Whoa. Two and a half hours of sleep? That’s a first, even for me. Oh no, wait. There was that time where I could only sleep for half an hour at night and then, again, during the day.

Anyway, I’m awake before I have to be, so I thought I’d let you know a few things if ever you plan to go to Iran.

No. 1 is to download a program to mask your IP address BEFORE you get into the country. Of course this is number one! I just assumed Facebook worked because my contacts here are on it. Now every site is blocked, including torrent sites. They all redirect to this site:

If I were using a PC, it would be okay because I can download Tor Browser off someone (as I did last night, over tea and some very yummy cakes) but, unfortunately, I use a Mac. Oh well, now, you’ll really have to read my blog to find out what’s going on with me. 😉

But Skype works! I was told that it was blocked too, but I suppose if you already have it coming in to the country, it will continue to work. Who knows.

For now, it’s best to communicate with me via this blog or through e-mail.

No. 2 is to not forget your universal adaptor! While I did bring adaptors with two rounded pins that is supposed to be compatible with the electrical sockets here, I didn’t count on them having this indent-thing going on.

Check out my adaptor, on the left, with all that space around it and the plug on the right, which connects to the refrigerator in the room.

But, because my name is Menemes (stupid Pinoy MacGyver joke) – that could be my Persian name – I just shoved some stuff against the adaptor to hold it in place – et voila! – I’m a-chargin’.

But no amount of MacGyvering could get my adaptor to fit into the electrical sockets in Malaysia. (Grrrr…) So don’t forget your universal adaptor!

No. 3 – The official monetary unit of Iran is the rial. But you’ll hear prices quoted in tomans. 1 toman = 100 rials. As far as I can tell, all the currency is in rials so tomans are really just shorthand for rials. It’s like they got lazy and knocked off a zero and called it a toman. When in doubt, ask if you are being quoted in rials or tomans.

No. 4 – On the plane, I was told that the rate to the dollar is US$1 = 19,000 rials. At the airport, the exchange rate was 12,259 rials. The hotel is offering 15,000 rials. I thought I’d take my chances with the money changers at the bazaar today. Which brings me to…

No. 5 – "Some Muslim-majority countries have Friday as the only weekend day and have a six day work week.

• In Afghanistan, Thursday is half a day of work. Government buildings close around 11:30AM (local).
• In Iran, Thursday is part of the weekend for schools and offices, but, for some jobs, Thursday is a half-day of work."

(Source: Wikepedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workweek_and_weekend)

Today is a Friday. Great. No bazaar, no money changers. 1500 toman it is then at the hotel desk . I hope I can at least get a SIM card somewhere.