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Granny scarves: I found the following on the internet and I couldn't have described it any better. Too bad I lost the link to the original site. "The foreigner women dress in basically two styles - modified western style and Iranian style. The first style usually means an oversized shirt untucked and loose pants. I never like the look of it. They look like they just rolled out of bed in their boyfriend/husbands' pajamas. The second are people who finally gave up the western clothes and dress the way the locals do. Why invent something when Iranians have been perfecting their hejab for hundreds of years. You can spot foreigners from miles away by the way they wear their scarves - granny scarves covering curlers. "

Roosari or Magnae: I stayed at my friend's house for five days when I was in Tehran. Every morning before we left the house, we got into this 5-minute heated discussion about whether I should wear a roosari or a magnae. I wanted to wear my magnae because it's easy to manage. She insisted that I should try her roosari (I was already wearing her manteau). I did give in one day and had to constantly adjust it. The next day I told her no way, I was going back to my magnae. We got into the same conversation all over again. I threatened (jokingly) that I was going to run out on the street without the magnae or the roosari if she and her friends didn't leave me alone. They teased me the whole way to the movie theater saying that I looked more devout than most women in Northern Tehran.

Chador: It means 'tent' in Farsi. It is made of  a rectangular piece of cloth without buttons, zippers or velcros. To keep it from flapping all over the place, you have to hold both sides in either with your teeth or hands. If you didn't grow up wearing one, you'll probably find it impossible to manage. I once stepped on a woman's chador and almost pulled it off her head as she was getting off the bus in front of me. Oops! I wanted to get one as a souvenir, not to wear, so I asked the guide where I could get one. He said I needed to go to a tailor shop and have it measured and tailor made. What? I thought it was just a piece of cloth. Not like it needed to be form fitting or anything. Wade, Amalia and I all thought the guide didn't know what he was talking about, so we asked the female receptionist at the hotel and she said the same thing. Hummm... Amalia and I were really curious, so we specifically went to the chador section of the bazaar and saw people buy fabrics and have them made into chadors. The cheaper fabrics were just plain black cotton, the more expensive ones had intricate designs and patterns in them. I guess it's like K-Mart chador vs. Versace chador. Over 80% of the women in Esfahan wear chadors, while less than 10% in Tehran do. Iran has no shortages of beautiful women. It's hard to convey femininity in a tent-like garment, but they manage that just fine - they've perfected chador wearing to an art. It's a treat to watch Iranian women flow through the streets with grace and style, almost like opera singers on stage.

Transportation: Iran is surprisingly easy to travel in. Iran Air flies to all major cities and is reliable and efficient. The bus system is extensive and organized. Roads are in pretty good condition. We didn't try the train, but we were told it works pretty well too.  Most of the street names are sign-posted in both Farsi and English, a legacy from the Shah era.  Navigating is totally easy.

Local Bus: Men and women ride separately; men in the front, women in the back. Even families going out together have to ride separately. There is a barrier in the middle of the bus. No gender mix here. I've routinely seen the front of the bus cramped with men, but the back only had a few female passengers, or the situation could be reversed. At main bus stations, you buy tickets from ticket booths, not from the driver. At bus stops, men pay the driver, women pay the ticket collector, usually an old man sitting in the back of the bus close to the barrier. If there is no ticket collector, women pay the driver ONLY if he steps to the door. Of course it's too much of a hassle for the driver to get up and go to the door at every stop, that's why he only does it at a few main stops where most people get on and off. Most Iranians are honest, thus the system works well here.  Before you jump on the separation issue and equate it to the US bus system in the 50's when blacks rode in the back and had to stand up if a white person wanted a seat, let me just say I don't like the bus rules here either, but I don't see it as a discrimination issue. Here, men and women get the same level of service. Men can only ride in the front of the bus period regardless how crowded it is. All three of us assumed the bus system was imposed on people by the religious fanatics hell bent on separating women from men in all public places, until my friend told me NOT SO. Up until four years ago, men and women rode together. The government separated the riders at the request of women because they were complaining about harassment on local buses.

Men and women ride together on long distance buses, metros, trains, and planes.  

Shared Taxi (Savari): They cost a lot less than regular taxis and travel on set routes along major streets. You need to know not only the name of your destination, but also the exact route to get there, and you need to convey that to the driver in Farsi. You wait at a major intersection or "meidun", and shout your destination, usually the name of the cross street, to the driver. If he goes there, he'll let you in. Otherwise, he'll speed away and you'll try the next one. It usually takes two or three savaris to get to your destination. The word thank you (merci or khali memnon) signals the driver to let you off.  Shiraz was the only place I felt comfortable taking savaris because the major street that runs across town is wide, obvious and straight and it's called Zand, totally easy to say. One day I took a savari to go to the Eram Garden. There were three people in the back, so I took the front passenger seat. When we got to the garden, everyone else had already gotten off. It was just the driver and me. I handed him a 500 Rial bill. Instead of taking the money, he reached over and grabbed my thigh. What a jerk. I threw the bill in his lap, got out of the car and slammed the door behind me. Lesson learned: NEVER TAKE THE FRONT SEAT if you are woman traveling alone.

Money: It seemed that every block in downtown had at least two banks. There is no black market here since banks offer the same rate. I hated to exchange money on the street or from some dodgy exchange office. In Iran you can exchange money easily and safely in a bank. The exchange rate is 8000 Iranian rials to a dollar. The largest bill is worth about US $1.25. A single $100 bill turns into a stack of rial notes one inch high. I had to use all four of my jean pockets to carry them all.  Iran is no doubt the cheapest ME country to travel in. A 3-course meal in a nice restaurant costs about $3. Casual meals or fast food costs about a $1. Mid-range hotels cost about $20 per night. A bus ride within the city is about 3 cents. A magnae is about $1.50. A watermelon is about 50 cents each. Gas is 7 cents per liter, diesel is even cheaper. Domestic plane tickets are about $15 one way.

Crossing the street: Crossing the street is quite scary here. You boldly step into the traffic and have faith that cars will stop for you. The first couple of days I hesitated at the curb when Amalia and Wade crossed the street just like the locals. Amalia said the traffic in Madrid is almost as bad. When I was on my own, I usually waited until someone else also wanted to cross the street and followed closely behind. Once I followed a fat lady in a chador with a kid. They stepped bravely in front of cars. I hesitated for half a second, long enough for a car to cut right between me and the fat lady.  I was left behind in the middle of the street by a fat lady with a kid! I crossed the street alright, but it definitely gave me a bigger adrenaline rush than climbing. :)

Propaganda: Except at the former US embassy, I didn't see any "Death to America" messages on billboards or in the paper. Trust me, I looked and looked. People were being extra nice to us once they found out we were Americans. It seems that Iranians are quite capable of separating the people from the government. I wish more Americans could do the same. I saw 2 daily English papers here. The international section was filled with articles criticizing the US. But hey, when was the last time you read anything positive about Iran in a US newspaper? The Iranian president Khatami is a reformist supported by the majority of the people.  There is going to be some big changes in Iran in the next few years.

Mickey Dee's: No golden arches or any American companies here because of the economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the US. Coca-Cola can be found in a few stores only. The label on the bottle says it is bottled in Mashad, Iran. I'm curious to know how Coca-Cola got around the embargo. Alcohol is prohibited but I think you can find it if you know where to look. None of us drink alcohol, so it wasn't a problem.  Credit cards issued by US banks are useless here. Iran's economy is mostly based on cash; most places don't take credit cards anyway.  The well-connected carpet dealers are the exception to this rule. They usually have agreements with banks in Dubai and can accept all major credit cards.