Now for today’s update. It will feel so good to be caught up. I know it would go faster if I did not include so much detail, but this is how I would describe things to my mom. We can talk on the phone for an hour for just a normal school day. Imagine how long a phone call would need to be for this adventure. Now multiply that number by $2.29/minute. That is how much it would cost per day to share my stories! This is worth it. I hope everyone else reading this that is not my mom enjoys this much detail (and focus on food).
Breakfast this morning was similar to the last. This time we added in different sliced cheeses to roll up into the flat bread. One was a creamy, light cheddar and the other was called Edam, which I thought tasted like a Parmesan. I only had one cup of tea because the plan was to visit more family members today and I was prepared to drink more coffee and tea at their houses. Some of the houses are still in mourning, so I picked my outfit with care. I did not want this new set of family members to have to give me their shoes as well, so I went it search of socks. I did not bring ANY pairs of black socks! What was I thinking? Oh, well I never wear socks with my flats. My sock colors to choose from were white, pink and teal. None of those colors say that I respect that you are in mourning and I am so sorry for your loss. Grr. I was mad at myself. Then I remember, I am in house with three other women! At least one of the must own black socks! I went to Tanya first. No black socks. She was looking through drawers of new nylons. I told her that they didn’t have to be new and I would wash them before giving them back. Nope… not even old black socks. Shownim came to the rescue and found some black socks for me to wear. They were even thin enough that they fit with my flats, but not so thin that the aunts and cousins would start to worry.
Our first stop of the day was a computer shop to get the software needed to run a wireless broadband Internet device on my MacBook. They didn’t have it. We had to wait for Mahir to come back from parking the car to tell him. Luckily, all of the computer stores are within the same block. The storeowner told us that his nephew had a shop down the street and could install the software for us. We found the tiny shop. It had stacks of laptops in various states of repair over every surface. He was very young. He held my brand new, beautiful laptop in one hand and a cigarette in the other. I was stressed, but tried not to let it show. The nephew needed the wireless device to download the software. We did not bring it with us. I thought this meant we would have to drive home and come back later. Christmas Day is a holiday, so I was afraid I would not be able to get online until after Christmas! They said no, they would just go buy another wireless device from the store we had just left. The nephew said he would just go borrow one from his uncle, then give it back. He left his shop unattended with us and a couple other customers. Could you imagine that happening in the states? He was back quickly and did not charge us at all! He said it was a favor to his uncle. The storeowner is a distant relative of Alan’s family. Everyone is so nice. Mahir and Tanya picked out a printer, new mouse and a wireless router. They need to get their DSL line working again. We need to go to the company in person to get it reactivated. So Darrell, this is why Mahir takes so long to email you back. There has been no Internet in the house.
We decided not to visit relatives right away because we did not want to interrupt their lunch. Mahir gave me a tour (in the car) of the main downtown area that surrounds the Citadel. It is an amazing mixture of buildings that look very old and run down, which are next to new buildings and ones in different stages of renovation. It is hard to know if anyone is working on them. I do not see many construction workers. This may be because it is the weekend. Most of the shops are small and the products that they are selling spill out of the door. It is very crowded everywhere. The smells coming out of the different restaurants were delicious. Tawar says he will take us to the oldest Kabob restaurant in Erbil tomorrow. He is afraid I will get sick because of all of the grease. I told him that grease does not worry me as much as bacteria. Tanya laughed and said it is the bacteria that makes the grease taste so yummy! J Oh my. I hope it goes well.
The traffic is still unbelievable. This driving tour was not planned, so I did not take my Bonine or put on my wristbands early. On the second half of our tour into the Christian part of Erbil, I started to feel the motion sickness kick in. The stop and go traffic was most of it, but I was also not facing the direction of traffic. I was looking at the Christmas trees and a row of Santa hats that topped each fence post. There was garland on the banisters and lights on all of the trees. It felt very Christmasy and I was not expecting that. It was nice to have that connection to home.
After a lunch of left-over dolmas and yummy bulgar wheat that tasted like Rice-A-Roni, Topo joined us for lunch! I saw a black cat out of the kitchen window. He was looking at me through the glass. I got SO excited. I ran to the window shouting, “It’s Topo! It’s Topo! It’s a black cat! He came to join us for lunch!” I must have sounded like an excited little kid. They were all laughing at me. Alan warned me that at much as I love cats that I really can’t try to pet them. The stray cats around Erbil have many diseases and are used to being abused by humans. I will have to be content talking to them through the glass.
Alan and I took another nap. How will I sleep through the night if I keep taking naps? Note to self: Stop taking naps! I knew a nap was a bad idea. Alan said we would sleep for just one hour. One hour quickly became two and a half. When we woke up, there was no more denying that Alan has a cold or at least some new, strong allergies. Our plans to visit relatives was put on hold, so Alan could take medicine and try to beat this cold before it gets too bad. It is nice that his mommy is here to take care of him. It is rather bad timing because Shownim sprained her ankle yesterday. We are all chipping in together. Silly Alan should be sleeping right now, but he wants to stay up until I get done with today’s update. It is 2:30 in the morning. The electricity has been back for quite a while.
Alan and I joined Mahir on another drive to pick up Shawarma for dinner. I think Mahir was nervous having me in the car again because I had gotten so sick earlier in the day. The food was so good! I am sorry that I forgot to take pictures. The meat had a wonderful mix of spices in it that made it much more tasty that any Shawarma I have had in the states. The rest of the evening has been very relaxing. We have been watching shows with singers singing traditional songs. They are very different from American music with the way they manipulate their voices. It is very nice. They tell me most of them are love songs. One of them they called “Megan’s Song” because it was about a girl that is sad because she can’t sleep, yet her lover lies there in bed, soundly sleeping. She begs sleep to run away from her habibi’s eyes, so they can both be sleepless. J It really is my song!
Side Note: “Habibi” is my new favorite word. It means “my love.” The problem is that I have been telling Alan he is “my habibi.” When I say that, I am really you are “my my love.”
That is all for today. We are off to the Citadel tomorrow morning. We have to hike up to it because they no longer allow cars inside. Until then, I hope you are all doing well and having a very Merry Christmas. Love, Megan & Habibi
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