J103 – 3/30/2006

Serge left at 7H30 and 1 kilometer later, 20 people from the village, among whom the head of the town council, went to see him.  They told him they were delighted he had gone through their village and to thank him gave him a Koran.  We printed a few photos for them, as a souvenir of their welcome.  Today Serge ate well: for lunch he had two pieces of pizza and some meat.  Laure was finally able to change dollars into reals, something which had not been possible because the banks have all been closed during the holidays, ever since Tehran.  It’s really chaotic.  Luckily Madgid helped us out because we had run out of local currency.

Today, the city of Sabzevar, as everywhere in the country, is commemorating the martyrdom of the 8th Imam: Imam Reza, who is buried in Mashhad.  The Shia Muslims have 12 Imams.  The Iranian population is 95% Shiite and the remaining 5% are divided as follows: Sunnites, Armenians, who are catholic, Zoroastrians and Jews.  The commemoration of this event takes the form of a parade with singing in which the young men and children carry two small whips in each hand which they swing over their shoulders in time to the music.

As for Serge, he went around the city of Sabzevar by the South and followed highway 44 in the direction of Nabeyshur.

We found a place to stay in a farm of 400 hectares called Olar.  Mr. Abbas Kushki welcomed us with open arms.  He is a computer engineer who speaks English and a little French.  He offered us the use of a building where we had an office, a small kitchen, a small dining room and a large bedroom.  We were very happy to have this roof over our heads because a storm broke bringing lightening, thunder and heavy rain.  For dinner we boiled delicious potatoes which Mr. Kushki gave us.  It makes a nice change from the rice which we have been eating every day.