RAFFERTY'S RETURN
Nathan Rafferty says that Americans have a huge misperception about Iran.
"It’s not dangerous for Americans walking the street. It’s much more progressive than we would think. A lot of people think of Iran as being like Baghdad, a lot of mud huts, but it’s not like that at all," he said.
Rafferty, the top dog at Ski Utah, just spent two weeks in Iran. Though the country has been portrayed as an enemy in American media, Rafferty says he saw no sign of that. However, he and his brother did not go there freelance.
"We went through Persian Voyages, a tour operator in London. For $50 a day, we had an interpreter, a guide, a driver and a car. You can’t rent your own car in Iran and it’s a little tough to navigate all the signs. We did a small loop of north central Iran. We went to Shiraz and Isfahan. That’s the Paris of Iran," Rafferty says.
Not many people know that Iran is a thoroughly modern country. Tehran even has a subway, which, like its American counterparts, is called the "Metro."
As Rafferty and his brother traveled throughout the country, they met no hostility. "They’ve seen so few Americans, they thought we were Germans or English. When we told them we were Americans, they were taken aback. I didn’t meet anyone who wasn’t absolutely thrilled to have an American in their country. They were the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever met. They love Americans," he said.
The only thing that gave Rafferty a scare was the driving. He says, "They drive so crazy, like there are no rules. They just kind of go for it. But it wasn’t aggressive driving, I never saw anyone shake their fist. Never saw road rage. It was kind of weird really, because here in the states, drivers may react if you cut them off, but there, it’s all hit and miss and they just take it all in stride."
From descriptions by American media, one might think Iran is on full military alert. Not so, says Rafferty. "There wasn’t a big military presence. It was even less than Mexico. If you go to Mexico, you see police standing around with machine guns. You don’t see any of that in Iran."
While women there wear the hijab, or head scarf, they don't go around veiled or wearing burkas. Nor is conversation with an Iranian woman a big deal. While there is no public hugging, and women do not customarily shake hands with men, Rafferty says the religious separation of men and women is found more in Saudi Arabia than in Iran.
"In Isfahan, we had pizza, which is the new cool thing to do there. We were sitting to some girls from the nearby college and we talked to them, but that was girls who are of the young new class, just barely hanging on to the Islamic law." Isfahan was his favorite part of Iran.
"The big square in the middle of the city is the second biggest public square in the world. It's just spectacular, just big, big big," he said.
The history of this cradle of civilization was also fascinating to both Rafferty's. Nathan says, "We think old here is 200 years ago, but to them, old is 4,000 years ago."
Too bad it wasn't winter, because Iran has the best mountains and ski resorts of the entire Middle East. Rafferty didn't have a chance to ski, or to make a pitch for Wasatch Front skiing to the Iranians. But he hopes that one day, there will be an exchange of skiers and tourists on both sides.
He sums up his visit by favorably comparing Iranians and Americans. "I think if there weren’t some kind of political agenda between our two countries, the people of Iran and the US would get along very well. They are hard working, very family oriented. They just want to enjoy life and live in a safe environment."