My new pen pal in Iran
 

I am fairly active posting reviews on Trip Adviser after I travel or go places. Sometimes they send me an alert saying a fellow traveler had a question about a place I have been. So last week I got one of those alerts. It was for the Houston Museum of Natural Science and a TA user named Mohammad from Iran asked how he could find a good but inexpensive hotel in Niagara Falls!

I like to be polite so I responded explaining how to search for one on TA using their hotel search engine. I also mentioned to be sure to book a hotel in the country he is visiting since Niagara Falls is in both the USA and Canada. I suggested he get proper visas if he plans to cross the border. He responded by thanking me very much.

Over the next few days we began sending messages via the TA website back and forth and finally agreed to exchange email addresses. Now we are writing short emails back and forth every day. He asked about where I live in Houston and explained he came to America in the early 70's to train at US air force bases. I imagine this was while the Shah was still in power. He visited Houston and NASA. He said he learned how to TIG weld here and was later involved in Iran's small aerospace program but is now retired. He has been married for 40 years and has 2 daughters and on granddaughter.

We exchanged pictures of our families and homes, he told me if I ever come to Tehran my wife and I must stay with them, they will cook us a feast. He refers to me as "my brother" and thanked me for my friendship.

He uses his Iphone to send messages, I recall reading that Iran blocks a lot on computers but phones get by the block a lot. I kind of want to tell him I think we have a complete idiot for a president but I don't want to say anything that will get him flagged if his government does watch email, etc. So I will not for now. We have both agreed that travel helps break down barriers and build friendship.

You went ten miles out of your way just to call our president an idiot, I don't believe I can travel far enough to be your pal.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Congrats on the pen pal.

There were military personnel exchanges during that period. The US even sent training teams from the Special Forces unit I was in (I wasn't part of that deployment) to Iran.

The situation today; though, calls for prudence. Even though phone contacts may go through without adverse ramifications, that doesn't mean they aren't being monitored and recorded. Any political content you provide can be used for their domestic propaganda program. It's wise to stay away from voicing critical opinions, of us or them, while your pen pal is in Iran. Save it for when he's in the US or Canada.

We wouldn't want to see a "Tehran Chris" up there with "Hanoi Jane." :D

Yeah saying anything in jest, or off hand, can be twisted so you wouldn't even recognize it.