Sunday, February 17, 2008

My Kurdish Valentine

Photo credit goes to Botan, one of my students (the tall pretty one in the short dress).

Valentine's Day is certainly different here in Kurdistan. I arrived at university to find the cafeteria rearranged: tables moved to the sides of the room; space cleared for dancing. Heart-shaped ballons declaring, "I Love You" trailed tinsel from the ceiling. The ANd not only was the room decorated; many of the female student population were attired completely in red and black (or red, black and white) and there were even a couple of sexy red dresses! (Is this permissible in Hawler?)

Mostly boys danced with boys... or showed off hip hop moves on their own, but a few women who had returned from overseas got up and wowed/shocked the crowd. I danced briefly with Tf, but mostly, I was just eager to get upstairs see which students would show up in class... All but 2 or 3! They were the ones responsible for the music and the entertainment program (yes, there was entertainment). I am not sure why, but every "entertainment program" put on by students involves cross-dressing men (very Shakespearean). All three of the men above are from my class, so you can image the fun I have on a daily basis at work. I don't know the woman, but love that she decided to get into the act and dress as a man! No double standards here.

PS. I want to thank those nice boys who gave me (and the other women in our class) flowers, real or plastic.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I must confess, that I really impressed by ur blog...

When u go to describe something, some scenes, some event, u look to that thing, in different, if not all, angles...

Thanks for giving me all these great informations...


And for sure, ur descriptions is allowed here in Hawler "there were even a couple of sexy red dresses"


Keep us on touch....

Regards