Recently, I had the pleasure of coming across a site called “Life Goes on In Tehran." It is a monthly photoblog by an Iranian who was living in Los Angeles, moved to Iran, and who is now in L.A. again. There are short comments for each picture that I found very sincere and interesting. I spent several happy hours looking at all of pictures in one go — others might want to take it
more slowly.
Moving the cursor over the pictures often brings up more pictures.
I noticed a lot of changes since I lived in Tehran — especially all of the high-rise apartment blocks, which are basically one way of providing a lot of relatively cheap modern housing. Unfortunately, they often are very unattractive.
The same thing has been done in Turkey. This type of housing offers less privacy for families and individuals than traditional homes provided, which matters if personal freedom is limited in the public sphere. As the pictures reveal, since party behavior is not allowed in public, people have their parties at home where the government rarely intrudes.
As I see it, it is that privacy in their private lives that gives
I very much hope that the scenes shown will not be spoiled by the horrors of being attacked.
Read the comments.
You will see how bombing and murdering or injuring innocent Iranians would be ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL.
Iranians their sense of freedom. The blogger does not dwell on political issues, but there are hints of the freedom in public, bureaucratic, unemployment, inflation, and sanctions related problems.
Also, something I’ve noticed about films/documentaries about Muslims was confirmed by the blogger — foreign film crews focus on the those in traditional dress (and will dress them up that way, too) even though there are literally millions (over 12 million in Tehran) living a more urban lifestyle wearing trendy clothes. Such films often focus on women as though women in the Muslim world suffer a lot more than women elsewhere.
The women I know in the Middle East are very active in society. Firstly, they work hard to create large networks of relatives, neighbors, and friends, which is basically the way families create their safety net. Their networking involves frequently going out to visit or having guests over a lot. Also involved, is providing help and info. to those in your network. I have even been included for which I was/am very grateful. In addition, women often work and take part in NGO and/or charity activities.
Look at the pictures. I very much hope that the scenes shown will not be spoiled by the horrors of being attacked. Read the comments. You will see how bombing and murdering or injuring innocent Iranians would be ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL.
Marie K.
P.S. I also came across this piece called the "Iran Letters" by a Turkish guy who is studying Persian in Iran for his doctoral studies. He indicates he'll write a couple more letters about his travel observations. He has some interesting comments. He also brings up what women wear in public. A better description is that the "chador" is like a body-sized scarf. Women's faces are not covered, and they hold it closed under their chin with one hand (or maybe pins). It enables them to grab it and run out of the house in shabby house clothes if they want.
When I was there, the women in Tehran wore black chadors, but the women in towns I visited wore ones made out of light-weight materials in pretty floral prints. Actually, Iranian (and other Muslim) women make a point of dressing very stylishly.
