:: iranian festival, portland, oregon ::
Twas my privilege this afternoon to throng with Greater Portland's Iranian community, got some baklava and iced tea at the Intel booth, listened to music, wandered around taking pictures. I didn't know anyone there, plus was involved in trip planning by cell, talking high desert. That didn't keep me from taking it all in though.
Yes, Iranian politics is complicated and I know better than to just jam my finger into working machinery going "what's this?" or, even worse, "do that!". Probably Portland mirrors a lot of the attitudes, so I could assemble a more accurate picture over time, but that would require knowing more of these people and I didn't see a single person I recognized the entire time, which surprised me a little.
Speaking of who gets to talk about what, I got into this game of one-upmanship with this guy on Synergeo with relatives in the service. We were putting our cards on the table as to which of us had more street cred:
He: I wore a US uniform fighting forest fires, been in firefights. Nuff said.OK, so that's just crazy talk (not that I was lying exactly, having been through Moscow that time), but such is the uncontrolled banter on that list, lots of yakking about wild animals and sea life as well. Wanderers and students of Synergetics have a lot in common I sometimes suppose.
Me: I used to dress up as KGB in the USSR, but no one knew that's what I was doing, as I disguised myself as an American tourist traveling with family. Fun pulling the wool over their eyes in this way.
