The Zoo

My friend's wife is an elementary school teacher. Last week the district's mayor invited her school students to an excursion to the zoo. But before going to the zoo there was the plan to visit the municipality office and see how the city management works. From room to room children walking and looking around astonishingly and at last a young boy while looking high above asked the teacher next to him; Are we in the zoo now!? While school's staff embarrassedly were trying to manage the goof, a visitor to office who apparently dissatisfied with the municipalities service, murmured: "Indeed we are".

Aliabad Kamin, Germans in Iran

I have been visiting Shiraz so long and several times but this was the first time I had the chance to see "Aliabad Kamin". This is a village 105 km northeast of Shiraz located in the city of Marvdasht on the way to Esfahan. Among the feature of the village one is being close to Pasargad, where the historical site, Cyrus' Tomb is located and then this is where 50 years ago a German team together with an Iranian team started the establishment of Fars agricultural training centre. And since it is close to Aliabad, it is called with the same name. The operation of project lasted from 1960 t0 1966.
Aliasghar Ahmadi an employee of this training complex has made a survey and recorded the history of the center in his book titled, Aliabad Kamin in passage of time. In his book he states, a German group and an Iranian group worked together under the supervision of Dr. Prilip and then, Dr. Flax and Iranian team was headed by Engineer Lashkari.

When I asked him if ever the Germans came back to the training center he sighed and said, "no one ever heard from them". And he hoped one day he will have any news from them or their colleagues who generously helped them making the training center.

Pahlavan or adventurer

Earlier this week two German nationals were arrested in Iran. In a public announcement Tehran judiciary authorities declared the two illegally attempted to interview the relative(s) of Sakineh Ashtiani who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Whether they have been able to conduct the interview is not clear. If the two Germans had actually journalist visas and only had no permission for this special interview is uncertain too.
It is hard to grasp how a European who by culture takes necessary precautions before traveling by getting familiar to local laws and conditions even when on holiday can ignore such a crucial risk in a country infamous toward journalists. The Ashtiani case is not only an eccentrically extraordinary issue internationally, domestically too it may reveal sorts of conflicts inside the decision makers in Tehran. When a month after Ahmadinejad pronounced Astiani's stoning case as an organized media propaganda against Iran, Judiciaries spokesman, Eje'e told reporters in a press conference that the judges are independent here and she is sentenced to death by stoning and we do not compromise with the Islamic laws just because of some influences from out side who themselves are number one in violating the human rights.
Although the initiatives of these two Germans for the action that undoubtedly puts their government in a big trouble matters a little now, but speculations on this swing between good and evil. One can think they are 2 freelancer seeking fame in a country that can blast a layman into a news making figure. Or these two are sacrificing their freedom keeping Ashtiani's issue live hoping to change her destiny, which in this case I can title them Pahlavans.