Yearly Archives: 2017

what to do with a week

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I woke up in a room that was clean, quiet, and cozy. And things got even better when I opened the door to the living room and found out that we were about to have breakfast: Staying with my friend Bahman and his wife was the best: It made me wonder why I had not […]


my yoke is easy

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So I left. I figured the least I could do was walk to a friend’s house in the western part of the city. Leave the crowded area around the shrine. Leave the roaches. Breathe. It turned into a very angry walk. I squeezed through some of the most insane traffic I had ever witnessed. The […]


paralyze me

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I felt bad today. Tired. Lacking motivation. Disgusted by the roaches. Annoyed by the people who had stolen my money. There was a plan in the making: I was going to go to Taiwan in about one week from now in order to promote my books there. Then I was going to go to Germany […]


like a ghost with the money

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I decided to go back to the bazaar: It was located right next to the Holy Shrine, so I hung out there for a while: And I marveled at the fact that a lot of Mashhad’s traffic apparently passed through a maze of tunnels right under the Shrine: Then I went back to the hotel. […]


need a toy

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Went back to the visa office and picked up my passport. It had a little stamp in it: So I figured I was good to go. Or stay in. Or do whatever. I decided to have a non-alcoholic beverage: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube […]


Baby Roach

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Worked on the blog: It takes time, especially editing the damn videos. Anyway I went out once, when the afternoon sun was deep: And I noticed that the streets were quiet and the shops were closed: It was Friday. Of course. The Jews have Saturday. The Christians have Sunday. The Muslims have Friday. I’m sure […]


the place where I can’t go

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Today Shiva took me sightseeing. We went to this little mausoleum called Gonbad Sabz first: It was quite nice: I made a wish in the mausoleum: Apparently you’re supposed to keep your wish to yourself, so please just know that if this wish were to come true, it would be very good for you and […]


water boiler

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Another day, another sandwich: I’d sort my maps and my photos and my videos and my diary and my blog entries. I’d also take little walks through the neighborhood, where the chadors were plenty: I’d drink lots and lots of tea, the water for which I’d get from a large water boiler in the basement: […]


a sad potato

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Had a tasty Iranian dish for breakfast today, a sort of porridge called halim: I had it with Leila and her husband, who were determined to have me try as many Iranian dishes as possible: We went to a teahouse after this: And on the way, I saw a heartbroken potato: It was very sad. […]


bureaumania

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My visa was valid until October 22nd. So far so good. But I would fly out of Tehran on October 25th (to Taiwan, then to Germany, for some book promos and some presentations). So I needed to extend my visa, and for that, I needed to print out some documents (like my flight tickets and […]


what is slow?

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Another day in the old hotel: I went out for a sandwich once: It was a surprisingly good sandwich. Something was strange, though. There was this slow and lazy atmosphere in the air, something that made me just wanna sleep all day. I wasn’t sure if it was the city, this part of the city, […]


little goat, don’t die

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My hotel was supposed to be the oldest in the city, and it showed. But I found it nice to have my own little space anyway. Stayed in all day: Went out after nightfall and walked around the neighborhood. Some of the courtyards looked quite interesting: Then I met up with Shiva and her friends: […]


Mashhad

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Woke up in Hassan’s place, had breakfast, watched some cartoons on the tele. We took some pictures of Hassan: And of his little daughter Mahdiye: Hassan insisted that we comb my hair (he had been a barber at one point in his life), and I suffered in silence: It was all very relaxed: By loading […]


The Longest Meal

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Today I learned that this was in fact not Hassan’s place, but that of Mahdi, his son-in-law. How did I find out about this? Well, because Hassan asked me if I wanted to come over. To his place. But first we properly gorged ourselves. We had breakfast: And then we watched some TV and had […]


and when I say perfect

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So I left the village of Abravan, and I saw it become smaller and smaller in the distance: Passed another melon stand: And then the industrial outskirts of Iran’s second largest city, Mashhad, started to appear: It was becoming increasingly clear that Iran, just like the other countries on my way, had a trash problem: […]


decorated cars

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I left the madrasa early in the morning, and when I did, almost everyone else was in class already. Some of the guys had come to see me off, and I decided to take my Let’s Walk video right there: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock […]


all the verses

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The night had been a bit bright with the lights of the mosque, and it had been a bit noisy with the people who came to rest, drink some water, or wash their hands from time to time. But it was okay. I left early in the morning: Saw a shepherd: Saw a truck: Many […]


Sepultachios

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Started walking at six thirty in the morning. There was a mountain range ahead that I would have to cross today, so I needed all the time I could get. Walked past the mosque: And past the village: There were many buildings that looked abandoned: And then I was on the road that led into […]


my black flag

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When I woke up, I had a Lady Gaga song stuck in my head. The NA clock was still there: And so was the NA tea pot: I said goodbye and left the little mosque: The village still looked a bit like a frontier settlement from the Wild West: But the black chadors everywhere broke […]


The Sultan’s Beautiful Young Daughter

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It was the same as every time when I started on a journey: there were worries, and there were preparations to be made. But I had to step out into the unknown at some point sooner or later. So I did: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always […]