Saturday, October 06, 2007
Riding the Metro in Tehran
I remember
This summer I decided to start taking the Metro to visit family near Karaj. Before, I would pay around 10 dollars to get a taxi to drive me about 40 miles to see them. Then, gas prices went through the roof (I was out that night when it happened-long story) and I realized how much 10 Iranian tomans is really worth (to me).
So, I took the metro from Tehran through a transfer center in Sadeghiye and to another metro to Karaj.
The metro was cool when it first came in, and besides the occasional stares (because I dressed like a hippy)
All was super.
Then, I saw the deluge of females in black swooping down the aisle from another transferred metro to join mine...and my world came to a sudden too-hot-and-stuffy-to-breathe end.
Fortunately, I didn't require any CPR because the women around me were complaining so much about the heat and just looked like death I had to hold myself back from totally ripping my scarf to shreds....instead, I just took it off.
People stare when you do things like that...they don't smile at you most of the time, or give you nods of encouragement but they just stare. I felt a little uncomfortable, but it felt wonderful having the scarf off and I wondered if anyone else felt that they too should take it off because you don't have to take it. You don't have to.
One other girl ended up taking her scarf off...it felt sort of like the girls who took their manteaus off in the park
to see what it would feel like? ahhhhhhh.....free at last!
This summer I decided to start taking the Metro to visit family near Karaj. Before, I would pay around 10 dollars to get a taxi to drive me about 40 miles to see them. Then, gas prices went through the roof (I was out that night when it happened-long story) and I realized how much 10 Iranian tomans is really worth (to me).
So, I took the metro from Tehran through a transfer center in Sadeghiye and to another metro to Karaj.
The metro was cool when it first came in, and besides the occasional stares (because I dressed like a hippy)
All was super.Then, I saw the deluge of females in black swooping down the aisle from another transferred metro to join mine...and my world came to a sudden too-hot-and-stuffy-to-breathe end.
Fortunately, I didn't require any CPR because the women around me were complaining so much about the heat and just looked like death I had to hold myself back from totally ripping my scarf to shreds....instead, I just took it off.
People stare when you do things like that...they don't smile at you most of the time, or give you nods of encouragement but they just stare. I felt a little uncomfortable, but it felt wonderful having the scarf off and I wondered if anyone else felt that they too should take it off because you don't have to take it. You don't have to.
One other girl ended up taking her scarf off...it felt sort of like the girls who took their manteaus off in the park
to see what it would feel like? ahhhhhhh.....free at last!
