Daily Hawler

Hi Molly,

2010-06-10T22:11:00.001+03:00

Thanks for your comment on my post. Please see the comments section of that post for my reply.

Best,

Zanmei

If only...

2010-05-13T09:28:00.015+03:00

If only I had money and a sharp business acumen, I would...

..see about becoming an authorized Mac reseller in Erbil. Imagine Hawleris (and others based in Kurdistan/Iraq) not having to go to an outside country to have their iPods, iPhones (they exist here) or MacBook Pros serviced. Imagine buying an item complete with the 1-year international warranty! Wouldn't there be some people who would make the choice to become Mac-users? One of our students turned up in the library with a Mac Air laptop yesterday. It seems she had a relative in Germany buy it for her and bring it back.
Photo below is of a new location in Beirut near where I traded in mine.

...start the flagship Iraqi branch of a coffee shop franchise near a university. Of course it would prohibit shisha and only allow the smoking of cigarettes at the outside tables, would have free wireless internet and a rack with magazines and newspapers in various languages. And if anyone even so much as thought of engaging in inappropriate behaviour (ex. taking photos of female customers without their prior consent), they would be publically humiliated and asked to leave and not return.
Below photo is of Columbiano Coffee Shop in Achrefieh, Beirut - near to ABC shopping center and Kinko's copy shop. It is where I comfortably spent most evenings this last trip to Beirut.
... open a steak house (who doesn't occasionally like a good steak tender enough to eat rare should they so desire?). Of course it would come complete with tacky decor (fake cowhides, cowboy hats, wooden fencing, string ties for the staff...) and frosted beer glasses. This could be located on Gulan Street en route to Ankawa.
This photo is actually one I took (not stolen from the internet). It is of Buffalo Steak House in Beirut... It had soggy overcooked veggies, but good potatoes and fantastic steak.

... or, and most impractically, open a sushi bar. This will have to happen once there is cheaper and more frequent air transport into Erbil so that I can have daily fresh fish. Also not sure where I will find a Japanese sushi chef willing to work in Erbil. But wouldn't it be fantastic to be able to enjoy fresh fish and a little tempura every now and then?
Below is Le Sushi Bar in Achrefieh, Beirut. My first stop after my hotel on this trip recently past.

If only all these things were in place, there would be no need to travel outside Kurdistan...

...so frequently.

Kilik Mishik via Ishik

2010-05-10T15:22:00.002+03:00

A couple of days ago, at the invitation of an Francesca, I visited the site of Kilik Mishik. She told me her fellow Italian friends (who were working at the site as archaeologists) told her it was easily accessible by taxi. It was... but only after a slight mishap. The driver (who must have thought that two foreigners couldn't possibly be headed for the village/hill of Kilik Mishik) took us to Ishik College. About 25 minutes later, we pulled off to the side of the road where we were met by the mound visible in the photo immediately below (separated from us and the road by a chicken-wire fence).

We climbed to the top of the mound where people were busy at work digging through the layers of walls built upon the walls of those who lived there before... small rooms with fire pits built from stones taken from the foundations below? The foundations below assembled on top of Babylonian era walls? Unfortunately, the European archaeologists found too much erosion to be able to answer all of our questions... but the finds looked exciting to me! Big shards of pottery being unearthed everywhere...

F (?) points out a wall cross-section typical of Assyrian construction... A temple to Ishtar, perhaps?
After returning to the university, I shared my experiences with several of my student who just laughed.

"Kilik Mishik? Why would you want to go there?" someone asked. "It's just a village... a hill."

Seems they were not only tickled by the fact I found such a place fascinating. My pronunciation and the fact that 'kilik mishik' means 'mouse's tail' were also the cause of some hilarity. But as for me, I hope the Italians and French (who were present as part of an initiative from the Sorbonne) return again soon with more concrete speculations as to the history of the site and with news of other locations to explore.

Lightning

2010-05-10T15:09:00.004+03:00

Above, the photo I promised you on April 30th. This was taken the night of the violent windstorm that knocked over the wall of the pool. On my side of the building, I would have heard the tinkling music of breaking glass... But I was at Francesca's with friends enjoying the sky show.

Mu also came and reminisced about a Valentine's evening (2 or 3 years prior) spent at Dilan Restaurant in Shaklawa (before restaurateur Seido faced possible imprisonment for something he likely didn't do and returned to France). The entire drive back to Hawler/Erbil, the road was lit up at regular intervals by the flashes of lightning ahead.

Photo by Kameran w Francesca's camera.

No ants in the hidden pantries

2010-05-01T20:37:00.004+03:00

A couple of "lovely geese" (nickname for freshmen at universities in Iraq) enjoying the instant coffee stashed away in their lockers. Note the BIG container of sugar. Good thing the lid closes tightly as there have been a lot of ants around this spring.

Celeste

2010-05-01T20:35:00.005+03:00

About two years ago, on a plane from Erbil to Vienna, I was allocated the middle seat between two very large and beefy men travelling home to Bosnia... both dog handlers working in Chamchamal. The men were friendly enough (good thing as both of them were big enough to encroach into my seat space), but due to lack of a common language, I was unable to discover much of what their work might be like. But in my mind, MDDs (Mine Detection Dogs) and EDDs (Explosive Detection Dogs) were large, potentially ferocious and unsociable dogs... likely German Shepherds... and the job of handling these dogs, one that required every last muscle the two giants beside me possessed.

Imagine my surprise then, upon meeting Celeste. Last year, an acquaintance told me about an MDD/EDD canine trainee needing a home... possibly my home! A border collie named Celeste. Not only is Celeste not a ferocious name, the dog was quiet, smiley, tail-waggy and friendly. Of course she had not yet undergone MDD training, but had been selected as a candidate. Due to lack of trainer time, she (complete with shots and papers) was being given away for free!

Unfortunately, soon after meeting Celeste, her caretaker returned to South Africa and I was unable to contact him. I tried to visit her on a couple of occasions, but did not meet with success. Finally, I gave up.

Well, two weekends ago, I went to a friend's afternoon rooftop gathering to be met enthusiastically by... yes, Celeste! I was so surprised to see her.... and also slightly sad. It seems the prior owner did not see me as a fit enough parent for the lovely Celeste to contact me on his return. But all's well that ends well. Celeste now has a wonderful home with wonderful people... and I can visit her whenever I like.

Note: In order to protect Celeste's identity, the photo in the top left is NOT Celeste, but merely a random border collie whose picture was pulled from the internet.

Windstorm

2010-04-30T10:54:00.003+03:00

Either last Wednesday's wind was really strong or the construction of the pool's glass wall (constructed to protect swimmers and sunbathers from prying eyes - too bad most of the voyeurs are not at ground level but on the balconies overlooking the pool) was poorly constructed... or both.

Stay tuned for gorgeous photos of the lightning.

Erbil Explosions: news from Facebook, KIU & Ak

2010-04-28T13:48:00.009+03:00

Yesterday, instead of spending my evening at home marking papers, I called up a few friends to invite them to meet us (I was accompanied by a Canadian couch-surfing guest) in Ankawa for a bite to eat. The reply came back negative - their employers had asked that they not spend time in crowded entertainment venues due to the explosions (!!!). The only news of explosions I had received lately was from a student posting on Facebook saying that some idiot threw a grenade somewhere near Abu Shahab over the weekend (nobody was injured). It was a bit alarming, but also just hearsay.

However, after discovering that my expat friends (who work for more cautious employers than I) were being advised to stay home, I searched for news of the blast online. I came up with two articles, neither from the usual sources:

KIU - the Kurdistan Islamic Union website
Second explosion in Arbil
An explosion in (the Family Fun game city) happened, hopefully there is no injury.
The captain Ashti in Arbil Asaish said to KurdIU: this incident was the result of the explosion of a stun grenade aimed at making horror in the hearts of the inhabitants of Arbil.
A source has notified KurdIU that there are many forces, security around the city of the Games for the purpose of investigating the incident and the cause of the explosion.
Yesterday, an explosion in front of the Abu Shahab Restaurant 2 without a loss happened.

Although it is invaluable to know that the intent of the incident was to strike "horror in the hearts of the inhabitants of Arbil," I was not satisfied with only this source and searched further. AK News coverage was the only other source I could find, stating rather that the explosions were aimed at undermining security...

But I am still waiting to find out what, if anything, will be said to me and the other employees where I work! Guess the fastest way to find out what's going on is... Facebook?

A stone house near the sea

2010-04-06T14:13:00.007+03:00

Being both an itinerant and a bit of a pack rat is definitely not a happy marriage of qualities. My home is wherever I happen to be at the moment... but my stuff is scattered about the world in temporary storage (in a suitcase under a friend's bed in the UK, shoved into a nook in my mom's laundry room in Canada, in boxes in an attic somewhere in the UAE).

And then a collague told me about the stone house she bought in Turkey (see top photo. U's house - complete with pool - is located in the hills of Üzümlü just outside of Fethiye on the western Mediterranean coast of Turkey). Her dream was always to have a home somewhere on the Mediterranean. While I have never had such a dream, to have a stationary place to drop all my accumulation of junk would certainly make my constant shifting of jobs and countries easier!

Visiting U's place over Newruz has planted a seed in that part of my brain which continues to desire MORE stuff instead of wanting to tossing it all into the bin and move off in another direction free as a bird or a Buddhist monk. Mu (an engineer friend who could help this dream to materialize) has uncharacteristically agreed that one of my ideas isn't a BAD idea (!!!)... maybe partially because he liked my choice of location - not on the Med, but the Agean and connected to Greece and Italy by ferry (town of Alaçatı on the Çeşme penninsula).

Seems I have a few choices. The first is to buy a "ready-made" house (as Mu puts it). The house below is one in Alaçatı, but is quite likely out of any price range I might have... and doesn't even have a front garden.

The second choice is to buy land and build. (Below house also in Alaçatı).

And finally, there is the option to find an old stone house and remodel. I love the old Üzümlü stone house below. Would it really be so bad to have a place in the neighboring country to escape to every now and then?
And the big question, "Is this just an impossible dream?"

Ibrahim Khalil: The Iraq-Turkey Border

2010-04-06T13:31:00.006+03:00

Travelling to Turkey overland from Kurdistan was one of the most memorable (if frustrating) experiences from my first year in Erbil. However, the process seems to have changed. Ordinarily, I would book a domestic ticket from Diyarbakir to Istanbul (or other desired Turkish destination for Friday late morning (or noontime). Then on Thursday after work, I would go home, sleep a few hours and start out at midnight. I would be at the border at about 3:00am and due to lack of traffic, be able to get through in around an hour and be at the airport in time to catch my flight.

Things have changed. Things have changed A LOT.

March 18-19: Iraq to Turkey
This Newruz break, we arranged tickets from Diyarbakir to Izmir to leave Diyarbkir at 2:00pm on Friday. On Thursday, we received a call from the Turkish-side taxi we had arrnaged to meet us in Zakho (Iraqi side) and take us through the border and on to the airport. "Come as soon as possible," he pleaded. We left work at 3:00pm on Thursday and went straight to the border. We sat for 8 hours on the border as the officials on the Turkish side took 20 minutes each for a never-ending string of cars queued for as far as the eye could see. Some of us had to go and beg/cajol at which point the officer told us to come through with the of mac trucks when there was an opening to slide into the truck lane. If that hadn't have happened, it is likely we would have missed our flight. We reached Silopi (on the other side) with only 3 hours to catch a nap before heading on to Diyarbakir and our flight.

March 26: Turkey to Iraq
When we arrived back (this time at Batman instead of Diyarbakir, our dis- gruntled driver was waiting for us - disgruntled because he apparently doesn't like to come to Batman (too difficult to find a fare on the way there. Nevermind that it cut nearly an hour off our travel time). Well don't worry too much about our driver, he found a method of payback. Apparently he had not yet gone for his once yearly road test and March 26th was the last day. We hung around the side of the road for about 45 minutes while he had is exhaust check, his tires rotated and a number of other small things done. More frustrating still is that we were just outside Silopi (see road sign)... less than 20km from the border.
We amused ourselves by taking photos of random things and remarking on how it was already like being back... almost.

Any people planning to cross overland are highly recommended to hire a car in advance. Some other foreign tourists we met on the border had been waiting in Silopi for over 3 hours unable to find a car willing to take them through the border for under $70 a piece. (We paid $150 for the whole car for a 250 km trip and the 8 hour border crossing). I guess people are less willing to make the trip now that the crossing is taking so long...

Newruz in Akre (what I missed this year)

2010-04-05T09:07:00.002+03:00

I stayed in Kurdistan for Newruz 2007 and all I got to experience was the acrid smell of burning tires and a nervous anxiety for the children jumping over them.

The author of the Iraq chapter of the Lonely Planet recommends Amedi for the Newruz celebrations, but if I am still here next year, I will definitely opt for Akre. At sunset, people bearing fiery torches climb to the top of the mountain to celebrate the Kurdish/Persian New Year.
Thanks to Francesca for the photo.

The aftermath of Iraqi elections: a dangerous road

2010-04-05T08:53:00.003+03:00

I mean this quite literally. (Sorry to all who thought I was going to finally make some sort of commentary on the political situation here. It would be impossible as I don't understand the conflicting views of what Allawi stands for - or the goals of any of the other candidates for that matter).

Anyway, back to my point: the roads immediately following the election were dangerous... at least for those of us who don't know them well. The photo above left was stolen from a news site and depicts Baghdad. However, in Kurdistan, the election campaign posters were adhered to street signs, including those over highways. Over Newruz, a number of us Erbil-based expats went to Turkey overland. On the way back, on those dark roads from the North, we were rather nervous about accidentally ending up in Mosul given that we couldn't read any of the signs! Although the posters have been stripped down, big streaks of glue and paper remain. A small thing to note here, but for whatever reason, we found it at the same time both surprising and unsurprising.

Later this year (with students' permission), I hope to share with you some of our students' conflicted emotions as they struggled with their own views on whether or not they really needed to vote, their trust (or lack thereof) in the system and their opinions of what their vote really meant.(Some of them are currently writing essays on surrounding topics).

Snow

2010-02-06T09:44:00.003+03:00

If you look closely at the photo above, you will see spots in the sky... believe it or not, those spots are snowflakes! Yes, it is a rare sight in Erbil. Apparently, there was a day where it snowed in January or February in 2008; however, although I was here at the time, it seems I blinked and missed it. This time, a friend called and we hopped in a taxi to go take photos of snow at the citadel (there was a faint hope that the ground up there was colder and the snow might actually not have melted on contact).

Unfortunately, the snow stopped before we reached the citadel and we ended up just asking the driver to turn round and take us back home.

Trees of Ainkawa

2010-02-04T20:09:00.001+03:00

Just like Canada! (Except that the trees in Canada aren't electric). Can't wait to see these all lit up some night soon...

No More Carp!

2010-02-04T19:55:00.004+03:00

Yummy yummy, yesterday's dinner!

Hawleris are no longer restricted to nasty bony freshwater carp. Last weekend, there were giant prawns from Basra on the menu... and this weekend, it is silver pomfret (zubaidi) from Kuwait.

For those of you who want to try, get the nice man behind the counter to clean it for you. Leave the head on. Score each side 2 or 3 times and rub with lemon. Then fry in oil (it should be enough to come halfway up the sides of the fish) for 5 minutes. Turn the fish over and fry for three minutes on the other side. I flavored mine with a little lemon juice spiced up with finely sliced Thai red chillis and a little salt.

Next week, I might try nuwaibi or shoam. (I am not 100% sure, but I think these might be roughly equivalent to silver croaker and a kind of sea bream).

Do you believe...

2010-02-04T19:36:00.006+03:00

... that Burger King is coming to Erbil? My colleague J doesn't. He bet me (I forget how much or what we bet, but I know I accepted) that Burger King wasn't coming... and that if it did, it would be fake.

It could be that I have made a foolish bet. Frankly it could be several more months... or even years before Burger King arrives (not that it affects me much either way. Pret A Manger is my fast food of choice... that or an almost-gourmet burger with blue cheese at Numnums in Kanyon shopping center in Istanbul). However, if it does open in the relatively new Majidi Mall, it will be real. I know this because the other shops like Ecco (Danish footware), Mango (Spanish clothing), Mavi Jeans (Turkey) are all REAL! (Plus, please note that there are no spelling errors on the signs! Sure sign that it is not a fake).

Please see the posters adhered to the walls of the third floor food court and place your bet...

For better or worse, Erbil seems to be "developing" at quite the pace recently. (Feel free to insert your own definition of development).

"Nadeed Bedeed" (+ I have a new phone!)

2010-02-02T12:58:00.013+03:00

Last weekend, I bought a new phone. Yes, I finally took the plunge and decided to abandon my 5-year-old Sony Ericsson (I forget the model number) in favor of fully gadgetized Nokia. I had been so loathe to part with the Ericsson model that I had superglued the number 7 button back on (so that the phone only be missing 1 button rather than 2). Who cares that the camera was broken and some of the functions didn't work? It was my phone and I liked it.

Anyway, after transferring my phone numbers to my new N97, I put all the other accessories neatly away and used my fingernail to try to stick back down the edge of the plastic covering protecting the face of the phone. Now this phone, being particularly nifty, attracted a lot of attention; but unfortunately, attention quickly shifted from the phone to the fact that I had left the plastic on. What has happened to me? In the past (with the exception of that phone which I had a strange attachment to) I have been more known for making impulse purchases that are outside my budget and then quickly proceeding to drop the particularly costly and/or fragile items a number of times. (Clearly I am not of the Baby Boomer generation, nor am I much of a "plugger").

And now... Nadeed bedeed... Indeed! A Farsi-speaking student explained this concept to me as he eyed my phone. A villager who suddenly moved to the city and buys the nice things that he has never been able to afford in the past is so awed by his new possessions that he decides to keep all the plastic on, despite the relative inconvenience (it isn't so nice to sleep on a mattress still in its plastic - even if there are sheets over it).

I feel the shame.

I remember when I first came to Kurdistan and couldn't figure out why drivers of new taxis had left all sorts of plastic wrapping/sealing on parts of their car (even windshields) , etc. It seems on some subconscious level, I now understand. I vow that tonight is the night the plastic comes off!

Fesenjan & Tachin @ Kh's

2010-02-01T17:11:00.010+03:00

Almost every time I head to Shoresh for a weekend lunch at Bakery & More, I pass by a Persian restaurant called Hazar u Yek Shab (1001 Nights). And almost every time I pass, I make the split second decision to skip Bakery & More and see what Iran has to offer diners in Hawler. Unfortunately, in the split second that it takes me to make the decision, we pass Hazar u Yek Shab and a sigh of relief escapes. I mean, I am not normally unadventurous - especially when it comes to food... but the possibility of being the only woman in a restaurant with almost no windows and tables crowded with men who would likely be smoking, causing a heavy fog to hover just above the tables; other diners occasionally treating me to a hostile glare as I nervously try to figure out how I am going to order from the menu with no English... Well, obviously, my mind has arrived at a worst case scenario.

Anyway, this weekend past, I was invited for a Persian dinner... not at Hazar u Yek Shab or Kingdom (another restaurant in Shoresh which I also suspect is Persian), but for a home-cooked meal at the home of a colleague from Iran.

And the verdict? FANTASTIC! Eggplant and ground beef stew in a tomato base... Fesenjan (walnut pomegranate chicken), Tachin (baked basmati rice with saffron and chicken) and white rice. The eggplant dish was somehow familiar, the Tachin undeniably delicious... but it was the pomegranate walnut chicken that really caught my attention. Small pieces of chicken suspended in a sticky dark sauce (the bottom pot in the picture); it wasn't much to look at, but the taste... tangy, savory and surprising! I will definitely be trying this one at home! (And I will also muster up some courage, find a fellow diner and try the fare at 1001 Nights.)

Let them eat Vegemite...

2010-01-27T08:53:00.020+03:00

Yesterday, students received the dubious pleasure of being able to sample crackers spread with Vegemite and have their picture taken shaking the hand of a real honest-to-goodness Australian in front of the British (?!) flag.

A new student actually asked one of the teachers why the British flag was hung in the doorway... Oops! (That student isn't likely to do well in our department's pub-free versions of pub quiz). And a politics major commented that he was disturbed by such a display of nationalism (insert suppressed giggle here)! Our Australian colleagues don't even know the words to their own anthem. I don't think Kurdistan needs to worry about misplaced ultra-nationalism or nationalist ego-centric behavior from our genial Aussie staffers.

All that aside, hope all of the Australian expats in Erbil had a wonderful Australia Day yesterday and managed to get to the T-bar for a pint of... Sorry, VB hasn't made its way here yet.

Next year, instead of vegemite, I think D should prepare stir-fried kangaroo rump, spiced barbecued lamb and Aussie pavlova for distribution at the uni... or at least giant Anzac cookies (oops... biscuits). I will attempt maple cookies for July 1.

Turkish Kurds in Vienna

2010-01-27T08:53:00.018+03:00

Even in Vienna, you can find the kebab so ubiquitous in this part of the world (Turkey, Kurdistan and the Middle East in general). After I took this photo, the man in white hidden behind the big lamb donair kebab thing came to the window and indicated for me not to take pictures. I started to walk away, but he waved me over. Apparently it was OK for me to take pictures after all, but only if I talked to him... or bought kebab. I opted to make small talk in English. Turns out he was from Diyarbakır.

Winter Break 2009-2010

2009-12-28T14:46:00.020+03:00

Erbil:
Winter break started in Erbil this year with lovely librarian L's guests arriving to spend Christmas and New Year's right here! There was also a party with white elephant gift exchange at C and M's place. Perhaps the best part of the party however, was not the gift exchange, but rather a game in which we were given a list of song titles to decipher: songs such as Approach Everyone Who is Steadfast. Do you know this song? (answer at bottom).

Vienna: This year I was lucky enough to have a stopover in Vienna on the way to Canada. Fr and family were on a similar itinerary so together we headed (just before it started to snow) to the Christmas market in front of Vienna's impressive City Hall. I bought my mother one of Vienna's famous snow globes.
In the evening, I headed downtown for a piece of Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel (the lit up building on the right in below photo) and then to the Vienna State Opera (behind me) for a performance of Verdi's La Forza Del Destino. However, I recommend that if you visit Vienna during the winter holiday season, you skip this opera and opt instead for a performance either here or at Volksopera of Strauss' Die Fledermaus.
Saint John:
After a long journey (including a nearly 30 minute run through the Frankfurt Airport and some frantic and slightly acrobatic queue-jumping: Do NOT transfer through this airport if you don't have at least 2 hours), I arrived in the Atlantic harbor city of Saint John, New Brunswick. I was met there by my mother and her little dog. Shitzu's don't deal with the cold very well, but mom's dog was clearly more prepared for winter than me!
This year, Mom had two boarders from the nearby university. We did our best to introduce them to some Christmas traditions... like eggnog and Christmas crackers, putting out milk & cookies Santa and hanging a sock. (Thanks to L & visitors for introducing Mu to the same back in Erbil).

(Answer: Approach Everyone Who is Steadfast = Oh, Come All Ye Faithful).

Doha by Night

2009-12-28T14:46:00.008+03:00

One of the highlights of Doha (for me) was the "nightlife". Not the dancing in nightclubs and bars (if they exist), but rather the wandering around the city, through little side streets flanking the old bazaar. The entire city looks a lot more attractive bathed in the glow of a variety of illuminations.

The picture to the left is the Qatar Islamic Culture Center. Too bad it wasn't open as it aims its message at non-locals: to "motivate Non-Muslims to become more informed about Islam" and to "enlighten non-Arab Muslims about all matters in relation to their faith." I suppose I need both informing and enlightening... but on all varieties of things beyond Islam.

The photo above is of the Museum of Islamic Art designed by architect I.M. Pei. Unfortunately, it was closed each of the several times we attempted to go. Over Eid, it seems there was only one brief window of opportunity and we missed it.
Above is the silvery skyline as seen from a dock near the museum.
And finally, welcome to my favorite of all the places we visited in Doha - Souk Waqif. It has been most pleasantly renovated and is now a hang out for locals, expats and tourists; men and women...

Below is a strange performance, presumably put on by non-Qataris where pale ethereal (with the exception of the red yarn-like wigs) figures danced inside of giant bubbles... As for my group, we didn't stop to watch, in our desperate search for culinary satisfaction.
Finally, after edging past a few stray giraffes near the Bismillah Hotel, we decided on a fragrantly enticing Indian restaurant, although options included Moroccan, Indonesian, French, and even Iraqi.

I even did a little shopping in the bazaar (mostly books and postcards). Finally, I went into a shop to buy someone a souvenir, a string of amber prayer beads (tesbi) and was shocked at the prices. Then the guy in the shop rolled out a special pouch containing what he claimed to be the very best... Iraqi tesbi!!! Well, now I know that for Middle Eastern souvenirs, Iraq is as good as anywhere else. I have to scour the bazaars in Kurdistan a little more carefully.
And finally, when leaving the bazaar, we heard music and realized that some sort of event was about to begin. We wandered over to check it out and were greeted with the sight below. Seems local Qataris, while they can completely turn a blind eye to scantily clad foreign female joggers, they are still very much traditional when it comes to the dress and behavior of their own.

(In case you can't see the figures clearly, the women are the ones in black on the left).

Exploring Doha - Eid Qurban

2009-12-18T13:38:00.009+03:00

Last year over Nawruz (the shared Kurdish/Persian New Year) , a few colleagues and I traveled to Lebanon and had an absolutely fantastic time. Now when there is a week off approaching, we quickly start planning where the next trip will be. For Eid Qurban, 2009 (yes, I am posting VERY late), the decision was Doha, Qatar and/or Manama, Bahrain. I know that these may not strike everyone as the Middle Eastern destinations topping everyone's travel must-do list; however, with less than a week off, practicalities must come into play. In the case of Doha, the decision was largely decided by the fact that Gulf Air had just starting offering DIRECT FLIGHT from ERBIL to BAHRAIN!
Having just come from land-locked Erbil, the first sight of Doha was rather refreshing... Even before reaching the bay, I could feel the ocean breeze and (here I must admit that I have an inexplicable fondness for palm trees) couldn't help myself from smiling just at the sight of the gently waving palms.
Doha was equipped with many modern amenities and for us, the first stop was to avail ourselves of the shopping facilities, restaurants and cinemas on offer in one of the many many bland, but convenient shopping centers. In fact, all three of our traveling trio had brought extra bags packed inside our bags to fill with those items as yet unavailable in Kurdistan - brown rice, exotic cereals (like flavored instant oatmeal), English Christmas sweets, puddings & preserves... English-language novels, non-pirated DVDs, and more (most of all this at Marks & Spencer's... although the picture above was taken of the staff at Lush).
We were then ready to explore the bay. The corniche was a little over 5km long and made me more than a little envious. Not only can expats enjoy relatively beautiful nice scenery while getting in a little exercise, but they (including expat women) can run in shorts and tank tops. I am stuck in full length sweats staring at the road along the inside of a drab wall in the complex I live in going around and around like a hamster in a cage.
Although kind of cheesy, we also went for a little ride in a kind of motorized dhow-ferry. (There wasn't much to do as many culture venues were closed for Eid). The water was lovely, but the music was loud and the other passengers confirmed that the shorts and tank-top outfits visible on the cornichewere NOT de rigeur for all women in Doha (see below)!

Thanksgiving -text to come

2009-12-18T13:32:00.000+03:00

Baghdadi Black Market?

2009-11-26T14:22:00.003+03:00

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

2009-11-09T16:26:00.003+03:00

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

2009-11-09T16:25:00.004+03:00

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

2009-11-09T14:56:00.004+03:00

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

2009-11-01T20:40:00.002+03:00

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

2009-11-01T19:51:00.002+03:00

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.

Octoberfest.. again

2009-10-25T21:29:00.010+03:00

To be honest, Octoberfest was a little anticlimactic this year. Why? Because the only reason for going (the big event at the Deutscherhof is German Reunification Day) is to enjoy the German sausages and draft beer specially brought in for that day. The problem this year? No sauerkraut. In any case, Haci (the guy in the photo at left - thanks for the picture Lesley) enjoys a draft wheat beer... a break from his usual EFES.

Access Graduation 2009

2009-10-25T21:29:00.009+03:00

On October 8th (yes, I am still behind on posting), the School of Access (my department) held its first ever graduation - much thanks to colleague Dk who thought this would be a good idea and worked hard to see it actualized. And in fact, although it was not a degree program graduation, but rather the graduation from the 2 year preparatory English program, it did seem to be meaningful to students here (who love to receive certificates). Below is a bevy of beauties all decked out in local finery. I particularly like the garb of G, the girl 3rd from the left. She always manages to have a style all her own. She informed me that the gold (!!!) necklace she is wearing with all the strings of coins radiating out from the center has a special name and meaning in Kurdistan... If only I could remember what it was (I will try to ask and post in a comment).Despite a relatively short period for planning, the whole event went off without any glitches. Seats near the stage were reserved for the graduating students and everyone knew where to sit and what to do. In the photo below, students file in and find their seats. Note a number of what Kurdistan might consider "mini-skirts"! There are so few of these special events which warrant dressing up.
While students, staff and guests filed in, they were entertained with a slide show of photos taken over the last two years. This was a big hit.
And finally, the receiving of certificates. While most of the young men were as dressed up as the girls (suits and even ties), H wore his usual... but he managed to make the VC laugh.
And after the ceremony was over and people were standing around talking and getting ready to go, some students were already in the library uploading their photos to Facebook. One girl loaded her photos under the heading, "One of the best days of my life"! I only find it strange in retrospect that so few students purchased the special Access Class of 2009 T-shirts that Dk printed up.

Late Friday Mornings

2009-10-25T21:26:00.008+03:00

These are the Friday mornings I love: Waking up late enough to have company for breakfast... lingering over several cups of brewed Ceylon tea, served with the strongly brewed tea in the bottom of the glass and topped off with as much hot water as needed to reach the desired strength... maybe even sweetened with a cube or two of brown sugar brought back from a supermarket in Turkey; not bothering to clean up the remains of a breakfast of bread fresh from the Istanbul bakery, olives, a variety of cheeses, sliced cucumber and tomatoes... and maybe even some menemen (eggs poached on top of stewed vegetables and sucuk (spicy Turkish sausages made from chicken) topped with condiments from home: Sriracha hot sauce, Coleman's mustard...

It is also important to have the right music to match the mood. I don't have a stereo, so my laptop perches on top of a couple of computer speakers on a side table in my kitchen. The music is one of a collection of songs given me by a former colleague, a politics professor from Turkey. The particular song is Allı Turnam, a Turkish folk song about a red crane. A crane with red points on his feathers is flying overhead and the man below sees it and implores that if the crane fly over his hometown, he greet his loved ones with sweet words (Say "sugar" say "honey") giving his apologies and explaining that his difficult situation have made it impossible for him to return home. In the version on my laptop, it is an instrumental piece, but my brunch companion sings along. The song is apt as he hasn't been home in over two years. He explains the lyrics to me. A little wave of nostalgia mingled with homesickness overtakes me even though my home isn't Turkey... but the mood is still good.

I haven't had one of these mornings in a while. This Friday is already booked, but I will leave you with a version of the song:

Healing Powers

2009-10-25T21:24:00.005+03:00

Unfortunately, I am still behind in posting and we are STILL on the LONG road home to Erbil... but we are a little closer to Shaklawa (and hence Erbil) than we were at the mud huts two posts down. At this point in the road, I was beginning to get a little antsy as 6:00 pm was fast approaching and we still seemed to be far from Erbil and my dinner engagement. Why is it that when you are in a hurry, people suddenly come up with these bright ideas of things we absolutely can't wait until the next time to do?
It is at this juncture that I learned the true reason my Kurdish friends wanted to take the long road home from Suli. Nestled to the side of one of the sharp turns in the road is a little stream steaming with what I can only imagine is sulphur, the waters of which are purportedly healing! A number of cars were parked haphazardly along the side of the road and men, women and children all armed with empty plastic containers (my friend had a 2 liter coke container)were all trudging through the long grass looking for a good path down to the water. Because I was in a hurry, we couldn't just quickly fill our bottle with the stinky water and go, but rather had to loll about the side of the stream, taking photos of each other and children swimming in the stream.

In retrospect, I think the trip along the LONG road was rather nice, but I will be sure to chance it only when I have no other prior appointments.

Counting Sheep

2009-10-25T21:24:00.004+03:00

The most plenteous of four-legged Kurdistan friends out causing navigational hazards

Summer Mud Huts; on the LONG Road Home

2009-10-25T21:15:00.008+03:00

Some weekends ago, most likely because I had a 6:00pm appointment in Erbil, the friends that I had traveled to Sulemaniyah with decided that it would be a good idea to take the LONG way home to Erbil. And no, I am not talking about traveling to Erbil via the 3 hour long road from Koya as opposed to more dangerous 2-hour Kirkuk road... I am talking about an EVEN LONGER route that takes one on village roads through the mountains between Koya and Shaklawa and then around and back down to Erbil.

It turns out that somewhere along this road is the turn off to the home village of one of the friends in the car... not that we went to his village (or the village of his wife for that matter). But they did stop the car when I, catching a glimpse of the huts pictured below, screamed out, "Look at the turkeys!"

I am not really sure why such an exclamation should prompt the driver to stop, but stop he did. Please view the top two pictures for a view of the turkeys!

I alighted from the SUV, and there I stood, surrounded by turkeys! Then a man in a Kurdish suit came over and gesticulated at me. I, still unable to speak Kurdish (I truly do feel ashamed), could do nothing but follow while he took me on a tour of his family's summer home. Below, please view the barn. I understood that the various fowl (there were chickens as well) sleep here in the evening. The kitchen looked much like this as well, but with bags of grains leaning against the walls and a cooking area in one corner.
And below is the bedroom... complete with electricity! Amazing really considering where we were. A few naughty little girls were running around as we toured the home and barn, but refused to be photographed, running outside and hiding behind the skirts of the women sitting outside under a grass roof engaged in what appeared to be either weaving or food preparation.
And while I took this tour, those left in the car kept waving wildly. They had another destination in mind. I thanked my host (below) and went on my way.

Views from 100 Meter Road

2009-10-25T21:13:00.002+03:00

Some time ago, I promised to post pictures of the newly finished sections of the 100 Meter Road. I'd like to make the first installment today.Below please find a picture of an as yet unopened mall. From the outside it appears to be huge and promises to host a variety of shiny new shops and services. I am hoping that they will be better than those at Rhine Mall... but if not, no worries. You can always fill in the time at the amusement park behind the mall: Family Fun. It boasts a ferris wheel, a roller coaster and rides all made from the left over materials from a massive amusement park in Turkey. (Note also that this mall is very near to BRZ - a new hypermarket which is quickly gaining fame as the the only supermarket selling both wet and dry cat (and dog) food! FYI - it also can lay claim to having the best selection of spices in Hawler, not to mention Pillsbury cake mixes and grapeseed oil!
And this next picture is the tunnel you will pass through if your taxi keeps heading straight on the 100 Meter Road towards the road to Ankawa instead of going back towards the Rizgari hospital.

Cleaning, Servicing... and Bulletproofing!

2009-10-25T21:11:00.002+03:00

A couple of weeks ago, I managed to catch a ride home with Mu who just happened to be passing by the university at the right time. Suddenly he decided to change course - is it possible that he was provoked by my comment on how filthy the car was? - and head out towards the outskirts of Erbil to search for a car wash. Most of the car washes we passed were just drive through car washes, but Mu wanted the interior cleaned as well.

Finally, on Koya Road, we passed those two Sher gas stations that sit opposite one another. As it turns out, there is a sloping driveway down to a big garage behind one of them. Turns out this young mechanical engineering student (see below) from Turkey decided to come to Hawler and open a garage. We sat in an office while the young man took the car into the garage where they were starting to amass an impressive array of tools (and had strung up those little strings of triangular flags) much like what you would find at a garage in Canada... This garage was clean and uncluttered with the old tires, plastic containers full of gas and bits of scrap metal as you might find in the roadside car repair strip malls I remember passing in my first year in Erbil...
The car came out sparkling and decked out with Express Garage paper sheets on the newly cleaned floor and a little rearview mirror reminder of where cleaning had been done.
And as we drove away, the young man thanked us and sent us off with the promise that if we came back in a month's time, they will have finished setting up and will be ready for whatever repair services we need... including an option to bulletproof our vehicle!

One more Farewell

2009-10-25T21:10:00.001+03:00

With the new year, we have a number of new colleagues... and must bid farewell to a few old ones. Pictured above is our departmental secretary (SZ) in the classroom we hold our meetings in slicing a commemorative cake (all occasions here seem to be celebrated with cake... well with the exception of engagement baklava). It was a sad day as SZ was much more than a secretary - always anticipating our departmental needs far enough in advance that we didn't want for much.

Unexpectedly, the week prior to her leaving, we all received gifts of clothing from SZ. I would love to post a photo of us in the clothing she gave us, but I am afraid CH would object, as she was rather self-conscious in the figure hugging cream dress patterned with a scattering of pink flowers. As for K, D and I, the gifts we received have become part of our staple Kurdistan wardrobes. Thanks SZ. We miss you.

The end of an era?

2009-10-25T21:04:00.006+03:00

As you may have noticed, there has been rather a long (2 week) impasse which afforded me no time to post. I have been finding it even more difficult than usual to get into the swing of managing a rather intense work load this semester. What this means for Daily Hawler is that I neglected to post about a number of events significant only to those of us who live here, but significant none the less.

One of those significant (only to us) events was the change of leadership of our place of employ, which in some ways seemed to signify the end of an era... an era we knew to be only temporary. Last year was a period of flux in which a number of obstacles were overcome and some kinks ironed out (or at least a plan on how to iron them out was put in place). While the leader selected by the KRG for this period may have seemed controversial, I can say it was a good year for those in my department as we came together to plan our strategy for the year and beyond and were supported in the implementation of those plans. (It was also a good year because we all got to teach something we were passionate about - something which included content other than how best to improve English language skills).

Now we are beginning again with the third rector in 4 years. What will happen remains to be seen. In the meantime, I would like to share a few pictures of us at the farewell lunch given for the former rector:

Above sits my department, pleased to be having a buffet lunch at the "Sheraton" (as the university cafeteria was still not open at this time).

Below, a few staff contemplate the dessert cart.

The former rector comes to visit our humble corner of the restaurant.
Below is Cuma, our driver, in the parking lot of the "Sheraton" (in quotes as the real name is Erbil International Hotel) waiting for us to board the bus and travel the 0.4 km back to the university. (It was hot and we were wearing uncomfortable shoes, or we would have been more ashamed not to walk). Alas, RB is gone, lunch is over, and I no longer teach literature, but all good things must come to an end.

Folkloric Dance Classes in Hawler

2009-10-25T16:38:00.005+03:00

In reality, this photo is of Turkish dancers at a Cultural event in Ottawa, Canada... However, the picture matches the brochure I was shown at a culture center right here in Hawler!

Last week, a coworker (let's call her CH) told me that she had heard that there were belly dance classes being taught somewhere in the city. I was a little shocked and amazed as the closest I had EVER seen to belly dancing here in Kurdistan was at a women-only Valentine's Day party held at J&K Women's Sport Center earlier this year. Women dressed up in clothing far sexier and danced in ways more provocative than I could have imagined given those same women's attire and behavior in public. Hence you can imagine I was intrigued by the thought of Hawleri belly dance classes. Maybe local women were engaged in all sorts of pursuits that I was unaware of, not being able to speak Kurdish.

CH picked me up and we drove to the home of a very pretty girl who was one of the dance students. She directed us to a residential area where the "studio" was located. More intrigue. We were ushered into an office labeled as the "Manager's" in Turkish where a number of young men were sitting. The pretty girl informed us they were also dancers! Male belly dancers? It seems possible they exist, but something didn't feel right. We were then taken to another office where a woman offered us tea and delivered some information about the center - a Turkish Culture Center - and associated dance performances. Students were instructed in various folkloric dances from the Kurdish regions of Turkey. We flipped through photos of dancers (definitely NOT belly dancers as you can see from the photo above) as well as of the founder of Bilkent University, Erbil-born Ihsan Dogramaci. It seems that this center was established as a kind of precursor to the K-5 school to be opened in 2010 (K-12 by 2017). It seems that this school, BICE (Bilkent International College Erbil), will add another English-medium school to a growing number in the region. If you are interested, BICE will be taking applications for English, Turkish and Math teachers until December 15. It is unfortunate I am not really a primary teacher.

Anyway....

After "tea" (in actuality, we asked for water), we were taken up several flights of stairs to a studio on the rooftop complete with a floor to ceiling, wall length mirror. The students were all garbed in athletic attire and were busy fidgeting, obviously in anticipation. The boys stood first to take their place in the center of the floor. The instructor barked a few instructions in Turkish, the music started and the boys danced. WOW! It was unlike the Kurdish dancing I had seen here in that the footwork was entirely in unison, it was extremely athletic and required the boys to line up, link arms, break apart and go through a series of complicated patterns. When they were done, the girls got up. They formed two lines on diagonally opposite positions on the floor. When the music started, they glided across the rooms with elegant arm positions until they came to form a star in the center.... But unfortunately not elegant enough! The teacher stopped them to correct posture and CH and I escaped. As interesting and wonderful as it was (environment like a dance studio anywhere), CH and I (as less youthful non-Kurds) will not be joining.

Recent flood in Erbil

2009-10-08T12:28:00.003+03:00

It rained yesterday evening! And this morning, as we entered the parking lot of the university, we were surprised to see what appeared to be a lake. A colleague made a comment along these lines:

Seems the Buildings & Estates Department are making good on their promise to add facilities. We now have a swimming pool!

Indeed! The bus driver turned the wheel and we all held our breath as he navigated the bus towards the embarkation point (which would take us directly through the center of the pool). We exhale. The event was anticlimactic as the water didn't even come halfway up the wheel.

Anyway, this is likely the most water Erbil has seen in a while... and with poor drainage, it sits around until being absorbed into the dust... or evaporated by the midday sun. But note that what is simply normal rainful to a Vancouverite is a full-on FLOOD to a Hawleri!

Thanks for the photo Suhaib. Sorry for posting before requesting permission to post.

Missing the bus

2009-10-02T18:54:00.005+03:00

I hate being late. Yet all this week has been marred by about a 2-5 minute lag (both figuratively and literally). For those of you who imagine that punctuality is not important in Kurdistan.... and all Westerners living in Kurdistan are ferried between places (that have been previously approved by a security team) in a bulletproof SUV driven by a driver/security guard with a pistol under his seat, think again. Lowly teachers are transported to and from work in a Korean-made mini-bus on schedule so regular that a 15 second delay might have you running after the bus waving wildly hoping to catch the driver's rearview mirror glance.

The pictures in this series is a photographic documentary of what happens when you miss the bus.
1. You walk to the front gate, remembering to greet whoever is seated there.If you do this, you are more likely to have a plastic seat provided for your waiting comfort at times when there are no taxis.
2. As it is morning, all the drivers who regularly drive Naz City residents will be waiting out front. You will tell them where you want to go.
3. After a brief discussion, the drivers will decide which of them gets to take you and you be ushered into a tan (not orange and white) taxi (which are now differenciated from other tan Kurdistan taxis by the Naz City logo on the side).
4. You pay the driver either 3 or 4 thousand dinar and walk through the gate into the parking lot just as the other staff are getting of the bus (and feeling stupid as everybody filing into the uni knows that you were not disciplined enough to get ready just 2 minutes earlier).

Mesopotamian Fylfots - 3000 BC to now

2009-10-01T11:30:00.021+03:00

In case you are wondering what a fylfot is, it is quite simply put, a swastika. I encountered this symbol first in Kurdistan when trying to purchase old kilims and carpets from a dusty carpet seller in the kaiseri bazaar. Not only are there simple swastikas featured in some of the designs, there are chains of linking swastikas and other sorts of fancified (my word) hooked crosses. At the time I first noticed these, I asked Mr. Lolan Sipan - who runs the Textile Museum - about these. He has a number of encyclopedic volumes on the carpets of Kurdistan and the symbols found therein. If I am allowed to interpret the gist of what I remember, I think he said he believed the symbols (which are used even today) are part of the weavers' collective unconscious. The patterns, designs and motifs have been passed down from generation to generation, but the traditional meanings behind the symbols have largely been forgotten. Lolan surmised that the hooks that appear on the rugs are a form of chakert (a word I have been unable to find anywhere - perhaps I have it wrong?) which is some form of ancient sun symbol.

A search on the origins of the swastika (not just the hooks) will likely include the Sanskrit meaning of the word swastika as "well-being." This symbol, as it was used by the Hindus, represents a kind of cosmic order... and hence linked swastika borders found on carpets are viewed as creating a kind of protective boundary for the item in use, or the person/household it adorns. However, there are many interpretations. Jeremy Black and A. Green in Gods, Demons and Symbols of Mesopotamia (p. 171) who are looking specifically at this region, state only that this symbol has been described in various ways, including: as a solar symbol derived from the wheels of the chariot of the sun god, as the sign for a fortress, and as a symbol of the four winds. Check the link above for a picture of a design found on prehistoric pottery bowl found in Samara (far before Hitler's time). A glossary of carpet motifs suggests the swastikas in the kilims and carpets may in fact refer to the Sanskrit meaning, with those latch hooks (in rows as opposed to in a swastika) referring to paradise and the steps needed to get there.

Anyway, the reason I have been thinking about this symbol is actually rather shocking. When interviewing new students, one rather lovely-looking girl was wearing a chain with a silver swastika pendant, much like the one below (but with no circle around it):

I suddenly remembered that I had seen a few boys a couple of years ago wearing rings with swastikas on them. I asked the girl (who had very little English) what the pendant was for and she answered simply...

"Hitler."

I was stunned. Truthfully, I suspected the reply, but was shocked that she could admit it so openly. I asked why she would wear something connected to Hitler. Again came a one word answer.

"Bravery."

In truth, I find it shocking to hear people express their admiration for Hitler, especially as the Kurds and other Iraqis seem to have no great problem with Israel. While it may be true that Hitler was a "great leader" (as I have had it explained to me), I think that my Western perspective does not allow me to say anything complimentary without many qualifications as to Adolf's general loathsomeness. And to be honest, I would expect that after suffering Saddam (Anfal, etc), people here would be less in awe of such a cruel and inhumane dictator. In any case, it has left me with a uncomfortably itching desire to do a little research. I truly want to know what has been written in high school history textbooks about WWII (later to be turned into a paper).

If you can read Kurdish and can help me with this, please send me an email or post a message.

Following Daily Hawler - Pelotas & Barueri

2009-09-29T10:58:00.003+03:00

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

2009-09-28T14:01:00.010+03:00

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.

2009-09-27T15:19:00.005+03:00

(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!

2009-09-26T13:58:00.008+03:00

(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

2009-09-24T00:51:00.006+03:00

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

2009-09-23T14:13:00.007+03:00

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!

2009-09-21T18:36:00.005+03:00

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

2009-09-20T21:58:00.008+03:00

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....

2009-09-20T12:08:00.016+03:00

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!!!

2009-09-19T12:27:00.004+03:00

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

2009-09-19T11:19:00.004+03:00

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....

2009-09-19T10:28:00.006+03:00

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

2009-09-14T08:35:00.006+03:00

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?

2009-09-13T12:15:00.007+03:00

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

2009-09-09T11:53:00.005+03:00

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

2009-09-08T14:29:00.007+03:00

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...

2009-09-06T09:38:00.002+03:00

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

2009-09-03T13:37:00.004+03:00

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?

2009-09-03T10:12:00.010+03:00

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

2009-09-03T10:06:00.009+03:00

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

2009-09-03T09:38:00.006+03:00

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!

2009-09-02T13:08:00.007+03:00

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.

Best kitchen invention (+ recipe for chicken)

2009-08-28T16:52:00.007+03:00

This may sound ridiculous, but I had to come to Kurdistan and befriend a couple of Turks before I was able to discover the best kitchen invention ever. The item I am holding in the picture above is a package of oven roasting bags imported from Turkey - essentially just big see through plastic bags for roasting food in. Many of you may already be familiar with them, and many more of you may think that it is an apalling atrocity to shove something you are going to serve loved ones into a eco-unfriendly unnatural synthetic item where it will stay potentially absorbing anti-nutrients for an hour, but I challenge you... It is a potentially life-changing discovery! The advantages of using the bag is that there is almost NO CLEAN UP and the chicken stays moist. So far, I just cut up potatoes into wedges and throw these along with some garlic cloves into the bag under the chicken. But recently I began experimenting and would like to share a recipe with you:

Zanmei's Pomegranate (or other fruit?) Roast Chicken

Clean chicken, take a lemon or two, grate off zest, cut into halves and stuff into cavity of chicken.
Combine a few diced shallots (or one small onion) and local savory shredded and chopped herbs (I use basil and thyme) and some pepper. Take half of this mixture (or as much as you need - 2 Tbs?), loosen the chicken skin with a paring knive and rub the mixture between the chicken and the skin on breasts and thighs. Rub a little olive oil on the outside of the chicken and slip it into the roasting bag.
Put remainder of herb mixture in a bowl and add about 1-2 Tbs of honey, 1/2 cup of pomegranate (or cranberry or orange) juice and 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Pour this into the bag with the chicken and tie off the bag.
Place the bag into a glass or ceramic baking tray and put into oven (high heat - gas mark 6 on my oven) and roast for about 1 hour until skin is crispy-looking on top.
Serve with rice. I do a mixture of wild rice and barley cooked in chicken stock. Start by lightly sauteeing onions in olive oil, add dry wild rice and barley until grains are coated with the oil, add chicken stock and cook until done. Then after cooking, toss tegether with pomegranate seeds, toasted pine nuts, lemon zest (that you grated off the lemons stuffed into chicken) and a couple of Tbs of chopped parsley. Veggies roasted on a piece of tinfoil are also a nice no-clean-up-required addition. Zuccini slices instersperced with onion slices sprinkled with olive oil, red pepper flakes and thyme roast up nicely as do halved cherry tomatoes. You can add a little balsamic vinegar on the tomatoes after roasting.

Please let me know if this works for you. I tried this in Canada and there was too much water from the chicken and I thinked the juices that ran off the chicken in a pan with a bit of flour. Alternatively you could just add a dusting of flour to the bottom of the bag before adding the juice mixture.

PS. Apparently you can cook loads of stuff in these nasty-looking, but oh so useful bags. I will try fish when I return to Canada next.

"The Place to be CHARMED"

2009-08-28T16:44:00.005+03:00

This is the slogan of the Lebanese Beauty Center in Shoresh. And indeed, the Lebanese Beauty salon is impressive enough that (although I had formerly eschewed all local beauty clinics - preferring to travel all the way to Istanbul for a hair cut), I think I am finally ready to get my next hair cut right here in Hawler! Why the change of heart? This is an easy one. I went for eyebrow threading and entered a room that was neat, clean, comfortable and completely stocked with enough disposable supplies & disinfectants to put one's mind to rest about the accidental transfer of communicable diseases! In fact, it was so clean, I would like to bring the staff of Erbil's medical establishments here for a quick lesson on how to avoid infection. You get to lie on a sterilized chair on top of a disposable sheet to get a leg waxing at the beauty salon (as opposed to lying on a dirty table covered by a dirty sheet and rubbed with a wand that hasn't been cleaned after the last 4 patients to get an ultrasound at the hospital). If like me, you are a bit of a compulsive shopper, your first trip might prove to be expensive as there is much to spend your money on at the salon: Swartzkopf, Wella, L'Oreal, Clarins... Haircare, Skincare and make up! I was sorely tempted as during the month of Ramadan, a $200 purchase earns you a free massage. Luckily I avoided temptation as I had only brought enough for my $10 eyebrow threading, which wasn't considered a purchase anyway.
Today I took a cab for a 11:30 appointment, arriving at the same time as the first staff members! (It is Ramadan and schedules change to accommodate those who are fasting). I got out of my taxi just after Bakery & More (in front of Casa Flora) and walked in with the staff through the back room of the flower shop to get to the staircase leading to the salon. The room pictured above is the one you first enter where whoever is at the desk will check your reservation and direct you to the waiting room (below) where you will be served a beverage of some type. I opted for cappuccino.
Luckily I didn't have to wait long, which is good as there are more magazines in Arabic and French than in English.

My reccommedation so far? Ask for Nina if you want eyebrow threading. Radha's waxing techniques are quick and relatively painless. And all of the manicurists seem to be skilled. They can even add little decorative flourishes to your nails (as tasteful or as garish as you wish) at no extra charge...

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-08-28T15:06:00.008+03:00

Although I have been back a week already and have unpacked and put away all my things, a bag from Lily Whites still sits in my hallway. A request from Mu. Before leaving on vacation, I had asked all my friends staying in Erbil over the summer what they would like from overseas. K asked for a bag of decaffeinated coffee and Mu asked for nothing. Then on the last day of my vacation, Mu calls asking for running shoes - any brand but Adidas in size 41.
I was busy, but headed to the largest sports center I know in London - Lily Whites in Piccadilly Circus. Although there were shoes on sale for 27 GBP, I headed upstairs to the running section as I was informed that if the recipient would be using the shoes to run on concrete, I should really invest in a better pair. They were ALL ugly, but I guess that is the nature of men's running shoes. I asked the sales clerk to check carefully that the shoes in the box were both size 41 as the recipient would not be able to try them on until I arrived in Iraq. She assured me that they were both size 41. What she did not tell me is that the shoes had more than that in common... they were both for the LEFT foot. While there are some that might say that Mu has two left feet, I don't think they would mean it LITERALLY. I am a little annoyed and have included the bag in the photo so that all of you from the UK will know to check your purchases from Lily Whites carefully before packing them for travel... better yet, before leaving the store!

Eating Out

2009-08-27T17:07:00.004+03:00

Where has the time gone? I have now been back in Erbil for a week... and surprisingly, I have only been out to dinner once! The night after I returned, there was a little dinner held at Marina in Ankawa - home of the best hummus in Kurdistan. It was really quite the event as staff member who usually never come out not only said they would come, but actually came! Kr (one of us English staff) who is rather enigmatic in that she travels on weekends to visit secret friends (how has she managed to have a private life actually unconnected to any of us colleagues?)! Another often absent colleague in another department (along with her husband and new baby) also joined us. Enjoying lovely company and dinner at one of the best restaurants in Erbil absorbed much of the shock of being back and having to go back to work.
The top picture is included because the truth is most of us don't know how to direct the taxis to Marina. Only we know it is in Ankawa beyond where we do our shopping and can be located by the massive neon sign that can be sighted way before you are anywhere near the restaurant. But note that if you just drive towards the sign (as we did), you will get caught on a lot of little dead end roads and have to backtrack a bit.

One more thing...

2009-08-27T13:51:00.006+03:00

This year (as part of a resolution to live more healthily), I have decided to do more cooking at home and less eating of greasy foods in the cafeteria. Hence I brought back a goodly selection of my favorite commercial sauces (yes, I do know they are packed with salt, sugar and preservatives) for marinating meats to make the cooking the more complicated foreign dishes easier. (I believe they are OK used in moderation... Ex. I use only 1 generous tbsp of Patak's Vindaloo paste for marinating the meat; I then use fresh ingredients and spices for making the curry).

Yesterday I reached for the bottle of black bean sauce (see above) that I bought at a little Chinese-owned corner store in Saint John, New Brunswick only to find that it didn't exist. Then I remembered... it was packed (so as to keep the glass bottle from breaking) into one of those supersoft slippers pilfered from my FedEx shipment. So to any of my colleagues who haven't returned to Erbil yet and think I deserve a little present... this is a big HINT! (It would pretty much guarantee you an invite to dinner sometime).

Stopover in Stockholm - Highlights

2009-08-25T10:36:00.019+03:00

As some of you know know from my blog (and other ways), there are now direct flights to to Stockholm for $620 USD return from Erbil! Not a bad deal... Never having been to Stockholm before, I decided to include a stopover of sorts on my way to Vancouver. (Note: If you are continuing on to London... it is actually cheaper to switch airlines as SAS and Virgin fly return to London cheaper than the extra $280 it would cost to continue on Viking. Viking's advantage? An extra 5 kgs of luggage)

"Why Stockholm?" many query. It seems strange that there exists a direct flight to and from Erbil! And no, I don't think it is because the Kurds are related to the Vikings... or that it was created just to faciliate easy travel for all the famous Kurds living in Sweden (among whom, I am only familiar with pop star Zakaria) . Or maybe it is loosely related to the latter. Wikipedia says that about 50-60 thousand Kurds live in Sweden and that there are areas where it is recognized as one of the parent languages. In addition, in many public places, Iraq Kurdistan (or North Iraq as it is called in Turkey) is referred to simply as "Kurdistan." However, that said, what I would like to share with you here is not the Kurdish connections with the city... But rather the things I enjoyed here that were unlike Erbil... I saw this as a transitional place- a place to relax and enjoy a few vacation-like moments before going to face the many tasks I had to do in Canada.

Day 1- Wining & Dining

I was so tired by the time I got to Sweden after having spent the whole night (not sleeping) in the Erbil airport, that I just wanted to go to my hotel and rest before dinner. The kind staff at the reception of my hotel in the old city of Gamla Stan made a reservation for me at Matbaren in the Grand Hotel. I crossed a little bridge to the Grand (Stockholm is made up of about 14 little islands -the downtown part all connected by bridges). Dinner was amazing! I started off with seafood! Herring arranged in a line next to neat line of halved new potatoes and topped with a line of roe. This was followed by tender slices of duck in a nest of ginger buckwheat soba . And of course I couldn't resist finishing off with coffee and the highly recommended dessert listed as "baked chocolate" which sat next to a tiny scoop of toffee ice cream sitting in a dollop of sour cream and decorated with a flag-like shard of carmelized sugar. The women sitting beside me were dining on equally magnificent-looking dishes and were friendly. Must remember to find their business cards and send an email.

After dinner, I wandered further North into Norrmalm, past the Hauftbahnhof (central train station) to the Nordic Sea Hotel (home of the Absolute Icebar-see below). After a couple of overly sweet Absolute cocktails served in blocks of ice, I headed back to Gamla Stan for a good night's sleep in my teeny tiny (but comfortable) room.

Day 2- Sightseeing

I started early on Day 2; walking back past the Grand and along the water to Djurgården, the island which is home to Grona Lund or Tivoli (a 100+ years old amusement park) along with a number of beautiful musems. Not having time for everything, I stopped at a few museums, entrance included on my handy Stockholm card, including the Vasamuseet which houses the world's only remaining 17th C ship... (pictures of the actual ship on Facebook). I also visited the SkansenOpen Air Museum where I had a hearty lunch of Swedish flat bread & butter, salad, new potatoes with a slice of sausage... and ale. (Yes, I was still all about the food on Day 2!)
After lunch, I walked to another island, Skepsholmen, to visit the Moderna Museet (think Tate Modern in London). By this time I had finished touring the galleries, I was pretty exhausted (my feet hurt) and hence went back to rest for dinner at Gondolen. Dinner (lucky to get in without reservation) was in a lovely room high about the city filled with locals out on dates. I opted for seared scallops followed by reindeer round steak with lingonberry gravy). Excellent! Note: reindeer more tender and less gamey than venison - which I don't like.

Day 3 - Shopping!

I started my day in the south of the city -SoFo (south of Folkungagatan) an area on Sodermalm Island. I started with a coffee at Rival Hotel (owned by members of ABBA - No ABBA memorabilia, but does have cool retro bar)! This hotel overlooks a little park where local people gather to play a game I was informed was called boules.

I then wandered around in the eclectic collection of funky boutiques located here until I had dropped a significant amount of money for very little merchandise.... which in the end, turned out to be not Swedish, but Danish. I then headed back down the street (pictured below) to the Stadsmuseet (one of Stockholms 80+ museums that happened to be FREE!). I then returned by subway to Gamla Stan for lunch and a quick tour of the Nobel Museum before finally going north to the central shopping district for window shopping (no more money) in Åhléns Department Store - the place where it seems all of Stockholm shops. I am afraid to say that I didn't have time to make it to Stockholm's IKEA- apparently the biggest in the world. Is this a good enough reason to return to Stockholm in future?

I covered even more distance than the half marathon I covered on Day 2, but saved my feet a little by using my Stockholm card not so much for Museum entrances as for mastering the public transportation system.

Unfortunately, that was all the time I had in Stockholm, but a coworker who went a month before I did and stayed much longer will hopefully be able to give me some tips for next time. He had enough time to leave me a postcard at my hotel! Sweet.

Iftar

2009-08-24T12:29:00.006+03:00

The dinner is ready, the table is set, the stove is turned off... and yet the food sits on the table getting cold.
"What time is it?"
"I don't know. About 6:48?" I reply.
"Are you sure?" My dinner guest gets up and turns on the TV - Hotbird sattelite, channel 1: Kurdistan TV. The screen is nothing but a background image of a dust colored sky. Praying begins. "OK." My guest returns to the table and drinks a glass of water.

Although I have a lot of Muslim friends and family members, I have never really hosted dinner over Ramadan to guests who were fasting... For me as a non-Muslim (except to those who insist that because my father is Muslim - I therefore must also be Muslim), Ramadan in Erbil mostly just means that I will see fewer women out on the street, that more of the female staff and students will come to school wearing head scarves, that I should take even more care not too expose too much inappropriate skin (no short sleeves, no hemlines above ankle)... and that the cafeteria and my favorite convenient lunch spots will all closed and I should plan ahead (if I intend to eat lunch) by packing something I can eat discreetly in my office.

But for many (including my uncle in Toronto), Ramadan is a time for prayer, restraint and purification through fasting from sunup until sundown and refraining from anything excessive or ill-natured... although I have noticed that many who consume no water or food all day are ill-natured by early afternoon! My first year here, some of the older women in the Bazaar - those garbed entirely in black - hissed at some of us Western infidels, presumably for walking around with our heads (and possibly even forearms) uncovered during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Anyway, Muslim or not, I believe in the benefits of fasting ... and so to make things easier (as I like to have company for dinner), I have gone to Kok supermarket and picked up an Iftar calendar so that I can time my evening mealtimes to coincide with Maghrib (sundown) prayers or Iftar (the breaking of the fast) this year. I am not starting my meal with dates (only one of those suckers is 66 calories... and I could eat a whole box!) or praying, but the timing does seem to make logical sense. During iftar, the entire city turns into a ghost town as everyone (shopkeepers and park gate attendants included) are away from their posts to begin eating. I might as well be eating too!

What do these things have in common?

2009-08-24T10:57:00.017+03:00

Just add a 4-pack of replacement Venus razor heads (and note that my bottle of Benadryl was the non-drowsy Cold & Flu remedy -preferable for asthmatics- and that the BBQ sauce was President's Choice) and you would be looking at the list of things missing from the boxes of personal items I FedExed myself from Canada. And no, razors and medicine (not to mention Lululemon yoga tank tops and Supersoft slippers)are NOT among the items not allowed into Iraq (or Kurdistan) by customs! I checked... and the FedEx customer service in Canada and the US checked. Nothing was confiscated by customs anywhere. (I mean, come on... how could a pair of slippers be against customs regulations anywhere?) My customs bill came to $20.00 US and included no customs charges, but rather a fee for receiving, checking and stamping the forms on my boxes. The missing items? Your guess is as good as mine...

Although I do realize my losses weren't that great, and that I will likely never see these things again, I still feel the need to complain. I am sure that in my posts I have made the point that people you meet in the streets here are very honest. If you forget your purse in a taxi or drop something valuable in the street, it is likely to be returned to you; unlike in large Western cities like London where your mobile phone can be snatched from you as you open it to receive a text message (this really happened to me). However, it then seems contrary that shipping/courier company employees here would think that taking what they please from boxes they are inspecting could be a "perk" of the job. I resent having to pay a fee of $20.00 to a person for the task of sifting through my things for something that catches their fancy.

PS. If you are reading this, shady FedEx/Falcon Express box-checking employee in Erbil, you missed something! The ultra-rich body lotion from L'Occitane that you left in the box is WAY better (and more expensive) then the Aveeno dry skin anti-itch lotion that you took! The Aveda Shampoo & conditioner; however, good choice!

Back in One Piece - Viking Airlines OK

2009-08-23T14:26:00.006+03:00

Yes, the map above is stolen from the Viking Airlines website. Viking being only 6 years old, and brand new to Erbil, lots of people are wondering how my trip out (and back in) to Erbil was... (And if it isn't really a local company - Atrosh Air- with nothing to do with Vikings or Scandinavia)... which it isn't.

In all honesty, the flight out was a bit of disaster (I wasn't informed by Miran Aviation - I will buy ticket online from Aer Olympic next time - that the flight was not actually leaving at 7:00PM, but at nearly 2:00AM the next morning.... then I discovered after check-in that the flight time was delayed by another two hours... and then two hours more... By the time we were in the air, it was already 6:00am! But on the way back, the delay was truly only 2 hours and I expect that is probably about what to expect in future.

On the up side, while there was no in-flight entertainment and no complimentary alcohol with meal service (I heard someone bitterly complaining about this - I swear it wasn't me), the seats were slightly larger than some other airlines (I don't care if it was because the plane was older) and the flight attendants spoke Swedish, English... AND KURDISH! Fabulous. There weren't any passengers pushing, occupying the wrong seats or wandering around in confusion as all received the same courtesies (like instructions in one's native language) that one should be able to expect travelling to and from one's home country.

Off to Mosul

2009-07-16T03:52:00.002+03:00

Just before a trip to Mosul, Mu asked me to snap a photo of him... just in case. I am posting his photo here for posterity, but in reality, it turns out it wasn't really necessary as he came back safe and sound.

Souvenirs

2009-07-16T03:12:00.004+03:00

So you must have realized by now that I am no longer in Iraqi Kurdistan... I have passed through Stockholm (more on that later) and am now in Vancouver, where I have started to hand out some of the souvenirs I bought before leaving. One of my friends' favorite places to buy souvenirs is (predictably) the Kurdish textile museum. By purchasing things here, there is the sense that you might be helping to keep local arts and crafts alive... and that people who craft these items might be getting a decent fee for their handiwork (although you can never be certain).
Sarah, on her last visit bought a beautiful felted piece (like the sign above, but in beautiful patterns and colors), but I opted for smaller silver pieces that wouldn't cut too deeply into my 20kg luggage allowance. Fhn in Vancouver likes her silver, turquoise and ? earrings!

Ugliest Room Award?

2009-07-16T03:01:00.004+03:00

So since I never use the back room in my house, this is where I put all my new purchases and created a home gym! I vow to use this room at least 5 times a week when I go back... Below see little H trying out both my shoes and my bike! I love this color orange for my gym... and the yellow and blue walls... so retro, but I hesitated posting the photo in case somebody in real estate finds these photos and steals them for their ugliest rooms blog.

Shiny Showroom

2009-07-16T01:33:00.002+03:00

Although it doesn't really make a lot of sense, my last few days in Hawler (before leaving on vacation) were spent shopping. After the clean air and healthy lifestyle in Canada, it is sometimes hard to come back... so this time, I have bought new things for my flat, so I have something new to play with when I get back to Hawler from vacation. This time it was the spin bike and a plasma screen from LG. Believe it or not, it is better value to buy a nice 32 inch display from the LG showroom in Bazaari Nishtiman than some little shop in the main bazaar!

Remember to stay hydrated...

2009-07-08T22:01:00.002+03:00

It's hot and dry in Kurdistan! Seems Carey remembered his dad's advice and remembered to drink lots of water!

Sandstorm In Middle East May Be Largest In Modern History (PHOTO FROM SPACE)

2009-07-08T19:26:00.001+03:00

Sandstorm In Middle East May Be Largest In Modern History (PHOTO FROM SPACE):

"In what is said to be the worst in recent memory, a massive week-long sandstorm descended on Iraq last week, sending hundreds of people to the hospital and forcing Vice President Joe Biden to cancel his plan to visit Kurdistan. From Reuters:

Many Baghdad shops stayed shut on Sunday, while police wearing masks directed thin streams of traffic through eerily misty streets. Hospital emergency rooms were packed with people complaining about breathing problems, officials said.

'We are on alert. This is the worst dust storm we have ever had in Iraq,' said Doctor Jasib Lateef, operations manager at the Iraqi Health Ministry. 'A large number of people are turning up at emergency rooms at hospitals, challenging our resources.'"

AH! That explains the masks in the market... and why I felt so crappy these last few days!

Happy Belated July 4th! from Erbil Expat

2009-07-05T19:40:00.008+03:00

I was amazed on July 1st, to meet a newly arrived American professor wearing a Canada T-shirt. I thanked him for remembering Canada Day, but he told me it was purely coincidental that he was wearing that particular shirt. So I am sorry that I didn't do anything (accidentally or otherwise) to commemorate July 4th. I should have at least attended the party, but I am afraid that I am not a member of AKFA. I think that on my return to Kurdistan next year, I will see if I can't join. Apparently it is open to Americans or those living in Kurdistan (by invite only).... If you are like me (non-American expat living in Erbil), I entreat you to sign up with me... or contact me so that we can start an expat social club for all resident expats.

Anyway, I must stop blogging for the moment so that I can send my American colleagues a belated July 4th greeting.

Possible Canada Day 2010 Sponsor?

2009-07-05T19:19:00.002+03:00

I found this product for sale in the bazaar yesterday. Unfortunately, it is not a product that I use and is certainly not a brand I recognize from my home country. After a little Internet search for "Nitro hair wax", "Canada hair wax", and "Nitro Canada"; I only came up with a message from World Business Marketplace essentially telling me there is no such product existing.

Bazaar Return Policies

2009-07-05T19:10:00.004+03:00

Huh? Return policies in the bazaar? Yeah, I know... it is not likely, but I have to try. I bought a number of football jerseys from the guy to the left. He assured me that they were "Free Size" when I asked for large. When I got home, I noticed that there was a small 'M' sticker on one. The other all had 'S' stickers. Why, oh why didn't I notice this before? So it looks like I have to make another trek to the sports bazaar tomorrow (located under the Shehan hotel pictured below) to see if they can't rustle up some in 'L' or at least 'M' size. If the kind sir can't return my money, he should at least be able to make an even exchange, right?

Safety for sale

2009-07-05T18:55:00.002+03:00

The last time there was a truly bad dust storm (worse than this one), students were passing out the surgical masks in the school cafeteria, and outside in the garden, students paced (no doubt memorizing important points from lectures for their finals) with them on making campus look a bit like Taipei City during the SARS attack. Ironically, that was the week that the university had scheduled all its interviews with faculty candidates from overseas. I wonder what they were thinking when they arrived on campus to the strange sight of stressed and pacing masked students - most stressed because of exams, but a few because they were worried as they had noted a shortage of surgical masks in Erbil.(Could they have been serious?)

Anyway, you will be happy to notice that there is no shortage this time. Masks are readily available at the cardboard box across from the governate building. If you look carefully, you will see two happy customers threading through the traffic sporting their new purchases.

Dusty days...

2009-07-05T18:32:00.005+03:00

This weekend past (Friday and Saturday), most people tried to stay home to save their lungs from the choking dust rolling in. There was so much dust, the road in front of our apartments wasn't visible. However, being my last weekend before vacation, I had no choice. Yesterday, I headed for the bazaar... The photo below is taken from the top of the citadel (first stop - Textile Museum at the top of the citadel). Second stop, Bazaari Nishtiman: Fancy shopping center, but still, all the activity takes place over the pavement hawkers' wares.

Looking for simple things made in the region in the bazaar.
The children don't seem to mind the dust and play near the fountains near the Erbil Governorate building.

Happy Canada Day!

2009-07-01T10:57:00.004+03:00

The picture below is stolen from Defense Industry Daily and is clearly a picture of soldiers (not my friends and I)celebrating Canada Day in Afghanistan, NOT Kurdistan. Obviously, I am am going to have to start my own Canada-Kurdistan Friendship Association (CKFA) if I hope that future Canadians living in Kurdistan will be able to celebrate July 1st.
In other countries I lived, there were parties! In Yokohama, Japan the HMCS Vancouver docked in the port and threw a good will party on Canada Day! In Taiwan, the Canadian import business gathered to provide Canadian ice beer, Dasani water and other local Canadian goods and decorations (including flags and T-shirts)and we Canadians organized a barbecue/pool party ending with games, live music and fireworks. I did a little search to see what companies I could hit up next year to sponsor such a bash and only came up with this:
3206, 8 PARK ROAD
TORONTO,ON
M4W 3S5
CANADA
Phone: +1 416-356-7892
Fax: +1 416-944-1554
Email: info@canada-kurdistan-business.com

Do you think this Council really exists? Should I email and try to visit while in Canada?

Leila Alawy, Monica & Wanawsha

2009-06-29T23:46:00.009+03:00

Just wondering if you know what the following three women have in common... aside from perhaps the same eyebrow stylist?

Leila Alawy, an Egyptian actress, Monica Lewinsky and Wanawsha, a character on a Kurdish TV show are all women who have inspired nicknames for this lovely piece of machinery...
Of course this model is the "new" Land Cruiser, so it is the Wanawsha. The models prior to this were all Monicas... and in the mid 1990s when only the political leaders could afford one, they were called Leila Alawys!

After discovering that not all Land Cruisers are Monicas, I felt just a moment of panic... As I can't really distinguish a 2005 model from a 2007 model, what is going to happen if I accidentally call someone's Wanawsha a Monica? I will never forget when (shortly after my arrival in Kurdistan) I commented on our university driver's Monica, and he replied with scorn, "It is NOT a Monica, it is a PRADO!"

I wonder if there is a special name for the one Mu has borrowed. It seems this is the only place in the world where I am likely to ever have to struggle to open the incredibly heavy door of an armored Land Cruiser!

(All photos "borrowed" from the internet).

Naz City Summer Cooking School

2009-06-29T16:29:00.006+03:00

Summer is here and with the departure of Spring went my desire to cook. Let's face it, it is just too darned hot! Turning on the oven or the gas flame in this heat is not appealing. No problem; however, for H (pictured) and Mu. Lately, Mu has started making his famous çiğ köfte (raw meatballs) much more frequently. It used to be a rare and occasional delicacy - it is really a lot of work grating the onions and kneading the spices and bulgur into the köfte... and it's also not easy to find suitable meat given the electicity and refrigeration issues. I guess that Mu must have found a good clean source for fresh raw meat... and it probably doesn't hurt in the summer heat that only lemon juice and tons of spice are used to "cook" the köfte.

The first few times, this delicacy was made, the kitchen was an absolute mess, but now with H around to clean the veggies and counters, not a problem. The çiğ köfte below is pictured with fresh mint and a bowl of yayla çorbası (yogurt soup). This second item, the soup, is made almost every 3 days at my house! I am trying hard to learn, but am also looking forward to some new additions to the repertoire in the near future.

A Sunday morning spent waiting for technicians...

2009-06-28T09:22:00.005+03:00

It is Sunday morning and I have now recovered from my trip to Dohuk. Yesterday morning was pretty low key... woke up late, broke in the spin bike, made coffee, threw some frozen Turkish cheese pastries in the oven (which now taste pretty awful after discovering real thing here in Erbil).... and then spend a few hours vigorously doing NOTHING. In the late afternoon, it was time to go for coffee and then come home to do nothing for a few more hours.

This morning, I am up earlier, but am doing only slightly more than nothing- I am trawling the Internet for... nothing in particular. This is a good pastime for this morning because I am waiting for technician (one to fix some brackets on electrical wires and one to patch a damaged wall)... and because the Internet is actually working today! I still can't decide what to have for breakfast... maybe some of the yogurt soup my friend made yesterday? But I am dreaming of the day that we can get Bakery & More to open for breakfast and offer dollar pancakes with fruit compote or maple syrup, eggs benedict with or without smoked salmon... or even an 'American breakfast' of eggs, bacon or sausage, toast and and hash browns.

Time to go warm up the soup and call the technician (electrical) who is now late... The wall patcher has arrived!

The Long Road Home...

2009-06-27T22:32:00.002+03:00

These pictures were all taken in/near Barzan as the sky was as black as the Spanish olives available at Naza Mall by the time we reached Shaklawa (let alone Hawler).

Barzan-land

2009-06-27T22:03:00.006+03:00

And from Amedi, instead of turning back and going home the same way we came, we decided to forge onwards... leading us through Barzan - more than just a pleasant picnic spot. We passed a hill with three fabulous mansions on it - perhaps homes of the members of the Barzani family - Kurdistan's ruling family...

A few minutes later, our vehicle stops at the side of the road and I wonder where we are and why we have stopped, but all 3 of my traveling companions seem to know. They take me past some men who give me a scarf to cover my hair with and lead me past the board below. Mu stops to have his picture taken with the honorable Masoud Barzani's father, Mustafa (right), and Nechirvan's father, Idris (left). A few steps further and we are standing at their graves. All the men stop to say a prayer at the mounds with stones at either end and a line of pebbles down the centers of the mounds. Then I return the borrowed scarf and we pass by a memorial which is being built...
... and climb a few steps to the grassy area where tea is being served. Our host, who speaks excellent Turkish, speaks with the men in Turkish and Badini. Then he demonstrated how to tie his impressive 9-meter-long cummerbund (which he insisted was tied NOT in a method specific to Barzan, but rather the traditional method).
After a few glasses of tea (which I shouldn't have had given that after Barzan, there is nothing but road and trees for hours), we departed and drove past those mansions and a lot of little stone outposts (below) - so much more attractive than the little square shacks provided the peshmerga at checkpoints! Could it really be true that these were for government employees employed to ensure that nobody was poaching (game or trees!) in Barzan?

Ah.... Medi!

2009-06-27T21:42:00.005+03:00

Set on the flat top of a mountain, the sight of Amedi rising up above the road ahead is an impressive one. Normally, we would stop at Anishki or Sarsang (I don't know which of these the picture below is of) to take photos, but yesterday being Friday, there was no parking. The curbs at least one kilometer before and after the road through these towns was tightly packed with weekend away-from-home tea-drinkers.
Although I had been to Amedi before, I had never managed to see the ancient stairway and gate. This time, with Mu's help, we found it! I am not sure exactly how old it is, but perhaps more than 3000 years? There is some information on the web, but I am not sure how accurate any of it is.

And below is a much newer gate that you will pass through as you descend back down the mountain.

Dohuk!!!

2009-06-27T21:23:00.002+03:00

Just after we entered Dohuk and were pulling up to the entrance of Mazi Mall, my phone rang... twice! One was a colleague and another was a former student... and both wanted to know if I had arrived in Dohuk yet... and both were calling from Mazi Mall. Anyway, we chatted for a bit, then split up to window shop. After deciding on a beautiful made-in-Taiwan spinning bike (the purchase of which was my sole reason for coming to Dohuk), we were informed that we could not buy it until 2:00pm as the workers in the warehouse were off at the Mosque (well, it was a Friday). So we took Msd (the student) and headed to Malta for lunch. WOW! As you can see below, it was decorated in the recently ubiquitous grotto-type stone & cement finish. But don't be too critical; although the salad was soggy, they had fish on the menu! My sea bream was perfect. After lunch, we returned to Mazi Mall (I forgot to take a photo) to buy the bike. This time, I discovered they didn't have any bikes in the warehouse and I would have to take the display model. A little bit annoying as we had waited, but I guess this saved us the assembly as the whole assembled bike fit into the back of the huge new landcruiser! Below please see purchase as it stands in the back room of my flat.
I love it. It cost the same as only 3 months membership at J&K women's gym... and I could have bought one even cheaper, but this one has the chrome-finished flywheel (no worries about rust). Sdr and Mu wanted me to ride it home. No comment on their senses of humor.

On the Road to Dohuk

2009-06-27T21:01:00.005+03:00

After a breakfast of börek in Iskan, Haji, Sdr, Mu and I set off for Dohuk, passing many familiar landmarks along the way... I always wondered what these be-flagged tents are used for, but unfortunately, I still don't know.
An hour and a half after leaving Hawler, it is time for a rest stop... in the part of the drive I hate the most when taking a night taxi to the border. It always seems that in the windiest parts in the mountains where there is almost no light except for the headlights is always the very place the drivers want to turn their heads around to see if I am paying attention to their Kurdish lessons.
We take a seat under a grassy roof for tea... I am made to feel just a little twinge of nerves by the fans that are wobbling overhead as they spin lazily suspended from the roof by what looks like nothing more than stripped twist-ties.
But despite the overhead hazards, this turns out to be a pretty good rest stop as the toilets are clean, the sound of the fountain (made by a big black hose suspended to the roof drizzling water into a tiled basin below) makes the place feel cool and... they have pets!

Börek 4 Breakfast

2009-06-27T16:36:00.002+03:00

Here in Kurdistan, I cook my own breakfast as places where I would like to have breakfast usually don't open until noon. However, a couple of friends recently discovered a wonderful breakfast option - börek (Turkish pastries) plain or filled with meat or cheese. Although I usually only eat eggs or yogurt with honey when in Turkey, that is probably because I had never had Su Böreği or 'Water Borek'...

Since these friends found börek right here in Erbil, I have had it a few times (as take out), but yesterday was my first time to actually go to Roozer, the börek shop. We had a day trip to Dohuk planned and so Mu and I met Haji and Sdr there for an early breakfast.
Below is Mr. Yilmaz Aykan, the owner behind his wide variety of börek.
And here, a big plate of börek:
And just in case you want to try Roozer, but have as hard a time finding places as me, below is a picture of an easy landmark - the minaret of Haji Bekir Jeringar Mosque in Iskan. This is what can be seen across the street from Roozer... and if you get lost, just call the owner: 0750.729.0776.

I can see by my right eye

2009-06-25T12:30:00.004+03:00

I'd like to share with you a wonderful email that I (and other instructors) received from a student today:

Dear instructors

After I finished the Exam, I wanted to go to Iran for treatment. Fortunately, a group of doctors who they were from Jordon came to Arbil for several days to do some operation. So I saw them and they did the operation by modern instruments. Thanks to God, the operation was successful and the light return to my right eye. So I am very very happy now. In addition, I never ever forget what my instructors do for me and I never ever forget how they were so kindness with me when I was half-blind.

Best Wishes
Your Student

treadmill for sale

2009-06-24T20:47:00.005+03:00

On entering the apartments this evening, we were greeted with a flyer stating "treadmill for sale, $600" - a good deal as the treadmill had only been purchased 3 months prior.

Moving time is hard for all, but especially for those who didn't plan on moving. For me, it is always hard to determine which emotion I feel more strongly; empathy (because I certainly have faced the uncertainty connected to a sudden change of plans), sadness (that a colleague, neighbor or friend is leaving) or jealousy (that the person moving is getting out instead of me)!

The taste of summer

2009-06-24T19:56:00.004+03:00

OK... so many of the posts lately have all been about food. What else is there really to do in Hawler besides meet a friend for lunch or dinner? (That is one of my biggest problems).

But my latest favorite "find" has got to be the basil lemonade at Al Karam. Of course the owner, Mr. Bechara Choueiry, won't be pleased if you tell him the lemonade is the best item on the menu, but it isn't my fault this item is so delicious - tart, herby and refreshing. It seems that he opened Al Karam nine months ago (when he left Fairuz, which incidentally has closed it's doors only about two weeks ago), but it took me this long to find it... he told me that his new restaurant would be by the Ainkawa overpass, but as I didn't know the names of the overpasses or the way to say "overpass" in Kurdish, I didn't go. Now I know you just say, "Ainkawa jisr."

Bechara will tell you that a good chef is one who likes food... and therefore he should at least be a little fat. (I am not sure that I believe this, but it is true that the food here is better AFTER the "big" chef arrives... try after 1:00pm).

Above find Bechara in his lovely dining space... and below in front of Al Karam with its clever logo, half of the Lebanese cedar superimposed over the Kurdish sun.
If you would like to know how this lovely summer drink tastes, it seems you just throw some lemon juice, less than the usual amount of sugar, water and fresh basil leaves into a blender. I am going to try this at home in Canada with frozen strawberries added.

PS. If you want to go to Al Karam, they also have fish tajin and fish falafel! But I have yet to try them as you must order a day in advance... Call: 0750.799.7979

PPS. L and S's favorite is the cheese rolls, but the Lebanese bread also is a highlight as it comes all hot and puffy from the over rather than flat, stacked and in little plastic baggies as in other Lebanese restaurants.

PPPs. The photos come from the owner's facebook photo page... he he.

Clearing the Freezer... of Kubbat Mousel

2009-06-23T12:26:00.014+03:00

Photograph: Terry McCormick/Stacey International

The last time Remon was over, he commented on the state of my fridge/freezer (he was the second person to do so after Dk). And seeing as I will be leaving for summer holidays soon, I thought it was important to clean it out. I tried to get rid of everything that was not likely to EVER be eaten, leaving only one full shelf of (you guessed it) condiments: hot chilli sauce, tabasco, 3 kinds of mustard brought into Kurdistan via suitcase (mine, Dr. D's and S's), sun-dried tomatoes suspended in oil, spicy ketchup, coconut paste, chilli mayonnaise...

And then there was the freezer which yesterday evening contained only 2 full ice cube trays, a half bottle of peach vodka and one frozen kubbat Mousel! The plastic wrap on the kubbat said absolutely nothing except for "Alsalem" (the brand?) so I had no idea what to do with it. I rubbed it with olive oil and put it on a piece of tinfoil for baking (my favorite no fuss cooking method), but after baking it, I discovered that I should have boiled it and then fried it. For all of you that actually like this dish (I ate it because I am trying to empty my freezer), you can find interesting Mousel Kubbat trivia and the recipe here (where I stole the photo).