Source: NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14300623
All Things Considered, September 10, 2007 · After months in an Iranian jail, Haleh Esfandiari was back at work Monday at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. Esfandiari, 67, who runs the Middle East program at the center, told reporters how she kept her spirits up while in solitary confinement after being accused of trying to promote a velvet revolution in Iran.
She said it was hard to lose eight months of her life, and that as a sociable person, she had many bouts of loneliness and despair while in prison. So, she says, she exercised every day and started a routine.
"I always remember my friends who went to English boarding schools who told me that in the evening, you change and have dinner," she said. "... So I changed around 6 p.m. and then started reading."
Two other Americans are still being held at Evin Prison. Esfandiari says she only learned about California peace activist Ali Shakeri once she was out, but she knew that Kian Tajbaksh, an urban-planning specialist, was there.