Salam. Many over due and left over letters/blogs to pass on. Things changed. The BLOG’s order needs the same. Change of order.

Here I am in my three room house, Keh 30, # 2, Koyeh Kargar, in Abadan.

I was born in one of these houses, two blocks south. Alif 20, #1.

These houses we
re built for Abadan’s oil refinery workers, back then, about 80 years ago, under the BP. Later on, world’s biggest oil refinery, until the Iran Iraq’s 8 year war. Right on the border to Iraq’s Basra. Divided by our story’s famous Arvand Rood (river).

And here my Arvand divides me from Iraq.

There a few things that have happened here since I came from Halifax. Maggie has filled some of them in. I’ll jump some for now since I would rather tell you about the kids.

For a whole w
eek I went- with a good friend, Habib Ahmadzadeh who runs this- to a film festival for middle and high school kids, north of Abadan, Also close to the border to the small towns of Soosangird, Hoveizeh and Bostaan. A farming country. 20 years after the war, some of their lands are still covered by land mines.

We set up shop in five venues, for six days, two shifts a day and served over 21,000 kids. Some of them had not been to a movie theatre or out of their villages before. Some of the buses traveled for almost an hour to cover everyone in the triangle.

We had some of Iran’s most famous actors and directors who dropped by from Tehran to see the kids. It was cheers and laughs and whistles.


In any of these towns, every time I asked for directions, someone was sent with me to show the place and then I was asked to go over their house for lunch or dinner…

I’m going to regard the rest of the blog as one letter.
Right now I have to go to that English class. Thank God I found someone- who’s English is much better- to slowly replace me.
I will miss the students greatly.

later,
s