Schedule

I have less than a month left here, which means I've spent over a month here. It just seems so surreal still that I am in Iraq. I think part of it is because this isn't the Iraq I hear about, this isn't the Iraq the news (or even video-games) showed me. Part of the separation of my Iraq and the new's Iraq is probably because I've gotten to know the people here, and I get to hear the other intern's perspectives too. Don't get me wrong Iraq is still dangerous. Some protesters were killed in the city the other day, car bombs happen in the cities around us, people we get to meet and friend have all been affected by the wars (I believe SO MUCH MORE than most people in the states have been). My Iraq still feels pain, but the news' Iraq illustrates a different kind of pain.

Anyways after reading Gayle's team's blog I thought it was smart that they shared their daily schedules. So I am going to be a copy-cat and do that too. :-)

Sunday-Thursday

8:20am| Wake up for work

8:50am-9:00am| Walk to the office

9:15am| Office meeting

9:30-12:30pm| Edit, edit, edit

12:30pm-1:30pm| Lunch

1:30-5:00pm| Work some more

• (on some days there's an optional afternoon ice cream break- not PLC sanctioned, but too delicious to pass up most days).

5:00-6:00pm| walk home, change out of work clothes (some days cook dinner- the interns are on a rotating cooking dinner schedule)

6:30-???pm| Dinner, random hanging out, cleaning

On Sundays and Tuesdays I've been teaching English from 5-7pm.

Fridays are our day of rest...or sleeping in until noon.

Saturdays are mandatory 'be out of the house' days. On these days I go to the bazaar, meet up with friends, get coffee, and/ or walk around the city.

random pictures that have little to do with this blog taken by Adam Brandt

My Bazaar Life

Ha ha, I love how much I use the word bazaar as bizarre. I am so punny. ha ha, oh dear I hope someone laughed at that. Gayle would have laughed at that because she knows I am funny 24/7 365.


Speaking of Gayle. I am loving TEA Team's blog posts (CLICK HERE TO GET TO THEM). :-)


Anyways...


Yesterday Lydia and I went to the bazaar to get some long dresses/ skirts/ even more modest clothes for her trip down to southern Iraq. While I wish, wish, wish I was going down there with her I am thankful I don't have to endure 105+ degree heat in all black. She picked out some cute stuff, but it took a while because we thrifted  in IRAQ! Thrifted in Iraq. Liz. Liz thrifted in Iraq. AND I got two super cute (well they will be) dresses for less than $2. I am excited.


Today I went to the bazaar with Ryan and Ted. I wore my ballet klash and people just kept staring at my feet.  I am glad that I could advertise for the ballet klash a little. Ryan and Ted were great guys to go to the bazaar with. They totally nullify the cliche that guys hate shopping or are not fun to go shopping with.

[Lydia, Alex, and Cody left for Nasiriyah today for two weeks. Once again I am the only girl intern here. I am going to miss the other half of the so called "axis of evil" so much. Why are we called the "axis of evil?" Maybe because we're awesome.]

I didn't buy anything today, but I have several more weeks to start my souvenir shopping. So if anyone has anything super specific that you want you should let me know! Because as of now I've seen colored chicks, pigeons, scarves, key-chains, and ice cream that I'd like to buy for people.

I think it's safe to say the bazaar is one of my favorite places here. 

a few photos

Pictures like this are going to be very prominent because it's usually just Lydia and I (or no one will take our picture).

My latte at Melody's cafe. I could get use to this artwork.

Newsha (an amazing Iranian photographer), Lydia, and I at the Metrography exhibit.

BEST CAB CLUB EVER.

Adam, Lydia, and I usually end up in the back of taxi's together...and cab club pictures are a must.

top three photos taken by my super awesome roommate, creative, inspiring photography, and classy, yet trendy dresser: Lydia Bullock

last photo (cab club) taken by my super awesome roommate's boyfriend and super smart intern: Alex Phillips

Titles are difficult to come up with (something I've learned while blog editing)

May 25

Today I went to the bazaar with Cayla. Cayla is PLC’s family advocate, and married to PLC’s press secretary and communications guy. She is such a sweet, fun person and is so comfortable to be around. Also she’s a pro at going to the bazaar and knows where everything is. We took a bus to the bazaar, got there, found what we needed (me- heels and a skirt, her- produce, and a seam ripper for Jessica), took the bus back, and I went to work. The bazaar was so much fun, and every time is such a learning experience. I thank God that He’s prepared me for cultural changes by allowing me to travel previous to Iraq so that I wouldn’t be so weirded out by the crowds, the smells, the drivers, the beggars, and the language barriers. I also thank Him for sending people who make these transitions as trouble-free and uncomplicated as can be. It’s been easy to fall in the trap of not thanking God, I mean I’m in a country where my social freedoms have been extremely limited, but God is so good and all praise is His. I need to remember that He has given me SO MUCH MORE than not being able to wear shorts- He’s given me incredible brothers and sisters in Christ. He’s given me encouragement 100% of the way. He’s given me strength and taught me to rely on Him, and to trust that He will provide. I am so blessed, so thankful that my Father sent me here. I can’t wait to grow closer to Him. I love that one trip to the bazaar could remind me of all this


(In the evening we got some news, but I'll write more on that later).


May 26
I woke up around 8:00am (which is the latest I've slept in here), left the house around 8:30 to catch a ride with Jessica, and worked until lunch (12:15ish). After lunch we went back to work. Yup that's how interesting my days are. It probably reads really boring, but my days are really actually very exciting to me. They're exciting because I am learning each day how to do something different and I'm experiencing new things. I never in a million years thought I'd be learning how to post blogs/ edit them in Iraq (actually I never thought I'd be learning it in general), but, so far, I'm enjoying it! 


In the evening Jessica, her kids (Micah and Emma), Cody, Michelle and I went over to Awara (you'll have to ask me about his story. It's way too awesome to blog about) and his wife's house for dinner. It was an enjoyable meal of who knows what (rice in folded leaves?, onions, and fermented milk). During the meal we talked very little, because a Korean soap opera was on. OH MY GOODNESS they love their Korean soap operas here. I really feel at home in Iraq- the weather is similar to Albuquerque (it will get much hotter here soon though), the scenery is brown, and now Korean soap operas. Awara said that Korean soap operas were good because some of them reflect what's going on in the government now, and that Koreans are respectful. Perhaps the most respectful people group besides the Kurds. I don't know if ya'll have watched any Korean soap operas, but I have no idea how he got all of that from a soap opera based hundreds of years ago. Awara is a pretty interesting man. He could be living in a huge mansion right now; he could be driving the most expensive cars, and he could have bodyguards around he 24/7, but he choses to live simple. His desire is to serve God and help the helpless. I've learned a lot these past few days, but something I know that will stick with me forever is how this man's greatest yearning in life is to be a servant and how much I need to want that too.

Has it really only been three days?

May 23

I woke up around 5:30 am. I was just too excited that I was in Kurdistan and could not wait to get to see some of it! After several more hours everyone else was awake too and at 8:45am we headed to the PLC office. J The office is right above a bakery- yum. There we received some information and our task for the day. The task was for us to split into two groups of three (you know so we wouldn’t draw more attention to ourselves than necessary) and explore the bazaar. Anton, Ben, and Ted were in a group and Adam, Ryan, and I were in the other. Tasks we needed to complete at the bazaar included exchanging $100 to Kurdish currency, picking up SIM cards for our cell phones, drinking fruit smoothies/ juice, learning a few Kurdish phrases, and making it to a restaurant by noon. It was kind of like the amazing race in that as soon as we left the building we were on our own and praying the taxi driver we found knew where he was going and what we were saying. We arrived at the bazaar, walked around, walked some more, and then walked until I developed blisters on my feet. The bazaar has EVERYTHING. Everything from fashionable modern heels to traditional Kurdish Klashi; from spices to live animals; from smoothies to cell phones, from DVDs to fabrics, it is so much cooler than a Wal- Mart. An interesting thing about the bazaar is that the people are probably more into building relationships and getting to know people than selling and buying. It isn’t uncommon for a shop- keeper to just sit down with you and have a cup of tea. When we were searching for specific items we discovered it isn’t uncommon for a shop- keeper to leave his store (potentially losing business) to help you find the store that carries what you are looking for- and also making sure the person there is respectful to you, because you are now his friend. We need more of this hospitality and less of the self- service mindset we’ve been taught for so long. I am thankful that I was able to experience the service of the bazaar because while I am here to serve, I need to learn from them what exactly that looks like here and how I can most respectfully serve and love them.

After the bazaar we ate a delicious, extremely filling lunch, and then came home to learn of the house rules, what each member already on staff at PLC does, safety ‘rules,’ and some more of what is culturally acceptable in Kurdistan.  Right now I am overwhelmed with information, but more excited to start building relationships, learning, and loving here in Iraq.

Kurdish Wedding/ Engagement Party

After writing my blog about the bazaar I went downstairs to chat with Cayla (Matt’s wife), who is amazingly sweet (more on the PLC staff later) and Jessica. They were in the kitchen prepping for dinner as the kids (Emma and Micah) were eating watermelon. After chatting with everyone for a bit, Emma and I started playing Polly Pockets upstairs in her room. Not more than 10 minutes into Polly Pocket playing (or really just setting it all up and making up background stories for our Pollys) Jessica came in and asked me if I wanted to go to a Kurdish engagement party. It was for the older sister of the first girl that PLC sent to Turkey for heart surgery. THIS IS HOW AMAZING AND IMPORTANT THE RELATIONSHIPS PLC BUILDS WITH FAMILES ARE! I, of course, said yes. We literally had 15 minutes to get ready (as Jessica thought the party was tomorrow night and not tonight). Jessica, Emma, and Micah all wore traditional Kurdish clothes (gilly-kurdi?) and I wore more make- up than I had ever worn, or feel comfortable in, because I needed to show how much I respected the family we would be paying congratulations to. After picking up Michelle (Cody’s wife) we headed over to the party. Little did I know that engagements are SHORT in Kurdistan. Like we missed the engagement party in the time it took us to realize the party was tonight, decide to go, get ready, and go and we were there for the wedding reception and pictures. The women there were all dressed in gilly- kurdis and looked absolutely beautiful in their bright/ sequined/ beaded outfits. They were all smiles and immediately took us inside to sit on the couches when we got there. I think the reason for this was to take pictures with the foreigners. The bride and groom were busy taking pictures with the other guests of the wedding, so I didn’t feel like we were upstaging the beautiful, BEAUTIFUL bride at all. After sitting, trying a little bit of the super sweet breaded desserts, the dancing began. It was not Western wedding reception dancing, but a Kurdish dance (basically side stepping, while holding hands in a circle, and moving your shoulders up and down). It was a lot of fun, but for those of you who know me it was also still a lot of not Liz to get up and dance. After some dancing we left the party and I pretty much just went home, ate a late dinner, and slept.

May 24

Today started off early again, at least for me. I woke up at 6:00am to shower. I wanted to make sure I gave my hair enough time to dry. Walking out of your house with wet hair is a huge no, especially for women. We got to the office (which is just a 10 minute walk) and talked about office rules, maintenance, and weekly schedules. After this we were informed individually what we would be focusing on this summer. I learned a little of my tasks. I’ll be the blog editor. This means I’ll be reviewing everyone's blogs, picking pictures/ titles, scheduling who blogs when and what the content will be. It sounds pretty fun, but I know there is so much that goes into this that I’ll be learning over the next week- like what do people what to read, what makes the blog, editing, who will write what best, and things like that. Then we went to lunch at a falafel place- delicious. After lunch Awara talked to us about Kurdish culture and what we were NOT to do.  Then we headed over to Matt and Cayla’s house for chile, corn bread, snicker doodles, cake, and Megamind. I, of course, fell asleep.  And that is today- tomorrow morning Cayla and I are going to the bazaar. :-)