Monday, January 7, 2013

Tabriz: Love redefined

Tabriz. Eastern Iran. My entry into Iran. Tabriz to me will always be defined by one man and his family, that man is Vali Naghavi.
He chanced upon us or maybe it was fated. Here we were a little lost, looking for the Tourist Information Office (TOI) outside the infamous UNESCO listed Tabriz Bazaar, he rather gingerly came up to us, said hello and asked if he could help. Vali at most speaks 30 words of English, I speak 10 words of Farsi, out of this though evolved a friendship that transcended language. The stuff of movies you might say.
Vali proceeded to call Javad, a lawyer friend of his who speaks good English, he then had me explain to Javad what I needed and Javad then translated it to him. We then did find the TOI but they were only open at 4pm, we had an hour to burn, I asked Vali to lunch, wanting to return his favor. Oh boy, how wrong I was, he invited us home for lunch and looking at his expectant face we agreed.
Took a savari (hired car) to his home on the outskirts of central Tabriz and met his grandmother, father, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, uncle's and aunt's. A big family indeed, living in the same building on 3 different floors. It's times like these that you too miss your family a little. But thanks to Vali and his family feelings of missing were soon forgotten and we begun gesturing/ talking with limited English/ Farsi, with the help of a dictionary too. We shared a meal of fried chicken, fried potatoes, as well as a mixture of chicken and chicken peas. Delicious! Javad dropped by too, to serve as translator for all of us.
Gaelle unfortunately fell a little ill the next day so after visiting the Bazaar, Blue Mosque, Fire Tower, Azerbaijan Museum we headed back to the guest house so she could get some rest. I met Vali again that night, explained Gaelle's situation and we then proceeded to the pharmacy to get her some medication. Vali was by my side through all of this. We had dinner and promised to meet up the next day as it was going to be our last night in Tabriz. The next day Gaelle and myself, together with Aleksandra, a Slovenian traveller took a trip down to Kandovan, the Kappadokya of Iran. I witnessed the heaviest snowfall yet, another first. The kind of biting cold that feels as if your hands are on fire.
Met with Vali upon our return, followed him home and met more of his family members. This time we had with us some baklava and kiwi fruits. We joked, laughed, played, talked. We were family.
As I'm on the bus now to Tehran, beautiful sprawling countryside rolling by, I only hope I managed to convey my gratitude to Vali and his family for everything they gave us. The sense of family and love. Vali made me promise to come back with my Mum, I can only imagine what an adventure that would be for the both of us. I too made him promise to learn English and make his way to Malaysia where his brother awaits with open arms.

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