#queshm

October 12, 1968 -- The coast of Iran and island of Queshm on the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from the Apollo 7 spacecraft. (NASA)

©Valérietravers 2014

Tom’s plan was to spend a month working in the restaurant (he is quite the good cook) in the Queshm Island in the Persian Gulf, Iranians favorite holiday destination. My plan was to not have a plan at all, so I ended up in the kitchen with Tom. Restaurant was 10 m from the sea, next to the beautiful sand beach. Every evening Iranians would gather attracted by the restaurants idyllic location and live music. Now, live music it is not something you can easily find in Iran. According to the current Ayatollah - “Music and the values of the Islamic republic do not fit together.” But can you imagine a country without music? My new friend Reza asked me. Musicians need special government approval to perform their music, and venues that want to have live music need to go through bureaucratic grind to get all the necessary permissions. Every evening band was playing Bandari – simple, rhythmic, melodic dance music traditional for Iran’s south. It’s the type of music that unsettles your soul and makes you move, dance. But dancing is also not socially acceptable and in the spirit of the Islamic revolution, so people would be “dancing” in their chairs, moving their hands, feet and head. It was obvious how much they enjoyed the music, I had the feeling that any moment somebody might lose control, jump from the chair and start dancing in front of the band. Evenings I would help with the dishes in the restaurant kitchen, mornings I would paint the fence, and the rest of the time I was getting know the island or hanging out with Tom and Reza, who was also working in the restaurant. Good times.