Sabr

I honestly cannot tell you how many turns this whole thing has taken in the last week. Last night we spent almost 2 hours in traffic only to arrive to the Zurkhane an hour late and turn around and go home. However, I did meet someone last night that knew my dad in his power lifting days. I apologize for the lack of Zurkhane photos, but the stress is a bit higher for me to shoot there than anywhere else. Sound is a nightmare, lighting is tricky, and while all this is going on I'm on the other side of the lens.

Training in Tehran

Last night was a practice at the Shaheed Chamron sports complex on Dr. Shariati Street. The floor was definitely nicer/cleaner than the last gym we practiced. A few of the guys last night practiced footwork and flow moves which was nice to see. The way practices work here is a bit different from the US. Not only does everyone stretch out but they also run laps and do conditioning exercises. On the average, all of the bboys here are in much better shape than bboys in the US. Most of them either come from a martial arts background or gymnastics. I wish I could upload footage from here but 56k is molasses wackness.

I crushed one of the kids last night when he overheard me saying hip hop dancing sucks (no offense). I felt awful but mentioned that if someone can incorporate freestyle moves with bboying their style will be the hotness.

Night On The Town

Last night was an expensive and cold night of eating kabobs in Darband. Against the warnings of my uncle, we ate outdoors in one of the coldest areas of Tehran. After dinner we enjoyed 2000 Toman milkshakes (that is ridiculously expensive) in the rich part of town, had fun with Ali's glasses and haggled cab drivers for lower fares.

Big bday

The 19th was my birthday. If you forgot, it's no problem. Here is the photo summary of the awesomeness that ensued on my bday. After a day of constant changing plans of whether to come back to Tehran from Qom or not, Mahdi B and I arrived to Tehran at 10:30pm not knowing that my uncle and cousin were waiting for me to come home all day. Regardless, this was one of my best birthdays for many reasons, some which I will disclose in a not so global fashion when I come back to the US.

New Tehrani Friends

Yesterday I finally met Hossein Battle and his crew, ironically named Unknown Crew. They took me to the bashga (gym) for practice. The bboys in Tehran have practice everyday at public gyms around the city. Each gym has a different day for practice and every bboy in the city can use the gym for free. For the most part everyone practices power, very little tops, and very little footwork. About 5 guys have consistent airflares and a few of those have some very good combos. 2 guys have "control style" 90s that they could probably do 6-8 rotations consistently. Hossein's crew asked me if I could tell if they were bboys when I saw them walking towards us in the subway. I said of course. I remember when I first started bboying, we used to analyze every person our age we saw to see if they were a bboy or not. The first thing we looked at was the sneakers and how they were being worn down, their clothes, then the height, then the build.

There is a crew battle in 2 weeks that I am going to battle with them. It is rumored that Lilou from France will be coming for the battle. They might have me judge the battle but I would rather compete. I really want to look into making a national Iranian bboy team to travel to jams in Europe and Asia. The problem is that the guys have trouble getting visas to European and Asian countries.

arrival

Today is the first day that the internet card I got is working properly...
Still smoothing out the edges of the production schedule here. People have been extremely helpful with the project and my Amu and Pessar Amu have been converted into film producers. Tomorrow we are going to Vizarat Irshad to get some official status. Hatim Productions has also done a lot to help.
On another note
Know that when you order the "Moslem meal" on Air France it means that you will get your food 30 min. before everyone else.
Know that if you sit next to another Iranian American on the plane to Iran, they probably know one of your family members.... amazing.
Praise the Lord for being able to eat hot red beets from street vendors with old friends twice in a day without getting sick.. yet.

more pictures to come...

Tomorrow is the day

I'm pretty excited about tomorrow... even though I'm going to be on an airplane for way too long. I bought an on-camera light from litepanels and it is incredible. I wish I had it earlier on in the film.
I watched Salesman again last night and admired the awesome impromptu swimming scene. I hope to get a similar random fun night scene.

I have gotten about 5 new contacts in Iran in the past 24 hours and learned that a few of my friends will be there at the same time. I will have some very interesting characters to say the least. Make sure to check back because I will be uploading media as I go.
See you in Iran.