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Published: August 17th 2015
This blog has been quiet for many years. In fact I think at the time of the last entry I was single and ready to mingle and boy has that changed! I am now married (nearly 7 years) and have two boys (5 and 3 years old). Travelling has continued and not at a lessened pace either. Since our wedding, my husband and I have lived in Australia, in England, returned to Hong Kong, in Portugal, in Uzbekistan and now in Iran. Our travels have imparted a sense of wonder in our children and an open mindedness that is second to none. Despite what people might think I actually really detest packing and setting up a-new all the time but I love the opportunity for exploration, those initial fumblings of giving the correct amount of, what looks like to us, Monopoly money, getting things oh so wrong be it with language or with gestures and getting completely lost in our new home town.
We arrived yesterday morning to Tehran, kids and luggage in tow and were greeted by a driver who had come to collect us from Imam Khomeini International Airport. In his limited English he informs us
his mini bus (you heard, mini bus - only the grandest for us!) was parked in the parking lot and it would take him a mere 10 minutes to come to pick us up so he could take us to the hotel. 10 minutes became 40 minutes and we waited and waited until both our kids were gasping death by boredom and we decided to figure out a taxi by ourselves. The minute we do this, our mini bus arrives flashing lights and honking its horn. Apparently there was a queue to leave the parking lot and the driver hastily and apologetically bundled our suitcases and us into the mini bus. The sun was rising in Tehran and this meant we caught the worst traffic heading to our hotel. A trip that I had done before in 1 hour became 2 and half with no AC in the sweltering heat (and me wearing a manteau and a headscarf). Luckily the three boys were asleep for most of the trip. My sweat forbade me to sleep so I contented myself in looking out the window and wiping the sweat from drowning my eyes.
We've been settling nicely into
our 2 bedroom services apartment and the hunt for more permanent accommodation will happen soon. We had a lovely breakfast at the Chai Bar today with our colleague and friend, Nazgol, but it cost a small fortune and we are fast coming to realise that Tehran is not a cheap place to live. I was relieved that my kids ate all of their food! My husband, being the fashion trendsetter that he is, was actually asked not to be served at the Chai Bar because he was wearing red shorts. He had just earlier in the day realised that he was the only person wearing shorts on the street, but Nazgol had reassured him that knee length shorts were fine. She hadn't informed us that apparently red (and other loud, non-dark coloured clothes) were an issue. Nazgol stood up to the waiter and said we weren't leaving so he asked us to go and sit at a table that was away from everyone else and hidden amongst the trees.
Lesson number one learned: If you are a man, wear pants.
Until next time,
M xx
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Nayla
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Rock rules
And so do you all! So exciting to hear you arrived to this magical-sounding country. Can't wait to read all about your adventures, even if in a 7-yearly basis.