All Quiet on the Mid-Eastern Front

Things are calm in the area, although you still have to be prepared for anything. The constant kidnappings in Baghdad make you realize that everyone is vulnerable. A few of my co-workers personally knew the two Simonas who were taken on September 7th, so that adds a bit of anxiety to the situation. For Iraq though, I’m in the right place to be. In a city of one million, like Sulamaniyah, tucked away up in northern Iraq, you feel you can blend in a little more.

In an effort to actually get out into the community, I finally managed to go to the souk in the old part of Suli. Largely situated in an indoor labyrinth of narrow alleys, the main bazaar consists of a lot of little shops maybe only about 10 feet wide, each selling wares similar to that of their neighbors. This is, for all intensive purposes, a very practical market – not much for the tourists. If you were looking for a high quality rug or antiquities you would be out of luck, but if you want the latest trends in Kurdish fashion or plastic tchotchkes manufactured in Taiwan that you can’t imagine anyone buying, the market is your place. In the evenings the marketplace resembles the crowded street scenes of New York always shown in the movies. It seems that it is the central location not only for casual market-goers, but for all the youth looking to see and be seen. Young men stand around in both small and large groups and young women walk around in pairs, their hair done in the extremely high-maintenance way that women in Suli seem to have perfected. They would probably find it shocking and disconcerting that the last time I had my hair cut was probably back when there was still ice on the streets of DC.

I also paid a visit to the premiere grocery store in town - Zagros – which on a good day, carries a wide variety of western products and a good assortment of local ones. However, Zagros also has a reputation of never having anything in stock. Fortunately I caught it on a good day. I do find it quite interesting to see what places such as Zagros determine to be staples. I can’t say I was aching to find canned lima beans over here, but I could buy more boxed cake mix if I want it, along with THREE different varieties of frosting. Zagros also seems to be following the American dieting trend, with a special section set aside for “low-fat” items. I was just relieved to see that it wasn’t marked as “low-carb” – that madness is best left back in the US.

Speaking of America - there seems to be an influx of foreigners in town lately. I’ve seen Americans and Europeans at the hotel where we dine at, an American woman at the grocery store, and an Australian woman just came to our office yesterday to ask if we knew anyone to help out in her pre-school part-time. The interesting aspect of all this is, that in this most random of places, where even the US military does not have much presence, we should be shocked to encounter one another. But if we are, we hide it. It’s almost like no one wants to acknowledge what we’re doing here, in case revealing just a few details may put one in jeopardy. This is speculation of course, but such a contrast from running into “westerners” in other places I’ve traveled. Usually such encounters bring about a flurry of biographical questions, but here – no.