12 Hours of Excitement

I arrived here a mere 2 or 3 days ago; I haven't started teaching yet, and already I am so wrapped up in activities that I come home exhausted! Who spends 12 hours out on the road driving and picnicing/BBQing with people they don't even know? Apparently I am such a person.

When I was asked to go on this outing, I was under the impression that it was to be a small affair somewhere in the neighborhood. So, when we exited the van to meet the family of 3 children, I was a little concerned when we they pointed to a small bus and told us to get on. I furrowed my brow as I walked toward the entrance, and, upon reaching it, took in a sharp breath; the bus looked full. The colorful, formal look of many of the people, especially the women, was cause for concern as well.

I shook my head and entered. All in all there were approximately 25 of us. The seats were bench style with room for two on the driver's side and room for one on the other. Attached to the dual seats are individual seats that fold down into the aisle. I noticed that not everyone was able to sit down. And with the 6 or 7 children ranging in ages from 20 months to 12 years, I couldn't wait to see how much of an amusement park ride this was going to turn into. It didn't take long for me to find out!

As the bus started, the Kurdish music began to thunder through the speakers as if we were at a rock concert. Then people started standing up to dance. It no longer mattered that there weren't enough seats. The middle seats were folded up and the aisle left clear for the dancing of young and old alike. The others were clapping and hollering and making noises of encouragement. It would have been the perfect time to have a video camera, and me without even a still camera. During all of this ruckus, the 20 month old just kept staring at me. She would smile sometimes, but her eyes never left me. She was very cute, but it started getting a little creepy after a while!

We drove for around 25 minutes and stopped off at the SABIS elementary school (I work for there new college) to pick up a couple more people. We are all stuffed in, the music playing, the clapping going, but the dancing had stopped, at least for the time being. Along this road there are many checkpoints. Most of these we merely slow down, say something to the guard and are waved on through. One place, however, everyone is required to show their residency cards, so, as a bus, we are required to pull over. The men, who are all sitting up front, except for Francois and myself who are sitting in back with the women and most of the children, exit the bus and give the guards thier papers. The guard asks for the papers of the woman and children as well. This is quite a tense time for me as, while I normally always carry my passport, this morning, Francois came early and I forgot to grab my inkpen and passport! Luckily they were able to smuggle us through the checkpoint with no problems. Our luck was to hold on the other three times this happens as well.

The dancing begins again as we continue the drive to find a place to stop and picnic. We drive for approximately 3 hours before we find a place. It is around 50 degrees and cloudy, causing it to feel a bit chilly, so the fire is built. They offload the 4x4 pickup that traveled separately and put up a folding tent, folding chairs, a portable stove, and laid out rugs on which we would later sit to eat. The children started playing with balls that were brought and snacking. As time passed, I helped two of the girls learn to fly their new kite! The beaming smiles on those faces reminded me once again how much I really would love to have my own.

While the food was cooking, more dancing was taking place. One of the first things they did was to hook up the sound system they had brought along so they could have the music. They called me over so that I could participate in the dancing this time around. Who would have ever thought that I would ever use the debke lessons I recieved the semester I took Arabic?

The food was finished, and we all sat to eat. There was stuffed cabbage, stuffed peppers, curry chicken and rice, some other rice type dish, some type of thing that looked like a potatoe but wasn't and was filled with meet, and of course two different types of bread: nan (just like the nan you get at Indian restaurants) and a thicker bread that was almost like a roll in the shape of a triangle. Eating was a particularly difficult time for me. I have a hard time eating around a lot of people I have never met before, and being at such close quarters made it even more difficult. It took me a while before I was ready to start eating. This was not a good thing in that it worried the others a little. Many of them didn't know Enlgish, so they had to express their concern through one who did....not a pleasant moment, but I explained to her that it takes a few minutes for me to get ready. They seemed alright with that response. And I did eat! (It was soooo good.)

There was more talking and playing after the meal, as well as tea. We packed up and started off to find another place in order to cook shish Kabab! There was more of the same on the bus. We were heading back toward home, so the checkpoints were there this time around as well. We found a spot, cooked our kababs, talked some more, had a wonderful sweet desert, and a bottle of water from the American miliary base in Kirkuk as one of the people there is a Capatain and works alongside the Americans there. Then we packed up and were gone again.

I finally got back home around 7:45: 12 hours after having left that morning! I spent some time reading emails, cursing the cold water, and then trying to sleep. It has been a long day, but so much fun! I was smuggled through checkpoints, celebrated newroz (the Kurdish New Year; normally the actual date is around the 21st) with an extended family in Kurdistan, Iraq, and have the day off on Friday because it is the weekend here. AND I may be able to go on the 21st to one of the other cities where they have a HUGE Newroz celebration every year. Hears to hoping!