GIFTS FROM IRAN
Above is a photo Rick took looking down on the city of Tehran from the 'Stone Gardens of Jamshidieh' a public park in the Alborz Mountains.
The greatest gift we were given on our trip to Iran
was the gift of friendship; the opportunity to experience the heartfelt
community that developed among the international group of mathematicians and families that gathered with Iranian students and intellectuals in Tehran in summer of 2003.
The friendships that were created were warm and long standing. The hospitality and welcome were genuine. In the midst of difficult times in Iran, as we hear of the devastating earthquake, the troubled politics, the train disaster in beautiful villages, we think of
our Iranian friends and wish that the great beauty and harmony that we experienced
will flourish and endure.
We think of the gifts we were given, the beauty we saw. We look at the objects that we brought to our home, and gave to our friends and family. We join our hands with our friends in Iran who love us and all of our countries, as well as their own.
One of the most constant reminders of our visit to Tehran is this beautiful painting by Laya (Ezat) Fazlollahi, the wife of Reza Kosrovshahi, our host at IPM, who welcomed us to his home for dinner during our stay.
When we walked into their home, the walls were decorated by paintings by Laya. We both immediately loved them, and this was one of our favorites, and a size we thought we could carry home. She agreed to sell it to us (for a friend's price), we took it on the plane, had it re-framed, and now it is a part of every gathering of friends in our home in Pasadena.
See the exhibition poster for Laya's exhibit last May in Tehran.
Our memories are alive and blend in the photos we took, the story we told,
(see the story of our trip to Iran)
the objects that still surround us, and now, the emails we still receive from our friends afar. These are truly are best 'souvenirs'!
Our gifts from Iran are truly uncountable, but here are a few: in the left collage, clockwise, center, our dear friend Mandana, who was assigned as our hostess inTehran, and still writes to us; a miniature carving of a person bearing a gift of flowers that we have in our home, bought at the Isfahan market; the archway over
the entrance to a mosque in Imam Syare in Isfahan; our favorite Iranian bread, sangkak,
(we haven't found any since); our carpet, now in our living room, also from Isfahan; a Persian ney flute player giving Rick the gift of as ney in Isfahan, accompanied by two of our hosts; a dinner at Reza Khosrovshahi's home in Tehran; a dinner at the home of Nanaz Fathpour's family in Tehran; Rick playing flute at the dinner party, Reza Khosrovshahi listening.
In the photo on the
right, a visit we requested, and our hosts arranged, to the family home of Iranian-American friend Nadereh Sugich of Santa Barbara. Her mother, father, and brother welcomed us in their beautiful home.
See the story of our visit to Nadereh's family