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November 14, 2003
Three's Company
I was exhausted, windburned and dehydrated after a day hiking in the mountains with my gear. I had already turned down an invitation to dinner. But I was bored! Remember, there's nothing to do in Iran at night, especially if you're a single woman in a hotel. No one is even allowed in your room.
So I went through my namelist to see who I hadn't called yet. Aha! The name of an American reporter I had heard about came to mind. I dialed Dan De Luce, a reporter for the UK Guardian.
A surprised but pleasant voice was on the other end of the line. And soon I was being invited by his wife and him to their apartment. I was blitzed, but I decided to grab the chance. With only a little over a week left, I want to make the best use of my time.
Dan and his Irish wife Katrine live in North Tehran, about 30 minutes from me. As soon as I walked into their apartment I felt at home. It's one of the nicest ones I've seen, and they say it's nothing compared to the beautiful diplomatic homes around. Most Iranian apartments and homes are just big rooms where people sit on the floor. Any furniture is often covered with plastic, sometimes with the price tag still attached. Often there's nothing on the wall and the walls themselves are kind of gray.
Their house had modern art on the wall, nice furniture (sans plastic) and a gas fireplace. They even had a regular toilet and a bathtub!
Both were warm from the get-go, and we easily fell into a banter about what it's like to be a foreigner here. They had met in Bosnia, where Dan was working as an official for a governmental entity and Katrine was in human rights. They miss the Balkans, as life here is difficult. Katrine can't find a job, has to fend for herself in the streets and shops. Dan is a freelancer and spends a lot of time waiting for permission to interview people. Nevertheless, they see this as a grand adventure.
UPDATE 5/21/04: Dan has been expelled from Tehran for allegedly doing some illegal reporting. An article about it can be found here.
I found to my delight that Katrine knows Samantha Power, the human rights activist who I have interviewed on Dialogue and who was the director of the Greg Carr Human Rights program at Harvard. So it was an obvious question as to whether she knew Greg. Sure she did--he had even visited her in Tusla!
We were joined by Miranda Eeles of the BBC and went to dinner. More conversation ensued about being a foreigner, about the conspiracy theories we have all had to fend off, and about being a woman here. Shockingly, both Miranda and Katrine have been groped and also catcalled as prostitutes. I have had nothing of the sort happen to me. In fact, people often start talking to me in Persian. I think it's because these women, with their blue eyes and lighter hair, are so obviously foreign. They're also pretty chic. I, on the other hand, am darker and have just enough lumps and bumps to be taken (until I speak) for a native. I was sorry to hear about their trials, though. They're real troopers. Dan feels bad for his wife and it sounds like they might be moving on before long.
We shared a "hubble-bubble" (Dan demonstrates above), and then it was time to go. I was so tired, but glad that I had made the effort to spend time with these folks. I have only met one other American born person here, and that was a researcher married to an Iranian-American. So sometimes it can feel isolated. It was also great to hear their observations about Iran, some of which confirmed mine. I hope to stay in touch with all of them.
Posted by MJF at November 14, 2003 01:30 PM