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

So Happy!

That I now have a working computer! Thank you, Andrew!

Quiero Bailar!

Kurdish Culture 101. Kurdish women love to dance. Hmm, I think I was born to be in this culture!

Why I love this city:

It is so diverse there are street signs in languages other than English.