May 11th
Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mother!!! I stayed up late and got to FaceTime with my mom last night. It was still Saturday for her - but it was Sunday for me so that counts! Plus she is going on a motorcycle trip to California with my dad in Sunday so It was a good time for me to interrupt their gardening and say hello and I love you all the way from Iraq!
Our other team mate Nadia arrived early this morning. She got in at 6:30 - we chatted for a while and then all went back to sleep.
Around noon we went to the market - at the market we saw women with strollers. Michelle thought it would be a good idea to get one for Cooper. I asked a group of woman if we could find one there at the bizarre. One of the women (the one in the group that knew English) said that she was from SanDiego! Ha! Very cool! The pointed us in the right direction - we went down an isle and turned a corner and looked up a staircase.... There was LOTS of baby stuff up there. We did find cooper a stroller! He was much happier riding along instead of being held or walking. And he kept saying, "thank you! Thank you!"
I don't think that I can adequately describe how large the bizarre is... And really you can find EVERYTHING there! You just have to know where to look. Things are kind of groups together... And really you can find EVERYTHING there! It is a huge market!
We had lunch out at a restaurant. We ordered A LOT of food! Not on purpose. But the portion sizes were much more than what we thought they would be. We thought that we were ordering 1 kebab each and they came back with 4 each. Plus all of the appetizers- salad, soup and flat bread, sheesh!
Michelle and her husband Tom and their son Cooper went to meet up with a friend of theirs and have dinner. Back at the hotel Brisa Nadia and I hung out and talked... We felt a little like we were waiting for something- but there was really nothing to wait for, just sat and talked and waiting... For nothing. And used the internet on and off when it was working.
I have found myself in my head a lot today. Michelle actually asked me if I was mad at her. That happens when I get into my head - people think that something is wrong or that I am upset- cause it's not my usual MO. But I am fine... Just a lot of thinking and processing about a lot of stuff. That happens when you travel! I was talking to my friend Alex about that! He said: "Life is always evaluated when your traveling." That is very true for me. Lots of life evaluation happening here!
It was a pretty laid back day- it's nice to have our whole team here (with the acceptation of Lili who sadly couldn't join us for this trip - miss you Lil!)
Monday May 12th
Last night I was starting to feel queasy. Kind of like that car sick feeling. Except for I was just sitting in our living room.
I woke up at about 5 am and threw up.
I woke up again at about 9 am and threw up again. At this point people were heading down to breakfast and getting ready to go on an excursion that we had planned for today to go to Amadiya.
Tom and Michelle told is all about this place. Because we are here for the conference and to work we don't have much time to do touristy things and see some of the incredible places that there are to see in this beautiful country. But we had today to be able to visit Amadiya.
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Here is a little bit of information from Wikipedia about Amadiya:
Amadiya (Kurdish: Amêdî, also spelled "Amediyah", "Amadia", "al-Amadiyah" or other variations), is a small Assyrian and Kurdish town along a tributary to the Great Zab in the Dahuk Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan.[1] The town is perched on a mountain, formerly only accessible by a narrow stairway cut into the rock. The history of this city goes back to 3000 years B.C. to the time of ancient Assyria, since it has always been a strategic place as it is built on the flat top of a mountain. For several centuries, after the expulsion of the caliphs from Baghdad, it was ruled by a pasha, a prince who was from the royal Abbas family, reputed to be one of the richest rulers in the region.[2] Amedi was the seat of the semi-autonomous Badinan Emirate, which lasted from 1376 to 1843.
>>>>>>>>>>>> (this for me is the coolest part!!!!)
The region in which the city rests is also believed to have been the home of the Magi or priests of Ancient Persia. Amedia is believed to be the home of some of the most significant Magi priests, the Biblical Magi or the "Three Wise Men", who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to see Jesus Christ shortly after his birth.[3]
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There are also ruins from the Assyrian era and ruins of a synagogue and a church in the small town. At the turn of the 19th century, the population already numbered 6,000, of whom 2,500 were Kurds, 1,900 Jews and 1,600 Assyrians. [4]
Although Amedia is just 10 1⁄2 miles (16.9 km) from the Turkish border across the Beshesh Mountains, the only border crossing into Turkey is now at Ibrahim Khalil border on the road Amedia - Dohuk - Zakho, 56 miles (90 km) away. There was formerly a border crossing at Habur. Proximity to the border means that at the current time, the Turkish army has an unofficial military presence within the town, despite being deep within the Autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. The city is situated 4,600 feet (1,400 m) above sea level. It is 1,100 yards (1,000 m) long and 550 yards (500 m) wide. It houses 6,000 citizens in almost 1,200 houses.[citation needed]
Amedia has a well-integrated community of Assyrians and Kurds that share the city and local social events.
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Also check out the link to see a couple pictures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadiya
Tom told us that is is quite the site to see as you Sri e up it looks like the city is floating - plus to go and see the place that might have been where the 3 wise men traveled from! plus to go and see the place that might have been where the 3 wise men traveled from!
Needless to say I was excited to go and see Amadiya.
But I felt sick.
This happened in Rwanda - we were going on an excursion to Lake Kivu and I was not feeling well that morning. I had decided to suck it up and went anyway and was glad that I did.
This time around I just didn't think that I could stomach a 2 hour bus ride (each way). I stayed in bed... And slept ALL DAY.
I have not slept that long in a looooooong time. My whole body was sore and my stomach hurt.
They got back from Amadiya at about 4:00 and went off to the market. I tried to get up and see if I could go but still was not up to it. I went back to bed.
They all got back and cooked dinner. I was in and out of sleep. I could smell the dinner that they were making - I knew that it was supposed to be a good smell- something that I would usually enjoy and be happy about- but dinner did not smell good to me. I stayed in bed going in and out of sleep and chatting with a couple friends online as my internet went in and out.
I got up after everyone else went to bed and took a shower.
It's 1:30 am now.
I don't feel like throwing up any more which is good! I think it was some kind of 24hour flu that I got. I am really sad that I was stuck in bed all day today... But I am hoping that I will feel all better tomorrow. The conference starts in the morning! My team presents at a panel discussion on our paper on Wednesday and we have our workshop on Thursday.
I think that I may be hungry.... But food has absolutely no appeal to me right now. I think that I am going to go back to sleep now and pray that tomorrow my body will feel strong again in the morning. pray that tomorrow my body will feel
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