Passing the days in Suli
I AM making an effort, though I dare say it will be short-term, to update this on a more regular basis. Regular, in this instance, being more than once a month. However, that means that the entries may become more mundane, so bear with me.
I'm still camped out here in Suli for the time-being, with no real prospects of heading down to Kqin until after the elections. However, after 5 months of fruitless searching, we might FINALLY have a house to move into next week, which would be a wonderful thing for those of us who have never had a dedicated room of our own. Actually, it's only two of us who fall into the category at present, but those two people (myself being one of them) are starting to become grumpy with the constant moving around from room to room. When I came back from R and R this last time, they actually set up a bed for me in the living room, which is also where I happen to sit and do my work, so I'm essentially spending 24 hours a day in one room. Fortunately, things are pretty quiet here due to the Eid holiday, so my attempts to concentrate haven't been thwarted by anyone besides myself.
The routine these days seems to be work from 8 to 8, then head out to dinner at a restaurant in town. There are essentially only 3-4 that are contenders for our business, each with their charms and deficits. One called Evil (it's true!) has decent food that we've all sampled at a group dinner in the past. However - dining there without a Kurdish or Arabic speaker in the group (as is most often the case) means the options are more limited. Unlike our other stand-bys, Evil's menu is only in Kurdish and the waiters don't speak English either. So, unable to properly determine the vegetarian options on the menu, my dinner consisted of french fries, beer and bread. At another of our regular haunts, the dining room is generally filled to capacity with Kurdish government officials - very much appearing like an "old-boys club" - complete with a heavy layer of smoke throughout the dining room and tables filled with liquor. Last night, out of maybe 100 people in the room, I appeared to be the only female.
My top choice is this great Turkish restaurant that due to their higher prices, tends to attract the wealthier individuals in Sulimaniyah. My standard dish - lentil soup - still only costs $1 though.
I'm still camped out here in Suli for the time-being, with no real prospects of heading down to Kqin until after the elections. However, after 5 months of fruitless searching, we might FINALLY have a house to move into next week, which would be a wonderful thing for those of us who have never had a dedicated room of our own. Actually, it's only two of us who fall into the category at present, but those two people (myself being one of them) are starting to become grumpy with the constant moving around from room to room. When I came back from R and R this last time, they actually set up a bed for me in the living room, which is also where I happen to sit and do my work, so I'm essentially spending 24 hours a day in one room. Fortunately, things are pretty quiet here due to the Eid holiday, so my attempts to concentrate haven't been thwarted by anyone besides myself.
The routine these days seems to be work from 8 to 8, then head out to dinner at a restaurant in town. There are essentially only 3-4 that are contenders for our business, each with their charms and deficits. One called Evil (it's true!) has decent food that we've all sampled at a group dinner in the past. However - dining there without a Kurdish or Arabic speaker in the group (as is most often the case) means the options are more limited. Unlike our other stand-bys, Evil's menu is only in Kurdish and the waiters don't speak English either. So, unable to properly determine the vegetarian options on the menu, my dinner consisted of french fries, beer and bread. At another of our regular haunts, the dining room is generally filled to capacity with Kurdish government officials - very much appearing like an "old-boys club" - complete with a heavy layer of smoke throughout the dining room and tables filled with liquor. Last night, out of maybe 100 people in the room, I appeared to be the only female.
My top choice is this great Turkish restaurant that due to their higher prices, tends to attract the wealthier individuals in Sulimaniyah. My standard dish - lentil soup - still only costs $1 though.
posted by SBM @ 5:34 PM
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