My last days in Iran

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For the last 2 nights in Iran I went to the house of my friend Hamed who had invited me to stay with his family.

I arrived late after my flight and met his lovely family and another couch surfer he was hosting, Simone. His mom had made fesenjoon, a traditional Iranian dish, for us so we sat at the table to eat and tried Hamed’s homemade vodka… it burned!!!!!!!! Since alcohol is banned in Iran the locals have found ways of making their own and I was able to tried Hamed's homemade wine as well (which by the way tasted nothing like wine! haha)

While talking to Simone I happened to mention Larissa, a Brazilian traveler I met in KL, and the world is so small that Simone and Larissa are friends, they actually travelled together a couple of months ago! How crazy?!?!

Simone, myself and Hamed's mom and sister.

The next day I started my day by sitting on the floor with Hamed's dad and cracking walnuts for breakfast! It was really cute to see him trying to communicate with me with his limited english and my limited farsi.

Hamed's dad, Reza.

I'm a pro!

After breakfast, Simone, Hamed, his mom, and I left the house and before taking a bus with Hamed his mom took us to a local shop to get bobby pins for Simone so her hijab wouldn't fall down. At the shop the owner was very excited to meet us and she fixed her hijab and asked us for a picture!

After the short stop we left and took Simone to the bus station to go to Isfahan. Hamed took me out to explore Tehran once again. We started by going to his workplace, Azadi tower, where he showed me around and told me a little bit about its history.

Jump shot with Hames!

Inside the tower, overlooking Tehran

The top of the tower, built when Iran was friends with Israel... see the star?

I found my flag!!!

The next stop was a the shrine where once again I had to wear a chador.

In order to get out to the street we passed yet another bazaar full of fun shops.

Figs for days!

Nuts anyone?

Sugar with saffron!

We then went for some ice cream! Which might have been some of the best ice cream I have ever had! A special kind of Iranian ice cream with pistachios and cream on a bed of rose water god knows what but it was dreamy!

We ended the day by going to Darband, the mountains near Tehran. It was such a beautiful sight with snow at the top of the mountains but the bad thing was that I was wearing the wrong kind of shoes!!! The floor was very very wet and my flats were very slippery! At one point I had to ask Hamed to go back because I was very afraid of falling and my feet were freezing!

How fun is that? You can sit right on the river!

The next day, and my last full day in Iran, I spent it hanging out with Hamed’s mom.

Padia and Mahan at breakfast... they are just adorable!

After breakfast she took me and the kids (she takes care of family’s children) out to get some groceries for my Iranian cooking lesson and have some tea with her friend.

Bakery sign!

We then went back home and she taught me how to make the Iranian eggplant dish that I liked.

I feel in love with both of the children! They were adorable and for me it was very interesting to see the way that children are raised in different cultures. The kids didn’t have many toys, Padia had one purse with a doll, and maybe 5 little figures which she shared with Mahan.

When we were home they found ways to entertain themselves by playing outside. When we went out there was no need for stroller, they just held on to our hand and walked.

For lunch they sat on the patio and ate their lunch all on their own! They finished everything without complaining and they even brought the dish back inside.

At breakfast the same, they just ate what was put in front of them without fusing. I was the most impressed by their ability to drink hot tea all on their own, perfectly handling a hot tea cup and not spilling!

At age 2 they were both potty trained. Padia spent the night with us and slept on the floor next to me. No need of night diaper or anything! Children are treated like little grown ups! It’s amazing to see how not everything is catered to the children!

During nap time Hamed's mom put a mattress down and both Padia and Mahan laid down and went to sleep… No fuss! I was amazed!

At night when Hamed came back from work he asked me to sit with him and gave me a dictionary and said "I want you to read it!" I opened the dictionary from the back (since that's the way Iranians read) and I said "it's the other way" and turned the book around. Then I said "you really want me to read the dictionary?" and he responded "I want you to read this”... he opened the dictionary in half and he had carved a hole and put a ring that I fell in love with 3 weeks ago on my 2nd day in Tehran! It is not the gift that moved me, it was the thought and listening to him tell me the list of things that I like and I dislike, a long list that showed how much he had been paying attention to our conversations. I found this to be true on most Iranians, when they talk to you they listen, they pay attention, they are truly interested in knowing more about you and the world.

Hamed's mom

With the whole family!!! <3

I leave this country being so so so so thankful for their people, those who gave me rides when I waited on the side of the street, those who opened their homes to me, those who stopped on the street to introduce themselves and say "Welcome to Iran”, to all of you THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!