Spying on Tehran

August 29, 2006

For the last few nights, my dad, one of my brothers and I have been spying on Tehran, Iran. OK, so ’spying’ is a slightly stronger term than what we’re actually doing, but it still feels like it. And, it probably isn’t too different than what the military does with their satellite intelligence.

So why Tehran? We used to live there from August through December of 1978, right before the downfall of the Shah and the ensuing chaos. I was in 2nd grade at the time and have fond memories of our time there and often wonder what it would be like to go back and see where I used to live. While I may not be able to get back there, between Google Earth and Flickr, it’s almost like you are there.

It truly is amazing what Google Maps and Google Earth bring to the average person. I’ve tried several times in the past to zoom in on the various locations we’ve lived in Iran, Holland and Saudi Arabia. Not too long ago, I was able to find some pictures from the street where we used to live in Holland. Talk about memories. The last time I tried Tehran, the resolution was horrible and was actually the green and brown 30 thousand foot view where you can’t even tell if there is a city. On a whim, I went there the other day and was surprised to see that the pictures on Tehran had been updated and were only slightly less detailed than what is available for Austin.

So, that started a quest to try to find where we used to live. Fortunately, our old location in Tehran was pretty unique in that it was right at the northern edge of the city on the edge of the mountain under the ski lift (Yes, they have ski resorts in Iran! Actually, Iran is/was a very progressive society and has quite the wide cultural variety). We’ve swapped many emails (many being relative, since one complete exchange of a few sentences typically constitutes enough conversation for a month) pointing out different locations we think might be it or why someone else’s location isn’t it. We think we have our neighborhood narrowed down, but we just can’t seem to find our house.

Maybe we’ll have to recruit some operatives on the ground. Any interested recruits on the ground in the Velenjek/Tajrish area? We might need some definitive intelligence or clarification if we get stuck or think we’ve found it. Hopefully we’ll find it soon though because while it is fun and cool playing with Google Earth, it sure has eaten up a lot of time over the past few days. Although, we’re beginning to suspect that there has been a lot of redevelopment in the area that might have claimed our house.

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Posted by Matt Smith | Filed Under General | 1 Comment 

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