I'd go to Iran. I've got family there, I think. My cousin is married to an Iranian and I get on with most Iranians I've met quite well. There tends to be a bit much Borat style cheek kissing, which I'm not a big fan of (except in France, with girls, where it is a great instant indication of whether they're interested or not - number of kisses is how likely you are to be getting some later, 5 or 6 is always a good number).
Poll
Go to Iran?
| Oui | 37% | 37% - 21 | ||||
| Nay | 62% | 62% - 35 | ||||
| Total: 56 | ||||||
My friend lived in Iran once, his father still goes there regularly because of his job (no idea what his job is though, gotta ask him...).
I personally wouldn't not right now, you never know when you will be stuck in an invasion
I personally wouldn't not right now, you never know when you will be stuck in an invasion
I'd go in a heartbeat.
As long as I had my own PSD.
As long as I had my own PSD.
If you told him the Holocaust was a Jewish plot for world domination he would...stryyker wrote:
I wonder if Ahmadinejad would high five me if i asked him to
I'm aware that Iran is much more prosperous than Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran is one of the most Westernized nations in the entire Middle East. However, I was trying to analogize the cultures, not the economies.التعريفات wrote:
So you're comparing Iran to poor nations like Aghanistan and Iraq? They aren't all the same, Iran pretty much has the same tech and civil advances as any other western country. What do you mean by countries "like" Iran, from that I can tell that you don't know much about the Middle East...Turquoise wrote:
Iran is a country with a rich cultural history, but in all honesty, the Middle East is a region of the world that I consider mostly undesirable to visit. From everything I've read and from personal accounts I've heard from people I know that have visited or lived in countries like Iran, I've gathered that a lot of the Middle East is dangerous, and the areas that are safer are still rather socially oppressive.
I'll put it this way.... Any country that bans alcohol is not worth my time or money to visit. Granted, I'm pretty sure alcohol is legal in Iran.
Trust me, I've been there over 7 times
The Islamic World in general is a lot more socially conservative than the West. This is why I'd probably feel very uncomfortable in a country like Iran. While I see that Iran is slowly becoming freer and more secular, they have extremists in their upper levels of government, like the Ayatollah. I just generally find theocracy to be repulsive.
Also, like any particularly conservative culture, Iran is probably not that friendly to outsiders. America has its own prejudices of foreigners, but the friends I've spoken with who have been to Iran mentioned a considerable amount of prejudice they encountered with respect to their obvious differences in appearance. These friends of mine are very clearly white Westerners that dress and act very differently from what I assume Iranians are accustomed to. We see a certain amount of this prejudice shown toward Muslims in America, but I would guess it's amplified in a comparatively homogeneous culture like Iran.
I'm interested in hearing more from your perspective, since you've been there several times, and since you're apparently Iranian yourself. I just want to emphasize that your experiences in Iran were probably more positive than what a white, non-Muslim who can't speak Farsi (like myself) would experience. In short, I'd feel very out of place and somewhat uneasy.
Now that I think of it... I need to ask CameronPoe about all of this, since he's a white guy that's been there before....