T.I.K. #2 The Propane Man

Our stove is a gas stove, but unlike in the states, the gas doesn't magically appear from underground pipes. Nope, we have to purchase individual 20 pound propane canisters like people use for camping or grilling (check out exibit A on the right - our newly installed full propane canister that I successfully purchased last week). We purchase them from a couple of guys who drive a truck full of them through our neighborhood at least twice a day playing a repeating cheesy song like the ice-cream trucks in the states (but more melodramatic). When someone wants propane, they just come out their door as the truck drives by. One guy drives the truck and the other gets out into the back of the truck and slings the canisters over the side of the truck onto the ground. That part is the craziest part to me. When the tank hits the ground it sounds like the cement is breaking and I'm always afraid that the tank will burst. Usually my roomie takes care of buying the propane for our house. When I first moved in I couldn't figure out why sometimes she would just drop everything and run for the door. Now that she's been gone for the past 3 weeks and I've had to listen for the truck to come by, I understand. EVERY time I heard the song I wouldn't make it out of the house until the truck was already down the street. One time I called my neighbors to get them to make the truck turn around, but I didn't know the Kurdish word for propane. They will probably be giving me a hard time about that for a while :-) Here's a video of the truck and its song. I didn't catch them actually slinging the propane tanks off the truck, but you get the idea. Also, please enjoy my first try at video editing with my new Adobe Premier Elements program. More to come hopefully!

Planting Seeds

I enjoy the combined beauty and practicality of a garden filled with flowers, herbs, fruits, and veggies. For the past 6 years I've dreamed of having such a garden, but apartment life combined with the busyness that plagued me since junior high school just really wasn't conducive to that. Ah, so much has changed, thanks to God! Many Kurds have gardens. Like the picture above, roses and flowers and herbs and/or some kind of fruit-bearing tree can be found behind (and is some cases peeking over) many of the tall gates in this city. And many Kurds have grape vines which give them shade to sit under during the hot summer months like the pic below. We don't have a yard, but this past weekend I took the first steps toward a potted garden! A friend gave me some flowers for my birthday and I just planted some Marigolds, African Daisies, and Verbena. So here are my new babies! Maybe some day I'll have a garden like the one above.

T.I.K. #1

Starting a new life in a foreign culture comes with many good belly laughs along with many things that just make you go "hmm." Anything that falls under this category I lovingly label "T.I.K." which means "This is Kurdistan." The following picture adequately sums up driving in Kurdistan.

Birthday

a couple of friends have emailed me happy birthday early and it makes me smile. maybe i have been accidentally circulating the wrong bday date to my friends, lol. actually, the truth is i've never been very big on birthday celebrations for myself. the kurds themselves don't really celebrate bdays either. those who do have either lived abroad or have relatives who have lived abroad. in fact, most of the kurds that are my age or older don't even know what day they were born on - they only know the year. i've heard a theory that this is because of the oppression by sadaam - none of their bdays were written down so they couldn't have large gatherings for that because that could be a good mask for a meeting of conspirators.

Travel Tales

- While stuck at DFW airport after hours: secretly watching a random man weigh himself on the baggage scales at the check-in counter while muttering to himself - Figuring out how to sleep on airport seats - Another random guy stuck at the airport yelling at the airline people on the phone (while I was trying to sleep) - Repacking my bags twice. The first time was to remove 9.5 pounds while I was at DFW so that one bag wouldn't be overweight. So much for "packing light" - The Nalgene bottle casualty at Chicago OHare: Security person was unmoved by "but I promise I put that water in there AFTER security at DFW!!!" - Upon entering the country: Being ushered into an empty room with one chair sitting in the middle facing a glass partition with a man in it who motioned to me to sit down and then promptly pointed a laser at my forehead with no explanation as to why (later found out it was to test my temperature to check for swine flu) - Doing kickboxing in the dining room on day 2 in country and "thinking" I had this jet lag thing under control...and then jet lag set in...

Parting Gifts

Thank you to those who organized these gifts and for everyone who participated in them! They mean a lot to me now and I know they will mean even more once I'm gone!

Friendship

Thankful for friends today as I came across this acrostic poem while sifting through my boxes of books trying to decide which ones stay and which ones go! F - Fun loving; Faithful R - Risk being real, even misunderstood I - Interested in the welfare of others E - Expect the best of others; Empathetic N - Natural relationship; Non-exclusive D - Diplomatic; Delightful; Durable S - Sympathetic; Supportive; Stable H - Helpful; Hopeful; Happy I - Interdependent by helping others P - Patient; Protective of confidences; Personable