Dead all day...

We arrived in Tehran before 5AM and after returning to my office, and to my room, I think I went to bed at around 7:30AM where my wife was sound asleep...

I couldn't wake up until after 3PM...

Today, I really felt sorry that I had to leave my wife alone right after she came a long way to this foreign land... I'm sorry, but I hope she gets used to it... I know there will be more times that I have to leave her alone... But here in Tehran, I could be staying around much more than the other correspondents around the world. I'm also hopeful that she'll make lots of friends that someday she'll think I could be away, knowing many ways to enjoy her stay here!

PS
Today is the 13th day of Farvardin, and as 13 denotes bad luck as it does in many other Western countries (amazing!), it is said that people should not stay inside and take the bad luck outside. So people in Iran just go outside and picnic all day with their family and friends. Well, we stayed inside all day so let's see how bad our luck will be... Tell me how bad could I be by already being sent here which I believe it is one of the worst luck I ever had in my life!

PPS
Today we opened another tool to keep us busy...

Wii Fit!

Nowruz greeting cards!

Starting from yesterday, I used most of my time today to fill out the Nowruz greeting cards... I tried to "squeeze" down the number to under 200, but still it took me all day to write about 120 cards...
I wrote the address on the envelope and then wrote some comments inside the card, but without my wife's help putting the cards into the envelope and writing "AIR MAIL" it would have taken more time!
I'll finish the rest tomorrow...


the cards...


it's still quite visible with sun at 6:30PM...
It didn't get dark until well after 7PM!

Last working day of the year!

Today was the last working day of the year 1387. Since this year is the leap year for Iran, there will be 30 days in the last month rather than the regular 29 days, and there is still two more days in this month including the 30th of Esfand which will coincide with Nowruz. Finishing off many work I had to by today, including the requests for necessary permissions, the day went by so quickly!

I was happy that my wife went out shopping with Japanese friends she has already made!
She bought home some sweets for my staff...


nice!

After the working hours, I also went out to get some Nowruz cards I would like to send to my friends and business related colleagues in Japan and other parts of the world. We went near the Haft-e Tir Square and got the cards that pictured the Haft Sin that is particular only to Nowruz. I already wrote 50 cards together with my staff to send to my collagues in Tokyo and the world, but this is more for my private use to send my message to those who had sent me New Year Greeting cards, Nengajos.


looking for cards... there's so many! which one seems fine!?

On the way back, we saw...

the "messengers of Nowruz" asking for money...
They were supposed to give money to the people, but now they're rather asking for money by performing with drums in the streets...

At nighttime, I asked my staff to join me for dinner at a restaurant in a hotel. Saying thanks and also asking them to spend time with my wife, I hoped they would be some reward to them working hard for me these 8 months. I've also handed out the year end bonus to them including a small amount of Eidi.

Dinnertime!

caviar!


steak!

And the Haft Sin on the table!

Ready for Nowruz!

Sadly I had a strong headache from the morning and being soaked with medicine, I tried to finish my recording of a radio report around 10:45PM, but made one mistake... I realize that health is the most important keeping the quality that is required, and from tomorrow, as we head into a 6 day holiday, I hope I can take care of myself a little more and be refreshed when we start our work in the Iranian New Year!

Start of a new private life!

My wife arrived in Tehran in the morning. I feel relieved to see her safe and sound though she had come here last November and knows her way here.
It was not a good day for me at work as I had to follow up on Khatami's withdrawal from the Presidential race and I had to write about it before leaving the office to pick her up at the airport. I was up until 4AM and was quite groggy receiving painful phone calls from Tokyo even at the airport and it became worse when I was asked to give a live coverage about Khatami's story in the evening. It was a good opportunity for me to show how things happen unexpectedly and of course I'm not troubled at all to be able to participate in our news programs as it is always tough to get some coverage time for news about this country.
I was able to finish my job at around 8PM and finally have some time with my wife. Well, it's the start of a new private life for me and I think it's starting fine!


I checked the board over and over to see she has arrived!

Our first night in Tehran... it was loud outside as residents around the area were lighting fire crackers, which is far from what the original Chaharshambe Suri should be like... On the last Tuesday night before Nowruz, people are supposed to jump over fires, but people, especially the young ones are using fire crackers to have fun...

Too bad...

It was supposed to be a four day weekend for us... as the Government announced yesterday that tomorrow will be an official holiday which was in between two holidays; today being the "sad" holiday of the Demise of the Prophet and Thursday being another "sad" holiday of the Martyrdom of Imam Reza.
We had to be ready for tomorrow's sudden trip to the south and it really didn't feel like a holiday at all... But I must admit, the best thing that happened was... that I was able to sleep until noon!

PS
And as the Iranian New Year is coming up...

on March 20th is the New Year Day of Iran...

there's more holidays than ever in March!
all the days with pink circles are OFF!

Cold again!?

Since we were struggling to find a story to cover, we went out to see the handcrafts exhibition held in central Tehran.

I couldn't find a nice story to cover, but found some nice cups...

As we were leaving the venue, snow started to fall on us and we escaped the sudden change of weather... Are we back in the cold age again? I hope not...

PICS at the exhibition...


here we are at the exhibition!


traditional dresses and clothes...


beautiful turquoise wares...


uh... the shellfish!? what are you doing here!?


more beautiful tablewares...


and more nice dresses...


but I think the favorite for the ladies are these silkwares!


some pictures too... Azeri ones...


these might make nice souvenirs!


and some decorative things made of glass!


some useful for Nowruz... the seven "S"!


wooden tools... useful for cooking!?


and... ???


nice calligraphy... nice to hang on the wall!


oh... musical instruments too! handmade!


and nice ceramic tablewares!
I decided to get some of these...
only 10,000Rls for a cup!

Back outside...

SNOW!! OH NO!!

And my choice...


a nice pair of cups!
but the orange one is a little bit bigger...
oh well... they're handmade!

Day to rest...

I had some work to do... to get ready for a live broadcast I have on Thursday... but after waking up once in the morning, I went back to bed...
I slept for more than 10 hours today... Still I was so tired...

My staff's friend brought me some "Imam Hosseini lunch" you can get in the streets like you can on Ashura Day, as today was another important holiday called Arbaeen. I didn't have the strength to call on my staff to work today to cover the event so I missed the event that should have taken place outside...

I had the lunch...

let's see...


not bad!

I went outside for a walk...

just to Vanak Square...


A RARE VIEW!
no cars today... empty streets!

I walked only for an hour and I was so exhausted... I'm still so tired!

Religious day... Ashura!

Today was the 10th day of Moharram in the Arabic Lunar Calendar which is one of the holiest day for Shia followers. From the morning I went to out to cover the climax of the day, where many marched in the streets hitting themselves with chains. I've seen this on TV, but it was the first time to see it live. As the people have been doing the same for 10 days, they finally reached the day to show their sorrow in front of my viewers.
They were mourning for the late Imam Hussein that fell in the hands of the "Imperialists" in the 7th Century at Karbala (now in Iraq), hitting themselves with chains so they can feel a bit of the hardship that their Imam has gone through.


thousands of men in black hitting themselves with chains...


the red man resembles the evil enemy that has killed the Imam...


the pageant looks really heavy... the man holding it was spinning it around from time to time and then bowing to the side...


some resemblance with the Japanese portable shrines! this resembles the household of the Prophet...


free food is handed out on this day at mosques...


mainly they hand polo, mainly keshmesh polo (rice with raisins and ground beef)...

In the nighttime, not only was the late Imam was the subject of mourning, but the people killed in Gaza were being mourned by the Iranians...


mourning with candles...

It's easy to amplify the hatred towards enemies through attacks, but I'm sure the Iranians have learned ways to take in the sadness by holding religious ceremonies for more than 13 centuries... but the Palestinian crisis is too controversial to leave it just to religious sentiments/.. when will the turning point come... I have no idea...

The longest night...

They say today's night will be the longest of the year, called Yalda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalda), rooted from a Zoroastrian tradition. I didn't know that people celebrate this night, but coincidentally I asked my staff to get me some cakes as I wanted to munch on something sweet to heal my fatigue.
It was a busy day as expected and many things did not work out in my favor. It's really disappointing when you see everything is rolling to the worse and I really can't foresee a happy ending. Still, the day passes by, and I will be seeing a new day after this longest night of the year will pass...

PS

a souvenir from my staff who went to Turkey for vacation
quite tasty!

we also had some sweets!
I really need these when I'm quite sad...

duel between the samurais! meow!

Back to life...

I was too tired to wake up... I was in my dreams in the morning, and when I woke up it was right after noon!

It was officially a holiday, Eid ul-Fitr when all the others were going to the prayers meetings and starting to celebrate, and as the government had suddenly announced it will be a holiday on Thursday, it was officially a start of a three-day weekend!

Later in the afternoon, I was joined with my staff at the office and we went to a funeral ceremony of one of my staffs' mother. It was first time ever for me to step inside a mosque, and obviously my first time to see a Muslim funeral ceremony.
The mourners all gathered in the mosque, inside a large hall that they usually have the prayers, and the men and women were seperated by a curtain. I heard the crying of the ladies behind the curtains and the men started tended to sit in front of the walls or next to the pillars of the mosque, mumbling their prayers looking at a colorful thin book with a green cover filled with Koran verses. The priest was in the front chanting the verses vocally and we were treated with Mango juice which we drank saying the words of blessings to the dead. We were allowed to sit with one's legs crossed and almost everyone was just wearing everyday casual clothes and I was the only one in mourning black. We left after about thirty minutes and my staff told me that it was okay to leave in the middle as the ceremony was about one hour and a half long so the participants can come at any time for any length to show their condolences to the dead.
The rituals are completely different to the ones with the Western or Japanese ceremonies but obviously it was the same that we all mourned and wished for the best to the dead and her family members.

At night, we went out to enjoy some Iranian food with a senior correspondent who is visiting Iran for a week.

yes... it's the most appropriate dinner to invite a guest! kyababs!

they were pierced through a sharp metal rod!

tasty!

many were lined up when we finished... it's normal that people come and eat from around 9PM, but since we always start before 8PM, we always get the best seats without waiting!

PS

our visitor brought me many treats!
oh I can eat rice forever with these!

Exhausted...

It was tough to get up in the morning, but I had to as it was just a weekday here in Iran... It was announced that it would be the last day of Ramazan (Ramadan) and from tomorrow everybody will have a three day weekend. I was supposed to be happy, but with all the work left because my absence, I will not be able to take my days off and enjoy... It would be rather tough for me without my staff...

everybody's awaiting the Eyde Fetr (Eid ul-Fitr)...

I only had to go to a regular meeting at the Japanese Embassy but time flies when I'm battling with accounting papers... I have to think about future news reports and even future documentaries, but with limited time, I'm going crazy! Well I took the risk to leave the country for 9 days, so now I have to pay for my debts!