Countdown

My grandfather, Mohammad Ali Zand, born 1850 in Persia
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Okay, two days to go before I travel from the John F. Kennedy to the Ayatollah Khomeini Airports.  We finally received our visas--which is no small thing; everyone in the group was approved but Scott Ritter (shows you sometimes celebrity can work against you).  There is one caveat--we did not receive the permissions we were hoping for that would have allowed us to speak with government officials.  Therefore, we've been somewhat downgraded from going as a recognized delegation to more of a tourist group.  However, we will have a lot of freedom in terms of traveling and moving about, and talking to people on the streets.  I think we'll probably have more freedom, as we may have been under closer scrutiny if we were talking to government people.  So in some ways, it will be similar to my first trip.  However, we will still be focusing on and discussing politics, culture and religion, and I will be writing a personal essay based more on the cultural experiences.  Even though we may be classified as a "tourist" group, none of us involved wants things to deteriorate to the level of simply sight-seeing all day, then drinking chai in the hotel lobby.  We want to get in the mix, talk to people, and experience some cultural immersion.

My next entry will be from Iran.  The only hesitation I have is that they have restricted more sites on the internet there since my last visit, so I'm hoping this wouldn't be one they have restricted (I hear Google and Yahoo! are included in this cutback).  But we shall soon see.  If this doesn't fly, I'll find an alternative.

I arrive December 3, early morning.  My next entry should follow soon after.