Iran
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2018 in Review – Reflection
Hello 2018
When I typed the title of this entry, I first typed 2008 in Review. I then gasped, no, It’s 2018, my dear! Not 2008. How could my life feel like just stuck in 2008 – I kept typing 2008 instead of 2018 in Review.
It was a decade ago, but some or maybe many things in 2008 are special, and I feel like being trapped in that year or when Rahma was reborn. I have to move on and get used to the fact is, a decade had passed. Move on, welcome to 2019. One year to go to the 2020s.
2018 was like riding a roller coaster, it has its ups and downs. Living with the duality of happiness and sorrow, positive and negative energy, constantly come and go.
As a child, we’d become so excited when grown-ups asked us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. We would reply: “When I grow up, I want to be an Astronaut or Doctor”. Life seems to be so easy when we’re still little girls or boys. We learn that children are very positive and dream big without fear of failure because they don’t recognize what failure is. As a child, we love to question everything and try something new.
A few decades later after we need to work hard to pay our bills, and broke, or need to pay unexpected bills, we then say: “When I grow up, I don’t want to grow up!!“
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First Impression of Iran
Before I go any further, my first impression of Iran is beyond my expectation. Iran is a mysterious and misunderstood country. You might get bored hearing travel bloggers who write about Iran for the first time, and receive similar reactions; friends, family, and colleagues ask them; why the hell do you go to Iran?
Some might think Iran is Iraq, but they can’t differentiate between Iran and Iraq. Iran is one of the new places I visited and felt so much safe, people are super friendly. They will smile at you and greet you with this simple sentence: Welcome to Iran, Welcome to Isfahan. Welcome to Shiraz!! And when you get lost, they will escort you to find the way to your destination.
Iran is the country I want to visit again but maybe when the weather is not cold or hot. I want to know more about Iran. So far, Iranians I met on the road were very open-minded, knowledgeable, and curious about the world.
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Drama Menuju Iran
Politik yang Bergejolak
Tiga hari sebelum keberangkatan ke Iran, terdengar berita kalau negara ini sedang demonstrasi besar-besaran di beberapa kotanya. Malah Donald Trump di tiap cuitannya memanas-manasin keadaan di Iran, membuat suasana semakin keruh dan tak jelas. Belum lagi pendukung Trump garis keras gemar menyebarkan berita dan foto palsu tentang keadaan Iran di sosial media, membuat Iran seolah-olah sedang bergejolak, padahal foto yang disebarkan bukan foto sebenarnya. Melainkan foto demonstrasi di Bahrain beberapa tahun yang lalu. Yang tadinya demonstrasi tentang kenaikan harga barang, tiba-tiba berita yang tersebar tentang menuntut pemerintahan sekuler.
Meskipun tiada keraguan untuk membatalkan tiket, namun ada drama lain yang bikin saya panik, malahan kepanikan akan suasana demonstrasi di Iran terlupakan, topik paniknya berganti ke masalah visa. Salah seorang teman nyeletuk, meski paspor Indonesia hanya membutuhkan VoA, tapi kita juga harus mendaftar online dan dapat track code untuk ditunjukkan ke petugas VoA di imigrasi. Tidak lebih dari 50 jam menuju Iran, Saya akhirnya mulai panik.
Visa Drama
Menjelang pukul 2 dini hari kalang kabut mengisi form di website untuk e-visa. Pastinya dalam keadaan ngantuk dan harus bangun pagi untuk ngantor. Keesokan harinya menjelang makan siang, sebuah email mendarat yang isinya mengecewakan.
Your visa application has been rejected.
Reason for rejection: Please apply via travel agency.
Your sincerely,
Department of Electronic Visa,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Islamic Republic of IRAN “
