Random Thoughts

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Teaching –

We had our first class of teaching English to the faculty members of the College of Engineering.  It was my first time teaching and although I was not nervous, it definitely took a little while to get used to being in charge of a classroom.  Paige and I decided that we would teach the class together since there were only about 25 students.  Some people thought they were highly proficient in English, and up until I read their writing assignment I thought they were pretty good as well.  However, one look at what the students were writing really proved that they have a long way to go.  This gives me a greater sense of purpose moving forward in the classroom, because I know that they really do need the help.  It is up to us to create a stimulating environment that a) connects with them, b) makes them want to learn, and c) challenges them to do better.  Our lesson plan for tomorrow incorporates a lot of ideas so I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.  

Erbil-

               Yesterday we went to Erbil for the night because Reving had a training program that the State Department put together.  We sort of tagged along just to have a night away from Duhok.  Although Duhok has a population of about 250,000 people it still has a small community feel to it.  It is fairly quaint and most of the businesses have a family owned feel to them; there is virtually no night life.  This is probably for the better as one of my goals this year is to truly gain a sense of clarity, and one of the ways I want to do this is by limiting my indulgence in vices.  So far so good, although I did smoke some hookah and have one beer in Erbil, my first so far.   I was also able to enjoy a delicious Fatburger cheeseburger, french fries, and a strawberry milkshake.  Ownership at Fatburger was keen on continually asking us how the food was and kept on stating, "This is the first Fatburger in all of Iraq!"  Considering we almost never can get a good hamburger in Duhok, I was exuberant (yes, not just happy, exuberant) to eat a delicious cheeseburger.  Afterwards, the first bar we tried to go into actually turned us down as the man at the store stated, “No madams,” a direct reference to Paige.  The specific reasons for this were unclear, but the fact that we were not welcome was enough.  We ended up at Beirut bar, the same place that Smijai, Paul, and myself closed down the last time we were in Erbil. 

Reving, myself, and Paige had a long discussion about everything from evolution to religions.  I greatly enjoyed our talk as it is always good to explore topics beyond a surface level recognition of issues.  I appreciated hearing about Islam from a direct source as opposed to what we hear in the media.  It really is a pure religion, and you can see it in the people and value system. It is a shame that we have such a misconception about its purposes and intentions.  When we think about terrorists as representatives of all of Islam it can be equated to people looking at the KKK and labeling them as representatives of Christianity; both are equally off-base.  Although I remain skeptical of any organized religion, I do look forward to going to a mosque and reading the Koran.  I want to learn as much as possible while I am here.   

 

Settling In-

               Now that we are entirely settled in with a full fridge and working hot water, I can safely call this apartment my new “home,” at least for the time being.  Where I lay my head every night is where I will long to come back to when things get frustrating, tiring, etc.  We are also making some new friends as we recently met a member of the professional basketball team.  He is from Detroit and was happy to see some fellow Americans so I anticipate that we will be hanging out soon.  Soccer on Saturdays is also going pretty well although it is clear that not playing the game consistently does not give me the same level of instinct on the field.  I have to think about every move and rely on my athleticism as much as possible; they are simply way more versed in the game than I am, but I am trying.  After the game is over we all, there are about 8 of us, sit around and play this card game called Comking (pronounced Coom-kahn).  It is a lot of fun and while we are there we share different aspects of our cultures over tea and tasty chicken sandwiches.  The people are so nice and hospitable here; in many ways it is almost the opposite of NJ lol.  We were recently taken to an Asia Champions League soccer game of Duhok vs. Al-Wihdat of Jordan.  There wasn't even one woman in the stands and everyone was chain smoking.  It was quite comical, even more so when the fans turned on their home team once they started losing!  I truly enjoy playing and watching soccer, but I do look forward to playing basketball soon.  I’d like to play football, but the communication barrier is far too great to explain a game as complex as American football…..not to mention I can’t even find a ball anywhere in the country. 

Family-

               My family is on my mind but everything is going well so far.  The only thing I really wanted to say was that I had quite an amazing dream this morning: it was my birthday we were at this giant lake house with a nice back yard, grill, clean shoreline, and a big deck.  ALL of my family, friends, and even Melissa’s family were over and we were all swimming and having a good time.  I was playing in the water with Kyle and Kory and chit chatting with everyone who was over the house.  It was just about everything that I could ask for…until the cleaning ladies barged into our hotel room and woke me up. Oh yeah, and it was also my birthday in the dream which made it even sweeter.  Damn cleaning ladies...

NGO Resource Institute-

               After a couple weeks of getting settled and trying to figure out what it is we are doing here, it is becoming increasingly clear that we will have plenty of time to set up the Institute.  We have a few meetings scheduled to discuss funding opportunities, and we will soon be starting the process to register as an official NGO in Kurdistan.  Once this happens, we should be able to apply for funding from USAID and the Kurdish government.  We have already submitted proposals to the State Department and Seton Hall.  Not only would this be a great boost to my resume and salary, it would make this time abroad even more worthwhile by being able to make a direct difference in organizations serving the local populace.  Inshallah….