I don’t feel like being
overly verbose regarding my day yesterday but I will sum it up in one word:
gratifying. There were two main parts of
the day, both of which involved meeting individuals with a considerable amount
of sway in the community. First, I went
to a small summer villa in the mountains owned by General Aziz Swayze, the top
commander of Kurdistan’s Army. I didn’t
get a chance to talk with him much, as he was always surrounded by people and
he doesn’t speak English. There were
about 50-60 people there and as the picture shows, the table was huge. The feast was your typical Kurdish cuisine,
just a lot more of it.
After lunch I went with
Kevin, Bjin and Brien (the two students who invited me), and another gentleman
who is a professor at the University of Zakho.
We took a trek through the hillsides and got some pretty amazing
views. The pictures tell the story
better than I can. I had never really
eaten fresh almonds before. Not the
almonds you typically buy in the store, these are right off the tree and still
ripe. One had a worm in it so I quickly
spit that one out, but the rest are pretty decent, although a bit tart.
After we left to drive back
to Duhok I wanted to air my feet out a bit as the day was pretty hot (it has
been about 90 every day). Naturally,
just like I do back home, I stuck my feet out the window as we were
driving. Evidently this was the most
ridiculous thing people had seen as every passing car gave a look one way or
another. I was amused and didn’t care,
and Bjin was laughing hysterically. I
never saw the reason though as you see far more things on the road which are
far more ridiculous. As if to perfectly
prove my point, a car passed us with about 5 people in the back seat, 2 in the
front seat, and 3 sitting with their feet dangling out of the trunk. Compared to that, I was just a regular
passenger.
After
I got home I had about 40 minutes to relax before the next adventure
began. Two faculty members from the law
department at the university invited Samuel and I out for a picnic. I thought we were hanging out in the
mountains, drinking some whiskey and eating chicken. To my surprise, we pull up to a massive
house, still in the mountains, but clearly not the rustic getaway I had
envisaged.
It
is still very common to define your family not just by your immediate family,
as we do, but to classify yourself as part of your tribe. Tribes are located in certain areas of the
region, and are fairly well connected.
It is a holdover from the past, but one that still bears a considerable
deal of influence. The Dosky tribe is
the largest in Duhok, and we were at the tribal leader’s house.
We passed
the mansion and pool and came to a large, tent covered room. It was filled with couches, neatly
decorated, and stocked with food and drinks.
There were about 9-10 of us, and it was all guys. The conversation started in a way that many
people typically try to avoid: discussing politics. Chivas 21 dulled any inhibitions, and we dove
right in. We asked a lot of poignant and
direct questions, about everything from the power of tribal leaders to Islam in
the West, and he answered them all. For
hours we sat there, and before long, Samuel and I had killed an entire bottle
of whiskey. Stuffed with food and drink,
and very much enjoying our host, it was a pretty awesome evening. As a parting gift he gave us an entire bottle
of Chivas. At that point it was safe to
say we were donezo.
But,
as usually happens here, we got into the car and our driver suggested popping
open a few piss warm beers. As soon as
it touched my lips I cringed at how awful it tasted. Even cold beer here is akin to Miller Light,
garbage. After a bit we had to toss it
out the window. My stomach couldn’t take
it, and Samuel was well in the tank too.
I didn’t make a giant mess in my room like last time, but I did wake up
feeling quite under the weather. All in
all, it was an awesome day. It involved
meeting some powerful people, nature walks, shooting the breeze, and delicious
food. Can’t go wrong!
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