Hats @ Bazaar Sirwan

After the last trip to the carpet shop of 2006 (for me to buy a last minute gift for S in London), we continued to the hat shop for O to buy gifts for relatives in France. This picture should really feature S as well as O as it was S who discovered the wonderful hats at the bazaar... but she had already left on her UK get-away. O had been indoctinated into the joys of scarves (a la Arafat- dare I write this?) and hats by S the week prior to S's departure. Note our pleasant salesman. He is pictured to give a few lessons to A. who could practice his scarf-winding technique before embarking on another journey in his Aga-suit (if you know the real name of these outfits, please let me know... sorry A if I have offended).

The elderly gentlemen's club

So H and Mu cooked and we sat around and ate and talked crap. A typical evening at the elderly gentlemen's club. This was the night after Shaklawa. But all evenings here are the same. No need to document. O may have pictures of Mi and me (and others) dancing with linked pinkies.

Shaklawa

OK, so I am very late posting. These pics were taken on Friday, Dec. 16th on an impromtu trip to Shaklawa.Pic 1 is our trusty driver MU is his Monica!

Pic 2 is of the streetside market where we stopped for almonds, water and beer.




Pic 3 is of the road...










Shawklawa is amazing, although very hard to take photos which really show the contrast of the red earth, the valleys, the green, and....










The final pic fails to show how very cold we were when we arrived and discovered it really was too cold to drink the beer we bought. However, it was all in all a very enjoyable trip. Can't wait to go again! Will wear hiking boots and a warm jacket next time.

The fake Sheraton

So I have always maintained that I am a lousy cook… partly because I don't do it very often… especially the last few years, but I was starting to relearn… until I discovered the joys of the fake Sheraton – a place that some prefer to avoid. It is overpriced (meaning that it likely will cost more than $10.00 for a meal - with a few bottles of wine, over $100- and hence many can't consider eating there). I toohad planned to boycott it… until I discovered they had dai vata and other Indian delicacies on the starter menu. Now I worry I may have overdone it as
I went tonight and the staff at the bar greeted me by name and informed me my friends weren't at the bar, but in the Chinese restaurant.

Hawler Wedding Banquet

So what happens at a Kurdish wedding in Hawler? I still don't know as I seem only to come in part way through. At this particular wedding, I experienced the banquet part. I don't know if and when there is an actual ceremony (I guess it was before I arrived), but at the banquet, guests sit and the bride and groom visit each table to shake hands and take pictures with the guests. Then there is Kurdish dancing where guests form lines and hold hands by thier pinkies and dance. Finally the food comes, big trays full of fried meat... and big surprise, there is no champagne to toaste the happy couple... in fact, no alcohol of any kind.... I enjoyed the wedding immensely, but had to go out and eat again afterwards as I couldn't manage any of the food on my plate at the banquet.

Iceberg, Ice tea, Ice cube… Eskimo

Or was the last 'term of endearment' ice cream'? I certainly was called all of these by a certain Kurdish gentleman who was irate over the fact that he had surreptitiously slipped me his number one night and that I hadn’t used it. I thought that it was obviously a greater likelihood that I wouldn’t, seeing as we have no common language with which to communicate over the phone. (Hence the comment that 'Eskimo' is not really a term we use anymore was silly and wasted.)

To make matters worse, he then produced a picture (which he had snapped via cell phone and printed out on a color printer) and further complained (in front of people!) that he looked at my picture every night before sleeping… and that I hadn’t called: and then again with the ‘iceberg, ice cube, ice tea'… Me! Is this a Kurdish notion of romance?

View from the top

Last weekend I finally made it to the rooftop of the university! This first picture is of the mosque. It is just visible from my office window (to the right).

This is a street scene further right of the mosque.



This is the view of what you might see from the offices on the other side of the hall. If you look in the center of the picture, the sandy structure in the distance is the Citadel.


This is the view directly in front of my window. If it wasn't so dark, you'd be able see that the sun is setting over the prison!

Bales at Lenga

Italian leather shoes soaking in tubs of water and stuffed to regain original shape, Parisian coats with fur collars, American quilts and Korean silk and cotton futon blankets… Do they all come out of bales like this? Does the UN just drop them here? However, it works... S and T find the best stuff here and D has been a fan for a while.


Seeing as most things at this market are second-hand, some locals scorn it... But if you want real leather shoes for women, or a stylish coat, this is probably your best bet. The other markets, while they have nice shoes for men (S noted this), the bulk of women's shoes are non-leather plastic-soled made-in-China deals... and the clothes - synthetic and shipped over from Turkey.

Inshallah Airlines

Those of you waiting for news of S and T… I am sorry. It has been hard not only due to poor connections, but also because we have all been busy of late… and worse! My update will have to state that S and T have suffered extrodinarily prior to leaving on vacation. This suffering is not only from work stress (their own, mine and everyone else's) but also from the stress of extreme exasperation over travel bookings.

Where else but here are bookings changed near to the last moment... and without warning? Only on calling the airlines of their own accord were they informed of the changes. This happened not only once, but twice! And what of connecting flights? What about the cost of penalties for changing flight times every time 'Inshallah Airlines' decided to change the flight schedule? Hmmm... Lucky for S and T, God must have willed it so, because they were able to fly out on Tuesday! It is so quiet here now. I miss them and have to admit, I have not moved some of the things S left on my kitchen table for me to use in her absense as it reminds me that she will be back soon. But then again, I will also leave on Friday. I will spend 2 weeks in London and expect that all of my flights will leave without any hitches. (I could not let the lessons learned from T and S's experience go unacknowledged and have booked on Austrian Airlines instead). I anticipate my only problem will be dealing with Heathrow immigration when they see Iraq stamped all over the insides of my passport.... and dealing with angry emails from K in Frankfurt who was excited at the prospect of a visit when I was still planning to travel via Frankfurt with 'Inshallah'. Any guesses which airline now bears this moniker?

Street Scenes

This is a scene from Sirwan Bazaar.


And this is the view from the taxi on the way home. Although the picture may not be of much interest to those outside, this was a different route from the bazaar to New City! We passed through residential areas which was a nice change of pace.

Alienated by technology?

So ironically, after posting about how I syndicated my blog so that you could 'subscribe' and truly get it delivered daily... I stopped posting. Although much has happened over the last week... and which I will return to in upcoming posts: trips to Lenga - a different kind of bazaar, curious meetings at the fake Sheraton and Hawler Plaza, Kurdish food at my home, Kurdish dance lessons/a birthday party in a local women's university dorm (in full Kurdish dress), an incident in S's bathroom which now make her afraid to take a shower, suspicious dissappearance of musician after wild party, Z's promotion to King of the World... and more (badminton and art included), I just couldn't post anything. I have been sitting sad and lonely in the midst of all this due to an innability to get online and stay there for more than a minute or two.

So people think that technology alienates. This could be true for some, but for many of us 'expats', we know better. Friends or family who only live a few blocks away meet up once a week or so... friends and family (when all concerned are living abroad) may spend a few minutes or hours every night on msn, skype etc... Anyway, I now have a more dependable connection at the office, so please post and let me know which of the stories mentioned you'd like to hear first.