Shar-e hert
Trip to Iran. Part 3
March 15, 2004
iranian.com
Ahvaz
Ahvaz at first glance is an arid city full of brick houses and
palm trees.
You may say, well, so is Miami. The difference is that the former
has endured
eight years of war and the signs, amazingly after sixteen years,
are very
apparent. Because Ahvaz and Abadan were literally only a few
kilometers from Iraq,
the Iraqi missiles that hit these cities carried large war heads
and
consequently had a devastating effect on both cities. A lot of
the war torn buildings
are untouched. The people are of course of Arab descent and the
city looks very
much like Baghdad.
My guide takes me to my hotel. A brick-wall hotel
named "Oxin".
The hotel
is relatively clean and I am impressed that the clerk has a flat
monitor at his
disposal. The hotel also has two Internet terminals.
After checking
in, I am
ready to head back to the conference. I see a huge bus waiting
by the hotel entrance. In front of the bus is a brand new Mercedes
Benz that seems to be a
police car. Four armed police officers are outside. I soon find
out they are our
escorts. I am later told that due to a recent kidnapping of a few
foreigners
by a local gang, we are provided with police escort. "Where
else am I going
to be escorted to a conference?" I tell myself. Certainly
not in the US or
Europe.
After a twenty minute bus ride, I am taken to the
gates of Ahvaz University
Medical Center, Chamran Campus, formerly known as the Jondi Shapur
University.
Jondi Shapur is probably one of the oldest medical schools, if
not the oldest,
in the world. Founded around 500 BC, it was a world renown medical
institution during its time.
The university has a large campus. As I am driven
to the conference center I
take notice of big portraits of former students who lost their
lives in the
war that are placed every 30 - 50 feet along the main road. I soon register for the conference. Most of the
presenters are from the
Middle East but there are some big shots from the US, Canada
and UK. I see Dr.
Willet, world renown nutritionist from Harvard, trying to communicate
with his
guide. After listening to a couple of lectures (most of which
did not interest
me), I decide to go to the city center. Apparently there is a famous
bazaar in Ahvaz near
the Karoon river. I catch a taxi to the bazaar. I am excited
to see large crowds of shoppers and traders in narrow streets.
One can find pretty much anything in
this bazaar from a
Sony CD player to live chickens. Most were conversing
in Arabic
but of course most also spoke Farsi. After walking a few blocks
I find myself
at Hotel Fajr (formerly Astoria). This is the "four
star" hotel in
Ahvaz. It is clean and relatively luxurious. It
is a walking distance to
the Karoon. In the afternoons young couples stroll by
the river. The river has an exceptionally muddy, brownish color
but looks cleaner on most days.
At night we were all invited to a live music event
sponsored by the governor
of the Khuzestan Province. The event was pleasant
and we
definitely had an all-you-can-eat dinner. I see professor
Willet in
the line trying to explore Persian dishes that he probably
has not seen
before. I wonder how much of a culture shock must he really be
experiencing;
from Boston to Ahvaz. Wow!
The next day I decide to go back to Tehran a day
early. Thanks to a useless
Iran Air agent who keeps promising that we can take
the "next flight",
I am stranded in the airport for hours. The last highlight of
my trip is when
I suddenly notice a lot of people gathering around a relatively
short man.
After a closer look, I see he is Khodayar Azizi, the Iranian
soccer star.
Finally, an Iran-Air flight takes me back to Tehran
for another four weeks of
adventure. To be continued... >>> Index
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