Arriving in Iran

Before our plane landed, a warning sounded over the speakers: “We strongly recommend you to wear a head scarf before exiting the plane.” I felt uncomfortable, constantly checking if it was still on my head as I walked to the terminal. I as nervous because I didn’t have a visa yet. I had wanted to have a visa, but the only procedure rejected me with a phrase in Persian that obviously wasn’t very helpful.

When I entered the visum lounge, I only saw a guy and a couple. I started filling in a tiny piece of paper. Then a lady came to take my paper. She took my passport, checked my insurance and told me to sit down. Then a big group of French people entered. They had done some pre-work and just had to pay. They were out of there in no time! Not long after, the couple and the guy were gone as well. Even the woman who had helped me had disappeared.

I was only getting more nervous because mine took so much longer and they had no other customers. Then a man in a suit came. I had to switch to another table in the lounge for my interview. What did I do for work? How long did I want to stay? Where was I going? Was I here for tourism? And how much money had I brought? Hesitantly I said I didn’t remember exactly and named the approximate amount of Dollars and Euros I had brought in. I had taken both in case one was preferred over the other, or in case they only wanted crisp Dollar notes, which I didn’t have. I was approved and got to pay me fee at the ‘bank’. Then I went back to the man who initially was given my passport. He asked about insurance again and then let me go.

There was nobody at the passport control anymore. The guys were sitting in a corner watching the football on TV. I waited at the other end where the section for foreigners was. I saw them discussing who would be the one to have to leave the game and the customs official looked very unimpressed at me. He checked some stuff and let me in. I didn’t get a visa or any stamps. No evidence of how I got into this country. But I was so relieved when I stood on the other side. I was finally in!

I got a light panic attack when I saw empty luggage carrousels in the arrivals hall. Someone saw my worried face and came to tell me that the luggage was in the other hall. I had to walk through the airport and get in through the exit of the other hall. Nobody saw that as strange. I saw my bag at a counter, amongst other bags. I just took it without anyone asking me if it was mine.

My second mission was getting some local currency. I read that exchanging at banks is more expensive than at exchange offices, so I skipped the banks on the ground floor and went upstairs to the departures hall. I gave the lady 2 notes, adding up to $150US. In return I got a whole stack of notes, still in a wrapper. I know the value is exactly the same, but my brain got a shock and in panic I stuffed the money into my backpack and out of sight. I was now a millionaire!

It was getting late and I couldn’t wait to get to the hotel. I asked for a taxi at a desk and repeatedly asked for the price, which nobody told me. But a taxi driver came to pick me up. We drove through the dark city, the man regularly answering his phone. He apologised for it when we arrived at the hotel, as if that would make a difference. I was to learn that the driving skills of Iranian drivers are something else. They have phone calls, while driving with 4 cars beside each other on a 3 lane road and eat a sandwich at the same time. There seem to be no rules, but everything just works.

My hotel in Tehran turned out to be very fancy. Het was almost midnight when I checked in. One of the porters brought me to my room. The first one didn’t have a working light and then I think I got an even bigger room for the inconvenience of taking the elevator to a broken room. My new room on the 10th floor had working lights. The porter turned on the TV and showed me the fridge. Then he left. I closed the door and took of my hijab. I stared at Leonardo di Caprio speaking Farsi on the TV. Welcome to Iran!