Donate
Travel Program
After a successful tour in May of 2009, our chapter sponsored a second educational tour of Iran April 4-17, 2010. The tour was open to members of UNA-USA chapters around the United States. Joe Baxer who is a National board member of UNA-USA was in the delegation. Participants had the opportunity to learn more about Iran, its history, culture, and peoples through a series of visits to Iranian museums, great historic and cultural monuments, rural villages and by talking to ordinary Iranians. Both the 2009 and 2010 tour were led by Abdi Sami, an Iranian-American film industry executive and filmmaker, and UNA Seattle board member. Abdi was the Associate Producer of “Rick Steves’ Iran,” Rick’s highly successful PBS one-hour special.
On this trip, the delegation members stayed in Tehran for an additional six days due to airport closures in Europe. This extended stay gave the group the opportunity to see a new movie called “Tehran, Tehran”, and a play by Neil Simon based on Anton Chekhov’s short stories. They were joined by a professor of theater arts from Tehran University and one of the actors beforehand to learn about the play and the background stories. The group visited Shah’s palaces, additional museums including the museum of Cinema, The House of Artists (a complex of theaters, galleries, photographic exhibitions and cafes,) the Freedom Monument, the martyrs cemetery, Khomeini’s shrine and had a family dinner.
Abdi plans a trip to Iran and Turkey trip in October of 2010 and a trip to Iran in November of 2010. For further information please visit his website.
To see photos of the recent trip please click here.
