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.