Issue link: http://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25165
Snowboarding is a perfect metaphor for change in Iran, where more than half the 65 million citizens are under the age of 25. Twenty years ago, men and women couldn't ski or snowboard together on the same slopes. Everything was gender-separated after Iran's monarchal leader, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi , fled the country and the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini triumphantly returned from exile and sparked the Islamic revolution-a return of rei igious order. Today, there are sti II rem i nders of the country's fundamentalist platform, such as separate lifts for men and women. But on the slopes, groups of coed snowboarders, unmarried yet at ease with each other, ride the mountains together. This recent development in Iran is one of the signs of the reforms the current liberal-minded President, Mohammad Khatami, hopes to continue. The teachings of Islam make up the moral tone of the nation and are upheld by religious soldiers and citizens alike. Alcohol, dance, and female singers are frowned upon. It was strange walking into a music store to find not a single female artist on any CD or cassette. Even though women are members of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, female artists don't perform at the cafes and restaurants of Tehran . American stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera would suffer a severe defeat in Iran- at least on the open market place. Hungry for information, we pushed the envelope with Afshin, our government-licensed guide. He was a friendly man who also taught English at various Tehran universities. At 12 dollars a day, Afshin's job was to keep track of our whereabouts. He kept our cameras pointed in the right direction, away from military establishments, and provided clear and concise answers to most of our questions-as long as they weren't political in nature. Afshin only bent the rules as far as he could without ri sking his well-paying job, or worse. In the lift lines and on the slopes, Iranians picked us out of the crowds to not only welcome us, but to discreetly share viewpoints and soli ci t our impressions of Iran. We found some were happy with the new liberal reforms, while others seem to miss the stringent religious codes of the late Ayatollah. Others wouldn 't comment and seemed to distrust our curiosity. Their love of their country and in some cases, resentment of clerical rule were evident in statements like, " I know what your life is like in the West. I have been there. That is life. This? This is not life. " Others recounted in perfect English good times spent in the West, but made it clear that they preferred Iran because of Islam and reasons as romantic as love and poetry. A twentysomething snowboarder we met at the base of the resort with his beautiful girlfriend, quoted the 13th-century Persian poet, Jahal AI Din Rumi. He spoke of surrendering to love as a falling bird, but in falling he'd been given wings. I was taken aback when he asked me, "She is beautiful , isn't she?" I had heard that it's safest to ignore women in Iran, especially in the presence of their men. Bill , who had studied a bit more, got me out of the bind saying, "Yes, she is, mashallah!" He explained as we walked away how when a personal compliment about someone is made, always say, mashallah, or "God has willed it," to avoid invoking divine retribution, for beauty and goodness are gifts of God and can also be swiftly taken away. The two unmarried lovebirds headed off to their separate lift lines, no doubt with plans to rendezvous later up on the mountain. On one gondola ride I was offered homemade Iranian hooch. Not wanting to offend the beaming skier who had it concealed in a ZamZam soda bottle (an Iranian brand I noticed more often than Coca-Cola), I took a small swig and felt the burn all the way into my intestines. Smiling, I gave him a thumbs-up. He continued the process of trying to get me drunk until the gondola hit the summit. I held my hand over my heart in a gesture of the most sincere thank-you, and bowed out before someone less liberal smelled my breath . Despite the official ban on alcohol in Iran, smuggled liquid gold is available on a highly limited basis. Underground clubs exist in Tehran, but nobody seemed willing to provide the locations or names of these nomadic parties. Smuggling or possessing alcohol is a dangerous game and could result in public continued on page \ 83