Salmiya

The course at Islamic Azad University in Khorasgan was over and I had a free week for some traveling in Iran before returning to the Arctic. Hamadan, the Achaemenid capital (Ecbatana in ancient times) and home of Esther and Mordecai at the court of Artaxerxes (or one of his successors on the throne) would be one of my favorite destinations. But it was far away and most probably also too cold this time of the year. It has to wait for a future visit to Iran. I decided to go to Na'in, halfway to the other desert city Yazd, which I had visited in 2004 . The German couple that I met in the breakfast room of the Dibaee house in the old city of Esfahan (he was interestingly enough a diplomat at the German Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan) planned to go further to Yazd. When I suggested taking a bus rather than a taxi for the after all more than 300 km, they were not interested. To get to the Jey minibus terminal east of Esfahan’s city center you must take a taxi which will cost you more tha...

Two weeks ago, Iran had launched its first satellite into orbit. It is hoped (and Iranian officials are not getting tired to emphasize) that Hope (the name of the satellite, omid in Farsi) will increase our knowledge and eventually lead to more harmony and peace on Earth. Its inhabitants do well (especially when considering the most recent underestimations of what is called global warming) when taking a search for alternative places to live into serious consideration. One extraordinary and most beautiful area (although barren and yet icy cold) might be the Victoria Crater on Mars, an impact crater at the Meridiani Planum near the equator of the planet. The crater is about 800 meters in diameter and had been visited by Mars roboter Exploration Rover Opportunity. That little sojourner of our second nearest neighbor in space can actually be seen on the image TRA_000873_180 which was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissa...

A Saudi-Arabian man was shown in the Al Watan newspaper earlier this week trampling on a bunch of roses in a flower shop, making clear that he despises Valentine's Day (February 14). Bad for him. My first thought which came to my mind was the pogroms about 70 years ago in Nazi Germany when Jewish shops were demolished ( "Kristallnacht" ). These fundamentalists threaten people who they urgently need for running their societies , for instance, Philippinos. It is quite a shame that Arabs still need some extra lessions in humanity, tolerance, love and peace. I was also wondering whether Saudi Arabian men wear winter dishdashas these days. Could it be that the picture had been taken in Kuwait? I suppose, many Philippino flower shop owners in Kuwait were scared last week as well.