Picnic for May Day!!

Have you ever rolled a ball back and forth with a two year old in the darkness of night? How about during this event having them look up at the moon, point, and say something that you can't understand? This is just one of the amazing events I did today on my day long picnic in Kurdistan. The conversation lasted quite some time. I am not exactly sure what she was trying to say, but we discussed the moon, and she picked some flowers and gave them to me, and she tried to throw the soccer ball to the crescent moon. She then went to her father while we ate kebab. One has to marvel at the curiosity of youth, and the wonder of their ability to hold conversations without worrying that no one else really understands.

The day started when I awoke at about 5:15am. I was not very happy about waking as such an hour as I wasn't planing on getting up until about 7am because I didn't have to be ready until 8:00am. I took my shower, chatted online, and was just getting ready to go get my cup of coffee when the dean knocked on the door. It turned out that they had changed the time to 7:30am, so I didn't have time for my coffee :(

The trip took about two - two and a half hours. We saw waterfalls and beautiful greenery and canyons. I hope to have pics of this later, so cross your fingers. We arrived at the location, and it was a place built for people to come picnic. There were small stores to get anything you could want, a cold river coming out of a cave in the mountain, and a set of stairs for the water to run down. There were others who had music, so the dancing came about yet again (they love their dancing here).

After three or so hours, and a lot of food, we went on to a small amusement park called Pank. I walked around with the dean, his wife, one of the Kurdish teachers, and the other university teacher. Some random person came and asked if she could take our picture with her son! Of course we did, and then we moved on to sit and watch the others race a little car that they went off to ride. While we were watching, three girls came up; one of them wanted her picture with me, so I had my picture taken...AGAIN! I really don't like to get my picture taken, but it seems to make people happy. The Kurdish teacher said that I should start charging. Perhaps she is right; I could probably make enough money to live off from just from getting my picture taken with people...and I would have the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life!!

Finally it was time to leave and go to the famous waterfall that is on the back of their 5000 Dinar note. It was gorgeous! We stopped for a few minutes so people could take pictures and we were on our way again. We were going to another place to have the "second part" of the picnic. Along the way we saw someone having a wedding. They were all dressed in their traditional Kurdish outfits and there was much dancing. The driver then did something that I would never have thought possible: he stopped! We got out and went to watch the people dance. The father of the groom came over and invited us to come sit with him; and to get our picture taken with the groom. Now one can not crash a wedding and then refuse to get you picture taken with the bridal couple when asked to do so, so I got my picture taken yet again...This one was also taken on my coworkers camera so I will get it as soon as I can. They then gave us a pop and a little cake, and we were on our way again.

We stopped at a random place along side the road and spent about an hour talking, dancing, and eating. After we packed up, one group of people went off to ride go carts, and the rest of us went home to get some sleep. Most of the people don't have to work in the morning, but unfortunately I do. I have to teach one class and give a retake of the test from last week. Then I have to do all kinds of administrative tasks as well....I really hate this part of the job..