Jill Will Go...

The long bus ride to Shiraz. I remember it being more fun last time.  On the way, we stop at the 5,000 year old cypress tree. It is as big as I remember it. This is the first time I'm really overcome with memories.  I remember Joan being unable to walk down to the tree, and Abdi scooping her up in his arms and carrying her down. Two preteen boys riding up on their motorcycle and chatting with Abdi and Jim. I'm incredibly sad, and in awe that I'm in this same spot again. But I'm not really. The people make the trip.   I have a friend traveling with me, and we are having an excellent time. But you can't step into the same river twice - which is incredibly sad. Especially when you should have jumped into the river head first. Knowing what I know now, I would have jumped. En route, we pause at Pasardgae to see the tomb and palaces of Cyrus the Great.  “You cannot be buried in obscurity: you are exposed upon a grand theater to t...

"Hear with your ears the best things; look upon them with clear-seeing thought," Zoroastrian Chant 30, verse 2  There is a fire that has been burning since 470 AD. The Fire Temple in Yazd houses this particular fire, which is kept burning by Zoroastrian priests. There are an estimated 10,000 Zoroastrians living in Yazd now. Zoroastrianism is full of dualism. Man has free will to choose Good over Evil, and if he does, he be rewarded with a spot in Heaven. There is only one God, making Zoroastrianism the oldest monotheistic religion in the world. "Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves in unison as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought, and word and action. And between these two, the wise ones choose aright, the foolish not so." Chant 39, verse 3 In the fire temple courtyard, a man asked to take his picture with me, so his friend got out the cell phone and started snapping. I insisted that I get a picture too, of cours...

"I  know the idiot's warehouse Is always full. I know each of us  Could run back and forth from there All day long And show everyone our vast collection." The Idiot's Warehouse. The first part of this poem by Hafez has more than a passing relevance to this trip. I have never traveled with more negative and demanding people. There is a small group of gripers that are tainting everyone else's trip. There have been temper tantrums. It is like traveling with a group of unmedicated ADHD adults. They don't pay attention and then get angry at the guide for being disorganized, when they just weren't listening. They roam and then get mad that the guide isn't there beside them. They need the guide to walk them places, and carry their luggage. The food is too cold or too hot, there are two many steps, they only want soup to eat, or refuse to eat. I have never seen adults behave this rudely or badly - and I work retail. I've apologized numerous...