Women in Shiraz, Iran, wearing the chador in 2005. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image) Note the blue jeans, etc., underneath the chador.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The previous post in this little series of informal recollections makes it obvious that I did, indeed, manage to leave the Islamic Republic of Iran. \u00a0But, of course, that could also have been deduced from the fact that I\u2019m currently teaching at Brigham Young University, which is located in Provo, Utah.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
My friend Professor Louis Midgley reminds me, though, of one other thing that I should record in this connection:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I had agreed to go to Iran, I was put into contact with a person in Montreal, an Iranian living in Canada, who would coordinate travel arrangements, visas, and so forth.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eventually, I received my airline ticket, which took me from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis\/St. Paul, from\u00a0Minneapolis\/St. Paul to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Tehran. \u00a0But there was no return ticket.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I called him.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this a joke?\u201d I asked. \u00a0In still very much living memory, certain Americans had experienced unexpectedly long stays in Iran, and I was hoping to be able to return to my family, friends, neighborhood, and job in somewhat less than two or three years.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh,\u201d he responded. \u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t worry! \u00a0You\u2019ll receive your return ticket while you\u2019re there in Tehran.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I decided to believe him and, in fact, things worked out really well and just as he had said they would. \u00a0Somehow, it cost the Iranian government or the conference organizers less money to do it that way. \u00a0Or something. \u00a0I have no idea, actually, but that\u2019s what the person said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The person with whom I dealt while I was in Iran was a youngish woman (in full black chador) who had been in charge of all of the practical details surrounding the conference that I was attending. \u00a0I had several conversations with her, and I came to like her very much.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was extremely candid. \u00a0And she was openly unhappy with some of the things that had gone wrong at the conference, which she blamed on the clerics for whom she was working. \u00a0\u201cI told<\/em> them that this wouldn\u2019t work,\u201d she said several times. \u00a0\u201cBut would they listen to me? \u00a0Of course<\/em> not. \u00a0I\u2019m a woman<\/em>. \u00a0What do I<\/em> know?\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m pretty sure that I\u2019ve heard several similar comments outside of Iran. \u00a0Possibly from one or two Relief Society presidents. \u00a0(It reminds me of something that I read yesterday: \u00a0\u201c\u2018You\u2019re not even listening!\u2019 my wife said. \u00a0And I thought to myself, \u2018That\u2019s<\/em> a funny way to start a conversation.'\u201d)<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anyway, she\u2019s the one who finally gave me my return ticket, and an apology for the weirdness of the arrangement.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I actually had a great time in the Islamic Republic. \u00a0Almost everybody with whom I had any dealings was pleasant, even kind. \u00a0Still, I discovered that dictatorial anti-American fascist police states make me nervous. \u00a0When I disembarked from the plane in Amsterdam, I briefly felt a curious urge to kiss the ground.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 The previous post in this little series of informal recollections makes it obvious that I did, indeed, manage to leave the Islamic Republic of Iran. \u00a0But, of course, that could also have been deduced from the fact that I\u2019m currently teaching at Brigham Young University, which is located in Provo, Utah. \u00a0 My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Shirazi](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/02\/Women_in_shiraz_2.jpg\")
<\/a>