Picnic #3

And although on Friday, I thought that all the picnicing was over, it was not to be so. Mo called me up (a friend I hadn't been in touch with for a while) and invited me on a picnic with his family... So here I am at my final picnic of the Nawrooz break in a spot somewhere between Hawler and Sallahadin.

I don't know who this boy is as Mo had too many sisters and brothers with children for me to keep everyone straight. This boy is holding the flag that Mu tried so desperately to find on the way to picnic #2.

This is one of Mo's brothers' wife and her sister. They were nice to me (as Mo spent his time playing cards with the men) and even though we had serious language barriers, we seemed to have no trouble communicating. The women seemed to feel that I fit into the family well (at least with the women and children) and asked if Mo and I had plans to marry. Hmmmm.... I guess Mo doesn't really hang out with his family much or they'd know this wouldn't be likely.

The gaggle of little girls dancing with Khanzad Hotel in the background.

The DJ.

And the bonfire which ended the evening.... but not without a little more dolma and kefta.

Nawrooz Picnic (Picnic # 2)

On Nawrooz, I went on my second picnic of the Nawrooz break. This was an event I had really been looking forward to since my friend Mu had mentioned plans with someone I would like to call 'the Godfather' to go to Lalish. I won't write about Lalish here as unfortunately, we didn't make it. At 8:00 I was ready and waiting... Then we went to pic up K, his French wife and twin daughters. We also picked up another SUV as we needed more room for all his extended family and professor friend. Unfortunately, the friend was still in bed and we had to wait. Then the Godfather, in his own SUV, was busy fighting with his passengers and passport control, so we really weren't on the road to anywhere until 10:30. At least while waiting, we were able to shop... Mu wanted to decorate the car like everyone else's with Kurdish flags, but what he ended up with was a tribute to Rastafarians; green, yellow and red with a lion in the center. Ah well, he didn't decorate the car, but wore it around his neck instead. Then after another 2-3 hours of driving around, Mu gave up on trying to find Lalish and we settled for Akre... At least this way, there is more that remains for me to do in Kurdistan. Anyway, the photos below are not the best from the picnic, but I would prefer to post for now until someone else shares their photos with me.

This is one of K's twins, pleased to be the coolest one at the party.

K's brother, his wife and me. As much as I don't care for kebab... K's brother's kebabs were fantastic.

K's brother's wife and something that was surely delicious.

And this is Mk and Dk... Mk led the 'halai' so I was able to learn yet another form of Kurdish line dancing from Turkey... different from the one danced by students at Ruwandez... and different from the one danced the evening before with the Kurds from Iran.

Shinglbana in Ruwandez

Although I had also been to Rowandez before, I hadn't even heard of Shinglbana. Up to this point, as the weather was quite bad, the highlight of the picnic was really mostly the opportunity for teachers and students (and students with students) to bond... and to be entertained by 'Bellydancer'. But Shinglbana was something else. There were these little cars that you get in and you are propelled along a treacherous little track, braking by yourself when necessary.

This is new teacher Tf getting into his car. He had the great misfortune to be sandwiched between me and Bellydancer... me braking continuously in front of him... and Bellydancer carrening into him from behind at full speed.

This picture taken on the way back up the track hopefully shows why I felt the need to brake all the way down... Too bad you can't see the signs that say "Brake" and "Ride at your own risk".

This is the Shinglbana dance club. While people like Tf decided to experience the 'rollercoaster' a few more times, some of us others danced to the Kurdish music blaring from the bus' distressed sound system.

And finally, we have a view of the bus entertainers in action: Bellydancer dancing... and Re playing the daf.

Picnic portaits

These pics are of key personalities from my first picnic... and first outing with students en masse.
This is 'Bellydancer'. He is thusly named for his non-stop dancing... some of it quite acrobatic, especially moves undertaken when the bus was in motion. This is him using the daf (tamborine) as an umbrella.
This is B. The rifle is not his, but we thought he looked appropriately serious holding it given his garb and against the backdrop at Jundian.

These are some other key personalities from my first picnic. Note R, our picnic organizer. He is the one looking straight at the camera.

Guly Ali Beg... again!

So the picture below was taken on my first read picnic in Kurdistan... and second trip to Guli Ali Beg.

The students are pleased to pose in front of the centerpiece of the $5000 Iraqi dinar!

Tawla

Don't know if Mt won or lost this game, but judging by the fact that I only see 1,500 Iraqi dinar by his elbow, the stakes seem lower than usual! Anyway, I post this picture because the people who play backgammon here amaze me with their skill and lightening speed. As soon as the die stop rolling, the other player immediately picks up and rolls them without waiting or watching. At a split second glance, he knows what move he will be making and what numbers he hopes his die will land on. This must have been a rare moment of stillness.

Poofy at New City

Got to love Mr. Security's new poofy pal.

D's B-day

So when in Hawler, we just survive from one B-day to the next... D's birthday was really some time ago, but I am posting now as we miss her... (Hope she is having fun in Paris). This pic shows her and S and a gift from Z and E... Too bad you can't see the Americana hose on the Nargile.

High School in Kurdistan

What were your experiences of high school? Maybe, like me, your experiences of high school are from both sides - as student and teacher... and maybe neither experience was particularly brilliant. Although I rather enjoyed teaching high school in Japan and Korea, it's hard to imagine teaching high school here.

Like NE Asia, the learning is teacher-centered and students memorize everything from their textbooks (which are left over from the 70s - This is NOT an exaggeration). There is no library, there are no supplemetary materials, no photocopiers for teachers, no... Well, I think you get the point. The building itself it old, run down, decorated with graffitti, the halls and calssrooms lined with trash. But on a more positive note, the classrooms were unexpectedly energetic! Every time the teacher asked (or didn't ask) a question, the students hands all shot up and they squirmed in their seats anxious for a nod from the teacher - an invitation to stand up and speak. Soemtimes if the answer was incorrect, the teacher would nod at another student and they would start speaking overtop of the first one. All in all, it was quite intersting to watch. I viewed two lessons; English and Arabic before a bell rang signalling the end of school - or at least the first school. All the girls (schools are segregated) packed up and filed out of the school and the school's office was closed and locked. Then the office across the hall was opened and the boys filed in. The out-of-focus picture below is from the girl's school.

The school was in Sallahadin. The picture below this are all of the area:

Khanzad...

Sallahadin...

My host K and I.

Bekhal & Ruwandes

During the last week of Mom's visit, we took advantage of Mu's generosity and borrowed his vehicle one more time to tour the area North of Hawler (since mom was impressed and surprised to find that Kurdistan is more than a flat dusty...) Anyway, we did the following loop: Hawler - Shaklawa - Bekhal - Ruwandes - Jundian - Guli Ali Beg - Shaklawa - Hawler.


The above two photos are taken at Bekhal.


And these are of Ruwandes- for me, by far the most stunning.

Jundian & Guli Ali Beg

This is the final leg of the loop (starting from Shaklawa and including all the pretty waterfalls).

On the road from Ruwandez (towards Jundian)

Jundian

Guli Ali Beg - You can find this picture on the 5000 Iraqi dinar.

Fuzzy Picnic Pic

Friday is not only for praying, it is also for picnics. This was the view for almost the entire way back to Hawler from Sulemaniyah... And almost the whole way back, our driver's wife kept calling him in a voice loud and agitated enough for us to hear her even though the phone was pressed tightly against his ear. Seems she was eager for him to get home and take her on a picnic too. Anyway, since then I have also been on my own picnic (with colleagues and students), but unlike this one, ours was in the rain. More later...

MaDonal

A fast food restaurant in Suli; but as I didn't go in to sample the cuisine, I can't comment on the taste in comparison to the chain it bears resemblance to. I wonder if it is true that copyright regulations don't apply in post-conflict zones.

A non-white Monica

So Mom noticed that all Monicas (have I told you that Toyota Landcruisers go by the monicker Monica in Kurdistan?) seem to be white!

Ha explained that Monicas are called Monicas because of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky - I invite anyone to elaborate on the significant of this vehicle in their relationship... and they are white because Northern Iraq is too hot in the summer.

Fair enough. Anyway, had to take the picture to prove that they do in fact come in other colors - even in Kurdistan.

Thursday in Suli

We went to Chia Azmar in the early morning on the second day in Suli... This is a view from near the top.

Another view...

After the mountaintop, we went to the bazaar to shop... we bought dictionaries (English-Kurdish) and browsed all the wares from Turkey. This was the view of a live turkey market from a bridge above.

After this, we went to the Palace Hotel for coffee and walked slowly back to our own hotel stopping at the Antique bazaar on the way back to our hotel. There we met Ha who informed us that an associate of Mu wanted to take us for dinner at Revan (probably the best -and most expensive- Turkish restaurant in Kurdistan). It was nice (as usual). But by the end, we were too full to even stand up, let alone do anything else (and I had been hoping to meet up with D for drinks.

Anyway, I managed to meet D and H for coffee the following morning (Friday) before heading back to Hawler.

And this is a fuzzy view of the mountains as we were exiting Sulemaniyah on Friday morning.

The trip to Sulemaniyah

So after a lot of stalling, on Tuesday night I finally decided that the following morning (9:30am) would be the time to take my mother to Sulemaniyah. Unfortunately, after stalling on the decision-making, 'Monica' also decided to stall... Seems we left lights on her control panel on and sapped her poor battery of all energy, meaning that Ha (trusted driver/security personnel?) had to go for jumper cables. After jump-starting, we had to drive the cables home and return to New City just one more time to pick up my forgotten mobile phone. I am so glad our university driver was not the driver for this trip or I never would have lived down yet another instance of me leaving my cell phone somewhere.

Anyway, the drive was good... past the slatey multi-colored 'badlands' on the way to Koya, the furry hills that look like grass superglued to sand dunes and 'mountains' that looked like a strong wind has blown a dusty carpet into slanted ridges (pictures coming)... and on to Dokkan. How unexpected to come across a lake there... even more unexpected was for H to jump out of the SUV, yell at a man in a motorized rowboat down near the water and ask him to take us for a ride. We half climbed, half slid down for a quick whiz round the lake before continuing on to Suli for a dinner at Komelayeti...

Dinner was also strange as, although recommended by D, we were not really welcomed at the restaurant. I think it was a private club of some sort although the menu was not extensive (nor was the food particularly good). However, it was cheap and finding it was quite the adventure as it was hidden in the middle of the dark Azadi Park and as the name presented me with a mystery to solve. Just the name alone was met with great hilarity from H (note that he is Hawleri and not a Suli-resident) who was unable to explain to us the meaning of this Kurdish word. he was quite unwilling to believe it could be the name of a restaurant and I had to get a hotel staffer to convince him.

Now it is Thursday and I am about to go for dinner with Mr. S (and I wanted Chinese) at the infamous Revan - the restaurant that (when in Suli) Mu goes to as religiously as he does the fake Sheraton in Hawler... Anyway, today's fuller program to be posted soon.


Mom (after we convinced her it was safe to get out of the car and approach the edge of the 'cliff') with Ha overlooking the city of Koya! (Yes, we went via Koya - not Kirkuk)!

Dokkan (note man with boat at the edge of water)

View of man from inside boat...

Ha on mobile phone (to Mu or his wife?) while skirting lake in boat

Building on hill (belonging to Talibani?)