Goodbye for now, Kurdistan!

Top ten things I will miss while I'm gone:

1.   Kurdish friends and the friendly Kurdish people

2.   Luprak Butter

3.   Kak Naan ("Mr. Bread-Man") and his awesome bread

4.   Mountains

5.   Seeing people dressed in traditional Kurdish clothes

6.   Kurdish tea 

7.   Fresh vine-ripe tomatoes sold by the kilo at every little store on every corner

8.   Holland Bazaar

9.  Kurdish food like Iprax and Biriani

10. Cold cokes available at every store for less than fifty cents

Kurdish Mountains

Packing Heat

Yes, that's right. Light-packer is packing heat! An American friend of mine hooked me up with a Kurdish friend who was trained by US Special Forces who let me shoot his weapons. We drove out to the middle of nowhere and I got to shoot an AK 47 and Glock handgun.

AK 47 semi-automatic. I hit the middle!
My friend said I got lucky. WHATEVER! ;-)

Glock handgun action. Ok, maybe 1 time is luck,
but 2 times means I got skillz!

Water Truck

Having adequate water in this dry land can be a challenge.

We have four water tanks on our roof that get filled with city water about every other day, but we also have a large lawn to water (my gardening interest is fast waning). To top that off, for a week or so we didn't get city water. So, over the past two months, we have completely run out of water at least three times.

When we run out of water we have to call a water truck to come and re-fill the tanks. See the hose snaking it's way off the back of the truck? It's bigger and heavier than it looks. We have to haul that thing up to the roof from the second floor patio and then hold on for dear life as the water gushes out of it at the force of a fire hose. Would be fun except it seems like every time we ran out of water it was when we were having people over and needed the water to cook for them. AAARRGGHHHH!

Leaving the 99

On the last day of English camp Ms. Karen’s was teaching her class how to spell the word “apple.” One girl kept trying to get it right. She came to Ms. Karen at least ten times with every possible configuration of spelling possible.
 

Each time Ms. Karen encouraged her to try again until finally she got it right. She was overjoyed when she heard Ms. Karen say “YOU DID IT!” Her persistence awarded her the good student of the day award.  

After the award ceremony that day this little girl raced down the hallway and jumped into Ms. Karen’s arms and just said “THANK YOU!” For Karen, that was the moment she knew her trip here was worth it. For just that one little girl to be encouraged.

English Camp

Many hours this month have been consumed by preparing for a four-day English Camp for kids in my city. The camp was a huge success! On the first day of camp we had some visitors come and introduce the kids to the rules for the four days we would be together. Meet Serbest the cook, Princess Peyman, Ballerina Shiyan, and Seruk the Giraffe. These guys will also soon be going along for visits at the pediatric cancer hospital.

Hospital Art

 

This month I had the opportunity to help with an art project for the pediatric art hospital. A friend who works at the art institute asked a colleague to select some students to paint some pieces to hang in the hospital. As you can see, they did a great job! 

Research shows that art, especially art depicting nature promotes a healing environment in hospitals.

Spring Flowers

 
One of the development projects going on around here is a tulip farm! I took a road trip to visit the farm and got some great shots.

Newroz: Kurdish New Year March 2011

The line of people on the hill are dancing

Kurdish New Year starts on March 21 every year (coinciding with the spring equinox). 

My Kurdish friends tell met his celebration began thousands of years ago when they were freed from an evil oppressive king. The legend states that the man who went to kill this king said he would light a fire on the mountain if he was successful.

Musicians make a living by traveling between
groups of picnickers to provide live dancing music

So, it's a celebration of freedom and light and new things. Every year on the eve of Newroz the Kurds light fires to commemorate the evil king's downfall and then they gather for three days of picnics, wearing brightly colored and sparkly traditional Kurdish clothes, and dancing. 

This year I eagerly put on my traditional Kurdish dress and went on 4 different picnics with 4 different families. And I couldn't get enough!

 Day 1 it rained, but that didn't stop us from dancing or eating the yummy food.

Iprax is vegetables (zucchini, tomato, onion, eggplant, bell pepper)
stuffed with a mixture of rice and minced lamb and boiled in oil, water, and sumac (a sour seed).

 Day 2 we went up into the mountains where there was still snow. 

  
Day 3 and 4 the weather was sunny and beautiful. On Day 3 I drove and we even stopped to dance on the side of the road on the way to this beautiful picnic spot pictured below.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Peymanga Huneri Cwan (Art Institute) hosted a Valentine's Day party to which my friend who works there invited me. A good time was had by all!

Peymanga Huneri Cwan

The above title is Kurdish for "Art Institute." I have a friend in town who does good work there as a teacher of young Kurdish people. In a culture that tends to value uniformity and even tends to see creative forms of expression as shameful, I really respect the people here who have the courage to express themselves through the arts.

Peymanga Huneri Cwan (Rough translation: "Institute for Pretty Things"). Cwan in Kurdish means beautiful.

Since moving to Kstan I've begun to appreciate beauty more. Most of the buildings are concrete, half-way built, and not even painted. Very few trees remain due to years of war. But the Art Institute building in town is refreshingly different.

Masha'Allah

Beautiful country-side. The mountains of Kstan in the fall! Masha'Allah!

Masha'Allah is an Arabic phrase that expresses appreciation, joy, praise or thankfulness for an event or person that was just mentioned (definition from Wikipedia). It is used to remind people that all things come from God. People also say it superstitiously to ward off the "evil eye," believing that admiring something about another person in an envious or covetous way could cause something bad to happen to that person. So if you compliment a person or their things, always tack on a "Masha'Allah" afterwards so they know you're not saying anything out of jealousy or envy.

That's what neighbors are for

Project 365 Day 26: Our neighbors often send children over with plates of hot food fresh from their stove. It's really nice to know they think about us often. Today was a particularly neighbor-food-full day. From left to right: Lentils, Kitilk (meat and rice stuffed inside rice cakes and fried), dates, honey, fried green beans. We usually send the plates and bowls back with baked goods like pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, and banana bread.

Kdish dinner

Project 365 Day 22: A typical Kdish dinner (from bottom left to right) shredded spiced lamb, deep fried egg, yogurt, and cheese. Each of these dishes is eaten with bread, which is used to scoop the food out of the bowl. No forks or spoons required!

Washing Machine

Project 365 Day 21: Our beloved washing machine. The left side is for washing and the right side is for spinning. Each load of laundry goes through each side twice. First time: Fill with water, wash with soap, drain, spin. Second time: Fill with water again, run with fabric softener, drain, spin. We don't have a dryer so then we have to hang our clothes to dry. Estimated wash time per load: 1.5 hours

Sheep guts

 Project 365 Day 20. When they slaughter a sheep or lamb, the K's use every part of it. They like to stuff the intestines with a mixture of rice, meat, tomato paste, onions, and spices. It's actually pretty tasty.

Project 365 Day 18: What Women Want

BEAUTY! No matter the culture, women enjoy beauty in all forms. And women especially want to be beautiful themselves. The Kdish women often ask me for aaslee (meaning "real" or "pure") beauty products from America because most of the products available to them are adulterated. Even if the products are genuine, the consensus among the K's is that American stuff is just better. Except for the awesome stuff that the Swiss company Arbonne makes, I can't say that I disagree ;-) It's been nice to see more quality products coming into Kstan since I've arrived. I think Mary Kay or Avon could be really big here.

Project 365 Day 17: Cell Phones & Text Messages

Cell phones are EVERYWHERE. And they have cutesy accessories for women like glittery jeweled high heels and hearts and butterflies. But the best thing about Kdish cell phone usage are the text messages. They are all very sappy, but sweet. Here's a sampling of some messages that have been going from phone to phone over the past few months. I've left them as they have come to me so please excuse the bad grammar.

"Everyday, Everywhere, Everytime, I may not be with you, but my thinking, my care, my msgs, my prayers & my lovely wishes are always with you."

"One day u will ask me what's more important to you my life or your life...? I will say my life and you will walk away from me without knowing that. that you are my Life...

"One day my heart ask my eyes: whay r u crying? my eyes say: I am looking 4 my love I cannot find her! my heart say: do not cry she inside me. How r u my life"

"Someday you may lose ur hair, your teeth, your looks, or even your memory. But there's something you won't lose. Me, Coz I'll always be your friend.."

Sugar said to honey: “We are the sweetest people in the world.”

Honey said to sugar: “Apparently you haven’t met the person reading this.”

"Many people come in our lives they come and go and are forgotten but out of them some keep on twinkling like stars on the screen of mine and you are definitely one of them."

"If you live to be 100 years, I want to live to be 100 years minus 1 day so I never have to live without you. I can’t live without you."

"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTVWXYZ….what’s missing?? U!"

Project 365 Day 15: Bread Shop

Bread is served at literally every meal here. Along with rice. Both of these foods have historically symbolized life. That is why in Kdish culture it is considered sinful to waste even one scrap of bread. Every neighborhood has several bakeries so it is easy to find all sorts of freshly baked breads for very little money. I can get at least 8 of the loaves in the picture below for about $1.

Project 365 Day 14: Women's Basketball in Kstan?!?

BOX-OUT!

Project 365 Day 11, 12, 13 Busy Week

Day 11: On the walk to work

Day 12: Unwanted house-guest

Day 13: A trip to a "REAL" grocery store  :-)