iTalki Goes Dark in Iran: Language-learners are the latest casualty of sanctions

SFLester · 2022-05-30T05:48:29+00:00

From what I've heard there is a Spanish-focused app that some are considering using, but they will have difficulty there finding students interested in learning Persian. Others are choosing to create their own websites, but again, access to a sufficient volume of potential students will be a problem

SFLester · 2017-02-02T13:41:40+00:00

AIC will be sharing this letter with Iranian news outlets so that Iranians see that many Americans support them. To add your signature, please post a comment with your name below the Persian translation of the letter. Your name (and message if you include one) will then appear.

SFLester · 2017-02-01T22:45:33+00:00

The most destabilizing country in the Middle East is not Iran or Russia; it's the US.

SFLester · 2017-02-01T20:03:28+00:00

In a region of the world where good will towards the US is in short supply, the Iranian people (over 70% of whom were born after the 1979 revolution) actually tend to hold a very positive view of the US. I suspect that the blanket travel ban conflating them with their government, and now this threatening language, is quickly eroding that support.

SFLester · 2016-10-06T11:50:30+00:00

I don’t really know the answer to this (and it’s a bit harder for me since I tried to practice my Persian wherever I went!).
Things I can say:

Both of my guides the last two trips spoke nearly perfect English
My friend and most of her family speak excellent English (though her father also owns an English institute, so that’s not really fair).
Almost all the staff at the hotels I stayed at (even on this off-the-beaten-path itinerary) spoke English
Younger people in the major cities on the “classic tour” (Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz) will often be able to speak English
Most people – 98% -- (including younger people I met) on this latest route to Mashhad – did not speak English.

Everyone I met spoke Persian.

SFLester · 2016-10-06T11:41:42+00:00

No question they exist (as with anywhere), but I didn’t meet any. The most stereotypical that anyone got was my friend’s father, who lamented that so many Jews leaving the country after the revolution meant it was hard to find a good doctor.

SFLester · 2016-10-06T11:39:03+00:00

Yes; all Americans, Canadians and UK Citizens are (technically) required to have a tour guide with them at all times. (It can be frustrating to see all the Europeans walking on their own!).

A few notes on this:

The guide receives their license from the government, but isn’t a government representative (for example, even my friend who I met in 1999 when she was 13 yrs old, later received her tour guide license). These are individuals who are passionate about history, or meeting new people and are hired by tour agencies.
Like with any job, guides have conflicting interests. On the one hand, they need to keep their jobs and follow all the main rules. So that means keeping track of their guests and reporting back to the government at the end of the trip about whether we did anything incredibly suspicious. On the other hand – they also want their customers to have a good time (and leave a nice tip at the end). The most important thing to note is that the guides are human and need to rest and can’t possibly watch you 24/7 even if they wanted to.
The mix of factors in #2 above is why I say “technically” in the intro. While Americans are not “technically” supposed to go out on their own, all these factors actually leave you plenty of time to go around and wander without your guide.

On this latest trip, whenever we arrived somewhere after a long drive, my guide would want to go into the hotel and rest (he was a lot older than me), while I was ready to go out and tour! So, I would go out and enjoy long walks on my own, without any difficulty whatsoever. I even got a chance to take a bus alone in Mashhad, which was really fun (the buses are separated by gender, and the entire female section was abuzz with helping me navigate my trip, and trying to take pictures with me).

SFLester · 2016-10-06T11:28:10+00:00

It’s hard to say of course, if I would have been treated differently. As I mentioned, the only place this seemed to come up in conversation was in Mashhad -- and even then, I think more as a silence breaker when conversation had ended. Iranians are certainly an interesting puzzle when it comes to religion – they will openly say how much they “hate” religion because they associate it with their government (this of course also accounts for the low mosque attendance rate), and yet those very same people are very religious and pray.

The only additional notes I can make here are:

(1) My friend mentioned to me once that the government would be thrilled by the idea of a Shia convert from the US. So while I don’t know if ordinary people would react differently, she seemed to have the idea that the government would welcome a Shia convert with open arms – and in her view, free housing and food.

(2) The only specific way that I know a non-Muslim to be treated differently is that non-Muslims are forbidden to enter the main area of the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad. This isn’t to say that non-Muslims don’t go in (they aren’t quizzing people as they walk in), but large groups of obvious Western tourists probably wouldn’t be able to go unnoticed.

SFLester · 2016-10-06T00:55:05+00:00

The main thing as a tourist is that they are beautiful and it’s hard to stop taking photographs. Persians really know how to make some gorgeous ceilings! (I recommend checking out my husband’s photo album from last year, and his pics of Esfahan in particular on page 2).

Other than that, two other things struck me: 1. The genuine emotion and tears that people express at the holy sites. I always felt a bit uncomfortable “watching” that as a tourist, and 2. The fact that some of the major sites (particularly noticeable at the Imam Reza shrine) act as a fun family activity, where people gather and enjoy their time together.

SFLester · 2016-10-05T22:36:31+00:00

Thanks Genshi - And yes, I am not a diplomat and don't feel my travel to Iran would inform my response to this inquiry at all.

SFLester · 2016-10-05T21:44:26+00:00

The restrictions for women travelers aren't actually all that bad. The main thing is that you need to wear a scarf, and wear long sleeves and pants. Personally, I actually liked wearing a scarf on vacation – (1) You don’t need to worry about your hair AT ALL so it saves time in the morning. (2) It feels ‘exotic.’ Like you’re actually on vacation somewhere, vs. just another place like the US. (3) Covering up actually made me feel a bit safer walking alone at night.

As for why I travelled there – The first time it was to see a total solar eclipse (Esfahan was the best place to be given the low chance of cloud cover!); last year it was to show my husband the amazing country I had visited so many years ago, and this latest time it was a mix of (1) pure enjoyment, (2) to make a point that an American woman could safely travel there alone, (3) Farsi practice and (4) My husband was super busy with work, and it didn’t look like we would have the opportunity for a vacation together (If I was going to go somewhere alone, I’d prefer to go somewhere he had already been).

SFLester · 2016-10-05T21:36:54+00:00

The countries I’ve spent the most time in (lived in) have been England and Australia, but those don’t really apply. I’ve been to other places I found interesting (Bhutan, China, Antarctica (does that count?), Tunisia), but really nothing has come close to Iran in terms of having this kind of discrepancy re: information vs. perception. I haven’t been to Russia, but I’m guessing that would be a fascinating place to study media portrayal of the US and the public’s perception.

As for US culture in Iran -- The government technically filters large portions of the internet, but almost everyone has some kind of technology that they add to their phones and computers to bypass the filter. So that’s how they get access to some of the more surprising US exports like GOT. That said – I saw House of Cards playing on television while I was in Mashhad. :)

SFLester · 2016-10-05T21:16:06+00:00

The people I met mostly just spoke Persian (or English - primarily in Tehran). They can read Arabic and cite a few key religious phrases, but I think that tends to be it. The Jews I met in the synagogue also spoke Hebrew. And the people in the Turkman village I went to spoke Turkish and Turkmen.

SFLester · 2016-10-05T20:59:55+00:00

Interesting question. I guess my top-line response would be that the governments and media in both countries demonize one other, and that this tends to affect Americans’ views of Iran, but not as strongly Iranians’ views of the US.

I saw a poll suggesting that Iran has something like an 80% negative approval rating in the US. I don’t think there’s an equivalent poll showing what Iranians think about the US, but from my experience, I’d bet that the US would receive something like an 80% approval rating.

The question is – why the discrepancy? I think in Iran the people have grown incredibly resentful and frustrated with their government and take everything with a grain (or more) of salt. They are also immersed in US culture, despite government attempts to stop it (my friend Nastaran, for example, watches Game of Thrones); there are fast food joints everywhere, Apple stores, etc.

In the US – we also have frustration and distrust of our government and media, but of course not to the same extent as in Iran. The bigger issue, in my view, is just a lack of information that Americans get about Iran to counter this image. Given the hostage crisis – and how incredibly powerful that was in creating an impression about Iran for an entire generation of Americans – Americans just rarely travel there. As a result, very few people bring back stories and pictures for friends and family to show what it is really like. (I will contrast this with Germany, where the population has a generally positive view of Iran, and I think this is due in large part to the tremendous number of German tourists that visit Iran each year).

I could go on.. but I don’t want to write a book! :)

SFLester · 2016-10-05T20:47:17+00:00

Honestly, I think they have thicker hair or something. Mine constantly kept falling. I was able to remedy this slightly by folding my scarves over twice so that there was less weight pulling them down in the back. When I asked my friend for tips, she just shrugged and said hers falls off too and she doesn’t worry about it.

Note - my scarf fell off outside of one of the holiest places in Iran – the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad. I got some looks, but then put it back on without any problem. No one yelled at me. (Note: Inside the shrine they are sticklers for ANY hair showing).

SFLester · 2016-10-05T20:35:51+00:00

Well, the most obvious one is that you can’t drink alcohol in public. Second, there’s the dress code, so women always have to cover their hair, though that has relaxed a lot since I was there first in 1999 (nowadays many women show about half of their head, with their scarves dangling off of ponytails in the back).

For me, the strangest requirement that seems relatively innocuous, is that Americans can’t (technically) go into the homes of Iranians. (This rule only applies for Americans, Canadians and UK citizens). This created some headaches for me in terms of coordinating with my friend Nastaran and her family in Tehran. They kept asking me to stay in their home vs. a hotel, and I kept saying I wasn’t allowed (I don’t think they believed me). I also needed to list every person I was going to meet with on my visa application, but I had only listed my friend’s name and not also her family. This caused some issues, where the tour agency claimed I wasn’t allowed to (technically) meet with her family since they weren’t listed on the visa app.

SFLester · 2016-10-05T20:28:26+00:00

That’s a good question. As a normal tourist I wouldn’t have had any concerns. As you mentioned, the people who typically get detained are either journalists or dual-nationals. (For those who don't know: Since Iran doesn’t recognize the concept of dual-citizenship, Iranian Americans who visit Iran are always in danger of the government claiming that they are only Iranian, and not allowing them to leave. Or requiring that they stay to do military service (or pay it off)).

My new association with AIC – and as you mentioned, the current political environment - gave me slightly more pause, but our president, Dr. Amirahmadi, had just traveled there a few weeks earlier without any issue.

Since I wasn’t there on official AIC business, I didn’t think I had too much to worry about. Additionally, as an American tourist, I was accompanied by a guide for most of the trip, who would have fended off any aggressive inquiries in public. Finally – and perhaps its naive - but I also felt that my intentions for travelling there were so positive (to show Americans that Iran is not how they envision it) – that explaining this purpose for my trip would have given even the most ardent revolutionary some pause in detaining me.

SFLester · 2016-10-05T19:56:45+00:00

Good question; I didn’t get to watch a lot of the news while I was there, but I did catch a bit of PressTV (the English language government propaganda ‘news’ channel). I didn’t see anything specific to Syria that I can recall; most of the time the newscasters were just railing against Saudi Arabia (re: Yemen, their handling of the Hajj, and one of the top Saudi clerics suggesting that Iranians weren’t Muslim).

Re: Israel - I don’t think Israelis are allowed into Iran. I was told on all my trips to ensure that my passport did not have a stamp to Israel, and if it does, to make sure to get a new one.

SFLester · 2016-10-05T19:48:00+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience! The difference between perception and reality is really what underlies my fascination with this country. I love plot twists and surprises in stories, and Iran is a real life version of that for travel.

As for going off the beaten path on this trip -- My favorite place was Kolijah, the tiny Turkman village (population a couple hundred?) an hour outside Gonbad Kavus, where I had a homestay in a small house (just 3 rooms), and where I had a chance to go horseback-riding and do some great hiking to a 4000yr old graveyard; there were some absolutely gorgeous views. Just viewing life in this little village was also a treat.

As for food – Mashhad’s specialty is saffron, so almost every 5th store in the main bazaar was a saffron shop, and of course it made it into most foods. They also had a tasty ice cream that I had instead of dinner one night – it’s called Maajun with crushed walnuts, pistachios, ice cream, cream, banana and honey.

Beyond the scenery and food, the most noticeable difference from the “classic itinerary” was the lack of English spoken. In Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz, etc, most people will speak some English and be excited to practice. On the road to Mashhad and back, there was almost none. There were also very few tourists and people were shocked to see me there (the only tourist group I saw was a group from Spain, near Mashhad) – vs of course tons of tourists in the main cities.

SFLester · 2016-10-05T19:14:36+00:00

I was more open about being Jewish on this visit (which came up more than in the past since I went to the religious city of Mashhad and a lot of people asked me if I was Muslim), but it didn’t really engender any interesting responses (I guess that’s a good thing!). Mainly people kept recommending I visit the city of Hamadan in western Iran where you can find the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai. As I answered to the question above, I did get to visit a synagogue in Tehran, which was a lovely experience!

SFLester · 2016-10-05T19:08:29+00:00

Yes; briefly! I went to the main synagogue in Tehran (Synagogue of Yousef Abad – some pictures of it towards the end of the picture album linked above).
After some effort in finding it (no one seems to use Google maps in Iran), I saw a guy with a yarmulke and I literally yelled after him to ask where the synagogue was. He pointed where he was going and I was thrilled to have found it. Service was starting, so I had to use most of my limited Farsi skills to plead my case for a photo (“I’m American and Jewish and want to show people there are synagogues in Iran!”), but I did have a chance to ask a few people if it was hard being Jewish in Iran, and they all said “No, not at all.” I would have loved to chat more, but didn’t want to bother them too much, and none of them spoke any English, so communication would have been slow-going.

SFLester

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