"It's the diet," he said without hesitation. "Less refined sugar."

It's true that in Iran people still sometimes sip their tea with sugar cubes clamped between their front teeth; it's true that Coca-Cola has a vast following and that cakes and pastries are often the gift of choice when you're invited to someone's home. But fresh and dried fruit dominate the sweets tables; dried cranberries and currants join saffron in flavoring the rice; meat is broiled; and water is a staple at meals. In addition, it's fine to drink the tap water in Iranian homes and hotels. Like so much about Iran, diet is a combination of past and present, historic and contemporary, Persian pride and planetary pop culture.

I went to Iran just after Thanksgiving to attend a conference called "Women as Peacemakers through Religion." The group was comprised of 20 women, half from Iran and the rest from Senegal, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Pakistan and the United States. The conference was co-hosted by Tehran's Institute for Inter-religious Dialogue and the Geneva-based World Council of Churches.

It had been six years since my last visit and it was a treat to visit with old friends and make new ones. But most important, it gave me a sense of place and possibility: Is American reporting on Iran reliable? Is the US government's view valid? How do Iranians reflect on future relations with the United States, in public and in private?