Friday, July 30, 2010

Tehran...

Weather cooled down, city is quiet. Many have left because of the holiday. In less than 2 weeks Ramadan will be here. The month of fasting and praying. The other day i grabbed a hot dog sandwich in a cafe. The music was a selection of Googoosh. I was surprised when i realized it had sounded so natural to me at the begining.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tehran

Tehran is hot, but in the evening a cool breeze comes from mountains. Today is the birthday of Shi'ee 12th Imam; Mahdi. Last night there were fireworks and traffic was most heavy. It is the last great celebration before Ramadan. Weddings are on in full swing and cars decorated as carriages are racing through city with brides and grooms.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

One Year Passed

One year passed since that Friday when I was sitting in Mashhad International Airport, waiting for my father to land so we would go home together. I was reading Jean Tirole's Industrial Organization textbook and writing down notes. I knew there had been an incident, i did not know of casualties. TV started to show images of Aria IL 62 and there was a banner saying people were killed.
I went home with him finally, but for him it was the final stop. We had a memorial last Friday for him, it was very dignified and many of his colleagues and friends showed up.
There were a few articles in media about the anniversary of Aria and Caspian Airlines incidents, critical of the way aviation industry is managed, few mentioned the sanctions and their effects on the industry.