Easter with the Ayatollah

This is our first Easter in a land where only a minority celebrate the risen Christ. We spent some of Easter morning with one of Qom’s Ayatollahs as the Mennonites (MCC) staff spoke to him about relations between his Institute and the work of MCC in Qom. We were sad because we missed our services at home during Lent and Holy Week. It helped when we arrived at the institute and were brought into the Ayatollah’s presence with camera’s rolling, to hear warm greetings of “Happy Easter, Happy Passover and Happy New Year!” This was the translated version. It felt very good to have an acknowledgement of our very dear and special Christian Easter. We are learning to adjust to a new way of living out the faith calendar.

So……….

When in a Muslim country how do you know if it is a holiday? People work six days a week and take off one day only which is Friday or jomeh. Then it is back to work. Before coming to Iran, I wondered how I would handle a whole new way of organizing my week. In reality it was more disorienting than I thought. I wondered how workers could survive working a long six day week. I wondered how families could eat at 9 PM in the evening and go to bed with a full stomach. I wondered how men could get up at dawn for prayers and then go to bed past midnight.

Well, let me share with you my thoughts so far. I am by no means an expert after two months in Qom but here is what I have concluded so far.

First, getting up at dawn every day means that the man (literally man) has to leave home very early and he (literally) often gets off work around 8 pm. I know because I see them in the pizza place picking up a to-go box about 8:30 pm. The answer- there is a time each afternoon when many people go home for lunch, to spend time with family members and to take a nap. Linda and I have been to lunch as guests and all the family being home in the middle of the day felt very relaxing. “Lunch” lasts from about 2 to 4 PM and a lot of shops are closed during these hours. This is for real in Qom! Services such as barbers and grocery businesses may be open but a lot of others are closed. Tea is also a very communal ritual that paces the work load and gives the worker a break. If one is able to (work and life tasks permit) one stops work at around 12:20 PM and 6:20 PM for prayers. Most of the ten Iranian TV stations have these times scheduled on TV for prayer. You clearly know when it is time !

Second, people eat around 9 PM. For me it is not so difficult (except for the occasional maalox.) Our daily lives revolve around Farsi lessons from 4 to 7+ PM. Then dinner around 8:30 PM. We then have the world’s best ice cream around 9:30 PM. Our bodies are adjusting to this because I think we eat a lot less heavy foods and enjoy more tea with fresh fruit, yogurt and curried chicken, a salad of very fresh vegetables fixed with dried figs and walnuts and three kinds of raisins. On top of this is a vinegar. This is not just any vinegar, but grape. It smells more like grape juice but has that acidic taste of vinegar. Each different way of making the grape vinegar has a different medicinal benefit. So, with a very healthy diet and just a little meat- fish, lamb and chicken served mixed with a lot of rice and vegetables- I must be eating a lot less fat. (Except when Linda goes to bed I bring out the potato chips!)

Third, and this is the pearl of great price! When you wake up in the morning and do not hear the refuse collectors calling you, it is probably a holiday. It could be the death of a great Imam. It could be the death of a martyr of some note. It could be a Persian holiday. It could be the birth of a prophet or of the Prophet. So far, this year seems to be filled with days like this. Last week was the last day of No Ruz- the new year. With its fourteen days of new year's celebrations the last day is an ecology or nature day. Many people take their families on a picnic. Our little nearby park had over 100 people sitting in the walk ways with a picnic lunch at noon. It was cloudy and cold but they wore their coats and they certainly were enjoying the company of their families!

So, the holidays seem to help people deal with the long work week and the refuse collectors have been my clue that a holiday may be in process.

I kind of like how recycling takes place here. The garbage is picked up two days a week but by that time most of the recyclable materials are sorted through. I have seen clothing neatly folded and left next to the street. I have found fancy deserts not finished left by the street for these recyclers. Everything of value is carted away by those who know how to use them. There is a major emphasis on cleanliness in Muslim culture. It begins with the Koran where the faithful must wash their face and hands (ablutions) before prayers. It continues when each municipality hires a significant number of men to take a broom and clean every gutter by hand throughout the city. It moves in the way food is produced to make it “halal.” The purity of food is valued by society. Recycling is reinforced by those in poverty; every product that has value is worth the time and effort to save.

All of this is under girded by the Muslim belief that one should respect the world that God has created. There is little in the way of seeing the creation as just a tool to be used for humanity’s happiness. There is a reverence expected toward everything in nature and everything created by human endeavor. This carries to the belief that one should eat as little meat as possible because there is to be sensitivity to the animals God created. When this is expressed this sounds very much like the way our Native American citizens view nature.

A final note: not only do we take our garbage and trash to the curb but we also put a little sack under a tree with our latest chicken bones. You see the cats (gorbeh) of the neighborhood need to know which apartments have the best cuisine and who their friends are! I think they get the first part but knowing we are friends is coming rather slowly!