Stranger in Tehran

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  • Learn Persian Online
    Learn Persian Online
  • 10 Instagram Accounts to Follow Before Travelling to Iran in 2020
    10 Instagram Accounts to Follow Before Travelling to Iran in 2020
  • About me
    About me
  • How I Learned Persian
    How I Learned Persian
  • Travel Guide to Qazvin: City of Ornaments
    Travel Guide to Qazvin: City of Ornaments
  • Ashura in Tehran
    About Iran,  Culture,  Like a Local

    Ashura in Iran: What to Do on Ashura in Tehran

    September 29, 2017 /

    Moharram is a month during which Iranians and other Shia Muslims commemorate the death of Imam Hossein. The mourning reaches its culmination at Ashura, the tenth day of Moharram. I have already written about Ashura in Iran and mourning ceremonies organized on this occasion here and here. During several years I`ve been living in Iran, I have attended quite a number of ceremonies in different parts of Tehran (there are still areas uncovered though). Some attract hundreds of people, while others are attended only by locals. However, many foreigners hesitate to go out on the day of Ashura which is the culmination of Moharram mourning ceremonies. Maybe, they are afraid of Iranians…

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    Katya 2 Comments

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    Moharram. The Time for Mourning: The Day of Ashura

    November 8, 2014 /

    Mourning in moharram reaches its culmination on the 10thday of moharram which is known as Ashura. On this day since morning people either take part or just watch mourning processions in the streets of Tehran. The procession starts with boys carrying flags with writings about Imam Hossein. They are followed by “alams” which are the central part of the whole ceremony and draw all people`s attention. “Alam” is a huge and heavy metal thing covered with feathers, metal figures of birds, lions and deer, every element of which symbolizes something. Although “alam” is extremely heavy, it`s carried by only one person who wears a special belt to help him carry…

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    Moharram. The time for mourning: Food

    October 31, 2014 /

    Food is an inseparable part of any Iranian holiday, festival or even the day of mourning! And moharram is no exception. During the first ten days of moharram after the evening prayer (i.e. after sunset) in the streets of Tehran you can see numerous tents where you can get tea with sugar, dates or sweets absolutely for free.     Some people, who are patient enough, visit so-called “heyats” where a mullah tells the story of Ashura and then the attendees get free food.  When a family gets into trouble, for example, a child gets sick badly, the family prays and promises to God that if the child gets well,…

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  • Events in Tehran

    Moharram. It`s time for mourning!

    October 26, 2014 /

    The month of moharram has come. A month of mourning for the third Shia Imam Hossein and his family cruelly killed in Karbala on the day of Ashura. I won`t go into details about his life and this particular event. I`d rather tell you how Tehran (and I`d say the whole Iran) changes when the holy month of moharram comes.   Streets of Tehran which are always full of people wearing black clothes, but during moharram (and especially first 10 days that precede the day of Ashura) their amount doubles. Most of them are religious young men, small businesses` owners, shopkeepers who`d like to share their grief and feel themselves…

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    Katya 0 Comments

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About Me

I`m Katya, living in Tehran with my Iranian husband for almost 10 years. I am here to share my insights on life in Iran as well as tips and tricks for travelling Iran!

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I don't know about you, but I'm already making a l I don't know about you, but I'm already making a list of places (and cafes in the first place) I want to go when the 3rd wave is over. (Does anyone know how many of them we should expect?)

So I decided to continue sharing #myfavoriteplaces_tehran and support those cafes that are still there.

I discovered @clunagroup just a couple years ago but it instanly became my first choice for a quick and healthy snack.

Quick snacks on the go in Tehran include falafel at a not-so-tidy food stall, greasy samosas or pirashki, or sandwiches with layers of kalbas. So I think Tehran really needed a healthier option.

Cluna chain cafes offer a variety of sandwiches, salads, coffee and smoothies and even some desserts, everything freshly made, warmed-up upon request and nicely packed.

Abundance of vegetarian option is another reason to love it. You can find sandwiches or rolls with hummus, kuku-sabzi, omelette, dates etc.

But what I like the most is that it's located at key places along Valiast Street - just do a quick search on maps to find the closest one to you.

I'm really happy that Iranians are moving to healthier options, and hopefully there will be more places like this.

#noad
Have you ever wondered what Heaven looks like? Ira Have you ever wondered what Heaven looks like? Iranians have the answer! Surprisingly, no houris* involved. Swipe to see the first pictures from Heaven! 

The first one depicts Ghasem Soleimani in the embrace of Imam Hossein. There is Imam Khomeini on the right and a few shahids on the background.

The second one shows famous Iranian traditional singer Mohammad-Reza Shajarian who passed away recently with poets Ferdowsi and Akhavan-Sales who come from the same area.

*Houris - beautiful women who accompany faithful Muslims in Heaven.

#heaven #islam #uncoveriran #discoveriran #everydaytehran #parksoftehran #باغ_کتاب #دریاچه_هنر
I have a confession to make. I've been thinking a I have a confession to make.

I've been thinking about how I learned Persian a lot recently (you can read about it on my blog - tap the link in bio). And I remembered a funny thing. 

When my Persian reached a point when I could read novels in Persian, I started to read them while commuting to university (we, Russians, read a lot in the metro). But to be honest, I was always uncomfortable about taking out a Persian book out of my bag. Because as soon as I did, people would start staring at me. And believe me, you wouldn't like this kind of looks!

The thing is Russia has a long history of terrorist attacks commited by Muslims, and I remember, after one of those attacks, the hatred to Muslims became so wide-spread that some people would even attack Muslims in the metro!

So when I was reading a romantic novel in Persian, I felt that people around me were thinking I was reading a tutorial on how make a bomb or something.

Later I came up with a trick - I would read only magazines with lots of pictures. It's Persian, meow 😁

Have you ever been uncomfortable about telling people that you are learning Persian or reading something in Persian in a public place?

PS This story dates back to 10-15 years ago. I hope the situation isn't that bad right now. Although I don't pay attention anymore.

#learningpersian

#persianlanguage #persian #farsi #персидский #фарси #persianlearning #persian_language #персидскийязык #learninglanguages #autumnmood #autumncolors #autumnleaves #hikeinthemountains #hikemore #hikevibes #fallseason🍁 #neverstopexploring #welivetoexplore
#exploretehran #lifeiniran #lifeintehran #everydaytehran #everydayiran #iranogram #iranogramers #letsfeeliran #seeyouiniran #middleeast #tehrangram
#myths_about_iran Before moving to Iran, the more #myths_about_iran Before moving to Iran, the more Iranians I met, the more persuaded I became that Iranian women are educated, progressive and keep up with men. Because every Iranian I met would tell me that more than a half of students in Iranian universities are women.

BUT! Don't expect to see many women at work. Because according to the statistics, only 15% of Iranian women work. Is it their own choice or is it the consequence of a patriarchal society. Let look into it together.

You might think that the reason is obvious - discrimination against women. And you are probably right. At some positions men are definitely more welcome than women, and some men prefer their wives stay at home. But that's a bit more complicated.

What I have figured out about working as a woman is that the society on the whole is overprotective towards women. They are supposed to be taken care of everywhere. Some parents don't let their grown-up unmarried daughters come home late, some need to approve of the place their daughter is going to work at. For married women, it's husband who has to protect his wife, and the easiest way to do that is to make her stay home.

At workplace, the employer is supposed to take care of female employees - they can't stay late at work, can't participate in any physical work (if it's not initially required by the job), of course under these circumstances employers prefer to hire men. 

On the other hand, many girls, following the long-established tradition, simply prefer to dedicate their life to family rather than a career which is completely understandable.

I have to admit though that while in Iran you will see not only young women who don't work but also many young man which to me is more important and alarming. But that's another story.

What do you think with all this situation? Why do you think there are so few working women?
A couple of years ago around this time we set off A couple of years ago around this time we set off on the most spontaneous trip ever! We went to the bus terminal in Tehran and bought tickets for the first bus available.

Luckily for us, it was Isfahan. We had travelled to Isfahan before but I always wanted to go back there again.

We ate a lot of food (the best part of any trip if you ask me!), walked a lot around the bazaar area and the Armenian quartier and watched the everyday life of Isfahan.

It was a totally new experience to go somewhere for the weekend without any planning at all, without booking a hotel or doing research about places to visit. 

Fortunately, you, my dear followers, shared a lot of recommendations which made this trip one of the most memorable trips we ever had!

What was your most spontaneous trip?

>>> Swipe left for the highlights of our trip to Isfahan.

#spontaneoustrips
Having reached 13,000 daily Covid-19 cases, Iran i Having reached 13,000 daily Covid-19 cases, Iran is finally applying more restrictions this Saturday (it will cover only cities with high Covid-19 rates though).

In Tehran, shops (except supermarkets), shopping malls, restaurants, all cultural & entertainment businesses and religious sites are going to be closed for 2 weeks; companies and offices can operate only with 1/3 of employees.

Using the car from 9 pm to 4 am is prohibited (unless it's a taxi). Driving between cities is also restricted (although you can hop on the bus or train).

The universities and schools have been working online for a while already. So no new restrictions here.

However, no restrictions can make people more responsible. Just a few days ago, I saw a family saying goodbye to their guests in front of their house in the street. They would take their masks off, kiss each other goodbye and put the mask back on.

Are there any restrictions in your country? Are people readily following them?

#stayhomestaysafe
#myths_about_iran You might have heard on the news #myths_about_iran You might have heard on the news about girls of 9 being married to grown-up men in Iran. And no wonder - only shocking news like that make the headlines. But is it a tendency in Iran or rather an exception?

That's true that in Iran marriage age is quite low compared to other countries - for girls it's only 13 while for boys it's 15.

However, you shouldn't think that young people get married as soon as they reach that age. The latest statistics (first 3 months of the current year) show that the average marriage age throughout the country is 22.8 for women and 27.4 for men.

What's more, the situation is the same even in more traditional provinces. For example, in South Khorasan and in Sistan & Baluchestan the average is 20.5.

What age do you consider the most appropriate? Some of you chose 21 on the quiz in Stories, and I'd love to hear out your opinion!

#marriage #marriageisforever
I decided to embrace autumn, so we went for a hike I decided to embrace autumn, so we went for a hike to the mountains in search for the #autumnvibes🍁 And here is what we found✨
Silence is what distinguishes a public holiday fro Silence is what distinguishes a public holiday from any other day in Iran. You wake up in the morning and you don't hear any cars, construction or 'kharidaram' van roaming the streets.

Normally, people wake up later and don't go out until afternoon. However, in the evening streets become busier, people heading out for dinner, a walk in a park or visiting family.

Today was a public holiday in Iran, this time a real holiday (not a death anniversary which are probably even more than half of all public holidays) - the birthday of Prophet Mohammad.

Location: Tehran Book Garden, Honar Lake. More photos & videos ---> Stories.

#iranianscelebrate
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