Once upon a time in Iran

I stayed in the apartment last night and watched some real quality television on the iMac. Staying in to watch TV on a Saturday night would have seemed like sacrilege to me in my younger years. But this was really good stuff. One of the benefits I have it that my sister puts stuff I may like on DVD and sends it to me, so I get the best of British TV and can avoid all the crap. I don't really have time to watch much TV anyway.

This programme was fascinating. It was about a bunch of Iranian people going on a pilgrimage to Iraq. What was fascinating about it is that it is the first television I have ever seen that portrays Iranian culture from their point of view.

Of course, for a person from the North of Scotland, some of the things they say seem pretty weird. But I felt I was able to really empathise with these people and understand the beauty and importance of their culture and why it seems so different from ours.

I have met many people from the middle east since I've been here. They are amongst the funniest,kindest, friendliest and most energising people I have ever met. It's so sad that there has been so much war and destruction there. If only the internal combustion engine had never been invented, or it had ran on something else, the history of the world may have been very different.