Journal Entry 1 by AsianWaterfall from Deland, Florida USA on Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Pre-numbered label used for registration. 

Journal Entry 2 by AsianWaterfall from Deland, Florida USA on Sunday, July 30, 2006

for airyaa 

Journal Entry 3 by Kitten22 at Kitten22's M-Bag to Iran in Kitten22's M-Bag to Iran, Postal Release -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Released 5 yrs ago (8/29/2006 UTC) at Kitten22's M-Bag to Iran in Kitten22's M-Bag to Iran, Postal Release -- Controlled Releases

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Journal Entry 4 by airyaa from Tehran, Tehran Iran on Wednesday, November 15, 2006

And... a book about Iran. Hope I won't be disappointed at the end since all the books I've read about Iran (In English) were really disappointing.
Thanks AsianWaterfall for the kindness and Kitten22 for her generosity.
---
(Sep 17 08)
I kept the book for a long time before deciding to read it. Each time I looked at the cover and saw the blond girl fully covered in chador with just eyes showing, I was discouraged to start reading it. Something told me this isn’t going to be story that shows the true face of Iran.

I finally read the book because I was tired of fantasy books and needed a change. Such a change! I don’t know if Alison Wearing has really been to Iran or it’s just a book like lots of other books in which the author writes about a country while she/he has never been there. I couldn’t guess because lots of things in the story were correct and… lots of them were wrong.

There were some Farsi spelling problems which is understandable but what makes me so upset is that I found most Iranians in this book described like clowns or lunatics. Nearly none of them could speak English very well and they all went nuts when they found out they were talking to 2 Canadians.

Oh well… I wrote down some notes while I was reading and I’ll type them here now.

P. 56 – Marge Amrika is wrong. We say Marg bar Amrica

P. 72 – The description about 6 people in a taxi was absolutely crazy. Even 10 years ago, taxis never had more than 5 passengers and now they just have 4.

P. 76 – As far as I know, all palaces were turned into museums or used as other buildings after the revolution. Our government won’t leave any building empty, you can be sure of that! They use any single land they can put their claws on so I can’t imagine an empty palace of Shah left alone in Ramsar.

P. 91 – That part about Shah ripping off the women’s Islamic clothing was wrong. The one who did that was Reza Shah. There’s a big difference between Shah and Reza Shah. Shah was Reza Shah’s son and I don’t think an old Iranian mullah would make such a mistake. They know Shah and Reza Shah well enough to differ them from each other perfectly.

P. 99 – Where plastic surgery is not an industry --- I wish it true but Alison Wearing probably doesn’t know anything about the nose jobs in Iran or maybe she didn’t care to do more research before writing it down.

P. 116 – The part about Khomeini’s wife was interesting. I had never heard about her hair!

P. 132 – You are not a man of her blood. Friends, please forgive her, but it is not our custom. --- This was the craziest thing I had ever heard. Yes you can’t shake hands with a stranger (man) but playing ping pong??? I don’t know… there can be real crazy families who believe in that but I don’t think those with such beliefs would ever invite Canadians to their house.

P. 154 – PiPi Zam Zam --- Laughed so much when read this. PiPi means poop in Persian. Can you imagine a company naming their Coke, Poop Zam Zam? It’s just called Zam Zam in Iran… no PiPi at the beginning.

P. 242 – mut’a --- Couldn’t understand this word. Don’t think it has any meaning in Persian.

P. 283 – The part about train was confusing because there’s no train going from Qom to Tehran.

Yes I know I’m complaining too much but well, I’m tired of reading stereotypes about my country and also can’t stop reading these kinds of books… I’m trying to see if I’ll ever find a book that show’s the real Iran.
---
(Dec 2 2008)
Reserved for rapturina. 

Journal Entry 5 by airyaa at Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (12/3/2008 UTC) at Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands

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RABCK for rapturina 

Journal Entry 6 by rapturina from Yantai, Shandong China on Sunday, December 21, 2008

What a lovely surprise, thank you so much, airyaa! It made my day to find this book in my mailbox. I've been reading a lot about Iran and I find the country fascinating, so I'm pretty sure I will enjoy this book as well! THANKS!!! 

Journal Entry 7 by rapturina from Yantai, Shandong China on Saturday, February 06, 2010

I finished reading this book quite a while ago and forgot to make a journal entry... Now I can't actually remember much of the book, so I guess it didn't make much of an impression on me. It was nice as a sort of peek into Iran, but I found most of it very superficial and too much about the author's own dislike of the veil. She kept complaining about it and that got on my nerves after a while. Still, it was a fairly interesting read and it just makes me want to go to Iran even more. Maybe one day! :D 

Journal Entry 8 by aunt-sophie at Gatineau, Québec Canada on Friday, December 31, 2010

Received today. I think it was as part of some virtual bookbox, but I don't remember the exact title. "Two Worlds" or something like that. 

Journal Entry 9 by aunt-sophie at Gatineau, Québec Canada on Sunday, January 22, 2012

I tried reading it, but I gave up after about 2 chapters. Somehow, I didn't like the patronizing way in which she described the Iranian people she met.

Won by annenz as part of my 6th Anniversary RABCK.

Mailed on April 11