Lesson 8
Visa Story: Portugal
Intermediate
Lesson Infoاطلاعات درس
Iranian citizens have faced increasing difficulty obtaining visas in recent years, especially to countries in North America and Europe. This story was taken from the website VisaStory, which collects first-person stories submitted by Iranians regarding their lengthy, yet often fruitless efforts, to secure foreign visas. Of particular frustration to many Iranians is the multi-month wait for interviews and the de facto necessity of going through intermediary agencies that charge exorbitant fees. The issue has also received some coverage in press outside Iran, including this May 2017 article in The Guardian.
Tags
Segmentsبخش ها
براي نوروز تصميم گرفتم که سفري تفريحي به اروپا داشته باشم.
Persian 1/28
Barāy-e nouruz tasmim gereftam ke safar-i tafrihi be orupā dāshte bāsham.
For Nowruz, I decided to take [lit. to have] a recreational trip to Europe.
هدف پرتغال بود، چون براي اخذ ويزاي شينگن ناشناخته تر بود و گرفتن وقتش هم راحت تر از سفارت باقي کشورها…
Persian 2/28
Hadaf porteqāl bud, chon barāy-e axz-e vizā-ye shingen nāshenāxte-tar bud va gereftan-e vaqt-ash ham rāhat-tar az sefārat-e bāqi-ye keshvar-hā…
[The] destination [lit. goal] was Portugal, because it was less popular [lit. more unknown] for obtaining a Schengen visa and also taking an appointment was easier than the embassies of other countries...
بر اساس اعلاميه‌هاي سايت تمامي مدارک مورد نياز را گردآوري کردم،
Persian 3/28
Bar asās-e e’lāmiye-hā-ye sāyt tamāmi-ye madārek-e moured-e niyāz rā gerdāvari kardam.
I gathered all required documents according to the website's announcements.
بر اساس وقت گرفته شده راس ساعت 8:40 صبح خود را به درب سفارت رساندم.
Persian 4/28
Bar asās-e vaqt-e gerefte shode ra’s-e sā’at-e hasht o chehel deiqe-ye [see note] sobh xod rā be darb-e sefārat resāndam.
Based on the reserved time [lit. taken time], I arrived at [lit. I took myself to] the embassy's door at 8:40 AM on the dot.
The speaker doesn't properly enunciate the first ق in دقیقه (minute). Sometimes speakers will drop or soften the first ق when it's in close proximity to another ق.
ساعتي که بايد وارد سفارت مي شدم 9 صبح بود.
Persian 5/28
Sā’at-i ke bāyad vāred-e sefārat mishodam noh-e sobh bud.
The time I had to enter the embassy was at 9 in the morning.
راس ساعت زنگ درب را زدم و آقايي ايراني مشخصاتم را پرسيد. معرفي کردم و گفت منتظر باش…
Persian 6/28
Ra’s-e sā’at zang-e darb rā zadam va āqā-yi Irāni moshaxasāt-am rā porsid. Mo’arefi kardam va goft montazer bāsh…
I hit the doorbell right on time and an Iranian man asked my credential. I introduced (myself) and he told me to wait...
سرماي بهمن ماه، تا مغز استخوانم رسوخ کرده بود
Persian 7/28
Sarmā-ye bahman māh, tā maqz-e ostoxān-am rosux karde bud
The cold of the month of Bahman had penetrated to the marrow of my bones
و به خاطر ناراحتي کليه نياز شديدي به دستشويي داشتم.
Persian 8/28
va be xāter-e nārāhati-ye koliye niyāz-e shadid-i be dastshuyi dāshtam.
and due to my kidney problem I direly needed a restroom.
اما براي اينکه وقتم از دست نرود، تحمل کردم.
Persian 9/28
Amā bārāy-e inke vaqt-am az dast naravad, tahhamol kardam.
But I endured so that my appointment wouldn't get lost (so that I wouldn't lose my turn).
تنها من و يک نفر ديگر جلوي درب سفارت بوديم…
Persian 10/28
Tanhā man va yek nafar-e digar jelo-ye darb-e sefārat budim…
Only me and another person were in front of the embassy's door...
تا اينکه بعد از گذشت 80 دقيقه يعني 10:20 دقيقه صبح از پشت آيفون براي ورود صدايم کرد.
Persian 11/28
Tā inke ba’d az gozasht-e hashtad daqiqe ya’ni dah o bist daqiqe-ye sobh az posht-e āyfon barāy-e vorud sedā-yam kard.
[Not] until after the passing of 80 minutes, meaning at 10:20 in the morning, he called me through the intercom to enter.
until after the passing of 80 minutes, meaning at 10:20 in the morning, he called me from behind the door buzzer to enter.
اولين چيزي که به چشمم خورد، سطل زباله پر از پوست ميوه ی اين کارمند سفارت بود.
Persian 13/28
Avalin chiz-i ke be cheshm-am xord, satl-e zobāle-ye por az pust-e mive-ye in kārmand-e sefārat bud.
The first thing that caught my eye was a wastebasket full of fruit peels belonging to this employee of the embassy.
گويا در تمام اين مدت زير گرماي بخاري هاي سفارت در حال خوردن پرتغال و سيب بود
Persian 14/28
Guyā dar tamām-e in modat zir-e garmā-ye boxāri-hā-ye sefārat dar hāl-e xordan-e porteqāl-o sib bud
Apparently, all this time he had been eating apples and oranges under the warmth of the embassy's heaters
در حال (dar hale) marks the continuousness of the action.
و اهميتي نداشت که يک همزبانش در سرماي شهر, بيرون منتظر است.
Persian 15/28
va ahamiyat-i nadāsht ke yek hamzabān-ash dar sarmā-ye shahr, birun montazer ast.
and it wasn't important (to him) that a co-lingual [see Note] is waiting outside in the city's cold weather.
همزبان (hamzaban) is a combination of ham (same) and zaban (tongue). It refers to people who share a common language. The closest English equivalent is "colingual". However "hamzaban" in Persian doesn't have the technical, linguistic-y feel that colingual has in English.
نگاهي به مدارک انداخت و گفت مدارک ناقصه…
Persian 16/28
Negāhi be madārek andāxt va goft madārek nāqese…
He took a look at the documents and said the documents are incomplete...
توضيح دادم که تمام آنچه که در سايت ذکر کرده بوديد را گردآوري کردم.
Persian 17/28
Tozih dādam ke tamām-e ānche ke dar sāyt zekr karde budid rā gerdāvari kardam.
I explained that I gathered everything that you had mentioned on the website .
خيلي صريح گفت «مي گم کامل نيست، برو کاملش کن و بيا»
Persian 18/28
Xeyli sarih goft <<migam kāmel nist, boro kāmel-esh kon va biyā.
He very explicitly said: “I am saying it is not complete, go make it complete and come (back)”.
پرسيدم دقيقا با چه مدرکي کامل مي شود. گفت: «ترجمه‌ی شناسنامه».
Persian 19/28
Porsidam daqiqan bā che madreki kāmel mishavad. Goft: ''Tarjome-ye shenāsnāme''.
I asked exactly with what document does it [my application] get completed. He said: “Translation of birth certificate”.
گفتم آخر در سايت نبود، گفت مدارک شينگن همه جا يکسان هست.
Persian 20/28
Goftam āxar dar sāyt nabud, goft madārek-e shingen hame jā yeksān hast.
I said but it was not on the website. He said Schengen documents are the same everywhere.
بايد سايت هاي ديگر را چک مي کردي…
Persian 21/28
Bāyad sāyt-hā-ye digar rā chek mikardi…
You should have checked other websites as well...
با التماس گفتم، اگر ممکن است مدارک من را قبول کن تا وقتم از دست نرود.
Persian 22/28
Bā eltemās goftam, agar momken ast madārek-e man rā qabul kon tā vaqt-am az dast naravad.
I said, beggingly, if it is possible you accept my documents so my turn doesn't do to waste.
قول مي دهم زود شناسنامه را ترجمه کنم و تحويل دهم.
Persian 23/28
Qol midaham zud shenāsnāme rā tarjome konam va tahvil daham.
I promise I will translate my birth certificate quickly and deliver it.
زير بار نرفت…
Persian 24/28
Zir-e bār naraft…
He didn't budge...
بار (bār) is a noun and means a load, burden, or weight. The phrase زیر بار نرفت translated literally means something like "under the load, he didn't go." In this segment, it means "to accept" in the context of accepting another person's argument or point. In other contexts, it can mean "to take on" a debt. Here's an example sentence for this context: بخاطر خرج عروسی دخترش مجبور شد بره زیر بار قرض (bexāter-e xarj-e arusi-e doxtaresh majbur shod bere zir-e bār-e qarz) She had to take on a debt to cover the cost of her daughter's wedding.
وقتم سوخت و چون ديگر سايت وقت خالي نداشت، عطاي سفر نوروز را به لقايش بخشيدم…
Persian 25/28
Vaqt-am suxt va chon digar sāyt vaqt-e xāli nadāsht, atā-ye safar-e nouruz rā be leqā-yash baxshidam...
My turn was burnt and because the website didn't have any other free time, I all but gave up on the Noruz trip...
عطا را به لقا بخشیدن (atā rā be leqā baxshidan) is a saying in Persian that means to give up completely on something due to its being hard to achieve. "Ata" and "leqa" do have separate meanings on their own but they are seldom used in Persian. (They are more frequently used in Arabic, the language from which the words were borrowed.)
هنوز حس نفرتي که از آن به ظاهر ايراني که 80 دقيقه من را در سرما نگه داشت
Persian 26/28
Hanuz hes-e nefrat-i ke az ān be zāher Irāni ke hashtād daqiqe man rā dar sarmā negah dāsht
To this day [lit. still], that feeling of hate for that fake [lit. on the surface] Iranian who kept me in the cold for 80 minutes
و خيلي راحت اشکال خودشان را نپذيرفت و برنامه ريزي چند ماهه من را نابود کرد، در تک تک سلول‌هاي من هست…
Persian 27/28
va xeyli rāhat eshkāl-e xod-esh-ān rā napaziroft va barnāme rizi-ye chand māhe-ye man rā nābud kard, dar tak tak-e selul-hā-ye man hast…
and very simply did not accept their own problem [regarding the incomplete website information] and destroyed my several months of planning, is in my every single cell.
پذیرفتن (paziroftan) is more or less synonymous with قبول کردن (qabul kardan) from Segment 22.
هرگز نمي توانم او را ببخشم…
Persian 28/28
Hargez nemitavānam u rā bebaxsham…
I cannot ever [lit. never] forgive him...