Double-Post Extravaganza

1) Jennifer? Jennifer Lopez?
Oh if I got a dinar for every time an immigration official has pulled that line on me. Twice in one day this time! I have finally left Iraq for vacation (and time between old and new job). A move like this requires at least 2 days of travelling and much exhaustion. No matter how you swing it - there will never be a flight from or to Iraq that will meet convieniently with transatlantic travel. Even if there was - I wouldn't chance it. Sod's law that flight will always get to the next point 7 hours after you were suppose to have left on your next leg.

I can't figure out which flight I dislike more - the flight coming from Amman to Erbil that leaves at 3am, or the flight from Erbil to Amman that leaves at 5am. Both options allow some leway for sleeping, either before or after. Both leave at incredibly awkward times in the middle of the night and disrupt sleeping patterns enormously. I think I may have to go with the latter. Sleeping from 10pm - 3am before your flight in theory allows enough sleep to function at the airport and then afterwards when you land. However sleeping during this period is light at best - especially if you are unsure as to whether your airport pickup fully understood you. (Can you pick me up at 3am? - yes ok. You will pick me up in the parking lot? - yes ok. Will you call when you get here? - yes ok. Do you understand me? - yes ok.)

Sleeping on the 1h40min flight in itself is a feet - I've seen it done, but now that RJ has added a hot meal (wow!) to the leg (should be served on plates of gold for the amount they change to get in and out of the country - almost the same price as the rest of the trip home!) means that keep the lights on the entire time. By the time you arrive at Amman you are shattered, but 6am, and a perfectly reasonable time to start your day!

Fortunately I was not working (he he he) so crashing on the floor of my future apartment was in order - and I did so like a champ for about 5 hours. I needed to prepare for my next big night of disrupted sleeping patterns... 3 am to Frankfurt. Where I am now looking forward to 6 hours in an airport that does not believe in seating (seriously - there are hardly any benches/chairs - I'm currently on the floor) or power outlets. Yeah!

2) Nawrooztan Piroza!
I was lucky to have been born the day that I was. March 21st is Persian New Years. Much of the old Persian Empire from what could be considered "Kurdistan" all the way through pretty much all of the "Stans" celebrate the coming of Spring.

Not to say that winter in northern Iraq is particularly harsh - although I assume in places such as Afghanistan it is worse. It consists of cloudy, mediocre weather, with the occasional "rain" storm (sometimes it does properly rain, followed by flooding due to the lack (or need) of storm drains) and sand storm. Sand storms are different up north than in the south as well. In Baghdad they build slowly (with sadly no percipitation in advance of or following ) - you can see them coming. The horizon is usually orange, and the air gets increasingly dusty - to the point that you can easily stair at the sun. I've only been in one really bad one, that hit quickly - sand blowing everywhere with zero visability. Up north it's more like fog. It's easier to operate in because sand isn't blown in your face - but you still cannot breath, or wear contacts (sand goes under them) or really be outside.

The KRG has actually had a decent amount of rainfall this year - in what we thought was going to be another drought. In January the weather was almost tropical at times (15C) but in early February and March the weather turned back "wintery" (rainy). The ground is now actually green, not desolate and beige. I would dare say when I look out my window it's almost pretty.

Because of this, the Nawrooz weekend was beautiful. The weather was perfect (around 20C) and the sun was out. The traditional activities for Nawrooz essentially involve a lot of food, picnics and dancing spanning over a week or two. The evening of March 22nd marked the beginning of the festivities with a concert and fireworks over the citadel which you could see from the apartment. We would have liked to go but a combination of date mix-up and then security restrictions make these types of things verbotten, unfortunately. March 21st - the actual Nawrooz date saw massive picnics in every available field that hasn't been slated for construction - meaning that the field near a friend's house in the christian village of Ainkawa became a prime location.

Hundreds of cars, barbeques, drums and girls in sparkly dresses spotted the fields. There was also live music with dancing, although others tried to overpower the wall of speakers with their own sound track. Looking at it from the roof top of the friend's house it looked more like a rock festival or a tailgate party rather than a picnic.

We were lucky to have the means to sneak into he massive dance party going on in the fields through the friend's coworkers, and spent the rest of the evening picnic-ing on her roof watching the parties below and the sun set.