137.
   We walked up the street and stopped in front of a small apartment building. Conrad pushed a code on the gate. We walked up a couple of flights of stairs and stopped in front of a door. Conrad knocked. 
   The door flew open revealing a beautiful woman. “Conrad, dear heart! It’s been too long! You are bigger and better looking than ever! Who is your handsome friend?”

   “This is Oliver. We sailed together from Valparaiso. Oliver, this is Amira.”
   “Sailed together?”, smiled Amira. “Is that what they’re calling it now days? Tell me, Oliver has my dear friend been taking good care of you?”
   “He broke the neck of a giant praying mantis that was trying to kill us.”

   “Oh, Conrad, did you really? Bravo! And who are these two magnificent canines?” 
   “I am Pat.”
   “I am Nanette.”
   “I am very pleased to meet you both. Come in everyone. Come in and relax. What brings you to Tehran?”
   Conrad put an arm around Amira and leaned down to kiss her. She kissed him back then stepped away. “Conrad, shame on you! That was then and this is now. Oh, look at you, Conrad. You travel the world while I wither away in Tehran under a hideous theocracy. Why is it always the same? When the people throw off the shackles of one tyrant, their leaders become the next tyrant, from Napoleon to Lenin, from Castro to Khomeini. You are an American, aren’t you, Oliver? Your country is an exception, or it was an exception. Why have you come here?”
   I hung my head. "I've learned how my country has been running rabid in the world. I guess I’m here to learn what we did to you."