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[Previous entry: "U.S. Faces Big Illegal Immigrant Problem"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "New Passport Rules Are Put Off by U.S. until October 2004"] 09/13/2003 Entry: "Iranian's 6-Year Journey to Celebrate Democracy" Some people are born with a patriotic fervor for America. Others come to love the country despite its faults.
September 10, 2003 Reza K. Baluchi, for example, fell in love with America after spending the last four months jogging its open highways in the name of global peace. Along the way, he was locked up in an Arizona jail cell, attacked by a bear in California and forced to dive into a drainage ditch in Newark to avoid a speeding car. "This is the greatest country in the entire world," said Mr. Baluchi, a 30-year-old Iranian whose passion for the United States remains undimmed. He spoke to a reporter by telephone through an interpreter yesterday from Edison, N.J., where he was resting his weary feet before the final stretch of his trip. When he runs across the George Washington Bridge tomorrow morning, turns right and trots down Broadway, it will mark the end of a journey that began six years ago on a bicycle in Iran. After pedaling through Asia, Europe, Africa and South America, he entered the country from Mexico and left Los Angeles last May, headed to New York. Although he had hoped to end his worldwide peace tour at ground zero for tomorrow's anniversary of the terror attack, he encountered a glitch: city officials told him he could not enter the site. So instead of laying flowers at the official memorial, he will spend an hour in Battery Park hoping to chat with passers-by. He may be disappointed, but he has not changed his mind about the country he now calls home. "Any place that has good people, that is a good place," he said in Farsi and broken English. "All over, the United States has good people. All its states are great." The shortened version of Mr. Baluchi's story goes like this: He was born in Rasht, in northern Iran, and as a young man was publicly flogged for drinking during Ramadan. Later, he was hanged by his wrists from a tree for wearing a Michael Jackson T-shirt. After serving 18 months in prison for associating with "counter-revolutionaries," he left Iran on his bicycle to spread the word that war and despotism were no good. For six years, he said, he pedaled his way through civil wars and deserts, traveling 46,000 miles. At first, he planned to end his travels in Canada, but while standing on the Champs-Élysées on Sept. 11, 2001, he changed his mind. He decided he would ride to ground zero for the first anniversary of the attacks and present the American people with the good wishes for peace he had collected on his trip. Along the way he was arrested by United States immigration officials while sleeping on the American side of the Mexican border. Mr. Baluchi said he had mistakenly wandered over at night. The officials said he was a border jumper. For the next four months, he was locked in a cell in Florence, Ariz., and might have been deported had David Hyslop, a struggling 47-year-old entrepreneur, not undertaken efforts to have his case dismissed. After helping Mr. Baluchi win his freedom, Mr. Hyslop decided to accompany him on a cross-country trip. He arranged for the donation of a road-worthy recreational vehicle; he drove while Mr. Baluchi ran. Their route went east through New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. Somewhere outside Little Rock, a dog ran beside him for six or seven miles. Impressed, Mr. Baluchi adopted the stray and named him Rocky. Why? "The dog was strong." In Oklahoma City, Mr. Baluchi laid a wreath in commemoration of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In Shanksville, Pa., he did the same in remembrance of United Airlines Flight 93. In Washington, he ran past the White House and sent the president an invitation to run with him for a while. There has been no response. Mr. Baluchi ran eight hours daily, averaging somewhere close to 30 miles. He cooked pasta and chicken in the RV's kitchenette. He went through 13 pairs of shoes. He will arrive in New York City bearing gifts. He wants to donate the bicycle he rode across the globe to the Fire Department. "These are very brave men," he said, "and I want to give them something. The bicycle is the only thing I own." As for the future, Mr. Baluchi wants to live in America and write a book about his travels. He is not averse, however, to leaving for a worthy cause. "Now I want to make the Tour de France," he said.
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