Update 5: December 25th - Part 2

Good morning. It is weird to think that it is the morning of the day after Christmas here, but still the evening of Christmas back home.

I was very emotional last night while writing about the evening. I am ready to share cute and funny stories today.

I need to talk about food, first. Breakfast was another yummy morning of bread, yogurt and cheeses. Yesterday’s addition was a fig jam that is made just for Sabriya. I told Mahir that I like fig jam while we were shopping at a grocery store the day before. One jar had been made for Sabriya and the other was made for Tara. It is more the consistency of honey than that of a jam. It is sweet that you can only use a little bit at a time. I love it so much.

Tawar offered to show us around the Citadel and we were supposed to be at his house by 10:30am. We stopped to pick up Mohammed first. The family house is only minutes away from the Citadel, so we walked from the house. Shayan also joined us. She is Kosar’s twin sister, although you would never known it by their appearance. Kosar and Tawar look very similar. Going up to the Citadel required a VERY steep ramp that goes straight up the hill. Tawar led the way, setting a steady pace. He would stop and enjoy the view, but I didn’t want to lose momentum. Hiking up mountains is not a skill I possess. I was a little winded by the time I got to the top. Luckily, it was not a very long ramp.

There is a very large, brick archway and a stone statue at the top. I thought it must be very old. Tawar said that it was only built to look old by Sadam. Locals hate the addition and think that it ruins the integrity of the place. The real Citadel can be seen after to cross through the arched gate.

(Side Note: We just started power outage #4. At least this one is happening during the day, so we are not sitting in the dark.)

All of the structures inside are crumbling. Different groups have come in to do major restoration projects to bring backs its former glory. The buildings were Shownim was born and where Mahir lived as a small boy are the only buildings that you can still go into right now. That is very convenient! J The house Shownim lived in was made into a Textile Museum. I would have loved to see it, but it has recently been closed for the restoration project. Most of my pictures are of where Mahir lived. This whole area was owned by Noraddin and Rashid. The area is in ruins, but you can easily still see the beauty. I have taken so many pictures. I wish I could upload them all, but the connection speed is too slow to upload many.

After walking through all of the areas that are still open to the public, we went down to the main market area for lunch. We went to the oldest Kabob restaurant that is still open in Erbil. There is only one menu item, meat kabobs, so there is no need for a menu! All you need to tell them is how many kabobs you would like. The kitchen is just outside of the restaurant. I was able to watch them make the kabobs as we waited for our table. There is a large mound of ground beef on the counter. The chef wets his hands and shapes the meat into patties around a skewer that is flat and wide like a sword. As orders come in, another chef sticks the swords into an oven filled with glowing coals. Other swords of tomatoes and peppers are put in there to roast. The chef rotates them frequently and rakes the coals to expose the glowing embers. All meat is cooked well done here, which is exactly how I like it. I love not having to say, “No pink AT ALL in my meat, please.” Here that is just understood. When the meat and vegetables are done, the chef removes the meat from the sword with his bare hands. I do not know how he does not burn himself. One second it was directly in the fire and the next second it was on the plate. I told Mohammed that it must be magic. He did not correct me, so I guess it is magic. J

We were able to fit our party of six at a table in the back of the small restaurant. Fire codes need not apply here. We were packed in so tight. Alan said this was a truly authentic experience. Tanya, Mohammed and Shayan sat on one side, while Alan, Tawar and I sat on the other. Large plates of kabobs were brought from the kitchen. A huge stack of flat bread that looks like naan was piled on the table. You rip the bread in half and fill it with half a kabob, a roasted tomato quarter and raw onions sprinkled with sumac. In the states we have salt and pepper shakers. Here they have salt and sumac shakers. The meat was delicious. It was greasy, but I did not eat nearly enough to make me sick, as I was warned. We were all served a bottle of water and a yogurt drink. The yogurt drink is made from cow milk that is watered down to make it the perfect consistency. It is low fat, but easily has your full daily dose of salt! I watched a family at the next table pour a lot of extra salt into the drink. Tanya says that the drink is supposed to be served very salty. The meal was also served with yellow pickles. I thought they must me a pickled yellow squash, but really they are a different type of cucumber that grows locally. It is very good. Tawar treated all of us to lunch. Everyone has been so generous. I wish we could pay for something to help out, but we are sweetly pampered guests.

After lunch, we continued to wander through the alleys of the market. It is kind of like Pikes Place Market is Seattle. It is equally crowded with hundreds of small shops. Here, people walk so quickly that you must really have a purpose in mind. I wanted to stroll through and look at all of the shops, but that was not an option. The fabrics hanging everywhere are gorgeous. It is a wonderland of sparkly beads and sequins. I want them all. We stopped at an old tea house to have some afternoon tea. It was muggy and damp. The tea was VERY strong. However, the experience was worth it. The walls were covered in old photos. Some of them were even of Alan's relatives. The power went out for a while. I was happy I had a flashlight app on the iPhone, so that we could still see our tea. :)

We continued to walk through the market after our tea. All of a sudden, I was surrounded by little girls pulling on my coat, touching my face and hair, and talking to me so quickly in Kurdish and Arabic. I had no idea what they were saying. Alan tried to protect me, but they were tenacious! All I could think to say is, “Hwa Hafeese! Hwa Hafeese!” meaning “Bye! Bye!” This did not help. Tawar finally pushed them and yelled at them. This made them leave. I learned after it was over that the girls had been telling me, “Oh you are so beautiful! Look at your lovely skin and lovely hair! Give us money!” It was something along those lines. Alan said he didn’t know how to handle the situation because it has been so long since he has seen this happen. He promises me that he will do what he saw Tawar do, if it happens again. I forgot to mention that Tawar had warned Tanya that I should try to not look American today. Tanya didn’t tell me this until we were already in the car. I don’t know what I would have been able to do. I look completely out of place here physically. My blond hair and pink skin stand out. I guess I could have used a scarf to cover my hair, but I did not bring one with me. We will be going to the market again, so I will think about my outfit more carefully next time. I thought I was doing ok earlier in the day. Tanya and Shayan are so beautiful that most of the people stared at them and didn’t see me. J Ladies, you truly are lovely. Is that ok to say?

Shayan took us to a traditional Kurdish carpet shop. We are trying to pick out a special present for my parents. The shopkeeper was very friendly, yet he is also out to make a profit. I have no concept of what a good price is for these carpets. They are handmade and beautifully constructed. Tanya pulled out several carpets. We talked about colors and patterns. The shopkeeper was helping us as Tanya explained what we were looking for in Kurdish. Suddenly, the shopkeeper spoke in English and said, “Only $50!” I looked at Alan and Tanya and said excitedly, “Only $50? That is great!” I see Alan and Tanya look at me with expressions screaming, “No! Don’t say that!” I missed the part about how haggling is common practice in the traditional markets. In Kurdish, the shopkeeper had originally said they were going to be $100. I was speaking in English (obviously) and he guessed correctly that I would be naïve and gullible about prices. It was only after we looked like we might leave that he lowered it to $50. I still think it sounds like a fair price. However, I have no concept of their worth. Back home, when something in handmade, it is extra special and deserves a higher price. They told me that if he says $50, then we can probably get it for $20! Aunts Faryal and Sharmin are master hagglers. We will go back to the market with them another day.

This completes my account of my very unique and special Christmas. Today I am not feeling very well. I hope I am not getting Alan’s cold. I was not able to eat much breakfast because that is when I started to feel ill. I did have more of the yummy fig jam on half of a croissant before deciding that breakfast was not a great idea. The main power is not back on yet. They have a personal generator here that we are using to run the house. A car will be picking us up in little while to take us to Uncle Sarteeb’s office. I hope I feel better by lunch because I want to eat the lunch Tara is preparing. I will write more later. I hope everyone back home is getting a good night’s sleep.