Alco-holy Armenians

I've been trying to find some booze here in Esfahan... A friend gave me a name of a street in the Armenian quarter. (The Armenians have always been a large immigrant community in Iran, they have their own parts of each city and are Christian. It is 'informally tolerated' that they use wine in their religious ceremonies and as such, they have become the source of illegal booze).


So, off I went to the Armenian quarter, to the road which my friend had told me to walk down. Apparently it was certain that someone would come up to me and offer "whiskey, vodka" under their breath. So I walked up and down this very long road for about an hour, trying my best to look like an alcoholic foreigner, but alas... no-one came up to me... I tried my best to give 'the eye' to any dodgy lookin' characters, but I'd say they all just thought I was a fruitcake. So... long story short... I got no booze! And then, last night when I came back to the hostel, I was speaking to a French guy who said that he'd been offered whiskey twice that day... Is there something about me that suggests tee-totaller? (Of course, the french eejit didn't accept it!).


Not much else going on apart from that, but I was speaking to someone who has just come from Pakistan and they said that they loved it. For some reason, I was planning on barging through Pakistan very quickly, but I think I need to research more about it. Apparently the north is very nice.


I'm still enjoying Esfahan. I spend a lot of time just walking around looking at mosques or shit like that. The people here are really friendly. Even the carpet sellers are nice... they want you to buy a carpet but they're not militant about it. They invite you in for a tea and say "don't worry about carpets, I won't try to sell you one!". In general people don't try to flog you stuff here, they seem to be more interested in speaking to you and finding out what you think of Iran. I think they're used to the western foreigners being 'backpacker' types with no spare funds to indulge in knick-knacks... they have the Arab tourist for that!


Despite what you all think (as per the poll to the right), I shaved my beard today... but don't worry, it'll grow back quickly. I can't believe you people, telling me that I look better with a beard is paramount to saying that my face is so hideous, it needs to be covered! You should be ashamed of yourselves.


Also Ramazan is really wrecking my nutz. There's all these little 'secret' places to eat during the day, but no-one ever tells me about them. And then, as soon as the sun goes down (and the Imam does his little song and dance), people can start eating again. But the restaurants don't let people in (or else they'd get overflown) and instead just set up a stand on the road from which they sell the standard post-fast grub (lentil stews and the like).


I think I've cracked the currency though. I can now ask how much something is, understand the response, choose the correct notes and pay in a timely manner :-) Progress!

So I believe that it's Monday morning and you're all in work... tihihi...

Anyone who works in McNamara's reading this post should click on comments below and leave me a little message...

Take it easy... ur man in iran... C.