We had been invited for a special dinner at our hosts' but had, I must admit, no idea what to expect. By half past eight, when we were led into the the main living room the young niece of the hosts handed us a sketch she had made for the two of us. We retributed the welcoming in turn having brought some gifts for the ladies (the wives of the three brothers, one of whom was our host) and a few little things for the children. The fact that we didn't bring anything for the men followed the "Iranian rule" of not establishing a close relationship, so to say, with the male, unless they were in some sort of way related to us.
Apart from the family members, a business partner of our host later joined in with his wife and adolescent children. The whole atmosphere was warm, reminding both of us what family gatherings used to be in the "distant" past in Portugal and Romania.
Throughout the evening we reinforced the idea that Iranians do actually value the family and family bonds in a way we can't but feel impressed by. Dinner itself was varied and rich in every way, not only in the selection of the various Iranian courses but also the decorative details of the plates and desserts.
A few minutes after the dinner the youngsters positioned themselves in the corner of the room so as to play for us. Their father joined in singing slightly later. What an incredible musical display of Iranian tradition !!!
To our surprise the neighbours' daughters, who had come by joined in with their own instruments and the tradional Music continued into the night. When do these adolescents find time to balance out their academical studies and Music, I wondered? Some of the instruments they played, and they did play them well, require a number of daily hours exercising ... I don't know, I was honestly mesmerised with it all ...
By midnight and because there were several young children to think of, the night celebration was called off, but not before taking a series of group photos in all sorts of positions.
Throughout the night I had selected a postcard from Portugal for each of the people present and upon their request had to write something on the back of each before they left, which in turn led to me having to translate those into English and have Mohammad use his voice translator to adapt them into Farsi as everyone listened in. There was emotion, tears, laughter ... and everything you can think of. It had been a memorable night, one that I don't think any of us will forget.
