail. he was taken away. you know what the wife's reaction was? --- nothing. she just stood there and finished her ice cream! women! she started the fight; the man got into trouble and hauled off to jail and she ate her ice cream!

on the way to isfahan, which was friday - new year- we stopped in qom, a very religious and scholarly city. it was a very short stop as we were pressed for time. we saw a huge mosque. beautiful. people praying, singing and moaning their prayers etc.

then we arrived in isfahan at my dad's realtives. tehran was my mom's. from here on out -- the south, the rednecks -- we are in my dad's world. isfahan is by far a much more beautiful city than tehran. a wonderful river runs though the city and is surrounded by beautiful parks and also has several 400+ year-old bridges with amazing arcs. no skyscrapers (which riddle tehran like shit from the sky-- ugh).

we have seen several beautiful and historic sites and many great stories which i will have to give you next time as it is very late here (we are now 9 1/2 hours ahead of america). i am almost falling asleep (no idea what junk i have written for you!) and my aunt needs to use the phone.

until then,
ramin

Go to: Part Four

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