#El Goli Park: At around 7 pm we are talking to an electro engineer, which is installing lights for the new year party in March. Suddenly, a motorbike passes and Johannes asks, who it is. The answer is that it is the police, looking for young couples. If they get caught, they either have to pay a fee for being together or they take them to the police station, where the parents get informed. After 10 minutes, Theres goes to the public toilets and while she is washing her hands, she notices a girl next to her, sniffing. So she asks her, if everything is ok and the girl answers: “No”. She and her boyfriend just got caught by the police, they took her boyfriend to the station and she was able to run away. She is all hysterical and Theres hugs her for a moment. The girl just says: “I hate Iran” and then her friend comes to calm her down.
#At the petrol station: Johannes is outside, talking with the owner and all other men being around. They are joking and filling in the diesel. The owner of the petrol station would like to take a picture from our truck. He goes to the driver cabin and as Theres is looking out of the window, he lets her know by waving with the hand, that she should get out of the picture.
#On the bazar: In Tabriz, we absolutely want to visit the Bazar, as it is said to be old and historical. As it is Sunday (in real Friday), there are not too many people on the bazar and only a few shops are open. But the ONE is there. We are strolling through the bazar, when HE comes and says in perfect German: “Today, Germany is ours, tomorrow, the whole world.” He grins at us and we just look back to him very shocked.
#In the vegetarian restaurant: All the waiters are very friendly and helpful. After the meal we order Turkish coffee and in a shot glass, we get some fresh water. As the waiter puts the first glass down he says:”Vodka” - we look at him, waiting for his next comment - “zero”!
#Visiting some people at home: As we have no more topics of conversation, the landlady starts explaining in basic English, that the Iranians and Germans have a similar DNA, thats why Iranians are Arians too... What the term Arian really means and where it is coming from is well explained on Wikipedia.
#In the desert: It is 9 pm and together with our friends we are enjoying the campfire in the desert. Suddenly a car is passing and after 2 minutes it comes back. A young couple from Isfahan gets out of the car and starts a conversation with us. Then the man asks us, if we are drinking alcohol. We say “No, not in Iran” and he asks us, why not? Our answer is, that we don't know, where to buy it. He goes to his car and comes back with 0.5 l of raisin schnapps.
#In Yazd: We chose a well known Overlander sleeping place in the centre, but already in the suburbs we get stopped by the police, as trucks are not allowed to drive into the city. As the policeman hardly speaks English, it is nearly impossible, to discuss with him. After 10 minutes of discussion, a moped driver stops next to us and the policeman makes us clear, that this guy will now guide us to the place we intended to go. After 20 minutes in the evening traffic we arrive there without problems.
#At our friends place in Shiraz: We are showing the pictures from our wedding as Shahin notices, the parents of Theres look quite similar and she wants to know, if they are from the same family. We got to know more then 30 people of her family and noticed, that all are somehow related to each other, son of the aunt or cousin, uncle and and and... For them it's hard to understand, that in our culture you mostly don't get to know each other through your family.
