Good morning. I have succumbed to the cold that Alan had. I am a little stuffy, there is some tightness in my throat and I have a headache. I hope that once we get moving I will feel better.
Yesterday was a much needed, low key day. We started the morning on official government business. We went to the Erbil Telecom Company to reactivate the DSL coming to the house. Now the wireless router that we bought should be able to work. It does work sometimes, but constantly needs to be restarted. Mom and Dad, it reminds me of being at your house when we have to unplug and plug in that cable to make the Internet work. The building was completely run down. It was dark and dirty. It looked like nothing had been remodeled since maybe the 50s. While government buildings in the states would have a picture of Obama, this office had a picture of Mustafa Barzani, the “godfather” of the modern Kurdish struggle. He was dressed in traditional Kurdish clothes and wielding a gun. He looked like a warrior. We were able to reactivate the DSL easily, and went on our way.
One of the main Erbil post offices was next door. We went in to see if the package that my parents sent might be there. My mom found the tracking information, but they do not list anything after saying it left New Jersey and that was over two weeks ago. The postal worker said that it was not there and that it may be at any number of other post offices. We will need to drive to each one and ask. Shayan told me that they will hold it for a certain amount of time, then send it back to the states if it is not claimed. So Mom, it may be heading back to you.
Mohammed was flying back to the Denver yesterday, so we drove over to see him. Alan and I will be seeing him in a week when we get back home, but it was much harder to say good bye for everybody else. It was a nice visit. The conversation moved to famous religious sites in Jordan. Tara would say that the same stories are probably in the bible that are mentioned in the Koran. I read the bible freshman year of college for a class, but I do not remember much. I was embarrassed for them to discover the level at which I am not religious. I know that religion means a lot to Alan’s family, so I am an oddity. However, I think it is really the only way to make a marriage between a Catholic-Jew and a Muslim work. J You can’t focus too much on the details.
We went home for a wonderful lunch. Shownim and Tanya made biryani, a rice dish with a lot of spices, ground beef and raisins. Alan usually serves it with a chicken curry. They made a lamb curry, instead. It was so good. We started with a soup made with bulgur wheat in a tomato sauce. They do not consider it a soup. If Rachel Ray was here, then she would probably call it a “stoup,” which is somewhere between an stew and a soup due to its thickness. I am always so pleased that everyone is so good at seasoning. There is always the right amount of salt and the right amount of spices. It is a culinary experience that I really wish my parents could be sharing with me. Mom and Dad, you would just love the food. Feel free to be jealous. J
After lunch, I took some time to finish my blog entry from yesterday and we relaxed for a while. Tanya was taking us to dinner at TCHE TCHE, a Jordanian restaurant that serves American-style food. Dinner is served late here, so at 5pm I decided that a short afternoon nap was needed. I know, I am breaking my note to self from earlier. It is cold outside, which is making inside cold as well. I cannot seem to get warm enough. Getting under the covers and napping sounded like the best answer. The 20 minute cat nap became a 2 hour full nap because Alan came to bed as well. At 7pm we knew we had to get up for dinner. Alan took off the covers and a blast of cold air entered. Alan said that I needed to get out of bed. I said, “Can a popsicle move?” We laughed so hard. It became our new favorite phrase for the evening.
TCHE TCHE is also a Hookah bar. When we came in, the waiter told us to choose a table in the empty family section. Why would three people in their 30s need to sit in the family section? We all found it weird, but went back there anyway. The menu was cool with its concept mapping style. The problem was that they do not have most of the things on the menu. Tanya wanted a lemon-mint soda. They had the lemon, but no mint. Alan wanted a Ferrero Roche milkshake, but that was no Ferrero Roche. I was the only one who was able to get the Pepsi I wanted, so we all got Pepsi. I did not luck out with my choice in dinner. I wanted a spicy chicken sandwich. There was no spicy chicken. I got a steak sandwich with halloumi cheese instead. Alan got a cheese burger. Tanya ordered a club sandwich because this one had no bacon, unlike the states. All of the dishes were ok, but nothing to rave about. This was my first time trying halloumi cheese. It looks and kind of tastes like the egg whites of a hard-boiled egg. The potato wedges that came with my sandwich were the best part by far. They had great seasoning with a nice crispy outside and a warm, soft inside. They were much better than the fries that Alan and Tanya got. We ordered the Chocolate Land icecream sundae for dessert. I am posting the picture for you to see the menu: chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Much to our surprise, there was a soup of chocolate ice cream that arrived with canned-mixed fruit and no whipped cream. So weird! I scooped out all of the fruit into the ashtray and we used straws to drink our chocolate sundae. At least the chocolate ice cream was really yummy.
Side Note: Alan and Mahir just told me that the reason we were placed in the family section is because we were girls and most of the people sitting at the front of the restaurant were men. Apparently, the men would have looked at us. Alan would have had to be our protector, looking at them saying, “I see the way you are looking at my sister and my wife and you better STOP right now!” We didn’t want to cause a scandal.
When we were eating, Shayan called to say that Renwar (Reno) had arrived home from Germany and wanted to see us after dinner. Alan had already said that dinner was interrupting our nap, so going on a family visit at 9:30 at night did not sound like a good idea. When Alan told Tanya that we did not want to go, Reno demanded to talk to Alan. Reno must be very persuasive because we were soon on our way to their house.
Reno is the younger brother of Tawar, Kosar and Shayan. He already has him medical degree and is now specializing in southern Germany. Reno is full of energy and was every excited to be home. He was so funny.
Side Note: Reno was hurt that I said my blog was only being read in four countries. I need to send a shout out to Germany because Reno was reading it while he was there. In my defense, I really didn’t know. J
It was great to see all of the cousins together. We decided to play Uno. They had me practice my numbers and colors in Kurdish as part of the game. I now know four colors: sore (red), sheen (blue), kesk (green) and zard (yellow). You have to roll the r, which I can’t do. Therefore, yellow and I are not friends. The numbers I remember are yek (one), pentz (five), no (nine) and beast (twenty). The cousins were having so much fun and were so playful. Tanya later said that you just need to give them some cards and it is like they are 15 years old again. It was touching.
Today we are going to the mall. There are malls EVERYWHERE! They say we are going to one of the best malls, so I will report back later. Reno wants to hang out again tonight, but we have Shownim’s aunt coming to visit for dinner with her son and his fiancé. It should be a good day as long as this head cold stays under control.
Hope you are all doing well. Love, Megan & Habibi
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