I listened to an awesome interview this morning on NPR. It was Marjane Satrapithe, the author of the graphic novel Persepolis. It's one of the best things Matt ever made me read. The author grew up in Iran and was in her early teens when the current government took over in 1979. She writes the stories from the point of view of a very opinionated, witty, smart young girl (obviously a dangerous thing in Iran in 1979). I definitely recommend listening to the interview as she's still very opinionated, witty and intelligent and she also has some fascinating commentary on Iran today.
She now lives in France and when asked how she views the two countries in which she has spent her life she says, "Iran is like a mother and France is like my wife. You only have one mother and she can be crazy, she can do anything...it's my mother. And if she is sick I will be really sad. Now your wife...you choose her, you can divorce her, you can cheat on her, you can make another baby with someone else...it is a different relationship."