In case you were worried, I am posting to say that I arrived in Canada in one relatively unscathed piece.
The trip from Istanbul to London was uneventful. I met a government minister from Hawler in the airport who tried to tell me how wonderful life in Hawler was; how very democratic, what a wonderful environment to do business in etc etc. This made me think of poor Mu who was as that very moment was wrestling with that "democracy" somewhere in Hawler. I tried telling this minister about some of the things I observed in my first year in Hawler, but he was incredulous and basically figured I was full of ****. Maybe. But then again, he could have been wearing those rose-tinted glasses so favored by many of the returning diaspora (He was on his way to his nice home in the UK). Please understand, I don't mean this to be disparaging... just to say that we have to set out the facts as they are. Kurdistan is opening up and there are some great opportunities/challenges, but the rules are still far from transparent.
I then arrived in London where I spent about an hour trying to contact a London friend via an airport payphone. Finally I gave up and bought a SIM card from a vending machine (ah how I have missed these small conveniences) and managed to contact that friend (good news as it meant I didn't have to sleep in Heathrow Airport). Even better news was that I also managed to talk to Mu in Hawler just as his 3-week long struggle had come to an end and he was celebrating with Dr. Z and Pambette. Relieved, I was able to leave the airport (and with it my stress) behind and spend a comfortable night at my friend's house.
Now I am in Canada at my mother's house and have just about gotten over my jet lag. I should be posting pictures of snowy Canadian maritime winter scenes, but the truth is, I haven't been out taking photos... much too cold. Instead, I have been playing with my mother's cat, fixing my ticket (seems I was booked to return to London the 28th of Jan instead of the 28th of Dec - a problem since the ongoing flight to Istanbul was for the 5th of Jan), reading novels, playing backgammon and wasting time on my mother's new computer. All these photos were taken with "Photo Booth" (a new Mac application? The webcam is built right into the screen!). And in between photos, I managed to fix my Air Canada ticket and arrange to meet friends in Istanbul on the way back. If I am lucky, I may not get back to Hawler until after the planned Jan 5th after all...
The trip from Istanbul to London was uneventful. I met a government minister from Hawler in the airport who tried to tell me how wonderful life in Hawler was; how very democratic, what a wonderful environment to do business in etc etc. This made me think of poor Mu who was as that very moment was wrestling with that "democracy" somewhere in Hawler. I tried telling this minister about some of the things I observed in my first year in Hawler, but he was incredulous and basically figured I was full of ****. Maybe. But then again, he could have been wearing those rose-tinted glasses so favored by many of the returning diaspora (He was on his way to his nice home in the UK). Please understand, I don't mean this to be disparaging... just to say that we have to set out the facts as they are. Kurdistan is opening up and there are some great opportunities/challenges, but the rules are still far from transparent.
I then arrived in London where I spent about an hour trying to contact a London friend via an airport payphone. Finally I gave up and bought a SIM card from a vending machine (ah how I have missed these small conveniences) and managed to contact that friend (good news as it meant I didn't have to sleep in Heathrow Airport). Even better news was that I also managed to talk to Mu in Hawler just as his 3-week long struggle had come to an end and he was celebrating with Dr. Z and Pambette. Relieved, I was able to leave the airport (and with it my stress) behind and spend a comfortable night at my friend's house. 
Now I am in Canada at my mother's house and have just about gotten over my jet lag. I should be posting pictures of snowy Canadian maritime winter scenes, but the truth is, I haven't been out taking photos... much too cold. Instead, I have been playing with my mother's cat, fixing my ticket (seems I was booked to return to London the 28th of Jan instead of the 28th of Dec - a problem since the ongoing flight to Istanbul was for the 5th of Jan), reading novels, playing backgammon and wasting time on my mother's new computer. All these photos were taken with "Photo Booth" (a new Mac application? The webcam is built right into the screen!). And in between photos, I managed to fix my Air Canada ticket and arrange to meet friends in Istanbul on the way back. If I am lucky, I may not get back to Hawler until after the planned Jan 5th after all... 
1 comment:
I am worried. These are most excellent photos. But I would not go to Constantinople for all the tea in China. These people are fighting wars of money that have no validating principle. Stay home and read Urquhart.
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