1 November 2005
Today I sent in my application to go on the Australians Studying Abroad tour of Iran next October.

7 November 2005
Confirmation of my booking - business class travel and single supplement - arrived today. There is not a lot more I can do until next year when I will need to organise travel insurance and a visa. My passport is in order and will not expire too soon so that is OK.

In the meantime I have had a lot of fun surfing the net for websites which sell ‘modest dress’ and trying to work out how to don a headscarf so that my hair doesn’t show. There is one particularly good website which has instructions as well as very nice clothes.

7 January 2006
Three of the five books I ordered from England have arrived. Blackwells seems to be sending the four I ordered from there in separate parcels. The two which I have received from there are "Iran - the Bradt Travel Guide" and "Iran - Persia: Ancient and Modern" which is travel guide plus history and a lot of beautiful photographs, including some of women so that I can see better how I need to dress. The Tour itself will provide Manteau and scarf after we arrive (at a price) but we have to arrive already covered except for the face and hands.

We have a Muslim community here and one of my daughters says that I should be able to get fabric, patterns etc. at a shop near where she lives. At least I can get some scarves which need to be at least 1 square metre and opaque cotton fabric.

I have decided to grow my fringe out as it is going to be hard to keep it confined. For years I have been fighting with my hairdresser because she never cuts it short enough and I always come home and chop more off. Now we are going to have a respite for a few months until I get back in November.

13 January 2006
This news story is a bit of a worry:

"US rules out Iran military action
The US has backed European calls for the United Nations (UN) Security Council to deal with Iran's nuclear activities but says military action is not on its agenda at this stage."

8 February 2006
Uh-oh !! The Australian Government has issued a travel warning about Iran after the riots caused by the cartoons of the Prophet. One Queensland newspaper has published one of them and although Australian Embassies have not been targeted I guess that there is always the possibility that it will happen in a day or two.

I had my first Hep A innoculation a couple of weeks ago with the next one due in about 6 - 7 months.

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* * *

"US PLANS BOMBING BLITZ TO STOP IRAN

The US is drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites as a "last resort" to block Tehran's efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.

Pentagon planners are identifying targets, assessing weapon loads and working on logistics for an operation if diplomacy fails to stop the Islamic republic's nuclear bomb ambitions. Tehran claims it is developing only a civilian energy program."

* * *

I have received, at last, two wonderful books which I ordered before Christmas. One is "Persian Pilgrimages" which is a mixture of travel, religion, politics and history all melded into a very readable book. The other one, which only arrived today, is a book if Iranian etiquette.

Emirates Airline is planning to have four morning flights to Dubai, starting on September, from Perth. That may solve the long stopover in Dubai. I'll make some enquiries.

5 March 2006
Last Wednesday my best friend and his wife announced that they were coming with me to Iran. Yeah ! Himself is already thinking about how we are going to spend our stopover in Dubai and all of a sudden that long stopover isn't as daunting as it was. However, the trip back is still going to be a long haul but at least I'll be home at the end of it; my friends are going on to spend Christmas in UK.

I have a new doctor and she checked up on what vaccinations I'll need. She thinks that I should have typhoid and take anti-malarial medication with me but wants to know exactly where I'll be going. Himself has borrowed my two guidebooks but we are going to the Tigris/Euphrates delta, I think, so if the mozzies can find a bit of bare skin on me then perhaps it would be a good idea.

8 March 2006
Yesterday I finally decided to order myself some headgear; I have come to the conclusion that there is no way that my hair will ever stay where it is supposed to so I figured that I needed some underscarves. I ordered four in very muted colours and made of cotton. When I tried to pay for them I found that the minimum order is $US50 so I added another one . It still wasn't enough so I added an al-ameera hijab which I had intended buying but had forgotten about; they gave me a discount on that one so I was still under the required amount. I added another al-ameera hijab,this time in black lycra and got another discount. *sigh* So back I went and added a plain hijab (and yet another discount) but which took me to $US51.54.

So I am now waiting for five underscarves, two al-amira hijabs and an ordinary hijab. Something of an overkill and I probably won't need them as the ASA people say that one should not believe the guidebooks regarding women's clothing.

16 March 2006
My order from the online 'modest dress' shop arrived a couple of days ago and I have decided that it was a seriously good idea to get the things I did. Two of the underscarves are simple tubes but the other three are 'cap' style ones and are really good, as are the al-ameera hijabs. Money well spent; they keep my hair in order.

11th May 2006
I discovered a wonderful "Modest Dress" site SHUKR and have bought all my tops, two pairs of trousers (all they had in the particular style in my size), my necessary trench coat and a cardigan for up north where it can get a bit chilly. I got rather carried away and am awaiting an order for a couple of pinafores, a dress and a skirt because the quality and price are very good and I can't get clothes like them here in Perth. The postage is pretty hefty, though.

Daughter No.1 has sent me three cotton dress lengths from which I will make two extra pairs of trousers and another top, which will give me six tops and four trousers - probably far too much and I might need to be selective when I pack.

2 August 2006

I have just returned from the post office after posting off my final payment cheque, visa application and travel insurance form to ASA so there is now no backing out unless Dubya decides to bomb.

I find myself singing "Three Little Maids from School" whenever I think about what we have to wear. ASA is quite insistant that we should all wear manteaus and nothing but manteaus and, furthermore, manteaus provided by them after sending in our dress size, height and colour preference. We don't get them until we get there and we only get one so heaven help us if they don't fit. I certainly intend to take some backup tops. We have to wear something underneath "in case the buttons come off the manteau" and so that we can keep our sweaty skin away from our one manteau ... and long trousers with socks long enough to cover our legs when we sit down and our trouser legs ride up a bit.

Now I just have to sit back and await events.

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We were asked to furnish our dress size and height for our regulation manteaus but, due to our very non-standard, vanity sizing here in Australia that was not an easy one. I ended up sending my measurements and the information that the clothes I buy which are sourced in Syria are size XL. We get our manteaus and head scarves when we arrive and woe betide us if they don't fit because that is all we are going to be wearing for three weeks. I can see us all being herded around in our many hued uniforms, ill fitting and grubby. *sigh*

I also received my flight schedule; two-hour waits at Dubai maximim. That is good. Himself and Herself will have a 5-hour stopover before their flight to England.

I have had my polio booster which was due anyway. Having worked with acute polio patients I am never going to allow my immunity to lapse. I still have the second Hep A and my typhoid shots due next month. My doctor daughter is giving me the injections and I am rewarding her with mandarins and macadamia nuts from my garden.

3 October 2006
Three weeks today and we are off. There are only going to be 14 of us and maybe there will be some more dropouts. A small group with at least one other single person. It would be not so nice if I was the only person without a spouse.

I think that I have sorted out the headscarf bit. I read somewhere on the internet that muslim women use hairspray to keep their scarves in place so I tried it and it seems to work - not using it so much as a glue but using it to make the hair less slippery so I probably won't need my underscarves; I'll take them, nevertheless, just in case.

All my vaccinations are done and I didn't enjoy the aftermath of the typhoid one - headache and nausea - which made me realise that the disease itself would not be comfortable.

Julie at ASA has organised a limo to collect me and deliver me home again after the trip so it is down to duty free shopping - my passport, visa and tickets should be arriving tomorrow - taking the cats to kennels and packing.

7 October 2006
Himself had his appendix taken out last night. Having got over my dismay that he and herself would not be coming I realised what impeachable timing he managed - much later and they would have had to abort their trip and three weeks down the track it would have happened in Iran.

Our passports and final istructions arrived a couple of days ago and I found, much to my dispay, that we have to take our $US in small denominations so I will have to head off to the city early next week to change my $US100 notes into something smaller - just assuming that any of the banks have any.

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