On my last day in Tehran, a fellow guest at the Homa Hotel asked where I was from. When I said I was American, I was greeted with wide smiles. I asked why. "Because America is a dreamland. It's a dreamland for everyone, even the Europeans, though they don't like to admit it," she said without hesitation. She said she was glad to meet me because, "You represent the land we dream of. You make it real."