Irish woman is the first to surf in Iran

2+2=5 · 02/10/12 - 21:49

When Irishwoman Easkey Britton climbed onto a surfboard on a beach in Iran, the whole of the local village turned out to watch.

"They were just so friendly and so curious - they hadn't seen surfing before," she said.

Easkey, 26, now stars in a documentary about becoming the first woman to surf in the Islamic country.

.....

Easkey travelled to southern Iran last September with Marion, who is French. It was a journey that transformed the women's view of the country.

"We headed off to this Islamic Republic as two women looking for waves," she said.

It seemed a little bizarre and they had a few preconceptions that were quickly squashed.

"The moment we landed, people were incredibly welcoming and Iran has an amazing heritage. Yes, as women we had to have our heads covered and it was incredibly hot."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19802822

It's a nice story, I think. Wouldn't most of us love to go around the world doing what you love doing most? Nice that she learnt a bit more about the country and that it didn't match up to her initial ideas of what it would be like.

Glowbot · 02/10/12 - 21:54

Those hills look cool.
I love surfing but I think somewhere like Iran would put me off as much as sharks would.

Grabid Rannies · 02/10/12 - 21:56

I'm glad preconceptions were subverted, but seriously, not one woman has ever surfed there before? :eek:

When was the first man

welsh_pete · 02/10/12 - 21:56

The western media will convince you that Iran is populated by dark-aged dwellers living in mud huts. If you look elsewhere you'll find alternative views.

Pet1986 · 02/10/12 - 21:59

What a lovely and positive story

[Deleted User] · 02/10/12 - 22:07

Nice story. But I would take with a pinch of salt, the comment

'they hadn't seen surfing before'.

Iranians are a well educated and fairly advanced lot and I would be surprised if they hadn't.

Nice to hear stories like this though.

workhorse · 02/10/12 - 22:10

A woman has been in space but had not surfed in Iran now that's amazing.

Casual · 02/10/12 - 22:11

I'm surprised it's taken until 2012 for a woman in Iran to decide that going surfing might be a nice idea. I look forward to the next uplifting update about how another woman was the first to do some light gardening.

[Deleted User] · 02/10/12 - 22:17

And she'll have fun, fun, fun 'til the VEVAK come and put her away...

workhorse · 02/10/12 - 22:18

I told my son about this story,and my incredulity Iranian woman didn't surf there,he said because their not allowed out of the house,I said that's not TRUE as I remember meeting an Iranian girl in Paris at a youth hostel and she was good fun and seemed more worldly than me.

Grabid Rannies · 02/10/12 - 22:36

Hmm I suppose if we transferred the claim to Bangkok we might indeed find scope for the waters to be muddied with the sex issue

[Deleted User] · 02/10/12 - 22:39

I wish they all could be Bandar e Abbas girls.

http://tedchang.free.fr/WestAsia/Iran/BandarBeach.jpg

Voynich · 02/10/12 - 23:20

Takes all sorts I suppose. But the amount of incredible historical and cultural sites that would be amazing to see in Iran and she goes surfing!

Junipert · 03/10/12 - 01:11

Now what would have been breaking news if the first Irish woman to have a playful water fight with young Iranians in the summer heat.:)

jra · 03/10/12 - 13:29

My post has been removed, therefore I can't contribute any more.

DaisyBill · 03/10/12 - 13:39

This story would have been much nicer IMO if an Iranian woman had been the first woman to surf in Iran.
I saw a programme a few years ago in which Iranian women went skiing in the mountainous area of Iran, away from the 'religious police'. Only there they were able to wear western style ski clothes and mingle freely with other skiers.
I find it very sad that people's freedoms are so curtailed by religious beliefs. My favourite thing is swimming, and I can't imagine what it would feel like if I was suddenly forbidden to do it, or only permitted to do it under very limited conditions.

exlordlucan · 03/10/12 - 13:44

jra wrote: »

My post has been removed, therefore I can't contribute any more.

I reckon a page full has gone.

Si_Crewe · 03/10/12 - 13:45

exlordlucan wrote: »

I reckon a page full has gone.

How odd that a full page of uncontentious posts seem to have vanished, mine included.

treme · 03/10/12 - 13:47

Mine too. Quelle surprise?

Voynich · 03/10/12 - 14:53

I suppose what saddens me is that although there was inexcusable poverty in Iran, unlike Saudi Arabia it was considered sophisticated and cosmopolitan pre1979 in the cities. Now we're getting excited at a woman surfing.

blueblade · 03/10/12 - 15:07

I thought it was going to be that she was the first to surf the internet !!!

sutie · 03/10/12 - 19:00

Si_Crewe wrote: »

How odd that a full page of uncontentious posts seem to have vanished, mine included.

And mine.

I wonder what we said that was so unacceptable? The gist of mine was that it would have been wonderful if the story was un-newsworthy because all women in Islamic countries could do unremarkable things like this whenever they wanted to.

Is that really such an unacceptable thing to say?

Grabid Rannies · 03/10/12 - 19:26

I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice the extreme truncation. At the point I went to bed last night (about 11:15ish) it was into the second page.

I'll say for the record (as transient as it will seemingly stand) that I said nothing remotely contentious about 'the woman', 'Iran', or anything else. My first post expressed surprise merely at the timing, and I queried when the first man might have surfed there, just as comparison. Obviously surfing is going to be far more popular in some countries than others, not that I thought national statistics were kept everywhere on that kind of thing.

It's a mystery, as Toyah would have said!!

MAW · 03/10/12 - 19:26

The only newsworthy thing is that it's news that a woman managed a sneaky surf, and avoided that classic Californian mistake of getting stoned afterwards.

treme · 03/10/12 - 19:29

sutie wrote: »

And mine. I wonder what we said that was so unacceptable? The gist of mine was that it would have been wonderful if the story was un-newsworthy because all women in Islamic countries could do unremarkable things like this whenever they wanted to.

Is that really such an unacceptable thing to say?

Mine was a joke, a decent one too for a change.

2+2=5 · 03/10/12 - 19:30

MAW wrote: »

The only newsworthy thing is that it's news that a woman managed a sneaky surf, and avoided that classic Californian mistake of getting stoned afterwards.

So you missed the bit where the police checked up on them to see they were ok?

Good to see English comprehension standards in the UK are at an all time high, eh?

Hey there!

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Irish woman is the first to surf in Iran

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