(Will have to upload pictures later, internet connection too slow here to upload them)
Instead of going into a day by day scenerio, I will give a general overview since so much time has passed. First off, the Pakistani embassy people are driving me crazy. I think I developed some grey hairs because of their run around. 3 times to the Embassy without any luck saying they still didn't receive the invitation letter that was sent 3 days prior. They say it takes time for it to come from the fax upstairs to downstairs and it's still not downstairs... wtf?? Then go upstairs and check Oskol. So they told me to call instead of me spending time and money to get to the Embassy. So the next day I call and first thing they say, "We are busy, call back in 15 mins." I call back in 15 minutes and they tell me to call back in 30. When i finally get through they say they still don't have it and to try to have them email. Anyways, after days of calling and getting similar responses they finally received the letter, but it's of no use because it says that i'm going for business purposes and I said I'm going for a wedding. Well damn, now I'm screwed and need them to call the embassy to fix it with them. I'm sure they will get the same run around and I will probably not be going to Pakistan. WTH, it's not like I'm trying to get in because I want to take away their jobs and live there, who the hell wants to go live in Pakistan?
Due to the days I've been waiting to get through to the embassy I've been keeping myself busy with my cousins, friends, and reading/contemplating.
With my Cousin Payam and my aunt and Grandma, we went on a small trip to Jamkaran and Qom. In Jamkaran their is a very nice masjid built after a respectible scholar received word from Imam Mahdi himself to build a masjid there. There we read the special prayers and headed to Qom where we were invited by Harate Masoome (sister of Imam Reza) for lunch. So Payam is the religious one and worker, Poorya is the sports one and into poetry and Erfani stuff, and Sepehr who I only saw for a bit hangs out with the movie stars since his sister is a famous actor in Iran. So with Poorya we went and played some tennis, ping pong, and had some interesting conversations. His sister Porshad beat me at Takhte (backgammon) and I still owe her some Ice Cream lol. My other cousin Elham is pregnant with a baby boy :) I got to see her for a bit as well as we were helping Momani (great-grandma) move into a new place.
So with the friends I hung out with Erfan a lot at his office where he will share his dislike of Iranian government. What's funny is that he and his co-workers believe most people are against the Iranian government, but when I hang out with my other friends (that I met through Majid) they have a different perspective and believe that most people are for the Iranian Government and behind Khomenaei. I hung out with Maisam alot as well who I met through Majid. He is a funny guy and we went together to Imam Zadeh Saleh then Darband for chai and hookah. Then another day we met up with around 12 people, 6 guys and 6 girls, at the park and hung out together with no problem. Then we all went out for snacks before we split up and the girls went home because it was getting dark. But us guys stayed up and went to a place sorta like Darband on the outskirts of Tehran where we had a great time eating dinner, singing, joking, hookah and chai of course lol. We hung out till 2 AM. I found it interesting that amist all the joking and everything one of the friends gets up and goes to do his prayers. I felt a little bad that I left my prayers for after getting home.
I found the different perspectives of the Government of Iran to be interesting since in the States I find a lot more people who are against the Iranian Government and want to see it changed, and they believe that most the people are against the Government as well. But here it is different, there are some against the government but for the most part from what I see is that they are for the government but find difficiencies and errors that the government has made like any government in the world. So my interest in this aspect led me to become a reporter of sorts, video taping and asking questions of the people. Their are some funny moments like my Grandpa that said all the dissenting voices and those against the government should be hung (he was kidding, i think). And my Grandma goes off on the women who are not respecting the Islamic System and don't wear proper hijab. Then there are the people like Erfan who wants to see the whole system come down.
Since I've had a lot of free time I have been reading a lot and sometimes can't sleep since the weather is very hot here and my Grandma doesn't like turning on the AC. I read a whole book about Nelson Mandela which I really enjoyed. Did you know that after he couldn't achieve his goals through non-violent means that he said that we must fight fire with fire... and valued the revolutionary approach of Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara, thus learning guerilla warfare but was caught soon after (many people believe that the U.S is responsible for helping capture this revolutionary who fought aparthied). After his release and coming to power he forgave all those that went against him, even the judge that imprisoned him for 25+ years and he had tea with the wife of the person who created the Aparthied system in the first place. What a man. Then I am re-reading Ali Shariati's book Man and Islam, such a good book that I recommend to all. Also have been reading my philosophy book to learn about the different philosophers and their beliefs.
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