Visitor's View of Hawler

All photos below by Tiziana:
The citadel in Erbil
A shop in Kayseri
A shoe shine stand on the street in Bazaari Sirwan
A happy pickle salesman

Drive by Shooting

A little scared to pull out my camera while passing through Kirkuk... once again... and once again by accident! I put on my telephoto lens and shot pictures from the back seat over Pambette's shoulder through the dirty glass of the Jeep Cherokee's window. (Just to let you know, although Kirkuk has been posted here more than once, it is always an accident when I find myself there - this time being no exception...the only difference is that this time, the driver also didn't intend to go there. We discovered the error when we passed Chamchamal instead of Dokhan).

Our first experience of Kirkuk was a high traffic jam/blockade where we sat hemmed in by lorries and other vehicles haphazardly matted together. Uniformed military personnel let us sit there a while before starting to weave their way among the vehicles slapping the sides of cars to get them to stop or move ahead and untangle the many lines of traffic. Later we found out there had been some incident with American soldiers and some fundamental Islamists and hence there was a curfew on the city which lasted until 5pm... so I guess we waited there until 5:00.

This next photo was accidentally shot. You aren't supposted to take photos at checkpoints. This is the actual Kirkuk checkpoint (the little white booth with the three men in unifroms in front). We had no problem entering Kirkuk. It was as though all the guards in Kurdistan had been warned that there was a red Jeep Cherokee of foreigners trying to find their way to Hawler. At some of the checkpoints they even spoke to Dr. Z in Turkish.

This next photo is of nothing - just the road as you enter the opfficial city boundaries.

At this point, it was starting to get dark and we were really driving too fast to shoot any non-blurry photos, but this one is of a statue of someone ?(Kirkukis, please write and let me know who this is)near the center of the city where you start to pass by the citadel, the markets and streets with little street stalls and... cows!

And this last photo is of a typical scene in Kirkuk. Last time I saw the Iraqi National guards dressed in Ninja outfits manning mounted guns on the back of a truck. This time it was a convey of armoured vehicles - American?

People in the neighborhood...

Street workers in front of the university. (This pic also highlights the construction so typical all over Hawler).












Care taker at the Citadel.












The guard at the gate of the Citadel.

Birthday 2007

Yesterday marked my second birthday celebrated in Hawler! But unlike last year, this year my birthday fell in the middle of the Eid break, so many who were here last year were all off on a short break. But the day was extraordinarily well spent... I got up just before my bell rang - my friendly neighbour come to sing a loungy-jazzy redition of "Happy Birthday!"
This first picture is taken in D's apartment. She and her daughter made and decorated cupcakes and even arranged for one to be topped with a tealight (must be resourceful in Erbil) so that I could have my birthday wish. It was fabulous.
After lunch, I headed off to the Citadel again, but not to view Nasdak, to get a set of keys cut and to explore. This pic was taken in the mirror at the little museum next to the textile museum at the top of the Citadel.
This is just for fun - new friends with scary faces (taken at the same museum)... I wonder where the museum found their mannekins. Just so you know, everything there is very much for sale, including the '70s floor lamps, the brass giraffe paperweights, the paintings of Saddam and/or Barzani or the cantelope piggy banks.
After all the wallking around, we needed a little snack: Falafel from a little window. We took them next to a little parky-area where people, mostly men, were sitting under striped umbrellas and chatting. It was gorgeous. we were so naughty. We laughed and chatted everywhere and Hawler seemed to be OK with it... at least more than last year. Too bad the key cutter was closed by the time we got there... 2nd night in a row to be locked out of my house (but now I know I can get into my house via balconies in two different apartments- Tf's AND Noor's).
This last photo was taken from dinner upstairs: prawn curry, onion bhaji and pilaf. Sorry there are no food photos, but this is one of B taking a photo of me... Flash!

Citadel Close-ups

the NASDAK

Have you heard the news that Erbil is slated (by whom I don't know) to become the next Dubai of the Middle East? And supposedly Nasdak (a mall complex built by 3 Armenian-Iraqi brothers, nothing to do with stock indexes) is proof of development in that direction. It took a flock of cranes and a billion dollars to build this complex at the foot of the Citadel. So on the afternoon of the 15th, we headed off to the check out what had happened over the summer.
While some aspects of the compliex were impressive; there were escalators to facilitate better access to the 800 shops... and stairs to reach the upper 400 office spaces, I am not convinced that I will give up shopping in the bazaar to come here. The shops were smaller in size than some of those in the bazaar and the merchandise didn't appear to be any better in quality. Plus, where will the international traffic come from? There aren't that many affordable flights into Erbil from the outside world...
Anyway, here is a view of the Nasdak from the Bazaar...
And a final view from the Citadel... a huge ugly ship-like structure (air craft carrier perhaps?) floating on waves of crumbly bricks capped with satellite dishes.

Accidental Tourist in Kirkuk

(This post is also about the weekend before the one that just passed)

Although bursting with stories when I first got back to Hawler on Saturday, the 10th of February, I didn't manage to write it all down; about the coffee shop in Zagros mall where WOMEN were sitting on their own and drinking cappuccino, about the authentic Chinese restaurant (where subsequently Mu. now goes when he is there for business and Br has had his students take him), about the fact that there were only 5 hours of electricity per night in the motel and only a trickle of cold water from the bathroom showerhead... and most notably about the ride back to Hawler via KIRKUK!!!

Yes- somehow the road seemed straight and the journey too fast seeing as the 'safe' road from Sulemaniyah to Hawler bypasses Koya through the mountains and has a number of hairpin turns. Most people prefer this 3 hour journey to the straight 2 hour one that necessitates passing through Kirkuk. The driver was quite cocky and insisted that he was Peshmerga and knew all the right roads to take. He took me through Kirkuk as if we were touring famous sites at a vacation destination: On the left, please notice the Citadel, and now to the right is the bazaar (Would you like to stop - it's much cheaper than Hawler's) and those three menacing looking guys dressed in black poised over machine guns in the back of the truck - just Iraqi police! Seeing as the one with his pointed over the cab of the truck even had a black hood with only a slit for his eyes, perhaps you will understand why I didn't feel as calm as the driver.

Fortunately, we exited Kirkuk shortly after our police sighting and the driver spent the rest of the drive teaching me the Kurdish names for everything we passed; ker (donkey), cher (cow), bisin (goat), mar (sheep)...

View from the top

Last weekend I finally made it to the rooftop of the university! This first picture is of the mosque. It is just visible from my office window (to the right).

This is a street scene further right of the mosque.



This is the view of what you might see from the offices on the other side of the hall. If you look in the center of the picture, the sandy structure in the distance is the Citadel.


This is the view directly in front of my window. If it wasn't so dark, you'd be able see that the sun is setting over the prison!

Connected

OK, so the truth is, it isn't so easy to find English newspapers... neither is it easy to keep connected (via wireless) long enough to chat via skype or even send an email... I really work hard to keep uploading photos to this site since I have to wait for opportune moments when the connection is obliging. However, one thing I never lack for is TV news coverage. The photos below are all taken from the Citadel. In these photos, it should become clear that no matter what the living condition, there is always one ubiqitous item to be seen - a satellite dish. I don't believe that I have EVER had access to so many TV channels in my life before. BBC World, American talk shows, Turkish sitcoms... Too bad that in relation to the news concerning this part of the world, I have no way of understanding the news on those channels from Jordan, UAE, Turkey, Lebanon, etc. And I wonder what picture of life overseas is being constructed here from the broadcasting of "Friends" reruns. Hmmmm... Living here in in this complex, I think that "Lost" would be a better choice since I sometimes wonder if I am living some sort of psychological experiment.

Saturday afternoon at the bazaar

After coming home from my early morning trip to the Citadel, S confronted me and let me know in no uncertain terms that I must work harder to wake her up to go with me next time! Anyway, we gathered Z and returned to the area below the Citadel. We started with a walk around the bazaar and tea at the shop mentioned in the post 'Heart of Hawler'. This was nice as it gave me the chance to sit in a tea shop and read. S was occupied with reading and watching people watch/draw us. Maybe I should bring my sketchpad next time? This first photo shows the tea shop. The entrance is under the pink sign left of the shop selling machine-made carpets that look nothing like the ones in the Kurdish Textile Museum (see below). Some have portraits of religious and folk figures on them. Imagine prominantly displaying such a rug in your home!

After tea, we returned to the bazaar... I am sure you already know where! Luckily we managed to refrain from yet another carpet buying frenzy. This fuzzy picture (taken by the young guy who owns the shop across the way) shows Z, me, S and the carpet shop owner drinking tea and contemplating possible purchases.... CALMLY! (You might not recognize Z due to the lack of facial hair, but he assures us it will grow back within a week).

This final picture is one that Z took of me. This is to let you know that this really is my blog and that I have not delegated the posting to someone else in the community.

Saturday morning at Qelay Hawler

This morning I got up early to go to the Citadel (Qelay?) to revisit the 'castle' and take photos. What a shame that no one wanted to get up that early. So I slept in a bit more and then decided to go for a walk... which turned into a taxi ride to the Citadel after all- but to see the museum (which still wasn't open at 8:00). Instead I went to find some water at a local corner store which wasn't crowded with school children on thier way to school.

At 8:30, the Textiles Museum opened and I met the owner... a wonderful guy who explained about the Erbil plains and the carpets/kilims made by the tribes of the region. He has been collecting them for his museum for the last 15 years since it is an art form which is no longer practiced. This picture is taken at the museum.

Heart of Hawler

I had lived amongst the jumble of sand-colored buildings that seem to tumble outwards from the center of the city for almost a month without ascending the citadel that sits at its core. At midday Friday, we were invited into an old and famous tea shop sitting in the shadow of the statue you see above. This statue quietly contemplates the frantic comings and goings in the bazaar below and although I cannot tell you who the statue represents, I have been told he is a poet. This seems appropriate as I sit in the tea shop which is filled with young and old men (we are the only women) engaged in philosophical debate (I romanticize). There are shelves of what appear to be literature, poetry and other tomes of academic interest behind the counter and I have been told that many like to play backgammon here.

It is while surveying this scene that we decide to climb the tell and see what is inside the inner walls of the city. It is at the top of these layers and layers of civilizations that I first tasted my first Hawler calm. I also felt something intense and personal which I suspect is associated with my own complex relationship with the past (real and imagined). Here I felt, despite nomadic tendencies, connected to history. Although not born anywhere in or near this region (and my ancestors are still something of a question mark for me), the land beneath me owned me.

This story is to be continued anther day....

Bimbalo Bazaar Jadesirwan

I’m not sure, but I think the title of this means “I want to go to the Citadel Market.” Anyway, it worked and the taxi driver took us to the right place. All day, S kept saying things like, “I love this place” and “This is the best city in the world!” Actually, I think we both had a GREAT day today. We bought a few silly things to make our motel rooms more livable; carpets, kilim wall hangings, wooden hangers, scarves (which we are using as table clothes, doilies, etc). The kilims and carpets were incredibly cheap! We didn’t have enough money and will have to go back; S has her sights on an incredible antique Persian runner for $50.00! And being a carpet enthusiast (hence knowing a good carpet when she sees one), she reckons the same thing would run about $1000.00 in Australia. (I saw some nice ones from Sulemaniyah- can't wait to go there).

After coming home, S wanted to return to the bazaar with more money, but instead we went to New City with T (pictured holding Kat Kat Tat... a sweet we saw advertised on a billboard on the way to the border). We collectively bought all the ingredients for ‘Mercimek Corbasi’ (Turkish lentil soup served with lemon, mint and paprika). It was fabulous! Unfortunately, T couldn’t partake as she was out with the conductor of the Iraqi Symphony Orchestra and a local poet, but will have hers tomorrow. S and I may return to the market tomorrow. Life is good.