“First thing you notice is a man cuddling the other one with a green fluffy duster. “Now I’m curious,” you start laughing, seeking for an answer…” READ THE PREVIOUS POST HERE.
What comes out is that when a man happens to be in a zone meant not for him (but for women only), the morality police can smoothly guide them back using this fluffy duster. It also helps them to give you a sign if you are about to lose your hijab or you are breaking some other rules. Pretty clever, huh?
This time I want to show you – generally speaking – Iranians. Who are they? What is their personality?
If an Iranian spots a tourist on the street you can be sure he will take some time to look at him. If he is curious enough he might go and start a conversation. Or maybe just wish a great day and time in Iran. If an Iranian is in the mood – and he usually is – he invites the foreigner to come over. Usually he expresses this wish with the words “chai, chai!” which means “tea, tea!”. Then the foreigner needs to decide whether to accept the invitation or no. Generally, you are right if you are up for a glass of tea – you can then also take a look how the Iranians are living.
Chai gets you further! Exploring the factory with kind workers (and Julian. also kind, sometimes :D)
Iranians are naturally hospitable and kind. They even have a word – taarof. That means: if you are offered something it’s polite to refuse three times. Then you can decide if you take it or not. One should also listen to his inner voice as Iranians can go really far and you need to be sure if they are serious. Let’s say, you are in a grocery store standing in the queue. A man in front of you offers to pay also for your stuff. Out of nowhere! Or, you are about to buy a carpet and the seller says “Hey, just take it for free!”. Obviously, you are not going to accept neither of those offers. You can say “please, do not taarof”, but then you might get “no, you do not taarof” back. 😀 So all you need to do then is to keep going, you can negotiate on price, talk about your families, weather and kids, negotiate a bit more, talk about politics, drink tea and then find a price both of you agree with. By the way, these conversations are truly enjoyable! So, as you can see Iranians love to take care of guests. Also, they love when you are ready to learn a couple of words or phrases in Persian so they can laugh when you pronounce something wrong. But it’s a very friendly laugh and they appreciate a lot that you are trying to get to know the language and culture. Just like in any other country!
Let’s drink tea!
I need to point out this “chai-culture” one more time as it’s unbelievably sweet and funny. It doesn’t matter where are you going or what you are doing – especially if you are sure you are alone – someone always puts his head out of the window or bushes and yells “chai, CHAI!!!!”. You better accept it. It’s wonderful. Iranians are wonderful.
Madlen
