Document text
A warm welcome in Iran Local tourists find Muslim nation to be `country of contrasts' By PAUL FATTIG Medford resident Janet Crawford and Grants Pass resident Nancy Ottis took care to don scarves to hide their faces. Although the garments required for women in the fundamentalist Islamic country of Iran may have hid their features, they did nothing to hide their concerns about the reception they would receive in a country whose government has long been at odds with Western ways. They needn't have worried. "We were received like celebrities," Ottis said of the trip that ended last month. "We were invited into homes. Twice, women came up to me, rubbed my hands and kissed me on both cheeks." Crawford agreed. "Regardless of the policies and politics of the Iranian and American governments, Iranians were some of the most friendly people we have met on our many travels," she wrote in a letter about her trip. "They are proud of their ancient past ... (but) many speak English and have relatives in the states. They gave our group of Americans a warm welcome." The 14 Americans included six Oregonians, including Ottis' husband, Larry, and Crawford's husband, Richard. Portland residents Ray and Marilyn Dodge were also among the Oregon contingent. Although the six Oregonians have traveled throughout the Middle East, it was the first time any had been in Iran, Ottis said. Like most Americans, they were familiar with the Islamic fundamentalist movement once led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. And they had also watched the news coverage of the seemingly never-ending hostage crisis that began in the fall of 1979 when 66 U.S. embassy employees in Tehran were kidnapped. Until the hostages were released in January, 1981, Iranian protesters were seen daily on CNN, chanting "Death to America." Those chants have long since faded away, Crawford said. "Iran is a country of contrasts," she said. "We noticed the stern look of Ayatollah Khomeini and the smile of his successor, Ayatollah Khamanei. (But) the ever-present black chador cannot hide the smiles and flashing eyes or the latest shoe styles of the young women, their legs clothed in blue jeans." The three Oregon women had to wear chadors -- long garments worn by Muslim women -- when they entered a sacred shrine in the city of Shiraz in south-central Iran. "The rest of the time we had coats and head scarves," Nancy Ottis said. "If you wore scarves, long pants and coats below the knees, that as OK." The Ottises and Crawfords usually travel on their own, but decided to join the tour group because it's difficult to obtain visas to visit Iran, Ottis said. Although the modern world was evident in Iran, the ancient culture was also present, Crawford observed. "Traffic flows along the busy highways punctuated by sleepy mud-brick towns," she wrote. "(There are also) ruins of the forerunner of motels -- caravan-sarai -- located at intervals compatible with donkeys and camels. Large flocks of sheep and goats are herded quickly across the roads." If there was a dilemma encountered in the ancient world, it was merely one of identification, thanks to faces hidden by the scarves. "The only problem is that if you weren't careful, you'd start following some Iranian women, mistaking them for women in your group," according to Crawford. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA