People stared at me and asked with gestures or words, "Where are you from?" When I said, "America," they grinned, smiled, said, "Welcome," or drew a heart sign in the air.
THE VAKIL Mosque, which is being restored, evokes the stately grandeur of its 18th-century origins, in Shiraz.(photo credit: PAUL ROSS)ByJUDITH FEIN