Completing Sunday, January 1, 2012
Hello, friends and family. Sorry for what may seem a long delay in my posts, compared to my standard. My sickness came in like a lion, and out like a… well… lion! I was Skyping with my parents at about 11am our time on January 1st to help them ring in the New Year, when I became too sick for the final countdown. I thought I would be sick forever. However, Mahir got back from the store with magic crackers. They are a small cheese cracker, but they have a sweetness almost like a graham cracker. I don’t know what happened. I ate about 10 crackers and my stomach settled. I could almost breathe normally, too. Magic.
I was able to go downstairs for a full lunch of black rice. I told everyone that I was not going to push it, that I would not eat much. I lied. The food was fantastic and I discovered that I was starving. Magic crackers. Shownim and Tanya had made black rice. They make it differently than the aunts. The aunts cook the chicken in the pomegranate molasses until it is dry. Shownim’s recipe calls for the chicken to cook in more of a soup of sauce. This keeps the chicken so much more tender, yet still keeps the same flavor. It is the way that Alan makes it back home. Love. We also had a lentil soup that had a lovely, rich flavor. They were worried it would be too heavy on my stomach. I had no problems. Magic crackers.
Time for Tanya’s birthday party!
Alan told me that it would be a small family event, with just Mahir, Shownim and Sabriya. Namir was also planning to come over for cake because it was his gift to Tanya. Therefore, I was quite surprised when the doorbell started ringing several times.This was no small family gathering… or maybe it was, considering they have 25 first cousins on Mahir’s side alone! The first to arrive were aunts Sharmin and Faryal with cousin Reno. Next came aunt Araz with cousins Tawar and Shayan. Kosar was still sleeping (at 7pm), so he did not come. Our group was complete once aunt Tara, uncle Saeed and cousin Lara arrived for the party.We actually started the party by singing Happy Birthday to Tanya and having her blow out the candle. There was one large candle, rather than 32 little candles. The cake was beautiful. We got it from Bakery & More, the same Lebanese bakery we have been to for other treats. I was surprised that they all sang Happy Birthday in English. They use the same song that we do. They just add a verse in Kurdish at the end. “Hamo Salak Ba-Hoshi!,” which loosely means “Have a happy year, every year!”
We had mostly appetizers for dinner because dinner is the smaller meal of the day. The main course was Shownim’s lime chicken. I am happy to report that it was not the same super acidic dish that Alan usually makes. The sauce was much more mild and did not have me running for my TUMS. Lime chicken is a dish of chicken, onions and potatoes cooked in a broth of lime juice and bay leaves. It is cooked in the oven for about 2 hours until both the chicken and the potatoes are incredibly tender. Yes, I ate everything! Magic crackers.
We sat in the formal sitting room after dinner for tea and cake. The cake had 3 layers of thin, chocolate sponge cake separated by a chocolate mousse filling with sliced bananas. Chocolate and bananas are a wonderful combination. I really wish I had brought stuff to make the cake myself. I love making birthday cakes for people. We talked late into the evening. Tawar made a comment that I look like the type of person that goes to bed every night by 9 pm. For those of you that know me well, I am sure that you are laughing as hard as I was at the time. The thought of me being a good sleeper is hilarious. However, I have been sleeping well here. I think it is because I have given my self complete permission not to do any school work. This is also true during summer breaks, yet my insomnia follows me into summer. They must be something special about this place that lets me nap in the afternoon and still sleep all night. I was telling Mahir that I think I have slept enough for a whole year while I have been here. I hope it is enough to get me through another semester of no sleep. J
Before the cousins left, we made our plans for the trip to Shaklawa the next day. I was supposed to rain at 3pm, so we wanted to get an early start. Alan asked what an early start meant. Back home, we would have said an early start was 7 or 8 in the morning. To Reno, an early start meant 10 am. We said that we would be to Reno’s house at 10 am to pick him up the next day.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Yesterday was our trip to Shaklawa. Alan got up around 7:30 am and I managed to get up around 9 am. I was and still am feeling healthy. I slept with my motion sickness wristbands on and took my Bonine motion sickness medication upon waking, just in case it decided to come back. Oh, I also ate a couple magic crackers. Mahir said that Tanya stayed up late the night before and would not be up at the scheduled time. However, he was wrong. Tanya was ready to go a little before 10 am. Yay! Here we go! No.
First we got a call from Alan’s uncle that he wanted us to go carpet shopping with him. He had been so kind to offer to help pick out a traditional Kurdish carpet as a gift for my parents. Mahir offered to go as our representative, so we could still go to Shaklawa. Next, we discovered that Reno was not awake yet. This put everything on hold. He was up about 10:30 am, so we headed out to his house. Boys don’t take long to get ready, right? It was about 11 am when we got to the house. Alan went in to get him, but came back out empty handed. Reno had just gotten out of the shower and was writing an email. He said that he needed 10 minutes. We waited. Ten minutes went by and Tanya went in to pressure him to get moving. Tanya saved the day.
We were on the road less than 2 hours late. Reno was supposed to drive because Tanya has never driven through check-points. Reno did not want to drive, so Tanya agreed to drive. She did very well. We went through 4 different check-points on our way to Shaklawa. At each stop, you roll down your window and say hello. They look at you briefly and just wave you through. You know that more than that can happen, so you have to be prepared with ID cards or passports. Reno said that sometimes they ask you where you are going or if you are carrying guns. As long as you say that you don’t have guns, they just wave you through.
The weather was not ideal. It was very cloudy and foggy as we headed into the mountains. The mountains look quite a bit like the foothills as to drive on I-93 from Golden to Boulder in Colorado. The soil is red and rich with iron, like the Flatirons of Colorado. There is more foliage here than there were in the Peermam Hills from the other day. You can see snowy mountain peaks when you look further north.
We got to Shaklawa around 12:30 pm. It was lunch time. This means that everyone closes shops, goes home for lunch, and doesn’t reopen until about 2 pm. We walked along a line of shops and did some window shopping. There was a shop open that sold dried fruit, nuts, candy and honey. Reno knew the owner that had passed away. He went around the shop eating fruit and nuts from the open bins. He said that it was allowed, but I feel weird eating things that I have not paid for. I told Alan that if they take US dollars, then we should buy some of the fresh honey and unique candies. Just then, the power went out and we decided to leave.
The rain started about 1 pm. Now it was cold, dreary and wet. We sought shelter at Alan’s favorite restaurant in Shaklawa. It sits on a hill that overlooks the town and the mountains. The view is getting destroyed. There is a law that not even new rooms or bathrooms may be built in Shaklawa in an attempt to preserve the quaint, small-town charm and the beauty of nature.However, rules mean little here. If you are rich, powerful and know the right people, the rules do not apply. Construction is everywhere. High-rise apartments are being built. The noise of a bulldozer interrupted our lunch as it tore away at the mountain to build condos on the rich, red soil. There are pictures of Shaklawa posted around town of how things used to look. Seeing the way it looks now (granted, it being amplified by the icky weather), I could not help but feel sad.The area is beautiful in the way the Citadel is beautiful. You can look around and see its former glory. However, the emphasis needs to be on the “former.” The Citadel can and is being restored. However, Shaklawa will not be able to get its mountains back after they are scarred and covered by a hundred condos. Wow. I sound like a total downer. Time to cheer up.
The food at the restaurant was really good. We were not supposed to eat any food because Shownim was making lunch for us. However, it was after 1pm and we were hungry. You do not get menus at this restaurant, although there are a few more options than the kabob restaurant that we went to in the bazar. Before ordering, the waiter serves you water and soup. It was a cream of chicken noodle soup that was rich and warm, perfect for this rainy day. Alan and I ordered a plate of beef kabobs to share. Tanya ordered a plate of kabobs for herself. Reno ordered tikka (the type of kabobs we have in the states) of liver and beef. We did not order any appetizers, but suddenly our table was full of them! We all got salads of tomatoes and cucumbers with a lemon wedge. There was a plate of black olives. There was a salad of zucchini and eggplant. There was a plate of the yellow pickles. There was another plate of sliced green bell peppers and onions. The last plate had a julienne of Granny Smith apples in a sauce of mayonnaise. That sounds weird, but it actually tastes ok. I could have been done at this point, but our kabobs were still on there way! We thought a plate of kabobs would have two skewers with some veggies and bread. Nope. Each plate had four kabobs! Thank goodness Alan and I were sharing an order. It is better not to wonder how lean the meat is here. I am sure the percent fat is terrifying. It tastes great! Magic crackers. J Tea was brought for free to complete the meal. It was ¼ sugar and ¾ tea. I do not like my tea with sugar, so I only took a couple sips.
It only took us about an hour to get home. None of the check-points were a problem. Tanya’s driving was great. She drives safely, so that I rarely have to fear for my life. I told her that I thought she was doing a great job and she said that was very American of me. Reno was making fun of her for going slowly and not taking risks. Cultural differences? Regardless, I was grateful.
Once home, we were supposed to pretend that we had not eaten so much that we had ruined our appetite for lunch. Describing the lunch prepared as rice with carrots does not do it justice. I was picturing white rice with steamed carrots. I was pleasantly surprised. Rice and carrots is greatly enriched by spices. It tasted almost like a Biryani spice mix. I could pick out cinnamon and turmeric for sure. I planned on only eating a small portion because I had just had two skewers of kabob. However, when the food is good, I can always find more room.
We had plans to meet with more relatives around 5 pm. I was surprised when we arrived at the main family house instead. Alan said that one of his uncles wanted to talk to his dad before going to the next house of cousins. Tanya thought we should just walk over to the other house because it was only about a block away. We were waiting outside for quite a while, but Mahir did not come back out. Tanya went inside to check and Alan and I talked to Kosar, who was out on the patio. We all decided to go inside. We hear Tanya talking in the next room. We could tell she was very excited. Alan had a look of surprise on his face and Kosar had his phone out to take a picture. Everything was happening in Kurdish, so I was still very confused as to what was going on. We finally went in and saw that Alan’s uncle Farok had flown in from Sweden to surprise Alan! He was very jovial and welcoming to me. However, when he looks at me, it makes him want to speak to me in Swedish instead of English. J He agrees with everyone else that I do not look American, but he thinks I look Swedish rather than his mother’s side of the family.
We left for our scheduled visit at the other cousins’ house, knowing that we would return to visit more with Farok afterwards. These cousins were from the side of the family that everyone has been comparing me to for the last week and a half. I met brothers Ali and Mahmood. They both have blond hair, very fair skin and very pale blue eyes. Lana was also there, but her husband (the third of the blond cousins) was not able to get away from work. Their twin baby girls were down for a nap, so I was not able to meet them either. Sarab, Ali’s wife that I had met at the feast, made hot chocolate for the group. Her daughter, Lee-ann, was the star of the show. She is about 4 years old and is full of personality. She had changed her outfit three times getting ready for our visit. She had decided on her favorite color of pink. She is warming up to me, but still has not talked to me yet. She does not speak English, so I don’t really know what to say. I spoke the little bit of Kurdish that I know. Ali asked her if she wanted to go to America with Alan and me. She said no, she only wants to go to Lebanon with her brother, Haidar. She said that Haidar should bring his books, so he can still do his homework. He is in the 11th grade, but Ali told me that he did not like chemistry. I told him that it is because Haidar did not have me as a teacher. J
We ended the night back at the main family house. Farok gave me a wedding present. He said that it is a Swedish tradition to give the gift to the lady of the house. He gave us a beautiful crystal vase that sparkles like a diamond. I love it. We are going to have to be so careful taking it home. The aunts and uncles went to bed. Kosar, Shayan, Reno, Tanya, Alan and I decided to play Pictionary. We played boys against girls. We did not have the actual game, so we made up words for each other and drew them out on Kosar’s iPad. We had a lot of fun, but the boys took WAY too long picking out words for us. The girls tried to enforce a one-minute word decision time period, but Alan canceled the timer every time I set it. It was all in good fun. We played until about 11 pm, then it was off to bed for all of us. It was a great ending to the day.
January 3, 2012
Today we are off to Araz, Tawar, Kosar, Shayan, and Reno’s house for a feast. It is a celebration that Alan, Reno and Farok are all home. We will be leaving in a few minutes.
Exciting Side Note: Mom and Dad! Your package to Alan’s parents arrived at the Post Office TODAY!!! What good luck. Alan and Mahir went to check this morning and it was sitting on the floor, not a foot away from Alan’s feet. It had just gotten in and had not been processed yet. Amazing. Shownim and Mahir love the plate. It is beautiful in person. A warm thank you is being sent to you from half-way around the world. xoxo
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