Morning with a friend

Today is the usual day for my Kurdish lesson but instead I asked my language helper if she'd be willing to go with me to the bazaar. I really don't like going down there because I don't know my way around but I needed to buy a Kurdish outfit for the upcoming New Years' celebration in March. On this day, everyone wears their traditional clothes to show pride in their culture and history. We drove down and parked the car and then walked through mud and filth to get to the "fabric bazaar". It was a beautiful sunny day today but yesterday was rainy and thus the mud. I have never seen so many fabric stores and colors & glitter as I saw today. I was so sad to find that I only had room for one photo on my camera but let me describe our morning for you. We went from shop to shop, looking at dozens of patterns. After seeing the color that I wanted, we began to bargain for the price. My friend was a master at it and I didn't have to say a word. I wasn't aware of all the other things that go with this outfit. After buying the fabric, we headed for the accessories' bazaar. It is the oldest bazaar in our city and I wish I had a picture. You enter through a narrow opening and head down tiny little alleyways lined with shops that have so much gold and glitter that you can't see anything. Most prefer to make their own necklaces and there are 1000's of little cups full of beads that women choose from and carry off in little white envelopes. I chose 2 necklaces to go with my outfit and paid about $3.00 for both. Then I needed a belt I was told. My friend insisted on buying the belt as a gift. It was more expensive ($20) and really nice. I then needed special open-toed shoes to go with the outfit. Unfortunately they didn't have my size so I'll have to look elsewhere. I was very pleased with my purchases and we headed back to the car to go and visit her sister where a seamstress friend would be waiting for us. As we unpacked our wares and showed them the fabric and accessories, they were thrilled with my choice and congratulated me on buying my first Kurdish clothing. After taking my measurements, we sat and had tea and cookies, then left for home after a long morning out. I'm sure I learned way more language being out with people all morning than I would have with my notebook & pen in hand. It was a wonderful experience and I bonded even more with these people and their rich culture. You'll be hearing lots about our No Roz celebration on March 21st and many more pictures to follow. This one is of my tutor and friend, Hanna, in front of the accessory booth where I bought some of my things.

another morning in the hospital:)

This morning when I arrived at the maternity hospital, it seemed quiet and not as many patients as usual. I thought it would be a slow, rather boring day but all of a sudden women starting coming out of the woodwork and just about every delivery bed was full! At one point during the morning there were 3 women delivering in the same room, side by side and all screaming at the top of their lungs. The nurses started laughing because they couldn't hear each other talk. Because there is only one examining table for the newborns, all babies from the 3 delivery rooms are whisked into the one room to be examined. There are usually at least two babies on the bed at the same time and sometimes more. This morning there was no one with the midwife to help so I grabbed the baby and wrapped him in a cloth and took him to be examined. One of the women had no one to care for her, to bring the baby's clothes or anything. After delivery her baby lay on the examining table for almost an hour wrapped in a doctor's gown. The mother also had no clothes or supplies so they literally taped 2 baby diapers to her! Oh my heart. I can just imagine how painful it will be to peel that stuff off afterward. Someone finally came and we got the baby changed into his own clothes and everything squared away. Another woman had "placenta previa" at 31 weeks and was in a lot of pain. Come to find out, her husband had died suddenly a month ago. They planned to observe her and possibly do a C-section if she bled anymore. I never saw the woman shed a tear; you'd think that someone who lost her husband and now was in danger of losing his child would be totally grief-stricken but everything here is "God's will" and they just accept it as that. I had my camera with me today so I snapped a couple pictures to show you the labor room (notice the rusty delivery table) and the baby bed with 2 babies being examined. I probably assisted in no fewer than 10 deliveries this morning! My body feels so beaten up and bruised. But I love every minute of it and can't wait to go back in a few days.

The Art of Entertaining, Kurdish style

For some time I have wanted to invite friends and have a big dinner party. But recently I lost my house helper and realized that this would be a huge job to do by myself. Still, I decided to take the plunge and started inviting...We ended up with 20 guests + 2 toddlers. I cooked for 2 days and still felt like I didn't have enough food. When one entertains in this culture, one is expected to have an abundance of food to show people how much you honor & love them. Thus, I had 6 main dishes, 4 salads, 4 desserts and fruit to finish off the evening. Of course at least 2 rounds of tea also. The trick was to come up with a menu that I thought they might actually eat. I was pleasantly surprised at the positive comments I received about the food! We began the evening by standing in a huge circle in the kitchen and giving thanks to God for the food and our friendship. Some commented on what a nice thing this was. After eating the main course, tea was served and awhile later the desserts, then more tea. When it looks like people are getting ready to leave, the fruit should come out. This is the last thing served in any gathering. Even after being in this part of the world for a long time, I still feel intimidated by the process of offering hospitality because they do it so much better & with seemingly little effort. There definitely is a protocol that they expect & I'm always afraid I'll mess up. When I came out with the fruit at the end, one guy said "now, I'm really impressed!" As if I had passed the test of proper hospitality etiquette. During the course of the evening, it was fun to watch all the camaraderie as some played a game in the kitchen, some sat and talked in the living room and others played with the babies in the classroom. (which opens onto the living room) It was a fun evening and though a lot of work, well worth it. I had help from a couple gals on our team and Darrell helped a ton with cleaning the house & washing dishes. All of the people that we had for dinner are on our "hit list" and we would love to see them join the family. Here is a picture of some of our guests playing a game at the kitchen table.