I recently made a trip over to Eastern Europe. I had a number of interesting things happen before I even landed in Moldova. My trip over included landing in Germany, and as my plane taxied we traveled past airlines from countries like Syria, Libya, and Iran. I thought how unique it was being out of the US, and what a truly unique culture airports have.
I had the opportunity to walk around the airport to stretch my legs. I decided to head up to McDonald's for one last Big Mac because my food selections would change shortly. Armed with my USA Today I sat down at a table overlooking the runway.
A gentleman about my age sat down at a table just across the isle. He glanced my way a few times before he asked: “Excuse me are you an American?” I said: “I was” and he introduced himself as an Iranian national from Tehran. He asked if I found any humor or saw the uniqueness in our meeting, which I certainly concurred.
We talked a lot about the perceived views in each country. The conversation was over many topics and was quick paced. He was not shy about talking politics or religious questions which I found interesting. A few of the interesting points he made:
- Citizens of Iran really don’t like the ruling class including their President. He believed that the current President will not be around much longer, and that the ruling class will eventually be overturned. He said the younger generations really consider themselves progressives, and want to enjoy a lot of the western freedoms. They are proud of the country and heritage.
- He also made the point to me he was Persian and not Arab. He went over some of their history and how they differentiate themselves from the rest of the Middle East.
- He was interested in my views on what Americans thought about the Iranian President and their people. (I told him that the inflammatory words combined with the intent to obtain nuclear capabilities are a major concern for us. We certainly don’t have any personal grudge with the everyday Iranian.)
- Lastly, he made a point that Muslims are superior in their religion because they are faithful and commanded to pray five times a day. I told him my Bible commands us to pray without ceasing and gave him the verse he could look up. The look on his face was that of being perplexed as I don’t think he’d heard that reply before.
As quick as it started it was over.
