Smaeli

No, I didn't spell "smiley" wrong or forget the "I" in Ismaeli. Smaeli was the name of a village near to Iyate (by the way, although these were Assyrian villages, the names of these villages are the Kurdish names). At night, when it gets dark enough that it is necessary to turn on the generator, the family gets out their flashlights and goes out out walking to the nearest village. The picture at the left was obviously taken during the day, but it shows the church in Smaeli.
When we arrived in the evening, we found that the church actually doubled as a social gathering place for the local women. They were all really taken with Sarah and we hadn't come to rescue her, we might have had to fight the women (who were trying to decide whose son she should marry) off. (Above two photos by Sarah).

After chatting at the church, we sauntered across the street to the "casino"... a word which in Kurdistan means restaurant/cafe... But it really resembled to me one of the tents outside the markets in Japan or Korea where they serve grilled meat and all sorts of liquor.
And after a can of coca cola (I can't drink raki), it was time to walk home... about a 40 minute walk. But the walk home each night is even better than the walk to any given destination as the moon is up and the flashlights are no longer necessary. All in all, our second day in Berwar was spent doing lots of much needed exercise in the much needed fresh air, free from the dust storms and exhaust.