One Sturdy House is Worth a Hundred in Ruins.

Choni bashi from Iraqi Kurdistan!

Almost a month has come and gone since walking into the 42 degree heat of the Middle East. Acclimatised and finding a moment to breathe, we have put together a quick post of general life.

4 days a week we call the small town of Chamchamal home. We live and work at a community centre run by Samaritan's Purse International Relief. Apart from us there are two couples, and a single woman, Christy, who we share our house with. We are all more or less the same age, except for lil Ezra, our team leaders' baby.



Shorsh, Chamchamal from the water tower at the centre. It's not Paris, but it's not bad.

Karina spends her mornings in the clinic from 9-11.30/12.30. She works alongside two other Kurdish doctors (called GPs here because they aren't specialists yet) and is mainly focussing on gynaecological complaints and pregnancy. Doctoring here doesn't really put any emphasis on the inter-personal aspect of the job so a lot of the patients are distrustful of any 'system' and expect immediate results. She's beginning to start setting up guidelines for clinical practice at the clinic, particularly for pregnancy care and antibiotic use.

Jeremy has English classes with university students mid-morning, and then has a elementary class and a 'pre-zero' class (whatever that means?). Two of his students are on staff here. They have less English than his Kurdish so it's a game of charades for the most part.

We spend lunches with the international and Kurdish staff members together at the Centre. The culturally appropriate seating at lunch is women at one end of the table, couples next to each other in the middle, and men at the other end.

Two nights a week the seven of us internationals get together for a combined dinner. We take advantage of the moment to share the good and the bad and pray together.  Our apartment in Chamchamal is much more comfortable than expected, with 5 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms!

But it isn't all bedrooms and bathrooms in Chamchamal -- this town has the reputation for guns. Not bad considering the country we are in! A few nights back we went for a walk to check out the neighbourhood. I was advised to take a decent stick to warn off any stray dogs. Shortly after setting out, one of the off-duty security guards from the centre spotted us and invited us into his house for chai. After sitting with his family for a bit we decided it was getting late and it was time to go. The guard offered to walk us home because it was late. He then proceeded to take out a machine gun from under the cushions we had been sitting on. He and I walked home with linked arms. He with his semi-automatic Kalashnikov in one hand, and myself still wielding my stick!

The Centre in Chamchamal

When we aren't in Chamchamal,  (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) we're in Suli for rest and Kurdish study. Taxis are the way to travel at a whopping $4 each for the 45 minute journey. While in Suli we house sit for a young family, in a lovely two-bedroom place with a garden and pot plants and a grapevine-covered pergola. The toilet here is a squat toilet so Jeremy tries to get his timing right to avoid it at all costs.

Home- Suli style.

The Bazaar has kept us busy. If you want it fresh, cheap, or tailor made the Bazaar has got it. Between that and Burger Fuel we don't have much to complain about. As mystery shoppers for Burger Fuel, we have plenty to report when we arrive home. 

East meets West in the Suli bazaar

The best marketing ploy ever: Dye your baby chicks different colours and put them in the Bazaar. How could you not want one?