Good Eid to all!

It is Eid and the city is showing signs of increased energy already after just one day not started without breakfast. There are more children underfoot than pavements... all of them shouting and stuffing themselves with snacks from street vendors, setting off firecrackers, smoking (yes smoking - even those as little as 6 years old!), piling 2 and 3 together onto motorbikes... and most ubiqitous of all, shooting each other and passer-byers with toy guns... one good aim got me in the backside.

Of course many shops are shut today, so T and I went for a pleasant stroll along the city wall. The outer part of the wall is bordered with grass and park benches. Inside, the wall is lined with homes made of stone and plaster painted all sorts of pastel colors with contrasting wooden doors. The green, blue and pink paint somehow looking natural. Maybe because the colors, like the stone, feel cool (as do the courtyards the wooden doors open up into). Not belonging to these small communities, I feel a bit like a voyeur as we walk along these narrow streets.

On the way back, we stopped at Caravan Saray - a hotel which 500 years prior functıoned as a camel stop for travelers on theır way to Iraq and Iran. The man at the gate, Mehmet Nasip Önen, was proud to show us around and offer us tea. He (and his friend who worked in some capacity for UN peacekeepıng forces) were also keen to show us thir ID cards - whıch somehow proved that they were trusted by American and other journalists as guides to Iraq and the surroundıng area and were authorized to carry weapons.

After tea, we continued on, enjoyıng kebab in the street. And now? Now we are now safely esconsed ın the Internet cafe. Tomorrow we will shop as it will be the last chance before retuning to Iraqi Kurdistan.