Ali, Morteza, and I arrived at Mokarrameh's house at 7 AM. There was a line of students waiting as we arrived; young boys and girls who were eagerly sitting on the chairs. We walked into the main courtyard in front of the house and started setting up the supplies on different tables: signing in, getting a number, and two sheets of paper, supervised by Aida at the first table; brushes, mixing trays, sponges, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and oil pastels for those who wanted them at the second table, supervised by Saa'ed, Monireh's 23 year old son; paint containers with each color, at the third station and supervised by one of Ali's older brothers, Mohammad; and finally, the fourth station where I filled up the water containers using the garden hose and lined up next to the flower bed on the floor. We also had a table set up for return of paintings and writing of them. We had designated a few of the older grandchildren to write about the paintings as the students explained them. These we stuck to the back of the paintings and then took a picture of the student holding his/her work. The older students wrote about their work themselves.
In the outer courtyard, the older grandchildren and some of Ali's brothers were setting up the tables and chairs. When we were done with the set up, Ali told the students how to proceed with the supplies.
When the fist group had picked up their supplies and placed them on their tables, I gathered them around one station and did a color mixing demonstration. I used the dialogue method of questioning and using their responses to move on to the next step of the demonstration and it was so strange doing this in Persian! I'm so used to doing it in English, but yet, it came naturally. I made sure not to use any English words, except at one single time, when the word: "Okay?" slipped out and the kids responded: "Okkeeey". I couldn't help smile at this, but from then on, I used the word: "Baasheh?" instead. I asked the students, who varied in age from 3 to 14 to use their first paper to mix a variety of colors. I showed them what the sponge was to be used for, the mixing tray, and so on. I then engaged them in a dialogue with "things they do during the day" and suggested that they paint a picture of something they do during the day for their second painting. Not many followed my suggestion and painted what they wanted. Since groups of people arrived randomly, I had to give out all information and directions at once and quickly, at different times. The morning was full and busy. It went on till noon, when we closed for lunch and a break.
We had lunch at the house of one of Ali's brothers (he has five brothers and three sisters) who lives in the village of Darikandeh. His wife had prepared a lovely meal for us and as required by tradition, we sat on the floor to eat our meal which was spread out on a "sofreh" on the floor. Tea and dates followed and then the men moved to another room while we women stayed in the cooler room and everyone took a much needed siesta. At two thirty, we woke up and prepared to go back. The phone rang and one of the newspaper agencies from Tehran interviewed me. As I hung up, the phone rang again, this time it was Monierh, Ali's sister, calling us to tell us that a group of students were waiting and a group from the morning had not even left: they had brought their lunch and stayed on. We headed back and were greeted by the same students from the morning plus a new group. I think we had over one hundred students who varied in age from 2 to 60. As in the morning, I did a demonstration and suggested the theme, and again, people did what they wanted to. There was much excitement. During the day, I took two groups in front of Mokarrameh's painting in her house and asked the students to take a few moments to look at the work of art and then tell me about it. The kids were very eager to say what was on their mind. We had a good hour in front of one of her large paintings. When I took the second group in the afternoon, a whole bunch of parents followed and suddenly all the cameras were going off!
We ended at 7 PM. By this time, many of the students had painted three pictures. Some had stayed for the morning, some came in the afternoon, and a good amount stayed the entire day. We had people who came from the local villages, the nearby towns, and we also had a few from Tehran. A group of professional artists who had started an organization devoted to fine art came by to see what was going on, and they too, started painting. We also had a visitor from Greece and one from Germany!
Later on, when the students had left, we started cleaning up. The tables were cleaned and folded, the chairs washed and stacked, the van picked these up and delivered them back to the rental place, and the entire clan of Mokarrameh's children (almost all nine) and grandchildren (I lost count) helped clean up. We returned back to Monireh's house around 9 PM, had dinner, and looked at some of the work. Ali and I decided to take the bus back at midnight, since Morteza and his wife had left earlier. Mom, Aida, Ali, and I packed our stuff. Then Ali and I wrapped the artwork up and Saa'ed took us to the bus terminal. We were able to catch the 11 PM bus and arrived at 4 AM Saturday morning in Tehran.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007: Mazandaran Province
The snow capped peak of Mt. Damavand in the distance.
A village in Mazandaran Province where the humidity from the Caspian Sea keeps everything green.
Mom and I met Ali Bolboli, Mokarrameh's son, at the bus terminal at 8 AM. He was with a friend and his wife who were coming with us. Ali also had a female friend with him. Mom and I drove with Mortezah and his wife, Somayeh, while Ali and Aida, his friend, hired a car. The drive was almost four hours long. We went through the Alborz Mountains, headding East. At one point, just out of Tehran, we could see the snow capped peak of Mt. Damavand. I took a picture as this is a sight to behold.
Stopping on the road for breakfast. Left to Right: Ali, Aida, Morteza, Somayeh, my Mother.
Driving towards the Caspian Sea in Mazandaran. We have crossed over the mountains and the land is now lush.
We arrived at the town of Ghae'emshahr around noon and Ali's sister, Monireh, had a nice lunch ready for us. After lunch, we had a nap and then Ali, Morteza, and I went to purchase the remaining art supplies. We were able to purchase acrylic paint in the following colors: red, blue, and yellow. We also bought white and black paint. Next, we purchased plastic containers to put the paint in, containers for water, and sponges. The last thing we needed was an extra ream of paper, which we picked up at the office supply store. We then drove to the village of Darikandeh, about five miles north of Ghae'emshahr, to meet the rest of the group and prepare Mokarrameh's house for the workshop tomorrow.
Shopping for supplies in Amol
The paintings and murals on the walls at Mokarrameh's house are lovely. Much better in real life than pictures. After touring the place, Ali and I sat down with a group of his nieces and nephews and started planning the activities for tomorrow. We designated tasks to each person and then made signs for people so that they would know where to go for supplies. The rented tables and chairs were delivered and were set aside. It was very late when we went back to Monireh's house. Mom and I slept on a thin mattress on the floor in one of the bedrooms. Ali, Morteza slept on the floor of the living room, while Ida and Mortezah's wife slept in the dinning room (agian, using thin mattresses, or rather, thick quilts to sleep on). Monireh and her daughter slept in the second room, and her two sons slept in the third. It was a tight situation, but in Iran this is common and no one minded.
Inside Mokarrameh's house is full of lovely murals
Planning the next day
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