One man, living in Iran sharing the weird stuff he sees and hears...

In this article on the hazards of partying in Iran published in the Canadian Magazine Macleans, the author gives a decent overview of party basics in Iran: bribing police, partying in the countryside and getting bribed.

Recently a friend —along with 60 other party attendees— got arrested at a party that was raided in his own building. He spent two nights in jail where he wasn’t fed. No one got lashed, and no one lost their job.

The fact is that parties in Tehran are an accepted part of life now. At a birthday party friends threw for me last year, police arrived around 2am. When they came up they didn’t hassle anyone and said, “Consume whatever you want, just turn down the music,” adding that, “we wouldn’t have come, but we can ignore complaints from your neighbors.”

So that was the end of that soiree, but what never gets talked about is what happens after the party. No, I’m not referring to the hookups.

I’m talking about drunk driving.

It’s become abundantly clear to me, and apparently no one else, that driving under the influence is a big problem, and one with no easy solution.

Of all the idiosyncrasies of living in Iran, add this one to the list: drunk people feel safer getting a ride home from someone else who has been drinking than they do from a sober person they don’t know, like a taxi driver for example.

Accurate statistics on drunk driving deaths in Iran don’t exist, and as far as I can tell, there are no laws that specifically penalize drunk drivers, since all drinking is illegal. 

For a campaign like MADD —Mullahs Against Drunk Driving, anyone?— a lot of Islamic judgment would have to be put aside, but it wouldn’t be a first for Iran. Have a look at this forward thinking needle exchange program in Tehran, that has helped to reduce transmission levels of HIV among intravenous drug users; a good example of realistic approaches to solving modern problems, of which Iran is full.

In Part I of the “Iranians are Just Like us” series, have a look a this report from the New York Times’, Will Yong, on the increase in Iran’s divorce rates.

Choosing a favorite quote from this article was difficult, but I will have to go with parliamentarian, Gholamreza Asadollahi’s critique of Iranian youth, blaming the rising number of divorces on Iranian youth’s inability to accept “the unseen power of God to solve life’s problems.

I’m writing from Dubai, but I feel obliged to re-post this column I wrote a few days ago for the Monocle.

While everyone else is talking about the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 in Geneva — ain’t that rich — residents of Tehran are still suffering from horrendous air pollution.

I just walked into my local butcher shop and for the first time in Tehran, saw a whole turkey. Apparently it was just coincidence, as the owner had no idea it was Thanksgiving, and was just scratching his head over what he was going to do with this gigantic, unsellable bird.

Depending on who you ask, it doesn’t appear as though the sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and other Western nations are having the desired effect of getting Iran to give up its nuclear…

Depending on who you ask, it doesn’t appear as though the sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and other Western nations are having the desired effect of getting Iran to give up its nuclear enrichment program.  On the contrary, average Iranians and not the regime seem to be suffering the brunt of the economic hardship.

Not only is the cost of many basic consumer goods rising exponentially, Iranians are feeling a growing sense of isolation from being cut off from the global economy.

Although the Obama administration initially claimed that sanctions were not directed at the Iranian people, the passing of embargoes on products from Iran, including Persian rugs –an industry that several million Iranians rely on for their livelihood—has made it difficult for Iranians to feel targeted.

Still, a sizable segment of Iranian society – the one that has connections both at home and abroad – is richer than ever, many of them business owners profiting from rising prices bases on  the speculation of a growing scarcity.

Last week I paid a visit to Garcia Mexican Restaurant in Tehran, to talk with chef and co-owner, Janet Garcia, about the lack of avocados in Iran, what it would mean to her personally and in terms of business to have access to great Hass avocados, and and to enjoy some of her wonderfully authentic Mexican dishes in the least likely of places.

A trip to Garcia is always does the trick: one of the happiest places in Tehran.

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