Baghdadi Black Market?

This morning, as I was getting ready for work, BBC was in Baghdad in Iraq's National Museum.... Thanks to Google, I - and millions of others - will be able to view thousands of Iraqi treasures from this museum online (as the security is still not good enough for the museum to open its doors to the public) .

Wanting to see what kinds of treasures we were talking about, I searched the internet and came across the VERY COOL playing cards above on the museum's own site. It seems they were given out to soldiers in order to help them understand the importance of the cultural sites many of them were being deployed to... and to understand the history and culture of Iraq. I wonder if these cards are going to be sold at the museum's gift shop in some distant future when Baghdad becomes a tourist mecca again.

Until then, it is going to irritate me that the only people I know that have been to Hatra and other archeological and historic sites in Iraq are the military... and that the only people with these cool playing cards are (again) the military. I am thinking about asking my students who weekend in Baghdad to check and see if I can get these from the black market in Baghdad. Until then...

PS. Feel free to take a virtual walk though the Baghdad Museum here.

The Mukhtar

Recently, the first of my English Composition class were due. And as you might imagine, in the anticipation of assignment due dates and midterm exams, there was an increase in the number of student absences. And following these absences was an increase in the number of students visiting my office... many armed with "mukhtars". (Actually, as a mukhtar is the elected head of a village or neighborhood; students in reality just held letters from a mukhtar). These letters stated facts like, "This student had a family problem and was in Baghdad from date to date." "This student was ill on date. "

In Iraq, these letters function much like a letter from a notary, but... and here come the questions... WHO is this mukhtar? Is he the student's uncle, father, brother? Is he someone with whom the student's family has connections? Is it possible to bribe a mukhtar?And what weight do we have to give this piece of paper?

Luckily, this is not a real problem for me as long as students must keep track of how many classes they miss and mind that they do not exceed the permissible absences as outlined by university policy. A mukhtar doesn't come into the equation (except possibly in the case of long-term illness and a request for deferral - but even then, why not a doctor's note? And not from your uncle, the eye doctor if your problem is a gastro-intestinal disorder) as it doesn't matter whether the absence is for legitimate reasons or not... An absence is an absence and students will be marked absent accordingly. They are just advised to save those set number of absences for times when they really need it (like when they are ill or have relatives visiting from out of town and have to help their mothers prepare the dolma).

Botan & Bnar - A Long Engagement

Some weeks ago (yes - I am really behind in posting), a student (let's call him Botan) came
to my office with another student (Bnar?) and offered me baklava. I asked what the occasion was and they announced their engagement. I was a little surprised, but happy for them as I knew them both well having taught Bnar in 2006-7 and Botan the following year. I asked when the weddign would take place and they explained that although Bnar would graduate at the end of this academic year, they would wait the two years until Botan graduated before actually getting married. I offered my congratulations and they both (!!!!) hugged me. (This is surprising as some of the students following a stricter path of Islam will lay their assignments on my desk to avoid accidentally touching a woman.)

Anyway, after this incident, I asked some of the students in the new year why Aysha (not real name) had to leave the university in order to be married. I was informed that she got engaged and that it was not the done thing to have a long engagement... people would talk!

So much like anywhere else, customs vary from one to another. Omer can't shake my hand, but Botan can hug me. Bnar can be engaged for 2 years before marriage, but 4 months is too long for Aysha. On the Internet, there are so many opposing views as to what is allowed in Islam.

I guess it is all relative. I am glad to find that at least I am in a place where people have the right to make their own choices about how to follow.

Botan & Bnar: All the best to the both of you!

Appreciation Dinner at the NEW Abu Shahab

The time passes and yet I write nothing on my blog. Alas, this is a sad state because it is always possible that my lackadaisical approach to writing could be interpreted by some as a lack of events taking place in Hawler. This is not really the case. Work life has kept me, to use an outdated phrase that so many here seem to know and love, "as busy as a bee". Anyway, not all work-related chores have been tasking.

At the beginning of the school year, while trying to drum up more applicants for our programme, we asked students to get the word out that we were holding an "Open Campus Day (lovingly shortened to OCD - and no, none of our remaining staffers have OCD) and help us to give campus tours to prospective students and their families.

To thank student for their efforts, our department invited all of those who volunteered to dinner at a local favorite, Abu Shahab. I think the staff at the new (and much more pleasant) Abu Shahab had never seen such a huge party before. They encouraged us to a set menu so that they could deliver everyone's food at roughly the same time (odd thing to worry about as I have never known restaurants here to worry about presenting meals to diners at a single table at the same time)... also a shame as I have been waiting to try the famous ??? (I forgot what it is called, but is essentially biryani baked in a pastry shell).

Anyway, this new branch is at the crossroads of the road into Ankawa and Gulan Street and (in summer) situates a goodly number of tables in the grass outside the restaurant, grass which is interrupted with fountains, streams and bordered on one side by a rose gardens. As you can see, everyone was in high spirits (most of the students seem to prefer the food at Abu Shahab over the food of expat favorite, Bakery& More)... In addition, the can smoke shisha here...
And here comes the army of waiters necessary to serve our table of 40+.

Mmm... mixed grill, lamb quzi, and the remains of the multitude of side dishes... the stewed apricots being my favorite...

Thanks to Manhal for the photos

Trick or Treating in the M Block

Unfortunately, Halloween in Kurdistan is usually a bit of a non-event. An afternoon kids party after which the kids go around to the few doors of people their mothers know. This year, I sent an email to the residents of M Block asking that anyone who could provide sweets for a few costumed kids draw a pumpkin, bat or other Halloween image and tape it to their door. Frankly, I was surprised at how many came! 
Fr and Co (adults above) provided a Jack-o-lantern and games for the kids. 
Below, Fr plays "What time is it, Mr. Wizard?" with the kids. 
Post games, us adults sat around drinking spooky punch and watching the kids play. 

Jemma'iye - Yezidi's Feast of the Assembly

I finally made it! On my fourth October in Kurdistan, I finally made it to the Feast of the Assembly - the week-long celebration in Lalish where Yzidi pilgrims from all over the world make their way to Lalish. I arrived in Kurdistan in 2006 and within a week of my arrival, a group of professors was taken to this festival. This was the first time the festival was held since the US invasion on Iraq... and the last for some time. Shortly after the festival in 2006, a number of events, including the honor killing of Du'a and the killing of a number of Yezidis on a bus in Shekhan, caused the festival to be cancelled. This year was a special opportunity.

We drove to the start of the road to Lalish. There were cars parked along the road for as far as the eye could see. We abandoned our car, leaving the driver to find a place to park and started along the road into the temple area. Although there are cars here, not everyone could enter. Most pilgrims were on foot, some carrying bedding, buckets, food and all sorts of things. We went on the 11th, but many had arrived on the 7th and many more planned to find a post to camp and stay until the 14th.
Below, one of our group (blond hair) stops to pass some time with some Yezidi boys. There were people everywhere and it was hard to find a spot to stop and rest... and everywhere you stopped, somebody wanted to chat in English... even if they only possessed a few words of English. One such boy went to a booth to buy a disposable camera to photograph the foreigners he had provided "translation" for. 

From here, we started to climb in order to find a good view of the proceedings. There were people everywhere: people sleeping, cooking and eating, putting on makeup behind make-shift screens, then  going out and flirting and returning to apply more make-up. As Yezidis are only able to marry other Yezidis, this festival is one of the main places where the young can find their future spouses. 
These little girls were members of a lucky group which managed to get a spot on the balcony of a building where they could have relative privacy... Others camped in more open spots, pitching tents made of sticks and blankets. 
In truth, I came hoping to see the special sama, a sort of sacred dance where the Baba Sheik dressed in a black robe and a head gear leads the elders (in white) around the sacred fire 7 times (to represent the 7 archangels?). Onlookers then kiss their hands and press them to their forheads and offer praise to Melek Taus, the peacock angel. Unfortunately, the crowd was wearing and we were quickly tired. We tried to return to the main area (below) to find a stall to get some tea, but on the way down the narrow and steep hill, we were pushed, shoved, groped and were witness to children being nearly trampled. And yet, some of the kids in the midst of this melee seemed to be having the time of their lives. 
Not so our group: by the time we reached the bottom, we decided to skip tea and head home. I must recommend that if you have never been to Lalish, it is best to go when there is no festival taking place for your first visit.