Soon after entering the park we realized we were wrong; a big billboard informed us that “the Islamic Hijab is required in the park since the male gardeners and the facility workers will be present.” The garden was filled with flowers and bushes but no trees were insight; so there were no escape from the heath. From the entrance gates we had to walk to the other side of the park where an activity center was located with some treadmill and bodybuilding machines.

We started our conversation with some of the women while waiting for their coach who was supposed to come at 8AM. We figured most of women exercising in that park live close by; although commuting is not a problem for most of these women they have to face other problems: Zahra 30 complains that the Park does not have any play ground for children and it is troubling to leave the kids with someone else at home. Roobabeh 55, who has made the morning exercises part of her daily routine for over a month now, is happy that the city hall had made it possible for women to get together and have some fun in an positive environment.

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