(which means GOBAMA in Arabic) OBAMA WON! OBAMA WON! And I found out a way (with crucial help from my mom) to vote! My absentee ballot didn't arrive - because this is KURDISTAN and who here give a rat's fart about the mail - and so I tried to print it out and fax it … Continue reading YALLA, OBAMA!
Last Friday, I embarked on my adventure. I had been planning on somehow going alone, by bus and taxi. But this was not to be. I found someone with a car who wanted to road-trip as much as I did. Sam, the head of catering for the school, was my travel buddy this past week. … Continue reading Day 1: Kirkuk
...from EVERYWHERE. Here is what the itinerary turned out to be: Day 1 (Friday): Suli, Chamchamal, Kirkuk, Arbil Day 2 (Saturday): Arbil, almost Mosul, Dar Mar Matta (St. Matthew's Monastery) Day 3 (Sunday): Mar Matta Day 4 (Monday): Mar Matta, Shekhan, Lalish, Al Qosh Day 5 (Tuesday): Al Qosh, Dohok Day 6 (Wednesday): Dohok, Amediya … Continue reading I’m BACK…
In 6 hours, I'm heading on on a week-long road trip around Kurdistan. I'm probably not going to bring my computer, so you might not hear from me for a week. Even if I bring my computer you probably won't hear from me since there's no wifi in rural Kurdistan. Moral of the story: you'll … Continue reading Incommunicado
Day 1: Slemani - Chamchamal - Erbil Day 2: Erbil - Shaqlawa Day 3: Rawanduz - Barzan - Sulav Day 4: Amadiya - Lalish Day 5: Dohuk - Al Qosh Day 6: Shekhan - Mar Mattai Day 7: Back to Suly Day 8: Ahmed Awa It's written down now, so it's going to happen.
It's cloudy today. Overcast. Cool. Ok, it's still 80 degrees Farenheit, but that's a lot more bearable than the consistently 95-100 degree days we've been having. And it's sprinkling a little rain. Iraqi petrichor is intoxicating. Vocab: khera: quickly heyawash: slowly hayom m'unan: it's cloudy today (Hebrew) yored geshem: it's raining (Hebrew) okhai: finally!
I've been here for two months already. Cool. That kinda makes me feel like an adult.
Dear Iraqi bureaucrats,Your lack of temporal awareness is often charming, funny, and relaxing. I have learned not to rely on an Iraqi clock. This region operates differently.But sometimes you gotta jive with other countries. Other regions don't share the same lackadaisical view of the minute hand as you do. And, you know, expats do live … Continue reading GIMME MY BALLOT
Kurdistan's not on a schedule. I like it, actually. It's not like the US, where if an appointment takes longer than expected, you're desperate to leave because dammit, you have important things to get done. Here, when it takes hours to hop through bureaucratic hoops, people just chill. Because what's so important to get back … Continue reading Bureaucratic Hoops
On Saturday I went back to Amna Suraka, along with my friend Jin, to see the actual Amna Suraka museum. It was worth it. The Red Security buildings are in a compound, an ex-Baath government compound. Many buildings are hollowed out and pockmarked, but a few have been converted into museum rooms. The tour took … Continue reading Amna Suraka, Pt 2
In Mutual Weirdness 