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November 22, 2003
The Last of the Americans, and My Last Story
"Are you the person that you want to be?"
So began a recent session of what must be one of the most unique classes in Tehran. Taught by one of the only remaining Americans in this city of 12 million, it's an English class that's more about life than linguistics, more about goals than grammar.
24 years ago, just 4 months after the Islamic Revolution, Connie moved here from Fresno, CA, with her Iranian husband. She never left. I had heard about her from two very different people--an upper middle class woman whose 19-year old son currently attends her class, and the 29-year old man from whom I rented a cell phone, who went to her class when he was in elementary school. I took this "6 degrees of separation" phenomenon as a sign that I had to meet Connie.
I first went to one of her classes without a camera and then filmed two other classes, one just hours before I left Iran. I also brought back the 29-year old man to meet her again all these years later.
For me, the story is rich in several respects. First of all, why would an American woman come to Iran just a few months after the revolution? And why would she stay for so long?
Even her students don't understand, but they are appreciative. One, who has been with Connie since she was 12 (she's now 24), burst into tears as she tried to explain what her teacher means to her. "She was more than a mother to me," she said.
"We love her," said another, at the same time calling Connie's devotion to Iran "suicide."
So why does Connie stay? By her own admission, it's for love, not just of her husband, but also her students.
"My sanity is based on my work," she told me.
"Everyday I see old people, young people, and they?re all coming to learn something and share something. And that is my high. And without it, for sure I wouldn?t be here."
She's worried, though, about the children that she's taught, the children of the revolution, many of who are now in their late 20s and unemployed.
"We have a lost generation here," she told me. "Children from 18 to 30, they don?t know where their place is in society."
Her students worry that she will leave them. "Don't worry," Connie told them. "You guys will leave before I leave. I?m the last of the Mohicans."
I would have loved to spend more time with Connie. Unfortunately I was not able to film her in her daily life, as her husband is worried about her, and even a simple interview with some other friends in the park today was halted by a policeman. Still, her class, complete with girls who weren't wearing hejab, should be interesting to folks and I hope to put together a national radio piece.
And guess what? She has relatives in Filer, just a few hours from Boise. Another one of those "meant to be" situations....
Posted by MJF at November 22, 2003 10:22 PM