Tues May 13th
I feel SO MUCH BETTER today! Thank goodness! I guess I just
needed to sleep for 24 hours. Ugh. I am still sad that I missed out on the trip
yesterday, oh well. Such is life!
Last night I knew that there was another voice in the
kitchen – but did not know who it was. This morning I met Daliah – she is a
student at NYU and is part of the NYU Center for Global Affairs in the
peacebuilding program, She is here for the conference and then will stay for an
extra 2 months to do work here. It is also really cool because her parents are
both from Iraq and she knows Kurdish!
Today was the first day of the Peace Building Conference
that brought me to Iraq. It is held in a beautiful facility at the conference
center at the University of Duhok.
At first, when we decided to submit an abstract for a paper,
we didn’t fully understand what a big deal this conference is! We are so
honored that we were chosen to come and participate in this conference! And it
is REALLY special that along with being on a panel to present our paper they
have allowed for us to have a 90 minute time slot to do an interactive workshop
where we will be able to give the participants a taste of what Applied Theatre
practices are.
When we arrived at the conference we were given headsets.
The whole conference is being translated from Arabic to English and English to
Arabic. The translators are pretty awesome they are able to go back and forth
between the languages – it is really great that we can bring so many people
together to talk about building peace in Iraq. There are many people here who
are invested in this country for diverse reasons in their varied specialties.
After the conference Nadia, Michelle, Cooper, Brisa and I
went to the Market. We found baby Cooper a stroller – He was so much happier to
sit and go around instead of being held or having to walk.
Chai tea is HUGE here in Iraq. EVERYONE drinks Chai. For
breakfast, in the middle of the day, after meals, etc. I noticed in the market that there are men
that walk around with a tray and sell tea to the vendors.
They have beautiful tea sets that they use here that are
very specific to Iraqi culture. I only drink herbal tea, so I wont have any
chai in Iraq. But I want to get a tea set to bring home so I have a special
Iraqi gift in my home and I can use it for herbal tea!
So the tea that is sold to the vendors is brought around in
real glass teacups and saucers. Later on
I saw a man walking through the market with an empty try and he was clinking 2
saucers together. He was calling for his cups back. The vendors that had bought
tea from him would bring him the cups as he walked by.
I LOVE seeing things like this! The systems that are in
place and how things run and work is very interesting to me. It speaks a lot to
the culture of the people here. Speaking of…
After the market we went to dinner at a restaurant close to
our hotel. Women and families have to eat upstairs and then men eat downstairs.
So interesting the cultural differences. Women here in Iraq do not have a
public face. You really don’t see them much. At the Market yes- because they
are shopping- or going to and from places, but mostly they stay at home. The
vendors at the market are all men as well. They women do not work there.
This is another reason why I think that this conference is
such an amazing thing! There are quite a few women who are presenting papers
both from Iraq and other countries: United States, Pakistan, and England. I
think it is especially important that women from Iraq were presenting. There is
still a lot of progress to be made, things like women’s rights and gender
equality are very slow moving in some cultures. Every woman that goes on to
achieve higher education and does things like presents at a conference such as
this - I believe that every little step counts!
Nadia Michelle, Brisa, and I worked really hard tonight
putting together the presentation for tomorrows panel! I put together the power
point. We were up around midnight finishing up. Michelle and Brisa went to bed
and Nadia and I went downstairs to the reception desk to ask them if we could
print out the speech that Nadia and Michelle would present at the conference
the next day.
I have become friends with the guys that work at the front
desk of our hotel. One of my FAVORITE parts about traveling is becoming friends
with locals! I love talking to people who are from the places that are new to
me so that I can learn from them and hear about their cultures and traditions,
etc. An interesting thing about this situation is that the few people that I
have been able to speak with the most and become friends with are from Syria –
They had to leave Syria because of the situation there and have been in Iraq
for 1-5 months.
Nadia and I ended up staying down in the lobby talking
(through Google Translate) to Jodi and Mohammad til 3:00 in the morning. They
were teaching us how to say words in
Kurdish and Arabic. We were going through our phones and looking at pictures
and asking how to say things. Nadia had some photos of some pretty random
animals. She showed them a picture and they looked at it, they then typed into
Google and the translation came up, “Is this a goat?” We laughed so hard. We
stayed up very late- but it was such a good time. Nadia also said that it was
good for her because she was nervous about the panel and presentation the next
day so she would have had a hard time sleeping. I think it was totally worth
it!
Wed May 14th
Conference day 2
Nadia and Michelle presented our paper at the conference
today! They did a great job!
After the Conference I went to the market with Nadia and
Daliah. This was my last chance to go to the market and get presents for my
family and some suveniours. It was
incredibly helpful that Daliah knew Kurdish! She helped me navigate through the
market and we had a lot of shopping done in an hour – that would have taken me
much longer otherwise. Daliah is such a delight! I think I have found a new
best friend! I am really glad that she stayed with us! And I am so excited for
her to be back in NYC again so we can hang out!
Alex is another new friend who is also affiliated with NYU
and has been a big part of planning and putting together the conference. He has
been living in Iraq for the past 6 months and plans to be here for about a
year. He hangs out at an Assyrian social
club on a weekly basis and invited a bunch of people to go tonight and get a
drink and have some food. On the way there we stopped at another little
antique/suveniour shop and I got a really pretty ring!
We had a good dinner and a fun time socializing. I could
hear some music going on and asked what it was. Someone said that there was a
wedding at the building next door. Nadia and I went to check it out – from a
distance. We could hear the music. There were children coming out of the
building and playing in the front on the steps, and we could kind of see inside
that there were people dancing.
We went back down and then a couple more people decided to
go up to see the wedding. So 4 of us went up and one guy walked straight up to
the doors to look in. There were some people there attending the wedding and
they saw all of us and decided to invite us in. The coaxed us and pulled us
into the hall to come and be part of the celebration. They asked us to sit down
and then placed plates of fruit, sweets and drinks in front of us and invited
us to eat. This was a true show of genuine Kurdish hospitality! This is how the
people are in Kurdistan! Very warm and friendly and giving! I was introduced to
the groom’s father and he introduced me to his wife. She then pointed out her
mother and father and a couple of people handed me their babies to hold.
She then asked me if she could take a photograph with me. I
felt a little under dressed for the whole occasion. I was in skinny jeans, V-neck
shirt and a cardigan. So there I am getting my picture taken with the mother of
the groom who is in a sparkly gown– by the wedding photographer.
This is what I get for being the token blonde girl in
Iraq. I get stared at a lot. You know
that game, “One of these things is not like the other”…? Well I am for sure the
one that is “not like the others” here!
It was the same for me in India and Rwanda. My blonde Hair,
Blue eyes and light skin are an obvious sign that there is a foreigner in the
midst. People would ask me if I was American – upon this confirmation they
would always have a great big grin and say! You are Welcome here! The Kurdish
people love Americans and they express so much happiness that we are here.
We didn’t stay at the wedding for long. It was a little
awkward - we really didn’t want to crash the party. We said our thanks and
goodbye and headed back down to the Assyrian social club. We stayed for a little longer but needed to
head back to the hotel.
On the way home we went and got Kurdish Ice Cream at a
little dessert shop. Daliah was raving about it and said that is was a must
try! They had all kinds of sweets, and cakes and Baklava! I asked the man who worked at the shop what
one thing and what his favorite dessert was. He gave us some free samples to
try. It was all very good!
We got back to the hotel and did some session planning for
our workshop tomorrow. Everyone went to bed and I did some packing and started
to prepare to go – we check out tomorrow after the conference and will have to
drive back to Erbil to catch a flight that is in the middle of the night/early
morning (3:30 am).
I usually travel with some thank you cards/stationary. So
that I can write notes to people, somehow I forgot to bring some on this
trip. Actually I discovered that I had
no paper at all. I really wanted to write a note to my friend Jodi who works
the night shift at the front desk. I looked through all of my things- hoping
that maybe I would find something that could work. Then I remembered… right
before I left I saw a small travel size copy of the Book of Mormon on my
bookshelf. I decided to bring it with me just in case.
I wanted to give Jodi that Book of Mormon. Of course all of
the unsurities and negative voices came into my head about why that may not be
a good idea. But all of the reassurances came too. I decided that I would tell
him, “This book is very important to me, and I want to share it with you
because you are my friend.” I wrote a note in the front cover of the small book and went downstairs to see Jodi. It was
probably 12:30 or 1:00 am by the time I got down there. He greeted me with a
smile and asked how I was. I told him that I sadly will be leaving tomorrow –
but had something for him.
I asked him if he believes in God- he said yes! I gave him
the Book of Mormon. He was grateful for it and told me that he will take it to
study along with his other religious books.
Jodi and I ended up talking all night- with the aid of our
smart phones and a translator app we talked about home, family, culture,
dating, etc. and had a really really great conversation!
I went back to my room at 7am and got ready for the day. I
didn’t even lie down. Kind of crazy yes… but it was an important conversation
to have and I am grateful for it!
Thursday May 15th
Conference day 3
We took a Taxi to the University- our driver wasn’t the most
assuring when it came to directions. We went to the University in a very round
about way. But we made it!
Our Workshop today went SO WELL! We had a pretty good turn
out – as far as attendance goes. About 20 or so participants. Some were there
for part of the time, others where able to sty the whole 90 minutes! We also
had a translator for our session. There were some theatre students that came
and were able to be a part of our workshop.
I am very proud of the work that we did!
After our workshop we went to a couple more panels and then
had lunch. Brisa and I left conference a little bit early so that we could go to
the market and then pack and get ready to go.
I wanted to run back to the market to show Brisa this really
cool section that Daliah and I had discovered that Brisa had not seen yet. I
also wanted to make an exchange and this was my only chance! I bought a tea set
and the vendor gave me the wrong saucers for my cups. We got that sorted and
had a nice quick trip back to the market! Mission accomplished! I got the right
saucers for my tea cups! Let me know if you would like to come over for some
tea friends! I will bust out my new pretty Iraqi tea set!
There was a special closing dinner arranged for the
conference tonight. There were certificated handed out- complete in a fancy
“University of Duhok” diploma holder.
We went back to the hotel to get our bags and left Duhok at
10:30.
Brisa and I rode in a Cab- we couldn’t fit all of us and all
of our bags into the car that Tom and Michelle rented – so we needed more
space. Plus this way we were sure to not get lost! Remember the whole no maps/
no GPS / No harry potter dot thing?!
I was so tired! I was in and out of sleep most of the 2.5
hour drive back to Erbil.
Tonight bleeds into the early morning hours of…
Friday May 16th
We Got to Erbil Airport at 1:30am.
Our Flight left at 3:30 am
We Landed in Istanbul at 6:30 am – Tom and Michelle went on
their way to catch their next flight to JFK. I had a 4 hour layover and Brisa
had an 8 hour layover – so we got to keep each other company until I had to go
and catch my connecting flight to Spain.
While we waited we got internet connection and I was able to
facetime with my mom and dad (who are in California) and update facebook and
send out some texts and emails to let friends and family know that the
traveling is going well.
My facebook status update said:
Once again in Istanbul on a layover. This time headed to
Granada Spain. I miss Iraq already - my new friends and will always cherish the
amazing experiences I had there. #abouttocry #whydoialwayscryinIstanbul
It is hard to explain the emotions that I was feeling during
that layover. On the way to Iraq I cried in Istanbul. Because I found myself at
the climax of a LOT of emotion.
Parts of those emotions are from the fact that I love
people! Because of that part of my personality sometimes I find people that I
am able to connect with on a deeper level. When this happens it is really hard
to say goodbye, and very hard to leave them! Especially when I do not know what
will happen to that relationship once we are apart or when I will see them
again. I am filled with a lot of emotions and thoughts – there is a lot of
thinking and processing to do!
My flight left Istanbul at 9:40 a.m. and I Landed in Malaga
Spain at 1:30 p.m.
It's a 2 hour bus ride to Granada. There is a bus at 16:00
that on the Internet said it was full- I am going to try to get on it. If I
cannot then I have a ticket for the 18:30 bus.
-----
I made it to the airport and waited for the bus to come.
Just before 16:00 the bus to Granada came- I asked the driver if I could take
this earlier bus – he said that I could not switch… even with paying the
difference in the ticket prices.
At this point I just wanted to go! So I just paid the bus
fair and got on! It wasn’t very expensive anyway- and it was going to be worth
not having to wait!
I arrived in Granada, but I had not had the chance to tell
Antonio that I got on the earlier bus. At the bus terminal there was a little
computer room that you could pay to use the computer. So I got on for 15 minute
and luckily Adam had sent me Antonio’s phone number – I was able to find a pay
phone and call him and tell him I was already there!
Antonio was just finishing at school- so his mom and dad
came to pick me up and greeted me with big hugs and kisses! We picked up
Antonio from school! When he jumped into the car we exchanged hugs and kisses
and I started to cry. Oh my goodness! Why am I such a baby!? I told you… SO
MANY EMOTIONS! Haha…It is so good to see my Antonio again!
We brought my things to our apartment – HA! Our apartment!
YOU GUYS!!! I AM LIVIGN IN SPAIN!!! This is so CRAZY! HAHAHA!!! Adam and
Antonio put together my room for me! It is a beautiful apartment and I am so
happy to be here!
Antonio’s family
lives just down the street – we walked over for dinner. Silvia and Jesus were
there and we all had dinner together! Oh Sweet Spainish – I have a LOT of
learning to do!
So YES! I am Here! In SPAIN!!! Ready to get settled in and
learn some Spanish! Wish me luck! I will be updating and hopefully adding
photographs soon! (at least to facebook) I like these blog posts to have
photographs in them SO MUCH MORE than just words!
oxoxox
