Set Out on a Mad Journey

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to."  John Ed Pearce

After 26 years of being raised and loved by two of the kindest parents known to human kind, I have left the nest and find myself a few gazillion miles across the globe.   A journey that began the moment my parents faded away hand in hand on the escalator. As they looked back one last time, I fought to hold back the tears that inevitably poured down my face as soon as I was no longer visible to them.  They were not tears of sadness or regret; in that moment they were the mere reflection of the gratitude, love and appreciation I have for both them. Knowing how much harder it must have been for them to let go at a time where most would not dare travel to Iran themselves let alone send their only daughter.  
As many of you know I traveled to Iran 2 months ago after having been away 12 years. Having been in Iran at what I call the golden time, I experienced and saw first hand this incredible green movement. The bear headed human rights activist inside me could not sit in silence and thus I have embarked on this 12 month mad journey back to Iran.
I have never been one to scare easily or shy away from a challenge.  I have all my life been told that if I want something bad enough, all I have to do is go for it, and if it’s meant to be it shall happen.  Thus when I found out that I had the chance to do my graduate thesis research on a third world country I could not let the opportunity pass me by.  I spent countless hours sending resumes and letters to organizations across Tehran so that I could find an internship as soon as possible.  Amazingly so I was able to find a position in a matter of two weeks. Those who have heard of my decision are shocked, doubtful and most worried because of the countries’ current conditions.  I do not know why I am so certain that I have made the right decision, but I know in my heart that this is going to be the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done.
I finally got to Tehran after a long 26 hour flight, half alive and half numb.  Not knowing what to expect this time around, I really had no feeling as I landed at Tehran's International Airport.  I have been here now for a few days, attempting to settle into this unfamiliar world.  I have spent the last days trying to get over my jet lag, unpack, organize, and mentally prepare for my first day of work. I will be working in an organization called: Omid-e-Mehr, where I will be helping  vulnerable Iranian and Afgan young women between the ages of 15-25 to acquire needed skills to become independent and get back on their feet.  I don’t know the details of what I will exactly be doing, and won’t find out till my first day where I will have the opportunity to tour the facility, get a feel of the place, meet the girls and get a breakdown of my responsibilities.  
I am excited, nervous, anxious, and most of all can’t wait to start.   I know it will be hard, not only because I am not familiar with the logistics of working in Iran, but also because of the great emotional impact it will have on me considering the nature of the work. I know I have the ability and strength to face this challenge and God willing, I hope that with the passion I have for this project I am able to make a difference and surprise everyone especially those who did not believe in me.
I am sure that the next few months will prove to be not only challenging but also rewarding.  I  may not be sure of anything today but I am certain of one thing...this MAD journey will change my life in ways that I can't imagine ...

IF...

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son.

--Rudyard Kipling