#thanksgiving2014 #1000essayparttwo With the cessation of 4 years of tertiary education came 9 weeks of intense education of a different kind - through diving headfirst into a myriad of personalities by living out my thesis...on a couch. 6 weeks spent hoboing across Eastern Europe, Greece and Turkey made missing commencement in July worth it. With a motley yet heart-warming crew of CS hosts, experiences included sleeping on kitchen/train floors, doing taichi in vienna, scaling slovakian mountains, hitchhiking with high Polishmen, having pseudo-intellectual debates with an Estonian chess-player, and catching Ben Howard live. And then IRAN: where for 22 mornings I woke up feeling so blessed to be in this fascinating land where King Xerxes once reigned. Media stereotypes were constantly thrown out and prejudices were ripped apart. It was almost impossible to not have your social norms challenged from just walking the streets... Or not to be bewildered/bemused by the stark dichotomies between private vs public, people vs government. From an anti-Israeli protest at Esfahan square (marking end of Ramadan) to intimate insights about a hosts disillusionment with politicized religion and growing agnosticism. From experiencing lavish hospitality from most to some degree of harassment/cultural incompatibility from others, Iran is an enigma that Ive left having more questions rather than answers. Yet it was also impossible not to be inspired by Persian culture - often underrated and underground. Wearing a manteau (where all notions of a feminine figure are non-existent) and headscarf at 40 degrees. Fresh honey, cheese and stone-pressed bread for breakfast, Walnut and pomegranate chicken + saffron rice for lunch, and shiraz grapes for tea. Listening to Persian rap from an exiled musician, discussing oil investments, reciting poetry from Hafez, admiring the intricate details of mosques to the carvings on the Persepolis, collecting mint leaves with a nomadic mountain tribe...just to name the few highlights. All can say is thank you, God, for keeping us. Despite barely planning and landing in so many risky situations, you always brought us to the right place at the right time. New stirrings have arisen, seeds have been planted, visions have been brewing. Who knows what will happen in a few years??? ... But what they dont know about us is this: we are limitless. we are free. We are sick and tired of war. This is a time for peace.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 10:59:15 +0000
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