Following Daily Hawler - Pelotas & Barueri

Today I visited Google Analytics to find out if anyone has been reading my blog recently (of course I can't see who is reading, but it is always interesting to see how many people and in which countries are reading about my life in Hawler). I was dismayed to find that since May, almost NOBODY has been reading it! And that in those few days when visits were reported, ALL of the 20 visitors were from cities Pelotas and Barueri, BRAZIL!!!

This seems illogical and unlikely, don't you think? So I checked the HTML on my formatting page to find that the tracking code for Google Analytics has somehow mysteriously disappeared! Anyway, it is back... and I have added a little gadget in the right hand column asking you regular readers to sign up & follow my page. If you do this, I believe that my updates will appear on your Google home page. Plus it is interesting for me to visit your blogs if you have one!

Many Thanks, Zanmei

Ed Kashi's photographic perspective on Iraqi Kurdistan

Beautiful photographs -many published in National Geographic! I recommend visiting Media Storm to see this clip.... Note that the many of these are Hawler/Erbil: kids riding a donkey-pulled cart, shoppers seen in mirrors facing the citadel, the taxis at Kaiseri bazaar. And some of the other images could be anywhere in Kurdistan: car searches at a checkpoint, a big family feast, workers in a factory, a picnic, a shopping center, an amusement park (which I think is in Dohuk). I especially like the private photos of Talabani smoking a big cigar in some place which is clearly not public... and of him with Barzani in one of those assemblies I will never be important enough to attend (thankfully).

In any case, these images look like the Kurdistan I live in (and not the images published by those who would have you think that Hawler looks like Dubai - pictures of shiny, but incomplete complexes with names like "American Village" and Dream City").

Now Playing on MediaStorm

Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan is an expansive look into the daily lives of the Kurdish people of northern Iraq. These images provide an alternative perspective on a changing culture, one different from the destruction and discord that dominates so much media coverage of the region.

Here are policemen seated on the floor, eating lunch and laughing, old men taking care of their fields and young girls celebrating at a suburban birthday party.

There is also hardship and tribulation, to be sure; the Iraqi Kurds endured generations of brutality under Saddam Hussein. His genocidal campaigns cost close to 200,000 lives. But as Iraqi Kurdistan documents, the region is mostly peaceful today. The people enjoy more autonomy and women's rights continue to grow stronger.

Documented by photojournalist Ed Kashi during a seven-week stay in 2005, the photographs of Iraqi Kurdistan are presented in flipbook-style animation; gradual changes between still images simulate motion. The thousands of images that comprise this project are as striking as they are bountiful. Watch it now.

Kurdistan is one of the wealthiest land in the world.

(Title and below from the Kurdish Globe - Sept 24, 2009)

The Kurds make up around 95% of Kurdistan with the remaining 5% including the minority groups.

Largest finds of oil this year was made by a small producer, Heritage Oil, at the Miran West One field in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. It found nearly two billion barrels of oil and plans to drill a second well before the end of the year.

While the central government of Iraq has had a hard time attracting investors to develop its huge fields, local authorities in Kurdistan have been successfully wooing foreign producers.

The Kurdistan region of Iraq is a geological extension of the world's richest petroleum fairway, which extends from Saudi Arabia to Kurdistan. It is estimated to have around 45- 100 billion barrels of oil reserves making it one of largest in the world.

----------------------------------------------------

"unjustifiable and incalculable harm"

Please note that the above is only the beginning of an article that was printed only a day after the Kurdish Globe covered the DNO scandal (at which DNO was accused of inflicting "unjustifiable and incalculable harm" on the reputation of the KRG). What about Heritage Oil? They had a merger planned with Genel Enerji (Turkey) in which they would control Kurdish oil reserves and become one of the FTSE's top 100 UK companies. Genel Enerji, which formerly worked together with DNO on the Taq Taq oil site will also be subject to the probe related to the DNO scandal. Likely both Heritage Oil and Genel Enerji will profit from this, but at what cost?

My guess is that the above article is basically a plea to foreign investors to keep investing in Kurdistan... If you read the entire article, the second half degenerates into facts and figures on the ethnic composition of Kurdistan and is completely unrelated to the grammatically incorrect title. In what sense is Kurdistan one of the wealthiest lands in the world anyway? Not by GNP or size of economy (in which case, the only Middle Eastern countries reaching the top 10 are Kuwait and Qatar). Neither can it claim the highest standard of living... and certainly not the largest amount of freshwater. They could only be talking about oil rich... in which case, it is true. However, much as I hate to tell you this, Iraq ranks a possible 4th after Saudi, CANADA (yes, can you believe it?) and Iran.

Not knowing the rules is no excuse!

(Thanks to AK News for photo).

The title of this post is a line from a group email I received regarding policies which govern protocol at my place of employ. And on this occasion, I would have to agree (so long as the rules are arbitrarily shifting rules). It is not acceptable for everyone to do only what benefits themselves, justifying their actions by pleading ignorance. However, I really wonder to what extent such edicts will be heeded in a place such as Kurdistan where the government, while seeking international recognition and support, refuses to be bound by the rules governing transactions in that forum in which it seeks to be a participant.

While enjoying a chat with a friend who happens to be a journalist, I was alerted to the situation facing Norwegian company DNO and the KRG. Is it truly possible that an entire government is unaware that the secret buying and selling of millions of dollars worth of shares in a company which you have intimate knowledge of is considered internationally to be a crime? Moreover, to not know that that the failure to account for huge sums of money which have subsequently gone missing is suspicious and could lead to international investigations... Well, Jhilwan Qazzaz of the Prime Minister's office says it all to Reuters in the article linked above, "Some things that are seen as corrupt are very, very normal ... part of the natural culture here."

first day after Eid

Yesterday was an extremely important day as it was the first day after the three days of Eid al-Fitr. What this means is that yesterday was the first day for all the new staff which arrived in Hawler in September to witness life as it is when the city is not busy observing Ramadan. The restaurants were open and the sheets covering the windows of restaurants serving food during fasting hours of Ramadan were conspicuously absent. No more boards in front of the signs advertising the sale of alcohol in windows in Ankawa.

In addition, the roads were filled with traffic, the shops were open - cars overflowing parking areas and arranged willy-nilly all along the roadsides. Women were out... and while the majority of Muslim Hawleri women wear hijab during Ramadan, the percentage of those in hijab dropped drastically the day Ramadan ended... and yesterday they were all out on the street and in the shops.

Expat Culinary Goal

Everywhere I have ever lived (excluding Canada and the UK), there are always a few expats who after sampling all the local cuisine (sometimes several times over) begin to miss certain foods that are available back home... in fact, sometimes it isn't even particular dishes that are missed so much as just the variety. After dealing with the inability to satisfy those cravings, there are always a few (it can't be only me) who become keen to replicate in their own kitchens, those dishes they miss from back home (or other places they have been to).

Speaking personally, it is likely that had I never left Vancouver, I would never have learned to do anything domestic beyond boiling pasta and pan frying salmon. In addition to a bewildering array of cafes, restaurants and food courts, there is such a variety of freshly prepared foods in the markets and yuppy supermarkets that one rarely has to think about how to cook anything. Compound this with the fact my immediate family included one master chef and that my mother chided me throughout childhood for not even knowing how to use a can opener... alas, I developed a complex! (No Mom, I am not trying to blame you...)

Anyway, given the lack of many things I crave from home, I am slowly trying to overcome my phobia of cooking meat, dishes considered challenging and/or anything outside my small repertoire of pasta, rice, curry and dahl. Today's challenge was the daunting Eggs Benedict!
The above picture is not what I produced this morning, but rather a picture from BBC Food of a recipe by Gordon Ramsey!

Unfortunately, there is neither parma ham (or my preference - smoked salmon) nor English muffins in Hawler; hence the end result can not possibly look the photo above... but I could not photograph my result as (irrespective of the fact that it is literally impossible as I left my camera card at the office) the results were a little too embarrassing on my first try.

First of all, I tried to cheat with the poached eggs. Instead of dropping them one by one into a vortex of simmering water, I broke them into individual squares of cellophane wrap and dropped these little packets into the water. They were cooked to perfection, but when I went to put them on the bread, some of the white stuck to the cellophane... I was heartbroken. And then the hollandaise sauce - Gordon's recipe was perfect - the end result was a glossy, velvety deep yellow (I prefer this to the lighter yellow varieties).. I was so proud! But instead of taking it off the heat while I prepared the plates, I left it in the bowl where it overheated and separated... More heartbreak.

The end result, while not appearing so appetizing as the picture above, was delicious (especially as I had some fresh dill from the market), but I will try again... and post a photo so that at some later time you can share in my delight at achieving a goal. (And if you are in the vicinity, you can come to brunch some weekend).

100 Meter Road completed!

Today on my way home from an Eid visitation on the outskirts of Hawler, I noticed that we made an unexpected turn after Modern City shopping center (before passing Rizgari Hospital and the Has plant nursery). We travelled on this road all the way back until we reached the checkpoint to Ankawa on the right and were able to turn onto Gulan Street back home. This road was shiny and new, bordered with brightly yellow curbs and flanked with more than one spectacular (in size) shiny new, but unfortunately not yet open, shopping centers. As we were passing under one shiny pastel-colored underpass (which I have never seen before), I asked the driver (Haci) what road we were on. 

"100 Meter Road!" Haci's tone implied the "duh!"

It's true. Although I have lived here 3 years, I don't drive in Kurdistan and don't really know the names of most of the roads. I only know that Hawler is arranged around the citadel - a tell which a city dating back to the 23rd century BC sits under and on top of. Surrounding this ancient city is the rest of Hawler with ring roads encircling it... at 30 meters, 60 meters and 100 meters. I knew this, but did not know that all this time the reason why certain places felt so far away is because we go there by driving to the 60 meter road until reaching the correct intersecting road and then driving back out of the center again. I also didn't know that there is actually a 10 and a 40 meter road as well, but that the 40 is an incomplete ring that just passes near the Kok and Aya supermarkets. 

Anyway, I will post photos of the new supermarkets and other attractions on this newly completed road soon. 

Jalil Al Khayat

Thanks to Omar on Facebook, I found the local name of the "Great Mosque" at the beginning of Shaklawa Street. It is... (drum roll please)... the Jalil Al Khayat Mosque. I read somewhere that in 2007 the Arabic names of mosques in Kurdistan were to be changed to the names of Kurdish religious figures. I wonder if this happened and if it is true for this mosque. I did a quick search to find out who Jalil Al Khayat is and found the following:

He was not a religious figure, but a businessman who started a garment factory in 1927. He passed away in 2005, but in the meantime, established (with the aid of his 4 sons) several different businesses including construction companies. His sons are the ones who completed construction of this mosque. While searching for information about the this mosque, I came across pictures of the interiors of a "Great Mosque" in Hawler which make me quite keen to visit a few mosques in the area, starting with Jalil Al Khayat as it is likely the most accessible. 

I put "Great Mosque" in quotes because all over the internet, it seems this name has been given to 3 different mosques in Erbil; the Jalil Al Khayat Mosque, the mosque that formerly was connected with the minaret in Minaret Park (which is, alas, no longer standing), and the mosque in the citadel (aka the White Mosque and the Citadel Mosque). It is this last mosque that the Flickr photo is of. WOW! Unfortunately, I believe this last mosque to be locked off to the public. 

If you'd like to visit the Jalil Al Khayat Mosque, this link has a Google sattelite map with the mosque's location pinpointed on it. 

Best wishes for a wonderful Eid holiday to all....

Cezna tan piroz bet. This message is scattered everywhere over my homepage in Facebook today. There is also an "Eid Mubarak" text message from a Baghdadi student and a couple of calls from Turkish friends wishing me an "Iyi Bayram." I'd like to pass these wishes on to all of my readers. 

The day here started nicely. At 5:30, I awoke to the sounds of praying. One of my friends here actually went to the Great Mosque (I forget the local name of this mosque - more on this later) near the intersection of Shoresh for the prayers around 6:10 am. I heard that after the salah (Eid prayers), the imam gave an inspiring sermon. And perhaps most moving is that before going home for breakfast, the congregation - Kurds, Arabs from both Iraq and abroad, Turks, etc - irrespective of their social or financial status, all greeted and shook hands with each other. 

And so the day started... Now it is the afternoon and I am still too full after a large breakfast consumed on the balcony to think about lunch. Mu, Haci and all the other Kurds from Turkey (and possibly our other Kurdish staff from the diaspora) are likely all out visiting now. I don't know if the customs here are the same as in Turkey, but my fridge is stocked with chocolates in case any children come around. Apparently, Eid al Fitr is called Şeker Bayramı (Sugar Eid) in Turkey as the children are given sweets. They then kiss the hands of the adults and press it to their foreheads, following which the adults will kiss their cheeks and give them money (to buy more sweets?). 

In any case, I want to thank Iraq-nam blogger for the photo of the mosque. I will try to take one of my own to replace this soon. (Picture and story appear over 2/3s down the page in an article about Kurdish ministry renaming mosques).

RAIN!!!

In Hawler, a rainy day definately warrants a post! I woke up this morning to my 7:00 am alarm surprised to find the flat still dark despite the fact that the sun rises on my side of the building.

I started my morning by watering the plants on the balcony garden. I was shocked to find that the ones at the edge of the balcony were already damp... and in fact, a few droplets of rain were still falling. Although I left Vancouver because I couldn't endure 9 months of rain, it is absolutely fabulous when it rains here (of course excluding when it rains during a dust storm - imagine big droplets of mud splattering on your windshield... and everywhere else).

Anyway, I went out a bit early to meet my fellow cab-sharers (we took a taxi to work as it is a weekend, but the last day the office will be open until after Eid) to enjoy a bit of fresh air....
and to smell the rare scent of greenery mingled with the smell of wet dust;

to splash around in puddles...
and enjoy a blue sky without the feeling of the sun beating you down into the dust.

Ramadan Couch Potato

Over Ramadan, one of the most notable things is the incredible number of hours that mind-numbing, idle TV-watching increases by. Maybe it is only me that watches more TV, but I doubt it. On weekends that would normally be spend taxiing around town, I sit on the sofa in front of the TV and call people to find out the Ramadan hours of operation while trying to decide whether or not it is a good idea to chance going out and possibly finding the intended establishment shut.

In any case, the TV (as mentioned before) is a good way to know what is going on in the Muslim world as the English channels I watch come from the UAE, Saudi, and Turkey:

Dubai One:

This station is especially handy as its special Islamic programming during the month of Ramadan is broadcast with English subtitles, including a TV series developed from the poetry of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; Prime Minister, Vice President and leader of the UAE. (Unfortunately I can't comment on it as I haven't actually watched this series).

Dubai One always interrupts programming with short messages letting viewers know when the time for prayers are. During Ramadan, they are more festive (see above) and include a message for Iftar (see below). I like this even though there is a one hour time difference between Dubai and Erbil. When I see the iftar message, I go and start preparing dinner.
MBC Action, MBC2, MBC4, MBC MAx, and MBC Action:

Unfortunately, there is nothing to report about these stations... other than that I have them. I thought that because they are Saudi, I would see clips of pilgrims on the Haj and prayers at Mecca (like are shown on the Kurdish and Turkish channels)... but no, there is nothing to report other than a more repetitive than usual schedule... awaiting new fall schedule to start after Eid.

FOX Series Middle East:

This station also shows special programming... especially for children. In the mornings, they have clay-mation programs that document the life of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and other specials.
But there is also something annoying... It (much like the TurkSat channel CNBC-e) shows FAR TOO MANY commercials!!!
While typing up this post, I found the following article on CNN: Middle East hungry for TV during Ramadan. So I guess it isn't only me who watches more TV (and endures more commercials) over Ramadan...

Iraqi Acient cities travel wish wishlist: If only....

In actuality, I would like to visit the Iraq beyond Kurdistan. Unfortunately, travel to the areas south of Kurdistan has become more difficult as a separate visa for the South is now required. Bye bye to dreams that I would make a quick jaunt to Baghdad some weekend soon (Ok, I did realize hoping Baghdad would be safe enough to consider this was likely a fantasy all along). Out too goes dreams of visiting Najaf - most important city for Shias; ancient cities of Babylon; Ur... But what really irks me is that there are absolutely fascinating places to go north of the border between Kurdistan and South Iraq that are also inaccessible! People visit Petra in Jordon, Palmyra in Syria and Baalbek in Lebanon, but I'd like to see Hatra in Iraq! This and the sites of many other ancient Assyrian cities are located within a 2-hour drive of Erbil: Nineveh (which is also a region), Nimrud, Khorsabad, Ashur... I am sure that I could find a driver who could find his way to these sites, but believe that (aside from the fact that they are too close to Mosul and I would likely be denied access)with the exception of Hatra, it is possible that I have already seen the best of these cities unfortunately displaced (or fortunately preserved?) in the halls of the Louvre and the British Museum.
The map and picture above comes from an article on the lost treasures of Iraq by National Geographic. If any NGO workers here in Erbil every plan a trip to Hatra, please consider taking me. I have no wasta, but am sure to be able to find something I can exchange for the great honor of being smuggled into this site. (English lessons for local staff? Indian food cooked from scratch?)

Kurdistan Travel Wishlist

Dear all,

I have now been back all of about three weeks, and I am already getting itchy feet! There are a number of places within Kurdistan which I unfortunately have never been to... and a few which I'd like to return to.

(Photo taken from mnsu site; link provided in Jarmo bullet point)

2009-2010 Wish List:

• Lalish during Jema'iye: Sometime at the end of September/beginning of October is the 7-day Feast of the Assembly in Lalish. It would be wonderful to go. I believe they perform baptisms of the 7 silk cloths representing the 7 archangels... as well as the little boys. There are also performances by school children, evening ritual dancing and on the last day, the sacrifice of a bull. (Click to view photos found online). As I still haven't found out the exact dates on the Gregorian calendar, I am worried I might miss this... also I am somewhat worried about the appropriacy (I know this isn't a word) of going during a festival without a Yezidi guide. Perhaps I can find one before Nawruz and the Parade of the Sanjaks... (I could settle for this festival)
• Jarmo: an archaeological site in the Zagros Mountains which shows how some of the first farmers lived... I hear there are also remains of a fortress/castle.
• Shanidar Cave: Although people who have been here say there isn't much to see now, it is still pretty interesting to go to site of such archeological importance. This place is noted for Paleolithic occupancy and later Neanderthal burials (some of the skeletons showing signs of injury and healing).
• Rabban Beya Monastery: I have heard of many monasteries located in the area and have never been to any of them. This one, apparently located near Shaklawa used to be a refuge for monks and dates back to the fourth century AD.
• Halabja: While perhaps not the most beautiful or uplifting spot, I feel it necessary to visit Halabja and pay respects to the victims of Anfal. It seems that there is talk of having a world-renowned architect construct a large museum there that would help to remember the victims in a respectful way. Afterwards, it would be nice to continue on to Rania or one of the places near the Iranian border.
• Dohuk dam & nearby caves: On past trips to Dohuk (aside from the trip to halamata), I merely only passed through or stopped for shopping at Mazi Mall or a fish lunch at Malta. Next time I want to visit Dohuk Dam and the nearby caves.

Sorry for the silence, but please stay connected for future Kurdistan adventures... and/or write me with suggestions for trips I have not documented here.

Staff hobby: documentation of the beers of Hawler?

Given that Hawler is developing and remains (to date) bereft of many of the entertainment and cultural venues that expat residents might frequent back home, most of us came here armed with the intent of using the excess of free time we might not have back home productively to pursue our individual creative interests. Somehow, for many of us... the energy to actually be creative, to begin those projects and do anything much more than collapse in front of the TV every evening has slowly been sapped from our bodies along with a little of our sanity (if we ever had any... I mean, really what is sane?).

This summer, one of my current colleagues decided that we should all go away for a restful break and come back with a hobby that we actually are committed to pursuing for the new semester. (I will share that colleague's new hobby in a later post). But the photo above is representative of last year's lack of any real hobbies. One person's (not mine as I don't really appreciate beer) was to collect one can each of all the different varieties of beer available in Hawler/Ainkawa.

(Yes, I agree with you, critical reader. I am also not completely convinced that the hobby was the collection of cans, and not the consumption of the liquid contained within each of those cans).

making do with local fishy finds

Last week Mu cooked. I was shocked when both fish and shrimp appeared on the table! I rarely eat fish here as I don't like picking the hair-like bones that run through even the flesh (unconnected to spine) of the carp raised and served here. The fish Mu found was frozen Basa fillet (aka Pangasius) - a rather nasty bottom-feeding catfish variety farmed in the filthy waters of the Mekong delta. That said, they sell it in the UK where it has to meet European food safety standards. Let's hope they are shipping the same product here and not just the rejected produce.

Back home, I would never eat Tilapia or Basa (I know this is hypocritical as I eat tiger prawns which are also farmed... and in dirty water), but here, I am willing to overcome things I might normally find distasteful in attempts to satisfy seafood cravings. Unfortunately, I try to add flavors with a variety of things and it always ends up being truly unpalatable. Mu, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction adding almost nothing. He washed it, seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled it in cornflour and fried it... and it was unbelievably delicious! And below peppery, garlicky shrimp cooked from frozen. Unfortunately, they look better than they tasted. Just a little too rubbery. The balance between the almost-raw, tender and delicious perfect amount of cooking and the amount needed to sasisfy your inner fear that colonies of bacteria that could have been birthed by possible thawings and refreezings (power outages!) are exterminated is non-existent.

Relatively painless BLOOD TEST @ MDC

This week started with a nagging feeling that my resident registration card was going to expire soon. I brought it in for the departmental secretary to check the dates (I can't read it). Oops. It seemed it had expired a week ago. I gave it (along with a photo) to the gentleman who takes care of these things for foreign staff. He came back a few hours later to let me know that it seemed that the Asaish (special police) had lost my file and required me to have another blood test. And me being so squeamish of needles.

Luckily, the venue for blood tests has changed. My first year at the university, so many staff complained that they didn't want to be poked and prodded with needles in a filthy environment by hands wearing surgical gloves that had been on when the wearer emptied the trash, a nurse came to the university and took all of our blood in a classroom! This time (yesterday), I was driven to the Medya Diagnostic Center next to New City shopping center. By local medical establishment standards, this place was really clean. I was beginning to relax. Then a man came to get me for my test. He was wearing surgical gloves and signing some papers. The green ink had gotten all over the palm of his gloved hand. Then he led me to the blood-drawing room. He cleared a small table of trash and lifted the lid of the can with his gloved hand. Hmmm.... and just when I had started to relax. Anyway, then a young woman comes in, takes off her gloves, puts on a fresh pair and starts prodding my arm for veins. I breathe a sigh of relief. Even better yet, the first prick of the needle and the sliding of it into the vein didn't really hurt at all. But that didn't stop me from being tense and nervous to the degree that I was faint by the time she told me it was over. I had to ask for a glass of water until the wave of dizziness passed, my hearing came back and vision returned to normal. (Yes, I know this is melodramatic, but I was really nervous). It was only about a minute or two, but it felt like an eternity.

Anyway, I was feeling quite good about this new diagnostic center... until I recounted this tale to a colleague last night only to be told that she had gone there for some tests and was misdiagnosed. Sigh. Why burst my bubble?

Bedtime...

On any given night in Kurdistan (and likely the larger Iraq), you can wander around at 11:30pm and still see children playing in the streets and in front of their houses. Families wake up and go to sleep at the same time. Parents don't see the value in putting their kids to bed and enjoying a little adult time... or using the quiet time to finish up their own chores. While it is lovely that more of children's waking time overlaps their parents', what about school? Studies show that children in elementary and middle school need 10-12 hours a night of sleep. Is it any wonder then that children in Kurdistan often nod off during class? It is an obvious that cognitive performance is lower when you lack sleep. .. as my own performance can likely attest (I often have trouble falling asleep).

But really (I apologize for my negativity) I am writing to complain. Now it is Ramadan and the decibel level of late night revelry is elevated! Many people do not see fasting as a way to push their limits, but rather they adjust their schedules so that they are asleep all day (hence the fasting is no great strain) and awake all night. And after iftar and a prolonged feast, a number of Naz City residents sit on the grass in the garden near the parking lot at the side of the M building (beneath my bedroom window) and laugh and talk into the early hours of the morning. Last night they were so loud (not only talking and laughing, but also clapping and making those loud trilling noises normally made during dancing) that I woke up. The clock read 2:00 am. I was so annoyed that I actually leaned out the window to ask them to be quiet. To their credit, they again lapsed back into merely talking and laughing.

Rd's Hawler Map

I just received this email from a current UG student:
Dear all,

upon my getting questions of addresses and certain names of places around UKH, I tried to write the names of some of those landmarks on a google satellite map of places around UKH. It is best used if printed with a color printer. The red X'es on the map indicate the approximate location of the places, the dotted streets shows the paths that I prefer and the arrows show the ranges of the named places. feel free to pass it on if you want.
Hope you find it useful.

Sincerely

PS. Qelat is the name of the citadel in Arbil and it means Castle.

And what the Rd labels qaiseri might translate roughly to "bazaar" or "Grand Bazaar." UKH stands for the University of Kurdistan-Hawler... And the Nishtiman shops are the ones in that big white building near the bazaar that holds the LG showroom!

Learn from London?

In truth, this post is just an excuse to post more pictures from my vacation which are completely unrelated to Hawler in any form or fashion other than being of things which I enjoyed or which caught my attention after a long period of being in Hawler. After Stockholm and Canada, I stopped in London on my way back to Kurdistan. The following photos contain that which I would have liked to pack in those FedEx boxes I sent to myself here in Hawler, but which could not have fit!

A place for fine dining...

Below photo is of high tea at Harvey Nichols. Where in Hawler can you go for high tea? Or Sunday brunch with eggs benedict and dollar pancakes with fruit compote? And what about contemporary dining, haute cuisine, sushi, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Italian...

A place to just hang out and stay cool in summer...

Below is a fountain on the South Bank. The water shoots up in a grid and the "squares" alternate so you can stand in the middle of one of the fountain's squares and cool down by being surrounded by water. Leave without getting wet after the water in your square turns off.
A sense of humor...

Hmm... what to write here? I passed the section of the South Bank below on the way to a free jazz concert. Oh yeah, can we add that to the list...

Free Cultural Events...
A body of water...

OK. I realize this one is an unreasonable request. The pond at Sami Abdul Rahman Park will have to do.
A comfortable smoke-free place to hang out with friends in the evenings...

even if all those friends are women.

Wednesday Night Top Gear

So far, the only event in my very un-lively Hawler social calendar is the weekly Wednesday night Top Gear event at Dk's flat the floor below me (an event carried over from last year). Typically, on Monday, J (another colleague) will ask me if I am coming for Top Gear the following day. On Tuesday, on leaving the university, I will greet Dk with, "See you later for Top Gear." To which, Dk will respond that it is only Tuesday and Top Gear is on Wednesday. In this way, J works at building the suspense for me. On Wednesday, I will get a text message from J saying, See you at 7." At 7:00 pm, I will make my way to Dk's who will make me wait at the door (I am presuming because he - like many here - deals with the heat by hanging out in his underwear) until either he (or the apartment) is presentable. He will let me in, but is perhaps understandably befuddled at how it is that from week to week, I can't remember that Top Gear is not on until 8:00 and that I continue to respond to J's texts.

What makes this Wednesday night 8:00 pm Top Gear ritual even more ridiculous is that MBC Action is no longer broadcasting Top Gear and that Dk must download recent episodes from the Internet in preparation for this event... Hence, what does it matter that I am sometimes an hour (or even a day) early? Can't we just screen the episode when I arrive?

PS. I never would have thought I'd enjoy a show about cars, but in fact, Jeremy Clarkson's incredible Political Incorrectness is a bit entertaining... as is watching the likes of Simon Cowell and Gordon Ramsey do laps in a cheapo Chevy... and knowing they are both faster than Simon Pegg. It is also potentially valuable to know which kind of scooter to rent in Vietnam (and yes, that is a collander on James May's head above) or what the fastest mode of ground transportation to the North Pole is.

Sticky situation

Last night in a moment of idleness, I did something completely stupid. I ended up picking off another number key off my already worse-for-wear Sony Ericsson mobile phone. It looked like a child with two front teeth missing. Not to worry however, Mr. Fix it (another English teacher living only one floor down from me) always has the supplies necessary to repair anything. I borrowed a brand new tube of Super Glue and in puncturing the silver bit covering the tube to open it, ended up with it all over my fingers. A moment of panic! I then made sure that none of my fingers were touching each other or anything else as I ran towards the bathroom. What takes off Super Glue? Warm soapy water? To no avail. The packaging always claims that acetone takes it off... I use the whole bottle of nail polish remover... not even close to removing any of it. Sigh.

It is now the morning after and my fingers (with the exception of the ring finger nail on my right hand) are Super Glue free. How did I do it? (I would remember this if you are anywhere near as clumsy as I seem to be). A nail file... both sides!

PS. In case you are wondering about my phone, the number 7 key is glued back on. It is now sticks a little (not in the glue sticky way) and I have to press harder to text the letters P, Q, R, and S... but it looks better than before (the other missing key which is now lost is the * key).

Actually missing Canada!

This summer, I had things to do back in Canada; things like renewing driver's licenses, unfreezing bank accounts and credit cards that have been inactive for long periods of time, and of course, visiting friends and family. Although I was happy to have the chance to see many friends back home, I was a little apprehensive about all the chores and great amount of travelling I would have to do (Canada is huge and I visited both coasts and the center this summer). Anyway, as many of my students have been asking how my summer went, I decided to post a little here:

Vancouver:

I went to university here, hence have more friends than family. Funnily enough, they are friends who lived here when I was in university, but that I became friends with in Asia.
Above is friend who was in Japan when I was in Korea... and below friend was my former manager when I was in Taiwan. Below friend helped me renew my driver's license. She is staging a scene from children's program "Fraggle Rock" in the Lynn Valley park.
Toronto:

From Vancouver, I flew to Toronto where I stayed with another friend "V" who I met in Tawian (see below left).
V helped me to get around the city... and all the way to Thornhill to visit my uncle (below) who helped me to figure out banking and settle matters left undone...
Saint John:

Then I was off for the east coast. My 9-year-old nephew from Barbados (below) was staying with my mom, so we had a chance to visit. He is not really as fat as pictured below. He is wearing sumo costume and is about to be beat up by a 10-year-old girl.
Prince Edward Island:

And my last task in Canada was to help my mother get over her phobia of driving in places she doesn't know. We plugged in the GPS and headed to the red shores of PEI over the 13 mile bridge.

I am thinking that all in all, Canada isn't such a bad place. I should consider doing a brief stint as resident in the country I am a citizen of.