In this photo all 9-year-old girls in Iran were celebrating the day they would begin to wear the headscarf or chador. The English lesson this group had just learned at school was about the "expression of kindness" and they welcomed me into their midst all screaming loudly how much they loved me. It was a nice juxtaposition to all the warnings I had heard about traveling to this country as an American and was one of my favorite experiences during my trip.
In this photo all 9-year-old girls in Iran were celebrating the day they would begin to wear the headscarf (or chador) as women. The English lesson this group had just learned at school was about the "expression of kindness" and they welcomed me into their midst all screaming loudly how much they loved me. It was a nice juxtaposition to the many warnings I had heard about traveling to this country as an American and was one of my favorite experiences from my trip. I was visiting during the nuclear negotiations between our two countries in Switzerland. Although a deal was struck, relations between our governments are still strained and both embassies remain closed. I wanted to see for myself how the macro politics were affecting the micro level and I wanted to help build bridges of citizen diplomacy. I found the people to be extremely warm and friendly.