i spent last few days in the northern part of iran where i had lived for a few years. the changes in the last 32 years are stunning. at my time, most houses were single family homes. now, the prices (land, home) are so high that single family homes, commonly referred to as villas are rare. the food is delicious, and people are as hospitable as people in the rest of iran, if not more so. i spent most my time in rasht and lahijan with a few stops in other small towns.
a few years ago while living in san francisco, i watched an iranian movie with some great shots of a village called masouleh, in a mountainous area of the northern part of iran. today i visited this village for the first time. pictures are not great but hopefully give you a glimpse of the beauty and simplicity of this village.
almost 10 days in tehran now. nami and sora flew back to chicago last night. i am so happy they had a chance to visit tehran, and the family. they were stars here.
i have taken over a thousand pictures and will post a few here as soon as i return. the trip so far has been very good. a few highlights:
music lives high in iran where you can find a tight knit group of audiophiles. my friend sirous omidvar of avin ava is contributing well to that. nami, sora and i had a great meal at sirous, shadi and avin’s home talking about cultures, life, and music. we adjourned to sirous’s meticulous showroom while nami, sora, and avin played with their four new kittys.
congratulations to our president for winning the noble peace prize. i was delighted to hear this news. somewhat surprised at some negativity surrounding this award. so many iranians i have met here have been congratulatory about this award. my understanding is that the award has been given for the “effort,” and obviously not the result. who knows, maybe president obama will be the only person in the world to receive two nobel peace prizes. one for the effort, and the other for the result. let’s pray for that.