It is a lot to take in. hundreds of pages of information to study and learn and put to memory. Studying the Qurâ??an, the language of Farsi, the history of Iran/Persia, the current climate of the country and the region, and trying my best to not only learn and memorize the many customs that are so different from our own so as not to offend but rather honor them with our presence in their world, but also to show respect and courtesy. But also doing my best to put to memory the many requests and requirements made by the organization â?? the Fellowship of Reconciliation-- itself and their mission and why they are having us delegates partake in it in the first place. Again there is a lot to take in. It is by all accounts overwhelming unless I keep myself firmly seated in the present moment at all times and just keep reading and studying. Stacks of books all around me. Pages upon pages of information from many sources continuously shooting out of my printer for me to soak in. I fall asleep each night to an assortment of Iranian historical documentaries and classic and contemporary film DVDs so that it sinks in all the more. The itinerary looks merciless at first glance. 15 solid days of travel with not many breaks to be had. It is not only our responsibility to attend numerous events without ceasing each day but also to write detailed reports about our experiences and send them in to the organization for evaluation at night. I am eating as healthily as I can, sleeping even more, and working out twice as vigorously as normal to prepare. Upon our arrival we will immediately visit Iranian radio and television stations in Tehran to introduce ourselves to the people at large and announce our presence. Then we meet the Vice President of the ICRO and Director for the Center of Inter-Religious Dialogue. We will then fly to Shiraz - the Jewel of ancient Persia, the Tomb of Hafez, Persepolis - the ancient palace of what was once the mightiest city on planet earth when the Persians ruled the world.
Today in French class the teacher showed a recent news piece from French television about the visit from gw bush and his meeting with French prime minister Chirac. Having not subscribed to TV for the last six months, I felt sickened from it and filled with anxiety, so I left the room. My skin was crawling and I felt as though I had to vomit. I had forgotten what it was like in the world of tv... being so insulated the last few months in my own little private world.
When I returned to the class, our teacher Ms. Peggy asks me ‘Fishy what prompted your abrupt departure? Too good for French television?’ ‘on the contrary Pegs,’ I answered, ‘I'm just not going to watch that bullshit, pardon my French,’ everyone laughs, because I answered her in English, not in French, which is a big no-no. ‘I'm looking for a good cowboy?!’ I exclaim. ‘you know what the worst part is? he's not kidding. Your French television makes light of it, thinks its funny... but he's not kidding... he's totally serious. But you guys just don't even recognize it. he's not fooling around. this guy is a cowboy and lets not forget it. and there's nothing cute or funny about cowboys... I don't know about you, maybe its just because you are new to our country Pegs, and so you don't know, but when I think of cowboys, I think of a bunch of cocky idiotic uneducated murdering fuckhead bastards killing native Americans and stealing their land and raping their women... growing up watching cowboys on TV, that's what cowboys mean to me.’
This really sexy girl in our class from the country of Jordan looks at me with her eyes wide open, ‘wow. Too bad more people don't feel like you do Fishy.’ she says in more of an English accent than a middle eastern one. ‘You are very bold to think like that.’ ‘yeah. It is too bad Ines,’ I answer her. you could see and feel my displeasure and my anger at having to watch that news piece. ‘The most dangerous terrorist on the planet today is traveling around to all of these different countries this week, and every one of these countries had an opportunity to stand up and speak their mind. All they had to do was refuse to allow him into their country and they really could have made their point that they didn't agree with his invading Iraq but instead they let him in and spent the last four days showboating and pretending for the TV cameras. And he has the nerve to say he's looking for a good cowboy. What the fuck do you think he means by that?’
