When up the mountain in Shiraz we had looked down into a football stadium while a game was on, and have since been trying to go to a game here - the deafening chants, singing, and even flares were just too much to miss out on. Luckily, Mohammad got in touch with us as we were leaving Rasht, and picked us up from the bus terminal and took us straight to a game in Iran’s largest stadium. Though only a mid-week derby match, the teams who were playing were a big deal, and had thousands of supporters to make sure that the air was nothing anywhere close to “calm”. Even one of the coaches had his own fan club - one section of the stands held a few hundred fans who didn’t support either team, but spent the 90 minutes cheering everything that Sepah’s coach did or said. Slightly different to the attitude taken with All Blacks coaches in NZ!
The next day we had lunch (which, not unusually, carried on until 6pm) with Mohammad and his girlfriend Mahin, who is studying for her PhD in Sociology/Urban Planning, and has more spark (in her eyes, mind, heart, and tongue!) than anyone I’ve ever met. Mohammad meanwhile, is one of the kindest, gentlest, and warmest people ever - they are perfect for each other, and Brad and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the time spent with these two (and their friends) over the next few days - even when they went into in-depth discussions in Farsi, just watching and listening was fascinating and highly entertaining! Fingers crossed, there will be a good reason to apply for another visa next year…
We also met up with our dinner friends from Shiraz on our second day in Tehran, ordering some ridiculously good icecream sundae milkshakes, then spending all of Friday at their place (another noon-10pm mega-lunch prepared) and in one of Tehran’s famous parks, watching locals and hanging with the girls, their friends, Mum, and Barfi the dog (“Barfi” translates to “Snowy” - think Tintin). Though we spent most of the time conversing through Neda who had excellent English(and did incredibly well translating for the entire time), we all got to know each other really well and were sad to say goodbye.
Other Tehran highlights:
- Getting hopelessly lost, then caught in a thunder storm, on the only night that we tried to go it alone in a city of 14 million non-English speakers.
- Golestan palace - never have I seen rooms more ornate - or with more mirrored surfaces
- Crossing the road - reminiscent of Beijing/Shanghai/Bangkok, but with less rules, and more speed.
Picture: Ridiculous icecream sundae milkshakes
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