Sorry for the delay in an update. There has been a problem trying to find a way to get onto the Internet. I thought the problem would be with electricity, but that has not been an issue at all. I saw the lights flicker a bit today, but I have not seen any outages. Tawar, Alan’s cousin knows where I need to go to get the software to get onto the Internet. We will try to go there tomorrow. Hopefully this will get posted soon.
So, I will now start from the beginning.
All of our flights went well. We booked through Lufthansa, so we did not get to choose our seats on our first flight, which was through United. There were only two open seats to choose from, so Alan and I were separated. We were both in the back of the plane in middle seats. We were very lucky that the person that was supposed to be in the aisle seat next to me did not show, so Alan was able to move up.
We had a tight connection in DC, but even that went well. The agent at the gate was able to print our tickets for the rest of our flights. Boarding was delayed for 15 minutes, which gave us time to buy some snacks. Even with the delay, we got into Germany 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Flying across the ocean in coach in not pleasant. We were so squished. Alan had the window and I was in the middle. The flight was completely full! It was a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet with the two stories. Who knew you could fit so many people into so small of a space. The food was pretty good for a plane. We had the choice of pesto pasta or salmon with rice. Alan and I both chose the pasta. It seemed the safer choice. The guy next to me chose the salmon. At this point, Alan decided to tell me about how on the movie Airplane, the people who ate the fish got sick. Maybe it was not the best timing for that story. Alan and I slept on and off. It was hard to get comfortable and the plane was so hot! Luckily, I had a tee shirt on under my sweater, but poor Alan was stuck in his thick sweater. We slept through breakfast, but we had time to grab food in Frankfurt.
The Frankfurt airport is interesting. You actually have to go through security just to go between terminals. I had a bottle of water that I got in Denver. I still had it in my backpack. I didn’t even think about throwing it out because we were going through security again. I got in a little bit of trouble. They threw out my water, and then let me go through. I took advantage of the long layover to change clothes and freshen up. It was time to look my best to finally meet Alan’s parents. J
The flight from Frankfurt to Erbil was by far the nicest of the ones on our journey. The seats were wider. There was more legroom. It was not full. It was wonderful for the last 4.5 hours of our trip. The whole way cloudy! I had a window seat and was so excited to get my first look at the country. The cloudy and haze reached almost to the ground. The landing gear was out and we were almost on the ground before I could see anything. When I could see the ground, everything looked brown and dry. It was flat farmland. You could see the divisions between the plots of land. It could have just as easily been Kansas. Alan made sure to point out the crop circles. Mahir tells me that some farmers are now using sprinkler systems to supplement the rain, which is why some areas of land were green with crops.
We were uncertain what would happen when we got off the plane in Erbil. Alan’s parents were hoping they could hire someone to take us through the process of coming into the country. The security is much more strict than here, so most people without a plane ticket cannot even come into the airport. We walked off the plane and Alan quickly saw a man holding a sign with his name of it. All of the other passengers continued along the walkway, but the man took us through a side door down some stairs to a van waiting for us. The van drove us a short way to the terminal.
(Side Note: I am not sleeping well. I think it is jet lag. I slept well on the flight from Frankfurt to Erbil. I slept a couple hours the first night. Yesterday I took an afternoon nap for maybe a couple hours, but it was a very light sleep. Last night I fell asleep about 3 am and here it is at 6 am and I am completely awake. However, it is Christmas Eve here and I am taking the quiet time I have now to listen to Christmas music on my iPod. It’s not a bad way to start a morning, but I really wish I could sleep more.)
Inside of the Erbil airport terminal we were let into what I would describe as a VIP waiting room. The furniture was beautiful. It was like walking into a luxury hotel lobby. We had to send our bags through a scanner, but there were no problems. The man and woman helping us took our passports to take care of customs. We sat on comfy couches while a woman at a snack bar served us bottles of super cold water with beautiful crystal glasses to pour the water into. I think Alan was too anxious to do anything but sit. I really enjoyed to water. Everyone was so nice and polite. The woman came back and took us to a separate part of the waiting room to take our pictures. A little later, she came back again. There were no problems with my passport or my visa. The problem was with Alan’s passport! They asked how he got here and for his residency card. Alan was so confused that he gave them his green card. We later learned that they didn’t realize that he was Kurdish and lived in Erbil. If he had been from Baghdad, for example, he would have needed a residency card saying that he was allowed to live and work in Erbil. It all got worked out. The man and woman had already collected our luggage for us and taken it out to Alan’s dad’s car.
It’s time for introductions. Walking out of the airport, three men were waiting for us. Alan’s dad is Mahir, Alan’s uncle (Mahir’s younger brother) is Namir, and their driver’s name is Mazin. Namir hugged Alan first, so Mahir came up to me for a long hug and the traditional three kisses on the cheek. I am getting used to that and have not accidentally kissed anyone on the lips instead (Heather!). J Alan and I switched. Alan had warned me that Namir is not much of a hugger, so we shook hands. Everyone spoke English with me and made me feel very welcome. I didn’t get to see Alan’s first exchange with Mahir, but I could tell Alan was so happy. We got into the SUV. I took the middle seat in the back of the car and started to put on my seatbelt. I noticed that no one else was putting on their seatbelts! Alan laughed at me and said that I didn’t need to put on my seatbelt here. I took that to mean that we would not be in the car long and it would be like but your seatbelt if you just needed to reposition your car in the garage. Not so!!! We drove quite ways and traffic laws do not really exist! For safety reasons, barricades are built in the middle of the road, so you must zigzag through the street. When street lines do exist to divide lanes, they are not followed. Mazin drove in the center of a two-lane road. Speed limits are posted in some areas, but they are more for show. No one follows them. They drive very fast in any lane they wish to create. You constantly need to be on the defensive, or Alan said it is more like being on the offensive. If you can’t beat them, then you must join them? We had to make a U-turn at one point. The cars in the other direction were very close and driving very fast. Back home we never would have made this turn at this time, but there we went! Keep in mind that I am still not wearing a seatbelt! Somehow, we were not hit and continued on our way. There is construction everywhere. There is a mixture of older, traditional looking buildings and others that look ultra modern. We were almost to the house when we found a car completely blocking a street that we needed to turn onto. The man had not been able to find parking when he needed to go get his dry cleaning, so he decided he would just block a road. Alan laughed and said only in Iraq. I told him that it reminded me of Baltimore. Right, Nisha? The man held out a finger to us to tell us to wait for him to be done. That was funny because we just waited patiently. He soon moved and within a minute I saw Alan’s house. The street looks more like an alleyway than a real street. All of the houses look nice and new. There really are no street names and numbers. There are few signs to indicate where you are. Alan was right. The Garmin would completely freak out here!
Ok, it’s time for more introductions. Alan’s mom is Shownim, his grandmother is Sabriya, and his sister’s name is Tanya. The three were waiting for us outside when we got out of the car. Shownim went to Alan right away. She was crying and so happy to see him. Tanya saw me and came over for a hug. Shownim came to me next. She was excited to meet me as well. It was wonderful to feel so welcome into the family. I climbed up the stairs to the front door to meet Sabriya. She does not speak any English, so I was nervous about how I would be received. I didn’t need to worry. She was very happy to meet me. I used the little bit of Kurdish I know to ask her how she was doing (Coo-ee Bashi?). She asked me how I was (Eh – Too Coo-ee?), to which I was able to respond (Bashem.). She still doesn’t really understand that I cannot understand what she is saying. She knows I am foreign, so she is mixing Arabic into her Kurdish to help me understand. Sadly, I do not know Arabic either.
Namir and Mazin did not come inside. The rest of us sat in the main sitting room to talk and catch up. There was a mixture of Kurdish and English. They started with mostly English to include me, but soon switched to Kurdish because English leaves out Sabriya. I was nervous still and didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t understand much of what was being said, so I just smiled a lot and did some active listening, looking when someone is talking and nodding and laughing when everyone else does. Every once and awhile, someone would translate for me.
We got a tour of the house, which is great. The main level has a formal sitting room and a formal dining room on one side. The other side has the main sitting room with the TV, a small kitchen, and a small dining table that can seat four people. There is also a room towards the back for Sabriya. The stairs are difficult for her. Downstairs is the large main kitchen and the garage. Upstairs there are four bedrooms (each with their own bathroom!), a loft area for reading, and a laundry room. There are more stairs leading up, but I was not taken that far. My guess is that it is access to the roof. Our room is very large. There is a queen-size bed, three comfy chairs, a dresser/vanity table where I can sit to do my make up, a large wardrobe, and a computer area. The floor is a wood-laminate tile, which are then covered by gorgeous teal floral rugs. The bathroom is big, too. The shower is elevated and open. We have to use a squeegee to push all of the extra water off the tiles and into the drain. Mom and Dad, you would love the tiles in the bathroom. The tiles are tan and cream with a linen pattern.
Time to describe dinner! We had a dish called Hamidh Shalgam. It is a dumpling with a rice shell surrounding a mixture of beef, raisins and spices. It was in a tomato sauce with turnips. It was so tasty! The raisins add such a nice sweetness to the savory dish. We also had a salad of lettuce, tomato, finely chopped cauliflower and pomegranate seeds. It has a light vinegar dressing.
The first set of family members came to visit after dinner. It’s time for more introductions. Tara is Shownim’s sister. Tara is married to Saeed and they have two children, Mohammed and Lara. Mohammed is a sophomore at the University of Denver and is home for winter break. Lara is a senior in high school and still trying to find her path. Saeed was in the states in November to pick up Mohammed and go to a conference in Chicago. They were able to join us and my parents for Thanksgiving. It was nice to see all of them again so soon. Lara was thinking about going to college in Colorado, but has now decided she does not want to come to the states. Tara thinks it is because she will be homesick, which is understandable. I teased her that most dead lines for applications are not until January 1st, so I could help her fill them out quickly. Tara said that I could keep trying to convince her to join us in Denver.
I started getting really tired around 9:30 and had to excuse myself from the festivities. Unfortunately, the jet lag and probably the strong, delicious black tea before bed did not help this chronic insomniac get more than a couple hours of sleep.
That is all for now. I will type up Day 2 tonight and hopefully Day 3, as well. Day 3 (today) has been an adventure. I got a driving tour of the Christian part of Erbil, so I could see the Christmas trees. Traffic here is beyond crazy. I need to take Bonine and wear my wristbands in the car from now on. I still feel sick and I have been out of the car for an hour. It’s time for a little rest. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas Eve. J
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