In praise of hospitality - and Iran

[dellzeqq]

those of you who spend time daydreaming through the Touring threads will know that two friends of mine are, at present, in Tehran, en route from London to Astana in Khazakhstan. I confess that I've been worried about them from the off, not least because of the Iranian portion of the trip. I know nothing about the two hikers who've been sentenced to eight years in an Iranian jail, but it seems to me that Iran is one of the places that it's possible to fall foul of the law for not much reason, and that the consequences of such falling foul could be severe.

Bridget (who many of you will have met) has been kind enough to send me comforting text messages. The currency restrictions in Iran mean that they are short of cash, and the wait for onward visas means they are losing time, but, happily, people are inviting them in to their homes and feeding them.

Which has set me to wondering about hospitality. Does it vary from country to country, or are we, as a species, a hospitable bunch? Hospitality in Lebanon is so big a thing that it was unsettling and I was always treated like an honoured guest when I hitch-hiked in the US, and thought then that somebody coming to this country might not have fared so well - but then I remember the almost fete-ing (sp?) of CCers who've come to this country from overseas. And, again, if I'm right about the UK, is this perceived lack of hospitality about reserve, social awkwardness or just trepidation?

So I thought I'd ask, first if people had been to Iran and whether their experience was the same as Bridget's, and whether there were other countries in the world where hospitality was more in daily evidence................and if you think that we're a bit lacking in this country.

 

[biggs682]

i had a 3 week spell of free lance work in lebanon at the time when Terry Waite was a hostage and we were treated like royalty by all we came across , we were based about 10 miles north of Beirut .

loads of gun fire some very random some not at all times of the day , but people very polite and kind .

one day would like to go back and see the differance and just to see if some of the holes in the roads had been filled in , had a picture of our sherpa van parked in one hole on a main road it was massive and about 18 inches deep .

 

[gbb]

It could well be an arabic thing. Not cycling related but i worked inland in Egypt last year, way way off the tourist trail. The people couldn't have been friendlier. 90% of them didn;t know any english but still managed a handshake and smiles, those that could speak english just wanted to talk and talk.
They all wanted me to sit outside with them at break times, all happy, happy to share food, a lovely munch of people.

 

[aberal]

It could well be an arabic thing.

Iranians aren't Arabs - anything but. They wouldn't thank you for that...

A mate of mine took his motorbike from the UK to Australia back in the 80's and (according to him) the friendliest nicest people he met anywhere in the world were....in Iran! This was at a time when the Shah had not long been deposed and the Ayatollahs were in full swing.

 

[rsvdaz]

Its more of an Islamic thing if anything at all.

When I did my overland trip to India..I lost count how many invites to stay at their home/meet their family/eat with them I had from Turkey onwards..in fact all the way to the Pakistan/ India border with Iran included...I can recall even at the Iranian police/military road place that seemed to be common place being stopped and invited to take tea with them on the roadside

 

[gbb]

Iranians aren't Arabs - anything but. They wouldn't thank you for that...

A mate of mine took his motorbike from the UK to Australia back in the 80's and (according to him) the friendliest nicest people he met anywhere in the world were....in Iran! This was at a time when the Shah had not long been deposed and the Ayatollahs were in full swing.

Damnit i always get mixed up between arabic, islamic, muslim ?

 

[GaryA]

In praise of...the British white working class
now wouldnt that be something?

 

[asterix]

Iranians aren't Arabs - anything but. They wouldn't thank you for that...

A mate of mine took his motorbike from the UK to Australia back in the 80's and (according to him) the friendliest nicest people he met anywhere in the world were....in Iran! This was at a time when the Shah had not long been deposed and the Ayatollahs were in full swing.

Yup, my brother and sister in law 'did' the Middle East on a Gold Wing in the 90's and said the same. Somewhere on the route they got offered 11 camels for the bike, so they say. I guess that was the local Glasses Guide rate.

 

[Globalti]

When I was a student of Sciences Politiques at Grenoble in 1978 I didn't know any French students at all; they were all too cliquey. I was made very welcome indeed by a large group of Iranian students who were there at the invitation of the French government studying at the Centre D'Etudes Nucléaires, leaning how to make atom bombs. They were thoroughly charming kindly people and we spent many happy evenings eating and smoking hubble bubbles in their flats.

Footnote: didn't do much studying either; the first lecture was two hours in French on "La théorie et le concept du fétischisme selon Freud et Marx." One of the Iranians lent me his racing bike and I did a bit of cycling, culminating in one ride where I skidded on gravel and crashed over a mountain precipice ending up lodged in a tree about twenty feet down the slope. Did a bit of skiing, some walking, lots of drinking and no work. Good it was.

 

[growingvegetables]

Rant warning!

whether there were other countries in the world where hospitality was more in daily evidence

I lived in Egypt for 5 years, and Yemen for 3, and travelled widely in both. Don't know how to say it - but hospitality to the guest is unquestionably the "highest cultural value" - a matter of pride? duty? above all of the simple pleasure of sharing!

And it's as much looking out for the odd somebody passing through and just inviting them in to share. You just don't eat on your own if there's somebody passing by not eating - whether it be a banquet at a local "big man's place" (where I learned something really useful - the magazines on Kalashnikovs make ideal bottle openers ), the town gaol {?} sharing their lunch and a cup of tea, a peasant farmer who invites you in (and slips out to slaughter a chicken for lunch in your honour), landless fishermen sharing their fresh caught catch cooked on the river bank, to conscript soldiers scrounging a ride on a third-class train insisting you share their sandwiches.

It's incredibly deeply ingrained in Arab culture. Aye - and in wider Islamic culture; I'm thinking of Iranians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis I have known. And another 5 years I spent living in Senegal.

and if you think that we're a bit lacking in this country.

Hmmmmmm - I shall be discreet, and leave it to vague generalisation! The further north and west you go, the more people respect traditions of hospitality.

Memories of a motorbike trip round Ireland nearly 40 years ago - me and my brother asked a farmer if we could camp in a corner of his field. No problem. We pitched and went off to get something to eat in the village. Came back ........ and the guy had laid out in his front room an amazing array of fresh bread, glorious ham, local cheeses and fresh butter. And he wasn't going to let us NOT eat it. And HE was black affronted that it was the local football derby the next morning, so he wouldn't be able to make us breakfast ......... and he FORCED a £5.00 note on us.

Visited a colleague in Northern Ireland. She picked me up from the airport and took me to her place in a wee village on Strangford Loch. We're not in her house for 5 minutes - the kettle's boiled and she's just making the tea. The door bell rings. She's busy. I go ........ nobody there, just a plate on the doorstep with the biggest, fattest, juiciest, freshest herring I've ever seen - fresh caught and cleaned, one for her, and one for each of her guests (me and my son).

Similar in the Highlands and South West of Scotland.

 

[theclaud]

In praise of...the British white working class
now wouldnt that be something?

Why only the white working class? Anyway - there's nowt to stop you starting a thread...

 

[Adasta]

Damnit i always get mixed up between arabic, islamic, muslim ?

They are Ayrians, whence the word "Iran" derives.

 

[rsvdaz]

They are Ayrians, whence the word "Iran" derives.

I had them as Persians?

 

[Adasta]

I had them as Persians?

They are Persian insofar as we are European.

A lot of Iranians call themselves Persian because they feel a greater connection to the historical boundaries of their region (i.e. "Persia") than the modern political state of Iran (its policies, etc.)

 

[jonny jeez]

I read Alistair Humphreys "moods of future joy's" and he echoed the surprise at just how sorted and inviting these "dangerous and frightening" middle eastern countries were in reality. (along with Cuba and south America).

The overriding sentiment was that each town/area was populated by people just like you, who sought happiness and security...but at each border they warned of the next village and the occupants that "weren't like them".

funny that.

Its a good read (comes in two parts...the second is a bit less enjoyable)