I was told that I have to register at the TTC Campus. I thought it is a good idea to learn the location, so I packed up everything and went to Shahr-e-Rey, a city in the southern-most of Tehran province on the way to the city of Qum (where Mullahs are mass-produced in religious schools) via Behesht-e-Zahra (Tehran's biggest cemetery). It is very popular for its shrine with so many pilgrims. It was a very long journey, and I was carrying all my personal stuff in big size suitcases. I knew that I have to actually live there for two years! I passed the shrine and enjoyed the smell of rose water and freshly barbecued minced-lamb Kebab, fresh basil, and freshly baked Iranian bread called sangak. When I reached the place, it just reminded me of a military base. It was at the end of a dead-end alley with a huge and high gate in pale blue. On top of its gate, I could clearly see barbed wires and huge floodlights. There were revolutionary slogans printed in the ugliest colors and handwritings on all the walls of the alley. Later, I realized that this campus is located very close to a cement factory that contaminates the environment with pollutants and that was why there were no houses around the place! It was also very close to a mental hospital! I knocked on the door that was cut on the metal gate. Then, I suddenly found a doorbell and pressed it. After a few minutes, an old man in a blue uniform lazily opened the gate and asked me if I am a new student. He let me in. The campus was a huge empty area. Right on the left, there was a huge mosque occupying almost one-fourth of the whole area. Next to that, there were classes building and administration building. Right in the front, there were the dormitories and mess hall. There were also a couple of cars parked on the right. The place seemed very old. I went to the admin building and registered. Then, an employee-led me to my room or a shared room to be more precise. It was a four by four meters room with four bunk beds located against each wall, one next to the door. I was the first, so I took the best one at a corner and as I have acrophobia, I opted for the lower bed. There was a big curtainless window with the best possible view. The view was the campus yard where I could see all the activities, mosques, cars, and the flag-pole. Students arrived one after the other. There were two other students from Tehran (both were named Hossein!), but the rest in the room were all from different cities of the Caspian Sea coast with strong accents. Well, we had to live and study together in a small room for two years, so we got to know each other. Hossein was from downtown and could recite the Koran very well. The rest of us had no skills. I just boasted that I know some German that I picked up by self-tutoring. I also learned that there are four different majors on this teacher training campus: English, German, Arabic and Islamic education, and Persian literature. Soon, I learned the rules. Mass prayers were compulsory and your presence was officially noted. The worst part of this rule was that 3 o'clock in the morning, they played the Arabic call for prayers in the loudest possible volume in all the hallways and rooms through loudspeakers and after a few minutes the night shift employees literally attack the rooms and take all the blankets off the students who were still sleeping and pushing them off their beds to take ablutions and go to the mosque. This was really painful in the Winter when there was no hot water. I mean there was no hot water any time of the year at all! I was always wondering why because the dorms and classrooms were warm in the winter! Food was simply terrible as far as both quality and quantity were concerned, and you had no right to complain. We were almost always hungry and could not get out to even buy food! When I experienced that in the first week, I bought lots of food cans every weekend to eat in the dorm. I had to share also with those of roommates who could not afford it or had no chance to buy their food cans which were mainly tuna fish. When cans were over, we had to throw all the names in the hat and draw a name. This person had to either bribe the gatekeeper or escape over the high walls and the barbed wires to be able to buy sandwiches for us!
No comments:
Post a Comment