A Day in Sulaymaniyah.

Originally, our plan for Thursday was to spend the morning at the Red Museum, which is a museum documenting some of the atrocities done by Saddam's regime to Kurdish people that is in an old prison used for the purpose. We were then going to spend the afternoon in Halabja, a Kurdish village that endured a huge poison gas attack also at the hands of Saddam's regime (the largest ever to target civilians) that now has a museum and memorial. These two museums were really at the very top of the list of things that we wanted to see in Iraq.

Of course, the best laid plans and all that... The day before, the Kurdish government decided to declare official holidays for the rest of the week, so all of the museums and official sights were closed the whole time we were there! Sad day!

Our hosts were super helpful as we tried to figure out what else we were going to do- I am so thankful for them! One of the other major things to see in Suli is the large bazaar, which is one of the oldest and most interesting in Kurdish Iraq. However, our plans to see the bazaar were also up in the air as a result of the protests that had been occurring. Up until that week, the protests had mostly been in the afternoon and evening, so we were originally going to see the bazaar in the morning and get out before the protests were starting. However, that week the protests had been starting in the morning and had become violent, so that whole plan was uncertain.

Thankfully, on Thursday morning our friends were pretty sure that the protests were not going to happen until the afternoon, and they knew of a part of the bazaar where we could go more safely that was a little more on the edges and so had not seen any of the action. So, armed with clear directions for the safe area and instructions to avoid large crowds and to go the opposite direction if we saw a large police or military presence, we did actually get to see the Suli bazaar, which was pretty cool. Brian started out our morning at the bazaar by purchasing and then putting on a traditional Kurdish headdress. I think this was the best thing that happened to Jessi and I the whole trip, because everyone was so busy staring at him that they didn't stare so much at us! At one point, Brian turned to us and asked, "Should I take this off? Everyone's staring at me!" We said, "Now you know how we feel all the time! Although the men are just smiling and staring at you, not leering and staring..." It really was funny to watch all of the people in the market smile at this super tall, blond American man running around with a Kurdish hat-thing.

During our time in the bazaar we also got honey and tea and a purse for Jessi. We had an interesting interaction at the purse shop. The man had a TV on, and it was showing coverage of a violent protest. He pointed to the TV and said, "Iraq!" We nodded, and he said (smiling, like it was the most normal thing in the world), "Sulaymaniyah! Here!" We got a little worried and said, "Now?" He replied, "No, yesterday." Phew!

Our time in the bazaar was mostly uneventful, although we did come out in a square with a massive amount of policemen at one point, but we just moved on fairly quickly. We did actually see quite a few military men and policemen, but they did not appear anxious or ready for immediate action and seemed mostly just entertained by Brian and his headdress, although we knew things could change pretty quickly.

One thing that is interesting about our time in Kurdish Iraq- I was never worried about my stuff. We were in crowded markets, and there was certainly more than enough opportunity for someone to take something, but no one ever even tried. People would not scruple to try to rip us off when we were buying things or taking taxi rides, but I've felt more nervous about my bags in some American cities than in Iraq.

We returned back to our host's home and went out for a huge Kurdish lunch at one of their favorite local restaurants. It was so nice to have someone actually tell us how we were supposed to eat the things that we were being served! One of the little boys came with us (the other was in school), and we definitely saw how much children are loved in this culture- especially little blond babies. At one point, people at the table next to us just grabbed his highchair (which was on wheels) and took him over to their table to coo over him!

We finished off our meal with Kurdish tea, which, let me tell you, is sweet. As in 2 tablespoons of sugar for maybe 1/4 cup of tea sweet. It really is more nectar than tea. The server brings the cups to the table with a sugar sludge in the bottom, and it's up to you how much you want to stir in. If you stir it all in, the tea starts to resemble maple syrup in consistency, I think. I've been experimenting with making Kurdish tea since I got home, and I really scandalized my new roommate by how much sugar I was adding- and then it still wasn't anywhere near how much is really added in Kurdistan!

For the afternoon, our hosts had helped arrange a taxi tour of sorts for us. They have a friend through their English center who was a taxi driver, and they arranged for him to take us on a hike up to some caves (a hike with no land mines, always good...) and to see some of the sights around Suli. They knew it would be easier for us to have one driver (who spoke some English) for the whole afternoon, rather than to hire a taxi and make them wait while we hiked, etc.

And so we went on this hike. We drove out into the countryside and parked along this steep road and set out. At first there was a road/path going straight up, but then it started to become a switch-back up the mountain. Our driver decided that we should just go straight up this hill. By the way, it had rained all the night before, and so the (clay-ey) soil was absolutely soaked. We started climbing and would literally have inches of mud caked onto our shoes after every few steps. We also had to do some rock climbing as it got more steep, although the rain had also loosed the rocks, so it was slightly challenging. It's possible that I got a little muddy and slightly cranky. And may have had problems with my asthma.

Sheepies!

Jessi, Brian and our taxi driver going up to the caves.

But we finally made it to the top, and we rewarded with some interesting caves and a pretty great (if hazy) view over the plain below. Everything was so GREEN. Again, I wasn't expecting so much green in Iraq- isn't it supposed to be a desert or something? Of course, the only reason it was so green was because it is spring. Our friends told us that the rain will stop in about a month and within a few days everything will be brown again. But the green was so beautiful and vibrant!

View from the top.

Caves!

Jessi and Brian in a cave.

Our descent was definitely more treacherous that the climb up, with all of the mud and the loose rocks. I definitely fell multiple times, including one time when the weight of my backpack actually made me start rolling down the hill. It was lovely, let me tell you. Finally, we made it back to the car. Jessi and Brian had gotten a little muddy, but I was just covered- basically up to my elbows- in mud! And then there was our taxi driver, who made the hike in shiny black point-toe shoes and a white button-down shirt, and he was still spotless, although I guess his shoes weren't quite as shiny as they were at first.

Saying goodbye to the caves.

Finally picking up the path again!

We were going to drive up to a look-out where we could see over the mountains and into Iran, but the weather was cloudy, so we instead drove past the Red Museum (you can still see the bullet holes from the invasion of 2003) and explored Peace Park, which is a huge park that has been developed in an area that was formerly an army compound under Saddam. I felt a little bedraggled traipsing through the park while covered in mud, but people still stopped us to get pictures with us, although we also got some disapproving looks.

Peace Park.

A memorial. It isn't usually under water, but there had been so much rain!

The Flinstones!

After the park, we cleaned up at the house and then went over to our host's English center to help out with a coffee and discussion night that they hold every week as a chance for people to come and practice their English outside of class. It was really fun to hang out at the center and to get to chat with the people that came. There were probably 5 or 6 men for every woman, as women don't have as much freedom to go out at night, especially if they have families. It was interesting to hear about people's lives, and I'm glad we were able to do it. The best part was that we got to dye Easter eggs! I had been sad about missing out on all of my favorite Easter traditions, but I got to dye Easter eggs in the middle of Iraq. Yay!

Sulaymaniyah.