Monday, 8/25/2008
And now after that melodramatic post, a calmer voice takes over. Yesterday, while we were shopping at the bazaar, we spotted a young, red-headed pale-skinned boy ahead of us. He could have been from Ireland, he was so ginger. An interesting fact I did not know until I came here is that Middle Easterners are considered “Caucasians”, same as white people. And in Kurdistan, the accuracy of this classification is most apparent; I see blue- and green-eyed Kurds everywhere I go.
Balconies are almost as good as rooftops in terms of places to chill for hours into the night with nothing but drinks and each other's company- and bats. The skies above the apartments are busy with these creatures of the night zooming around night after night. It took a while for me to realize that they were not really fast birds or really large dragonflies.
The characters in the school grow more interesting each day I spend in their company. The Brits have formed their own Club GB which has met every night this week to talk, drink, and chain-smoke for hours and hours. They have deigned to grant me, an American, a visa into their nightly ritual.
I just found out that one of my hallmates is a father of two. That would explain the ring! He stole away for a few minutes tonight to talk to his 4-year-old daughter on the phone. Later, he told us she liked to fall asleep over his shoulder, and tonight, I guess, she especially missed his shoulder. He took this job in Erbil because of an economical crises back home- whether personal or otherwise, I'm not sure. We see him differently now that we can add “doting father” to our characterization of him as the one who wears longs socks with his soccer shorts like a German.
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