For Eszter

This is in lieu of an email reply to the comment you left on my post electricity. First of all, let me thank you for your comments on Lalish. It was hard to write about the significance of some of the things I saw there as our group didn't know very much about the Yezidis before going. It took me a long time to try to sift through lots of conflicting information (even information from my local friends was conflicting) and decide what to post. Any photos or additional information you would like to send would be much appreciated (meezane@gmail.com).

Glad you liked my photos of Turkey. I hope to go back again soon, but maybe Urfa, Harran and Gaziantep next time. And of course there is the whole west coast still to be discovered. I find Turkey to be stunning, be it the cityscape of Istanbul, the fairy chimneys of Capadoccia, or the villages, the volcanic rock fields and ruins in East Anatolia. of course there are wonderful places here too... but too many of them are not safe to visit or I simply haven't made it there yet as travel is not as convenient as in Turkey. I am sure you know better than me. I hope to travel to Dohuk, Amedi and Halamata Cave next weekend. Perhaps you have advice?

Anyway, I will try to post more about university life here in Kurdistan. As you mention, the difficulty is the need to be careful. Perhaps after I leave?

Best, Zanmei

May Day at the Deutscher Hof

After a long period of NOt going to the DH, not being willing to shell out for exorbitantly priced weinersnitzel, or something which is nothing like what I thought bratwurst was like, I have started going again. Maybe everyone is in better spirits now that the dust storms are less frequent and the sun is out... or maybe because the beer really is the only good beer in Erbil, not being familiar brands (like Heineken, Grolsch or Budweiser) produced in unfamiliar places... or fake spirits imported from China.

In the evening, before International Workers' Day, a Maypole was brought out, but there was no dancing around it, or scaling of the pole... Instead people drank ridiculously huge draft beers or beer from little boots...

Or hammered nails into stumps. Who knew this was a competitive sport? Sorry to report that all the pictures of Gunter hammering nails in his lederhosen are too dark.

And on May 1st, we returned for lunch! In fact, the meals were surprisingly OK. But better than that was really just the chance to sit in the garden under a big umbrella amongst the garden gnomes (not pictured)...

And listen to the budgies and love birds twitter.




All photos by Corinne

Bakery & More

Photo by Corinne

The days of begging visitors to smuggle blocks of parmesan in their suitcases is over! What you can't see in this photo is the glass case filled with salami and ham varieties (all Halal beef, but convincing in taste), gruyere, parmesan, mozarella, and other cheeses! There is yet another bigger case of millefeuille, strawberry tarts, cream puffs, eclairs, mousse desserts... and, best of all, a counter stacked with breads; including baguettes, hedgehog-shaped loafs made from unbleached flour, lebanese flat bread and a variety of others, some enticing with an aroma of savory herbs.
Upstairs is a restaurant where I will likely be lunching a lot in the future. Now if only these new places that have started to spring up in Erbil would bring in proper coffee machines and good espresso.

If you haven't been yet, tell the taxi to take you to Sky City. It is directly across the street.

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.

electricity

Apprehension... I feel it just before touching the door handle of the bus before going to work in the morning, before shaking hands with a person who has just approached me... or in fact, before touching practically any electrical appliance. But not because I abhor going to work, meeting new people or using electrical appliances, because I still haven't become completely used to the frequent shocks you can get from these activities.

Sparks Fly

Photo by Lesley
Last month, a number of us at the university were invited to a member of staff's wedding. It was a weeknight evening and many of were happy to attend what turned out to be a rather spectacular and not-so-typical wedding (in my limited experience). It was special in that the hall was not the usual cement hall with men on one side and women on the other, but a spectacularly decorated place with mixed seating. The bride and groom made an impressive entry along a red carpet lined with sparklers to the tune of Pachabel's Cannon in A. When they reached the dance floor, the music stopped and "the Lady in Red" (or was it "when a man loves a woman"?) came on, the couple slow danced, and then the music changed back and they continued to their stage at the front. The couple then sat for photos (more typical) but before people got up to greet them, people (again of both sexes!) were already out of their seat and on the dance floor - two lines; but separated not by sex, but age... one of the circles was all children.

Empty Nest

I am sad to say that I let so much time pass before posting, that most of you won't even know that that I had a border in my balcony barbecue pit until you read this post. Mu was walking in the bazaar when he saw some boys pulling out the tail feathers of a poor little creature with an injured wing. Of course he yelled at the little boys who handed over the bird. Mu caught a taxi back to my place ignoring the driver's puzzled glances... He must have thought Mu was pretty hard up to contemplate pigeon pie.

Anyway, Mu made it a little nest using paper, dried leaves from my Yucca plants and fed it water and bulgur from little Turkish saucers (don't worry, they remained on the balcony... no amount of bleach would convince me to reemploy them for tea service). Many people, including Pambette's mom who was visiting from Greece, came to visit. Most were not quite so enchanted as P's mom with Mu's "Kurdish pigeon." Truth be told, I was also not so pleased to be harboring a "flying rat" (as my mom affectionately calls pigeons). Anyway, late last week, Mu took the little thing to the animal hospital where it will stay until it recovers and then be set free. (My attempts to medicate the wing failed as the bird ate the medicine off and deposited 2 days worth of bright green presents all over my balcony). My only regret at the bird being gone is that I didn't take the photo that I promised Pambette's mother (as my camera is still broken). However, a little Internet searching for an Iraqi pigeon with brown throat markings and a slender black beak led me to the picture above of a laughing dove. I hope the wing has mended and Mu's laughing dove is laughing somewhere happier than the hospital.

BREAD

Photo by Pambette.
Yesterday I received a comment on my blog asking for photos... and a message in my email inbox complaining about my lack of blogging activity. Well, somehow it seems that my will to blog decreases significantly when my camera is out of action. Anyway, pictures have been promised and should be on the way soon. In the meantime, here is a photo taken at New City Turkish restaurant of sesame-adorned bread (of a particularly delicious variety) made just for me by a baker "Fred" who used to work at our university's cafeteria. Such a shame he is no longer there as it means we also no longer have lamacun on the menu.

At Dar Es Salaam's ATM in Iraq, you can...

Deposit Cash/Cheque/Bank Correspondence, Conduct transfers within your own accounts, Make Third Party Payments within Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank Iraq, Withdraw up to IQD 1,500,000 per day, Obtain a mini-statement, Request a cheque book...

At least this is what was listed on the bank of the slip that came out of the ATM... YES, the ATM! This may seem a silly thing to post, but to say that a place like Japan is a CASH SOCIETY is to have no comprehension of what things are like in Kurdistan! Should you be have been stuck in Kurdistan with no cash anytime last year, you would likely have to rely on the kindness of strangers to help you across the border to Turkey to a bank machine or a reliable place to receive a Western Union transfer. (Austrian Air, which wasn't in operation for part of last year, of course does accept payment in credit, but this was the exception rather than the norm).

Now the options for the terminally broke are growing! On April 5th, I successfully withdrew IQD 300,000 (the maximum amount for withdrawal at one time) from the Dar Es Salaam bank machine located between Iskan street and New City Shopping Center in Erbil! The second attempt at withdrawal failed (and I was unable to test the statement on the back of the slip that you can withdraw up to IQD 1,500,000 dinar in one day). And if you live in Kurdistan and this is good news to you, I can give you the further information that HSBC in London charged me GBP 1.89 for this service and exchanged the money at a rate which I would estimate to be Interbank rate + 5%.

Viva Kurdistan

another borrowed photo
OK, so I am not sure what to write here... what I am not going to write is an essay on Kurdish nationalism. Instead, to all those living in Kurdistan and members of the diaspora, I say (in addition to 'Happy Newroz'), 'Harbizhi Kurdistan'. This year, like last year, I rode to the first Newroz picnic of the year in a car decorated with two Kurdish flags... and unlike the pinickers' flags from last year... and unlike the Iraqi flags near Erbil airport, there were no gold fringes. Please note, that with the exception of Newroz, I have never ever been in a car decorated with the flag of any nation including my own.

Newroz we piroz be

picture stolen from Lonely Planet
This year's Newroz picnic was much like last year's, except that I had 2 invitations to 2 different picnics which turned out to be the same picnic. I got up late and missed the departure of the people who invited me first (Izzy and his gang)... such a shame. However, it meant that I didn't have to get all dolled up in a borrowed candy pink Kurdish dress. Instead I went with Dr. Z, Pambette, Mu, the owner of Cafe de Paris (the restaurant where I spend the evening before dancing to live music), and one of his staff.
Anyway, we arrived at this year's chosen picnic spot- outside the village where Salahadin lived. There were tents and the musicians from the night before's party were there. Many people were dancing and alas, as we made our way towards the dancers, we tripped over Izzy's party. They were grilling and eating meat and Juan was wearing a green Kurdish dress (which my borrowed pink one was to accompany). We listened to music, ate and then got back on the road home (which was packed with picnickers). This year, I saw just a few things that I didn't see last year: Bedouin men on the hillsides walking in groups and a few solitary guys watching their sheep. Also, I saw lots of swings. I guess they were there last year, but I didn't notice them... all over people had attached ropes looped to trees, a pillow or blanket anchored in the middle and women in their dresses sitting on those pillows just a swinging.

My camera was given to a friend of Mu's today who will take it to Istanbul for fixing... However, I will get pictures from Izzy and Pambette and replace the one from the Lonely Planet.

Treacle Treatment

If you haven't guessed, this post is about "waxing"... so men who are uncomfortable should discontinue reading.

Some of you regular readers will know that I occasionally spend time with Izzy and some of his newspaper crew. Well, recently it has been rumored that Juan, an Arab advertising manager from Baghdad, is an expert at all sorts of salon treatments... Yesterday I met up with her (despite the fact that we share no common language) so that I could verify the truth of her skills. The session started out with me screaming as she tweezed and threaded half of my eyebrows right off my face. They are thinner than I would normally like to see them, but she did a neat and clean job.
Then came the treacle (sugaring). She heated up a mixture of lemon juice and sugar and then as it cooled, she added some water and kneaded it into a ball. She took the toffee ball, squished it onto my wrist and used her thumbs to spread the sticky stuff up my arm. Then she unstuck the end and deftly folded it back bit by bit towards my wrist. Spreading the sugar against the hair growth and pulling it off in the direction of hair growth is opposite of waxing, but I think it hurt ever so slightly less (no screaming). It was neater and easier than regular waxing, needing no fabric strips and no heating. And finally, at the cost of a cup of sugar...

Kurdish Globe Advert Inspires Joy

This little ad means that it is once again possible for me to make travel plans with friends without the fear that my flight will suddenly be cancelled or rescheduled. I will also be able to visit Amy after she moves to London... or meet her in Vienna.

Curb Painting

There is hopefully a picture and some text coming, but in the , here is a good link about the Arab League's visit: http://www.kurdishglobe.net/displayArticle.jsp?id=719D884DFE3B86A4A5B86BC4F1D7F7B3
and other possibly related news: http://www.stratfor.com/sitrep/iraq_car_bomb_targets_sulaymaniyah_hotel

Gold Fringes

One week ago, the item at the top of my wish list was a spangly, sparkly Kurdish dress (complete with sparkly pointy-toed heels and gold-fake will do- jewelry) to wear over Nawruz and all the subsequent picnics and weddings. However, yesterday this wish was displaced.

Upon a brief stop in the parking lot of the apartments to pick up Mu, Dr Z and I saw J's "couch surfies" coming towards us lugging heavy backpacks! (Yes, there are people couch surfing even in Northern Iraq). They couldn't get visas for Iran and were headed to the airport to catch a flight to Jordan. Dr. Z magnanimously offered to drop them at the new airport terminal... or at least at the parking lot outside the high-security gates where they could catch a mini-bus to the terminal. WOW! The road to the airport was lined, not with palm trees - my No.1 favorite road-liner, but with the new (although temporary) Iraqi flag. Since my arrival here, only Kurdish flags could be seen in Hawler... but these flags (see above) were not only flags, but flags trimmed with gold fringes. At the gate to the airport, other flags were in evidence; the Kurdish flag followed by what must have been (no time to examine closely) the flags of the 19 nations currently represented at the Arab Parliamentary Union Conference taking place here at the Martyr Saad Conference Center. What do you think would happen to me if I tried to snag myself one of these flag commemorate of the Arab League's presence? (I already have a Kurdish one... the kind you can buy to decorate your vehicle's antennae).

Sudden Summer

Is this global warming or just Iraq? Last week I was wearing my winter coat with the furry trim and this week the temperature must be nearly 30 degrees Celsius!

Maftoul

This is another post for Saffron (formerly known as W. in Tokyo). A while ago, I went for lunch at Fairuz, a newish Lebanese restaurant in Hawler. Instead of ordering the Western dishes popular with locals, I ordered the day's special Lebanese dish, which I unfortunately promptly forgot the name of.

Anyway, it had these little pasta-like balls combined with chickpeas and chicken, all of which had been stewed for 4 hours. Although rather colorless,the flavor was delicate and pleasing (was it allspice?). Anyway, a little search led me to believe those little pasta-like balls were in fact Israeli (or Lebanese) cous cous (as pictured). Anyway, this recipe from Recipezaar souds like it would taste like what I had (minus the tomatoes and the chicken-browning step).

Turkey retreats...

The picture comes from an article entitled Turkey withdraws troops from Northern Iraq, military says in yesterday's Guardian.

Why add the tag "military says..."? Because like all of the news here, none of the information is clear... Turkey says they acheived thier goals and have hence gone home. Others say they left because of US pressure. A US official warns the troops have not in fact completely withdrawn... The Turks give numbers of casualties on both sides, the PKK gives different numbers. Many call the PKK terrorists... And the Iraqi Kurds believe Turkish generals are using the presence of the PKK in Iraq as a pretext to destabilise the Kurdish autonomous area. Well, at least it's clear why my students suggest the topic Turkey is targeting the KRG, not the PKK for an in-class debate.

Roj Recommendation

I am certain that nobody is in need of my little blog to know what's happening these days in Kurdistan (especially since I never write of the political going ons). But as my mother worries when she watches TV or reads the news, I have decided to dedicate a little post to the news. The picture to the right is taken from Radio Free Europe's Feb 22 report of the Turkish army on their way to the Iraqi border to fight the PKK rebels. How does this affect life in Erbil? Students at my institution staged a protest; it took an hour and delayed the start of class by 10 minutes. And every time I turn on BBC World or Al Jazeera International, I can hear international condemnations of the separatist PKK "terrorist" organization. I can see images of the Turkish tanks and helicopters amassing on the border towns. I can also hear the Iraqi, Kurdish and international governments' official responses... about how it is critical that Turkey finish quickly and withdraw in order not to destabilize the region and harm Iraq's territorial integrity. This gives everyone something to speculate about. Life here is sometimes just one big political discussion. (Note that if things heat up, I will post more later).

What you can't hear on every station is what anyone connected to HOTBIRD sattelite can view on Roj TV! Last night, Roj showed footage from the perspective of the PPK rebels hiding in the mountains; scenes punctuated by the loud blasts as they shot at the Turkish helicopters flying by. Then the camera surveyed the wreckage of what could be a helicopter through the tangly vegetation to the audio accompaniment of laboured, possibly frightened, breathing. However, it was not truly clear that the wreckage was recent (no smoke or signs of recent impact, and there were branches and growth over the wreckage). The footage was somewhat like CNN's minute-by-minute on-location news... except that there was a huge semi-transparent Roj logo (see above) superimposed over the entire footage. Was it to stop people copying it and broadcasting it as their own? I have too many questions... Maybe because I don't speak either Kurmanci or Turkish. I wanted to post a link so that you could watch video streaming of recent events and come to your own conclusions. Unfortunately, when I tried to visit Roj, my computer's security system went wild detecting and deleting all sorts of security risks. Anyway, if you can speak Turkish or Kurmanci, I highly reccomend you watch Roj news for a different perspective!

101 Kurdish Delights; Lablaby and Perda Pilau

After more than a year in Kurdistan, who would have thought that only now (now that I have stopped eating out) that am I starting to discover a wider spectrum of Kurdish (and general Iraqi) culinary delights! This is partly because I am not very good at saying no when invited out... and partly because I am not very good at saying no when people intimate an interest in being invited to my house. This week I ate/cooked my way though the following: After more than a year in Kurdistan, who would have thought that only now (now that I have stopped eating out) that am I starting to discover a wider spectrum of Kurdish (and general Iraqi) culinary delights! This is partly because I am not very good at saying no when invited out... and partly because I am not very good at saying no when people intimate an interest in being invited to my house. This week I ate/cooked my way though the following:

1. Lablaby (dinner at my house); one of my guests - the guest of honor- was from Baghdad, and I noted on several occasions, how much he loved lablaby (Arabic for chickpeas). So anyway, to supplement meat, rice, salad and a Ceylon-style eggplant dish, I found and adapted a lablaby recipe. I replaced boullion cubes with real chicken and will add garlic the next time. The results? My guest said, "I kiss your lablaby!" Unfortunately, I also learned that although big chunks of meat are acceptable dinner food, rice is considered too heavy... and I always serve rice! I learned that when some Iraqis with intestinal problems are operated on, the doctors sometimes have to remove 5kg of rice (which was eaten greasy and partially crispy). Is it possible? At least I don't cook rice Iraqi style.
2. Perda Pilau (dinner out): I went to Haji Mohammed's brother's house... only to get a phone call the next day from H. Mohammed complaining that I haven't been to his house recently and insisting that I come immediately. I couldn't get out of it until I cried. Anyway, his brother served Mosul style kefta and PURDA PILAU! I am not sure if this is Kurdish, Iraqi or Persian, but it was interesting. Pilau (rice similar to biryani) cooked inside a pastry covering (or perda/veil).