A couple of days later, I decided to fly to Tehran to start analyzing the inventory of historical arms and armor of the museums of Bonyad.  I had the same feeling when I entered the board of Iran Air, the nice smile of my compatriots, and all nostalgia, a mixture of happiness and dazzling feeling of going back to my childhood and adolescence. It was in the evening when our plane approached Tehran.  The marvelous lights of this wonderful city were everywhere, so numerous, so colorful.  They looked like a feast of lights with different colors, as though people were celebrating something.  I tried to make a futile attempt to find out the whereabouts of my parent’s home where I used to grow up.  I could still remember every corner of that house, every neighbor’s house, and all those memories.  It was impossible to tell the whereabouts of our former neighborhood from above, from that distance.  So big, so huge, that was my beloved Tehran.  Finally, our plane landed, and we got out.  The weather was cold, and we approached the passport control.  How nice it was to listen to people; everyone was speaking Farsi.  After spending so many years in different countries, it was nice to hear my mother tongue as it always brought me back to the memories of my childhood. 

I went through the passport control, and I searched my luggage and went through the customs.  I could see many people waiting in the hall. Everyone was holding a bunch of flowers to welcome their loved ones returning from abroad.  All those eyes were fixing on us, trying to find their loved ones.

Maybe that was the whole reason for their existence, for making people happy, to give them the feeling that someone cares.  I looked at my mother again, at her eyes and all her dreams, waiting for us throughout all these years.  It was the same routine as usual.  We got into the car and headed home. I kept watching the streets and the people.   The cars seemed to be everywhere--different lights, many shops, and many people.  On the way home, in Vanak Square, I could see the big billboard advertising a brand of Japanese chef knives with folded steel.  I smiled and thought how much I loved those knives and was surprised to see that they were marketed in Iran as well.  After a long drive, we got home. 

I looked around and could see so many objects that brought me back to my childhood.  I wondered how strange it was that those inanimate objects could bring me back to my childhood.  We had dinner, and I thought how delicious the 'ghorme sabzi' of my mother was.  They kept asking me about the news, and I thought that I could report on artifacts and book projects but decided to talk about the family.  Later in the evening, I started to check my laptop as I wanted to make sure that everything would be fine for the museum work the following day.  I approached the window and looked at the mountain of Damavand and all the snow in the street. Then, I decided to go to bed, but I could hardly sleep.