Night-time Ceremonies for the Holiday

This is the religious holiday called Ashura - which draws many crowds to the mosques and shrines and just to the streets. There was a large gathering at this mosque/shrine at night, where they said some prayers and chanted. It was very beautiful and the lights of the green dome were incredible. The children all had flags. This is the same setting as above, but in the daytime it was without the green lights, and the blue tile showed more.

Watching the Celebrations

After struggling below, and trying to take pictures from the women's section of the festivities, I was offered by a nice lady to come to the upstairs of the Mosque for better viewing of the ceremonies below. It was a great chance to get better photos and see the inside of the majestic building - the outside of which you have seen above in daylight and nighttime. Here, I am wearing a chador, the traditional religious dress for the women. This dress is not required, but during the religious days, all the women of the town I was visiting wore this out of respect. It's always good to be respectful, and definitely not good to stand out. Many people were happy that I chose to join them for the holidays and wished that I was as comfortable as possible in my travels around Iran. This dress is remarkably difficult to hold onto and I am unable to fully grasp not only how to manage it, but also actually grasp onto the fabric as I am walking. It often fell completely to the ground, which greatly amused my hosts. Normally, I just wear a scarf on my head.

In front of Shrine and Mosque 

Beautiful and VERY heavy parade items... 

The black flags of the commemoration are framing...I'll get back to you on the name.

Commemorations 

Lots of Animals were killed out in the open to prepare huge meals for the town...they are being skinned here. 

Just in case you weren't sure.... 

Thanks for the Bear Max! 

A perfect couple 

I wish this were the case. 

I am standing in the middle of a usually VERY busy roundabout.  

My street this morning, when I decided to venture out alone. There were practically no cars...just a few stupid pedestrians like myself and crazy taxi drivers who don't even have snow tires. We saw one accident this morning while driving to the area of the demonstrations, the taxi ahead of us swerved and hit a parked car!! It's very icy! 

The snow still continues - the fourth day!!. I am now at a main intersection in Tehran at 10:30 am -- trying to get to the commemoration celebrations of the revolution. 

My front door was a mess.... 

The Tehranis really had fun today. 

in the snow. I fell hard on my behind this morning, because stupidly enough the sidewalks and entrances to buildings are made of marble...Just because it's pretty, doesn't mean that it's smart! 

A cat....The Cats of Tehran are incredible, they are everywhere and do everything! Snow stopped the people, but NOT ... the Cats! 

Qazvin bus stops are much better than Tehran's. 

... 

A Cat --- on the old Gate of Qazvin City - Qazvin used to be the capital of Iran. 

Water Fountain 

Iranian guys like to dangerously slide down steep hills in tubes -- my friend says she has seen many people break bones and go into comas this way. I wanted to join them, but didn't see any women... 

The Train to Qazvin 

Make Sure to Absolve your Sins! - On the platform of the Qazvin train station