44 Degrees Celcius

Back in Dubai. Saeed and Hamed are here. A small CA-Barobax reunion you may call it. We went around Dubai, from one shisha place to another, from one mall to yet another mall. We tried out a selection of the restauarants in Dubai. We even tried to dine at the Burj Al Arab, but the drinks package alone started at $60 per person.

Let the countdown begin: 7. Germans in Dubai say that I need an ATV (Airside Transit Visa). One of those visas which you can't leave the airport with. Costs $110 Dollars. I said no. I had to print off pages from their U.S. and Canada website and take it to their consulate to prove that I don't need a visa. "OK! So you don't need a visa" the consular agent said with a thick German accent. "But are they gonna board me in Dubai Airport?" I asked. "YAH YAH. Just show them this", with a tone so cold and harsh that you'd think Arnold himself is reading off his script in the Terminator.

7:09 PM. Hamed is sleeping. Saeed is lost. Mahyar is on his way to Badawiah, a newly renovated shisha place which we used to go to very often.

No more I shall say. Time to wake Hamed up.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMED!"

- "Ha? Ha? Ha? ! ! ?!%$*!%"

;)

Bazaareh Bozorg & Kaakhe Golestan

Yesterday I got on Tehran's Metro along with my cousin to go to his office at Bazareh Bozorg. The train was packed with people and the slightest moves were difficult. While in there I noticed that my mobile phone has signal throughout the trip. Later, my cousin confirmed that they have recently installed antennas in the tunnels, something that Toronto subway lacks and I found interesting.

At around 10 AM we arrived at the gold section of Tehran's Grand Bazar. At around noon, my cousin had to go somewhere and Shahriar, my cousin's work partner, offered to take me on a tour around. I took my camera and we started walking in the narrow alleys of Bazaar. He told me about the 300 year old architecture as well as the history of those places that we visited. We visited the Carpet section and the kitchen stuff section, a place they call "Timche" as well as gold, toys, fabrics, clothes and stationaries.

After that Shahriar told me that the Golestan Palace is very close and although that he's been coming to Bazaar everyday for the past 10 years he has never been to the palace himself. So we started walking towards the palace which was located on the other side of Ark Square, which is now called 15 Khordad and we entered the palace. The price for a complete tour around and inside the palace was about 3500 tomans. After buying the tickets we started visiting each of the sections of the palace. We saw Nasereddin Shah's tomb stone, Kamalolmolk's paintings, Talaareh Ayeneh and Shamsol Emareh. They were all fascinating.

We ended our tour by exiting the palace and visiting "Masjede Jame'e Tehran" or "Masjed Shah" which is now called "Masjede Emam".

At quite a few places in the palace as well as the mosque, photography was forbidden. God knows why! However, at many other locations where it was allowed I took pictures; about 150 of them, which I will upload along with many other photos I took in Tehran once I get to Dubai on Thursday July 21st.

Rotten Fruit

Kufthansa!

Too many people fly! Lufthansa is fully booked from this day till late August. My flight back to Canada is booked for August 9th. I want to return on July 24 but there are no available seats on any of the Lufthansa flights departing from Dubai around that date.

Lufthansa's website shows that there are seats available. However, after my extensive research on this matter I was able to find out that my booking class is W while the booking class of the flights on their website is Y. Both of these booking classes refer to the economy class. However there is difference between them which I haven't been able to figure out yet. All I know that is that they don't allow me to get into the Y booking class.

I've been advised to keep contacting Lufthansa's reservation help desks untill I luckily find a seat. To all my friends away from home: book your flights before it's too late.

2 Months Passed

Less than two weeks remain from my trip to Iran. Soon I will return to the boiling weather of Dubai's deserts and after a short stay in Dubai I will fly back to Canada.
My journey to the east had lots of ups and downs and I learned a lot during the past two months.

The older I get, the more I feel that I confront change. The older I get, the more I feel that I try to stabilize my personality, ideas and situations. I hope that during the next couple of years as more of characteristics turn into stone, I manage to improve on them.

I'm looking forward to the future. I am returning "home" with lots of hope and good faith. I think that next year will be a great year for me. I'm happy that I have Sanam by my side who really cared for me when times were tough. I will also try to study harder to raise my average to get into grad school. I also have awesome plans with awesome friends in August. Ehsan I can't wait to discover more of the US of A. I hope that more friends can join us. The offer is open. Farbod and Hootan are already on the "thinking" list.

For now, I'm off. It is 2:52 AM, Tehran time. Peace out barobax.

Unfolded

How would I know how to say what lies deep down inside? When time ceases to beat and the wind no longer moves the leaves of the trees. When you look out the window and see people frozen as they were about to take their next step. How I would I heal these wounds when time no longer lives? How I would I say it'll be alright when change can no longer be brought upon? When the most complex loops and hoops of logic fail to produce output and when no one in the universe not even God himself knows what to do. It's when God looked down on us and gave us a blank face. It's when God told us to deal with what we had created. It's when God did not know. It's when God was not God. It's when the stars came down on earth one after the other in the bluish darkness of the night and we failed to understand how beautiful they are. It's when beauty became devastating. It's when we got destroyed by the frozen winds of change. It's when I cease to understand. I cease to understand.

I look upon the horizon and see the blue hope. I look upon the happy faces of children and wish that I was one of them. I look upon the history of mankind and realize how unworthy I am. I look upon the worried face of my mother and realize how loved and cherished I am. I look upon the promising faces of my friends and feel the warmth of support inside me. I look upon the skies and seek God. I talk to him and ask him to tell me how I feel. I ask him if he really knows. If he really really knows. Why wouldn’t he come sit with me in the coffee shop for a cup of coffee? Why wouldn't he give me a call on my cell phone? Why wouldn't God give me a pat on my shoulder? Why wouldn’t God take my hand while I am asleep and comfort me with a sweet dream?

When the beats of music flew into my mind. When the that soft voice started stretching the words like the length of them high trees in our forests. When I closed my eyes and listened to the loud whisper of the dancing notes. When light shone through small holes of a tall wall. When the heat of summer burned my skin as if sun itself was making a nest on my body.