Trees of Ainkawa

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

The Garbage Bar

"It's very romantic," insists Mu, regarding the place he took visiting friend for a beer... a place he affectionately calls the Garbage Bar. "The moon... garbage... beer."
Romantic indeed! Ideas about romance vary from culture to culture. I mean, there are people here think it is romantic to follow the woman they love and snap photos of her with his cell phone, behaviour many of us might consider to be "creepy stalking"... or to injure themselves to demonstrate... what? How painful love is? Or to send love texts hundreds of times during the day and night...
But in any case, regarding the Garbage Bar, I will withhold judgement until I can go... and I will try to get a new battery recharger in the bazaar so that I can photograph it for you. In reality, it is a place where some locals (reportedly primarily Muslims) go to drink unseen. They buy their alcohol in Ankawa, mix it in plastic water bottles (I save mine for a Chaldean guy whose uncle has an alcohol shop who collects bottles to give to customers on their way to the Garbage Bar), head to the Garbage Bar (a deserted street on the edge of Ankawa) where they park, drink and throw their bottles onto the garbage heap.

Barbecue Feast for Eid

Yes, this is yet another post about food.... What else is there to do during Eid in Erbil? Mu, being picky about his meat (he only buys at New City as he others aren't fresh-looking enough) is happy to be able to choose his own and grill it at the table himself.
Maybe because of Eid (?) the self-service mezze were also better last night. There were even mint leaves and pomegranate seeds! Nice to have more than humus and salads made from varying proportions of cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, eggplant and onions.
The wait staff brings your meat and plate of hot peppers, onion slices and tomato halves to grill with the meat. They also serve the best of Turkish raki (if you like raki or arak) and speak Turkish. Maybe that's why Mu always knows someone here whenever we go... Since coming back, I have already been dragged here far too many times.

But being bad at directions, I can't tell you how to get here... other than it is not on the main drag (of course in Ankawa), but is just after the church with the hidden creche in the garden. Maybe you will recognize it from the bottom picture the next time you drive by in a taxi.

Authentic Chinese Restaurant...

... serving authentic Chinese food, with authentic Chinese staff. At least that's what the business card for Good Heart Chinese Restaurant says. The directions on the card are: Ankawa, after Saint Joseph's church take second right, the restaurant is immediately behind largest building (with Asia Cell tower on top). Typical directions for Hawler/Ankawa. The truth is, whether good or not, it is excellent to have something so different here. I like Bakery & More and the other Lebanese owned establishments that keep popping up, but food from places outside the Middle East is even more savored. Now we have fake Indian at the fake Sheraton, a new Turkish grill (just in time to replace two other Turkish restaurants which disappeared over the summer - rumor has it the owner left the country to avoid having unwarranted trouble with the police) and CHINESE!

Chinese already existed in Sulemania and just before summer, Tf paraded a bunch of colleagues into a new Chinese restaurant in Ankawa that appeared to be more brothel than restaurant. The owners were purportedly surprised to see so many women in the group and had to go out shopping to accommodate the food orders (seemingly corroborating suspicions that food is really the highlight of the "restaurant")... and the bill was exorbitant. Anyway, I regret that Tf has moved on to... Saudi? Like me, he speaks Chinese (only better) and would love this new place. Only open for 10 days, but it already seems like a keeper.

Public eating banned in daytime Ramadan

It is always an additional culture shock (piled on top of the already sizeable back-in-the-Middle East culture shock) when returning to Iraq after the long summer holiday as the country is usually already well into Ramadan, the month of fasting. People are grumpy, work slowly and try to go home early if possible, shops keep unusual hours, women who normally do not wear hijab are headscarfed... and you have to search harder to find restaurants that are open. On the plane on the way back to Hawler, I picked up a newspaper and this was he first thing I saw:

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The Iraqi Ministry of Interior on Wednesday announced that it will ban eating in public places and close down restaurants and food stalls during daytime hours in the holy month of Ramadan. "Concerned authorities should take necessary actions against the violators," according to a ministerial statement received by Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI). The statement noted that all liquor stores will be closed down during the holy month. All restaurants and food stalls will be closed down from sunrise to sunset, with the exception of those inside factories, as well as student, first-class and tourist restaurants, the statement explained. Cafés are also included in the ban, the statement noted.

Ramadan is a Muslim religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, believed to be the month in which the Qur'an began to be revealed. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which Muslims don't eat or drink anything from sunrise untill sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the person patience and humility. Many scholars are of the view that competing in sports or exercise should be refrained during the daylight hours since it causes one to be more thirsty, and thus, less patient. Most people who keep fasts choose to exercise in the night after the fasts are broken.

http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/refid/E2F-30-09-2008/article/35746

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Understandably, I was worried as I thought about how much harder this ban will make this year's return. No restaurants open during the day... NO ALCOHOL!!! That meant no late afternoon cocktail hour on my balcony.... and I thought I was living in a "secular" region.

Well, today is the beginning of Eid. Ramadan ends today and while everyone has been talking about how we are not aloud to eat or smoke on the street this year, I think the Iraqi ban had no effect on us here in "Kurdistan". We do not seen to fall under Iraqi laws at all as several of us went for lunches at Bakery & More... and with the restaurant on the second floor, there weren't even sheets on the window. At 10:00 am in Ainkawa (granted this is a Christian enclave) the only shop already open was a liquor shop! Anyway, this year was the first year I really participated in anything Eid-like. Last night we had a house full of non-practicing Muslims from Turkey who spent the night eating and drinking... and then before leaving, they taught me how to kiss all my elders' hands and press them to my forhead before asking for Eid money. I think my Turkish friends/neighbors are on their way down now for theirs!

Parking Ticket

Dr. F seemed amazed by the sight of this police officer writing a parking ticket on a side road in Ainkawa. When I asked him was he found so interesting, he responded that it seemed strange that in a region with no enforced traffic laws (other than, Don't try to cross city checkpoints with bombs on board), that the police bother to write parking tickets. I wonder how many of the ticketed parties actually pay? Those who have to renew their license in the same city that the offense was committed?

Culture Club

No this isn't a post about Boy George (if you are old enough to know who he is), but about the Chaldean Youth Center in Ainkawa. Another of Tiziana's photos. I am posting them all as she left today and I am most distressed. Anyway, I like this photo because it shows a kind of casual 'normalcy' I don't find in many public places in Erbil. Tiziana says that there are many of this sort of club where young people gather attached to churches in towns in Italy. On May 6th, when we went on our tour of the churches of Ainkawa, it was easy for us to explore the churches thanks to Tiziana. At one church where the guard didn't really want to let us in, despite pleas from our Chaldean guides, he reversed his decision when her heard she was from Italy. After all, she comes with a recommendation from the Pope!

MRTSHMONY SHRINE - May 6th, 2008

Above is a picture (by Tiziana) of the Mrtshmony Shrine in Ainkawa. After a walking tour (Tuesday last week), we ended up at the Mrtshmony Shrine. As luck turned out, May 6th was the day when all the Chaldeans travel to the shrine to pay homage to a woman who suffered for her faith under a tyrannical king who killed her 7 children in front of her before killing her. While we were there, the number of people kept multiplying exponentially, many of whom were distributing sweets to all gathered outside the shrine. Wonderful luck really to experience this. Although I entered the shrine, I could not image how to translate Mrtshmony into English and couldn't recall this story. If anyone knows more, please let me know.

Beer with Bahman Gohbadi

Photo by Corinne

On Wednesday last week, Bahman Ghobadi appeared in the auditorium of our university to show both a clip showing the making of his film Half Moon and the film itself. In between the two he talked about the film. The portion of the program preceding the film, which is not available yet in Kurdistan (only a lousy pirated copy of Turtles Can Fly can be purchased in the bazaar), took about one and a half hours during which hardly a word of English was spoken. Holding this event in Kurdistan in Kurdish, where the speaking of Kurdish is NOT forbidden, is clearly an event to be celebrated! However, there were Assyrians, Chaldeans, Arabs (and Kurds returning for Arabic-speaking regions) and a whole host of foreigners, almost none of whom speak Kurdish fluently.... and barely a word of English was spoken. Again, you may wonder why this is upsetting? The university where the event was held is an ENGLISH-medium university... and hence all those non-Kurdish-speaking people in the audience (and dare I say, those most familiar with Bahman Ghobadi's work?) were denied from hearing his message.

I asked one of the students sitting near me, a lovely girl (but one whose whisper is louder than the microphone-amplified voices of those speaking on the stage), to translate the first of the audience questions. The question was, "Why are all your films shot in Iran and not Dohuk or Sulemania?" I wanted to die. What a waste of time. The one film which is available here, Turtles Can Fly, is entirely filmed in and near Hawler - which (as we know) is NOT in Iran. During all of this, a member of the student council, and one with excellent English, sat smugly on stage... doing nothing but arrange his Kurdish clothes and smile at the TV cameras. I questioned him afterwards as to why he made no real effort to translate, but he merely said, "What? Did you expect me to translate into 4 languages? Everyone here speaks Kurdish." Although the languages of the students at the university indeed do total 4 or more languages, the unifying one is English. If not, why would they elect to come to an English-medium university? Our nationalistic friend who likely should be studying at a Kurdish-medium university (what does one so total inward-looking a person need with a degree accredited from the outside anyway?) further added, "Anyway, Bahman Ghobadi doesn't speak English and there was no time for translation."

Well, my anger at this has now dissipated as I received my chance to hear Bahman Ghobadi speak after all. I ran into him at the Deutscher Hof in Ainkawa this past Wednesday night (after a full week of ranting). He was accompanied by a female Kurdish singer from Turkey, a Kurdish director from Kurdistan (Iraqi) and a man who produced and distributes some of Hiner Saleem's movies- movies which he will try to bring me this June when he returns to Kurdistan. Bahman Ghobadi was surprisingly friendly and down-to-earth and best of all, we were able to chat without the aid of a translator since he spoke marvelous English!

Please watch for follow-ups to this story as we exchanged email addresses and I am hoping for answers to some of the questions I wish were asked at the filming at the University.

Thursday Night

This Thursday, I didn't join Vin at the Edge... and I didn't stay home alone watching TV or pretending to work. Mu and Pambette made dinner plans... and picked my house as the location. Mu came over to cook lamb chop stew. Didn't know there was such a thing, but it was delicious.
But before dinner was cooked, a mystery guest arrived. Tf had unfortunately locked himself out of his apartment and had to climb over my balcony to his own. But not to worry, he made it safely and came back with "the bar". Last week he stocked up in Ainkawa on all sorts of spirits).
And finally Pambette arrived with all the sparkling coversation and drama.
After Mu had just made us eat the second large helping, Dr. Z arrived just in time to see us clean our plates, but not to fear... plenty of Halal sausages and eggs. After this, he began the dancing. "Opa!"

The Ainkawa Gossip Network...

... is not as active as "Paddy" thought! In fact, it seems this very blog is a source of gossip. I am not sure whether to be be sorry or proud! Last Thursday at the Edge, the very friendly staff (please leave me a comment if you are reading this) went up to Paddy and asked about his little trip to the police station. He was a little unerved that the gossip travelled even to those outside the university. As he was busy trying to figure out who the leak might be, it slipped out that they read about the event here on "Daily Hawler". Oops.

In truth, it seems nights at the Edge are often getting me in trouble. The night somebody's butt erased all the Z's from my phone made me feel like an idiot earlier this week as I was unable to recognize the marvelous Dr. Z's number and ended up asking him (rather impolitely), "Who IS this?"

Nesting

Many residents don't really like the accomodations here at Naz City, but I am not one of them. It is true, the complex is far away from everything... including the reality of life for most in Kurdistan. (Please note here, that I would be equally happy in a villa in a regular residential part of Hawler, complete with only partial electricity and Hawleri neighbours)! But I am happy to be out of New City where I felt like the owners were like my jailers.

Although this apartment is only on temporary loan until I either decide to leave or fate decides it for me, I have accumulated enough stuff to make the apartment (despite the fact that it is identical to everyone else's) feel like my own. Perhaps it is due to the Kurdish rugs (again many of us have purchased a few - or more), strange gifts from Sol that I have carted back from Paris, some books, and the contents of the kitchen cupboards- contents consisting of wierd things (or at least not common in Hawler) that I go to several different supermarkets to puchase; coconut milk, balsamic vinegar, tamarind and saffron from Aya, microwave popcorn from New City, baking supplies, brown sugar and Italian tortellini from Barz Rose and of course the staples from Nazaa Mall.

Anyway, for those of you who want to know what the place looks like, here are a few photos:The picture above is the view to the left (from my living room balcony). The sun comes up in the gap between the two buildings. It is roughly the direction of Ankawa. And of course the picture below is the pool.
Below is my living room. Yes, the gold sofas, curtains etc might not have been my choice, but after removal of the sofa cushions, the sofa is actually quite comfortable to sleep on. (The floors are a real pain to keep clean given that great amounts of dust/sand blow in whenever the doors/windows are open).
And the two photos following are of the kitchen. It is quite large and I would like to get a white plastic picnic table and chairs to put in front of the window... Plastic so that I could also move it all to the balcony and maybe take advantage of the built-in barbecue there. (I haven't done this yet as everytime I go on the balcony in the evening, the mosquitos are the only creatures partying).
The final photo is of the master bedroom. It is too big to get a full view, but the doors on the right are those to the walk-in closet. The photo is taken from inside the ensuit. Aside from this, there are 3 other rooms; a spare bedroom (minus furniture), a smaller room which I use to dry and iron my laundry in... and an office space which is as yet unused due to inadequate lighting. Will post pictures of those rooms if I ever get around to cleaning them.

No Women!

In response to the comment on the post below (about swimming at the fake Sheraton), the answer is "Yes, women are allowed to swim in the pool at the hotel"... at least the indoor one. However, at the apartments we are moving to, there is only one outdoor pool and the policy is NO WOMEN! However, this is now of less concern to me since I have joined Harveen Health Club at the first checkpoint into Ankawa.

You may be thinking, "Wow! A health club in Kurdistan!" Don't get too excited yet... I arrived at the club for the first time on Monday (after having my health verified by a doctor) between the hours of 3-5 (the hours that women are allowed to use the gym) and surveyed the equipment... there were a couple of treadmills, a couple of elliptical trainers, three stationary bikes, a rowing machine, some of those jiggly band things (to shake off your fat?)and some weight equipment. I went to the treadmill first... BROKEN! Then the elliptical trainer... It worked, but was wobbly... in fact, all of the equipment was only barely functional. But the pool was OK. There are two pools meaning that men and women can swim at the same time without having to see or be seen by the other. I went to the pool which was actually large enough to swim laps in (unlike that of the "Sheraton"); however, swimming laps would be difficult as local ladies were floating, playing and splashing around willy-nilly as if it were a children's wading pool.

However, the 'health club' experience hasn't been all bad. While in the gym, the regulars eyes me suspiciously... However, by the time I got to the pool, they had worked up enough courage to come and speak to me. Yesterday afternoon when I went for the second time, they all came up to me and greeted me by name. It was the first time that I was approached by and able to interact (in any kind of 'normal' way) with local women! More news to come from Harveen...

The "Walking" Club, Ankawa

It has now been almost 4 months since I have left the country, exercised, or discovered any new social venues. Hence I jumped at the chance when a student from Ankawa invited me (and Tf) to the Ankawa Social Youth Club. OK, I am not really a 'youth' but apparently, all ages of 'Christian' (I interpret this as non-Muslim - read on) people are welcome there... especially after hearing about the existence of an exercise room there!

In Erbil, as you probably know by now, there are not many places where people can congregate and socialize... especially with the opposite sex! However, in Ankawa, there used to be something (translated from Sureth) called Walking Street. In the evenings (Thursday and Sunday), people went there to walk and meet their friends and perhaps even spot the love of their life. This kind of 'meat market' is something that would be permitted in parts of conservative Hawler; hence, fearing mischief from some more hostile Islamists, the walkers have recently moved indoors into a former sports club.

The Club: So the club really was just in an old brick/stone jail-like building flanked with a courtyard surrounded by a high wall topped by an additional wire fence (to keep soccer balls in or harmful objects out?). And there they were... the walkers - walking in twos and threes arm-in arm and pacing from one end of the yard and back again like prisoners on an exercise break. I joined in with my student just to experience the 'thrill' and indeed it was a bit odd! People stopped to talk to us and I even ran into another student (who you may know from this weblog as Belly dancer).

At about 10pm, everyone simultaneously tired out and moved into the cafeteria to sit around and chat. Apparently, while it is permissible to tease friends you have spotted 'on dates' here, it is an unwritten club rule that the information of who is seen with whom stays within the walls of the club... a very wise rule all considered (although I have not heard of any honor washing among the Chaldean community). Anyway, I didn't use the exercise room which turned out to be very poor, but Tf played and beat a local guy (the DJ from the Edge- that story to come later) at table tennis.

Mealtime Massage by and for Mu?

There are too many people with the same name in this place. let's say for example your name is "Aso"; then we would have to specify which Aso by saying something like, "goteed Aso" or "green-eyed Aso" or even "your Aso" or "my Aso"! So in this picture, there are two by the name of "Mu"... and the grey-haired Mu is receiving a massage from the other (whose identity is protected by my lack of photographic expertise).

The remarkable thing about this event is that although restaurants in Kurdistan have family sections (usually near the kitchen and bathrooms in the back away from the windows) , Batmas restaurant (at the 1st checkpoint into Ankawa) not only permits women to sit at prime window tables, but allows its patrons to receive massages between the mezze and main course. I am posting this picture to remind myself that it is about time I visit 'Gardenia' hair salon and find out if it's really true that women can receive massages in Hawler as well.

Ankawa egg

What does it mean, 'The Ankawa Egg'? To be honest, I don't think this is any philosphical or cosmic symbol of the universe... although it's true that even hard-boiled, there is a 'sun' in the center. It was a gift given me by a student from Ankawa, a gift which he created at the Ankawa Youth Center... possibly one of the few places where young people - Christian young people (both male and female in the same space) can congregate and socialize. Given that it was, as you may have surmised, boiled and dyed around Easter, I guess it is meant as a symbol of birth, rebirth and potential.

Happy Easter from Hawler

An altar boy carries a candle during Easter ceremonies in the Chaldean Church in Ainkawa, Iraq. Other services in the area were cancelled for fear of violence. (I don't think this is from this year, but CNN's picture was pretty).

So in response to an email from my mom, I wrote, "No, I don't think the Easter bunny visits Hawler," but that doesn't mean there isn't an Easter... Some of the Chaldean students, who incidentally speak Syriac (is this right?) which is closely related to the Aramaic Jesus spoke, are understandably absent from class today. I unfortunately am at work. But that is no excuse for me to have missed the Easter events as some of the staff visited Ankawa last Thursday to view 'the washing of the feet' (of 12 little boys- or was it little 12 year old boys?). Cy told me that I didn't miss much as much of the spirituality was ruined for her by the presence of machine gun toting guards surrounding the church and as the staging of 'the arrest of Jesus' was cancelled this year. I guess in comparison to the processions of Latin America... I on the other hand have never even witnessed the likes even of what took place here and certainly intend to go next year (if I am here).

Hospitality Club

Tonight we went to Ainkawa, the Christian district. It was too dark to see much, but it was different from the other areas. Local women were wearing short sleeved fitted tops and no head scarves. We went down some dark lanes to find the German restaurant/hof where we all had a pint of lager in ceramic beer steins for $5.00 each. This is fairly expensive seeing as you can get a 6 pack of 500 ml cans of Turkish beer in the shops here (like the one that supplied the Bordeaux for last night's party at A's house) for the same price. B says she doesn't attend A's gatherings anymore because unlike the rest of us idlers, she is busy studying about Kurdistan and writing in her journal, "Dear Diary, there is nothing at New City to help combat this incredible boredom..." (OK, now I am just copying G and making stuff up).

Anyway, this post is not about the neighbors, but is indirectly about the hospitality club. When I started to think seriously about coming to the University of Kurdistan, I started searching for people in the area with whom I could talk about the situation in Kurdistan - Is it safe, how is life for women, etc etc. When when I exhausted Skype, I joined the hospitality club and met M. M works in Ankawa as an engineer for an firm... Today we made our first phone contact and this evening after beer at the German place, we (G, B and I) walked to 'Happy Time' to eat and meet M. He explained about local culture a bit, confirming our suspicions that there is nothing to do in Hawler. However, we will meet again tomorrow at 10:30 and he will take us shopping for English books, pirated DVDs, and for me (Popeye) some spinach (which he claims to eat at least twice a week although I haven't seen it in the markets anywhere).