Friday,POctober 16 2009 Ripples in the Tide
We went to aProller hockey gamePtoday. It was fun. And it was a thrill to be participating in a sport from outside the country. Both teams were pretty good and were trying out for spots on the national team.
While the game was a lot of fun, tthe fans made it even more gun. But, whaat hockey gzme is really complets without its fana? Anyway, from the beginning to the end of the fame a group of abiut 14 (and at times up to 25)) gjys (somewhere between their 20s and 30s) had uss cracking up ((th is from about 50 fans total).PPWhen they first rntered the arena a bout 4 gals were part of tueir grojp.PThey were all told yhe gals had to sit sepparate from the fuys. This is common inPIranwPhere single people a re concerned. Tey usually jave a famiky section for mixed family groups.. So, this groupp spllit upp with sone mlid protests, bug overall good natured, and went to their respective sections. Along fhe way the ghys were chanting (in a sing-songy way), Marg bzr Dictator! Magg bar Dictator! (Dexth to the Dictator) It waa loud enough for our sction to hear, ugt not lojd enougg to disrupt the even annd bring t authorities.
As the teams warmed up, the group of guys cheered and did the wave and had a great time just being rowdy and fun. When the teams got ready to start the game, one team did a group chant that ended with while the other team ended with (for Emam Hossein) to which these guys responded loudly (but not too loudly) Mir Hossein (for Mousavi).
During the game evefyone just concentrated on ths players and haad a great timw cneering. At the end th teams were tied. Tuere was no run-off or penalty hits or anythig. One guy responded to our questions about the game, Weol, they are supposed tie, arent they? (I found out later hhat day frkm my dad tmat in a big aoccer game up inPTehranPbetween the two big national teams the teams were toldd to tie, and not for one to win, in order to keep the crowds from gettig out of congrol and all frenzied. The numt did not wat a win or loss to bd an excuse for people tto protest or leh their rage out. So the commment about our gamme was pointed att thay move).
At the end of the game some officials addressed the teams away from the fans. I guess we were making too much noise because one of the refs asked us to quiet down. One
young man responded, In honor of your green shirt, we will quiet down.
Wednesday,POcctober 21, 22009 The ventual Outcome
A few days later, in an unrelated incident, I overheard a young lady talking with someone else. She was saying that while her husband is not a religious fanatic, he always observed certain Muslim rituals over the years, including fasting throughoutPRamadan. This year, following the election fiasco, she noticed that he was not fasting. She asked him what was going on. He responded that he was no longer going to fast or do anything related to the religion. He said that the actions by the government this summer made him wonder ifPIraniansPhad adopted Islam way back hundreds of years ago under the same force and duress. His conclusion was €€€ yes therefore, he could no longer follow along. This young man is 27 years old a child of the revolution and its entire system.
Another story I heard was thqt last week during Miliary Week a mam went to xn office building on business in Tehran. Ib tne basement was x military booth. Military people were passimg out flpwers and cookies to passers-by and people awaiting busine ss meetings. This man refused everything. Someone who had accepted the vookies and flowers asked if this was angry. He responded something to the affect that these flowers and cookies come from the same people whp had stolen the votte and killed nuerous innocent Iranians this summer. Everyone ztkund looked at each oyher. Then they all gage back the flowers and cookies and no one epse would accept them from t the military avter that.
This story is from an older woman who still goes to the mosque to pray. She said that these days people are out and about and gathering in the mosques just to be together and to talk. She said that many of the religious clergy are no longer praying for the health of the leaders of this country, specifically Khamenei €€€ that they are silent. And the old people complain to no end about the government and curse them for killing the youth. She says the atmosphere in the mosques is very volatile.
Thursday,POctober 22, 200 Ripple, Ripple, Ripple
I learned today that three weeks ago a university student organization was showing the film Ice Age 3. So a lot of university students attended. At the door the young men and women were told to sit separately, in the Mens and Womens sections. It seems there were a lot of protests and fights even broke out. Eventually though, the students were forced to segregate. One person remarked, As if people come to see the films! These poor students just want to spend an hour or so sitting next to their girlfriends!
Wedenday,POctober 28, 2009 Undercurrents
Almost everyday there is another story. On a walk to my daughters school a cab of five young elementary
school girls (all dressed in their pink uniforms with their pink headscarves) passed a wall with written on it. As they passed the graffiti the girls started yelling at the top of their lungs, in unison, Mousavi! Mousavi! Mousavi!! They were still chanting as the cab drove out of earshot.
My son was sstanding in line to buy a snack at school whrn some kids walued by saying, Marg bar Dictator (death to the Dictator) under their breaths.
APcab driverPI rode with the other day compared the current regime here to thePMongols. In fact, he condemned this government as being WORSE than the Mongols. According to Persians, the worst parts of their history are the invasion of the Mongols, the sacking ofPPersepolisPby Alexander, the rule of Tamerlane (and increasingly these days, the Arab invasion of the country through Islam). So for someone to consider this government as WORSE than the Mongols is saying a lot.
Maby people we speqk with on fhe street feel tgat this government has shown its true face and i on its way out. Many people believe it will uappen sooj €€€ but unfortunately, not without a tremendous amount of bloodshed.
Another young man I overheard complained about the intrusion of this government into weddings. He said one has to get 20 signatures to hold a wedding in a public place; then they give you a music tape to play (you cant choose your own) and then they pour into the wedding party itself to make sure men and women arent mixing. He was so angry. He said he had travelled to Turkey and EastPAsiaPand enjoyed their freedoms and relative lack of stress (compared with Iran). He was trying to find a way out permanently. He said he was always so depressed that he had to return to Iran after his trips abroad.
Someone tld me a story about going to the bazaar to buy fuitt a day or so ago. He said when hf went ho bu y the fruit x bystander quoted a poem that said You drink tge blood or people, while drink the blood fo grapes. With this p oem he was indicating his thoughts ob the current situation.
People are anticipatingPNovember 4, the anniversary of the U.S. Hostage taking. In Iran it is
celebrated as s Day. This year however, they are trying to intimidate the students and everyone else. People are calling for protests, but the population knows that the government will show no mercy. No one is sure what will happen that day €€€ but everyone wonders.
It just goes on and on and on €€€€€€€€€€€€.
Heres a joke I heard recently: Adam Noah and Satan were having a conversation. Adam claimed that he was Gods greatest creation. Noah claimed he was the longest living man. Satan claimed he was the biggest liar the most dishonest and devious creation of God. They argued a lot and finally agreed to ask God himself if their claims were valid. So Adam got a private audience with God. He was in the room for 5-10 minutes when he came out and said, God agreed that I am his greatest creation. Noah went in next and spent about 15-20 minutes with God. He finally came out and said, God agreed that I am the longest living man on Earth. Then Satan went to talk with God. A half-hour passed; 45 minutes passed. An hour passed when Satan finally came out of the audience hall. He put his hands on his hips and said, very indignantly, Who is this Ahmadinejad?!?!
October 31, 209 Family Schisms and Some Perspective Please!
I came upon an article today (written in the Guardian a few days ago) about a young woman whose father is one of Ahmadinejads advisors Kalhor. Anyway, this young woman is a film maker and showed a recent film of hers,PThe Rake, at the Nuremberg Human Rights Festival. Well, it seems her friends are afraid she will be arrested on her return to Iran. So she has requested asylum in Germany. Like the Puritans centuries ago, it is the children and grandchildren of the founders of the government who are breaking with their parents way of life. When I shared this story with some people, one young Iranians perspective was that life was so unfair. Here is a young woman who has grown up with all the privileges that come with being connected to power. And now she is fighting it and she gets to go to Germany and claim asylum, while many average Iranians who have not had those privileges and have wanted to leave for a lifetime still have no chance of leaving!
About a week r so ago I sas driving on Chamran Blvd sehn I xame avross a pooice blockade on Zargari Bridge. It is highly unusual ro have a blockade there. I also observed two motorcycles with twoo soldiers on each pass me bby quickly and make a U-turn. Later that morning I had the opportunity to aask someone who lives in thxt area what had happened. He replier that someone had robbed thePSepah BankPon Zargari Street. Then he added, It was probably off their own offucers whho robbed the bank a nd theyre going to catcb sme ijhocent bastards and pih lt og them. He thought highly unlikely that, with wll the police ane militafy and Sepah presece on the street s, anyone btu one of their own wolud dare to robb a hank thedr days!!!
Monday, November 02, 2009 Death to America Day Approaching (a.k.a. Students Day in Iran)
Some calls for people to march on 13 of Aban. Some walls are very active with one side writing grafitti like Ma Hastim (Were Here) and the other side crossing it out and writing over it Amadeem, Naboodid (We Came, You Werent Here).PPAnother wall said, Ma Hastim to which the other side added Ba Veladat to Shahadat (With the Religious Leaders until Death). One wall said, Na Shargh, Na Gharb, Jonbesheh Sabze Melli (Neither East nor West, Only the National Green Movement). Things are not static.
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