Middle Earth. It’s a name we give to this curious collection of countries. The ones that swoop around the Black Sea. With the exception of Iran, of course, which stands off on its own. But Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, the Ukraine, Moldova…. that clutch of ex-Soviet satellite states. Middle Earth. Nah, we didn’t expect to find hobbits here. But, we didn’t expect to find goblins either. And, we did! At the Goblin Rally. The biggest motorbike rally around. For a 17th consecutive [...]

Galina. Is a Russian girl’s name and means ‘the Goddess of Calm Seas’. We meet Galina in ‘our’ courtyard in Odessa. With Julia, but this is not about Julia. This is about Galina … who encloses me. It is hard to explain … I suppose her poise pins me down. Her serenity, her calm, her bearing. She stands in such strong contrast to her surrounds. Eyebrows arch. Eyes pierce. A head held so high, so high. Below hair swept up in a bun. [...]

Oh my, oh, my Ukraine. You are not in an enviable position. You seek EU membership. As Russia surrounds you in ever decreasing circles. We arrive by ferry in Odessa, a port city on the Black Sea. We go from Odessa to Kiev and to Odessa again. We didn’t expect to linger so long! Such honest places. Such real people. Despite your geo-political pickle, you prosper quietly. A GINI coefficient (an inequality index) drops from 39.3 in 1995 to 25 today! An impressive [...]

Iranians seem to produce everything. Here young guys are picking tea leaves. And ladies work rice paddies. Beekeepers dot the landscape. They need to satisfy that collective Iranian sweet tooth. And while scarecrows guard tomatoes, cucumbers and beans .... Farmers drive their produce to villages and towns ... all in the standard blue Zamyad pick up truck. On the outskirts of every village and town, farmers sell their wares from [...]

An Iranian welcome, for us, tops the list. For 40 days and 40 nights they call us out and soak us up. It is consistent, from top to bottom and side to side. It’s hard to grasp. In fact, it intoxicates! Just as well, as a not a drop of alcohol passes our lips. For 40 days and 40 nights! On the road, they honk and hail us. The shortest of walks marks 5 heartfelt conversations. Young girls and boys creep up, shyly, [...]

The Republic of Kurdistan. Sadly, does not exist. But it persists in the dreams of 20 million Kurds in the world. Seven million live in Iran, the rest live in Iraq, Turkey and Syria. They are the largest ethnic group in the world without a country. Kurds, in the past, suffer brutally in Turkey and Iraq and Syria. Ties between Kurds and Iranians are a little healthier. But everywhere Kurdish independence is a bad joke. Recently, Kurdish fighters, the Peshmerga, turn the ISIS [...]

I wear a hejab in Iran. The country requires this of me. And I do, as requires. As I have done before, and as I will do again, in my life. Turns out, I dislike and like it. I dislike it; because it’s an order! The little bit of teenager that still resides in me, rebels. And initially it’s a bother. But soon it becomes a habit. Ha – a nun’s habit! It’s bizarre. I almost start to like it … for practical [...]