Thursday, April 12, 2007
Intro
Hey! In this blog you’ll find pics and text from my trip to Dubai, Iraq (Hewler) and Turkey (Diyarbakir). Started on the 28th of Feb and came back home on the 30th of March 2007. It was an amazing trip! Got lots n lots of stories to tell--- also did some business ( two exhibitions) that went great. ENJOY!
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Hewler (Erbil) Iraq.
On the 5th of March my mom and I flew to Hewler (city in northern Iraq). I say Hewler cause the Kurds don't like the word "Erbil". It is a reminder of Sadams regime. Hewler city is the capital of the Kurdish Regional Government & is located about 80 km east of Mosul. Now the first hard thing I had to deal with was taraa THE ORIENTAL TOILET! In local bazaars they sell these "western toilet chairs" made out of plastic. As you can see they are NOT very steady at all. One slip and you are doomed. Eventually I felt safer to just not use them and I figured if these people can do it then so can I.
Hewler is famous for its magnificent citadel. It was was built on layers of archaeological ruins which represent consecutive historical settlements, since the building of the first village in that place around the 6th millennium BC. It is an inspiring area in the city. A hill of green grass with this ancient decorative wall circling it on the top. 4 months ago it was actually inhabited but it is currently being renovated and taken care of. There is a great museum inside with loads of examples of handmade rugs, clothing and accessories.
On the 8th of March the International Conference on Kurdish Women for Peace and Equality took place. I had my paintings exhibited there. I brought them without frames so Tanya (a really good friends of my mom and I. She is head of the aesthetic department in the University of Hewler) took us to the frame guy. Supposedly best in town! It’s a small shop. A table outside, a mountain of glass on the ground and an old man. Now this was comedy! This guy with his dirty hands handled my paintings like toilet paper. First he measures the painting then he cuts the glass and the frame & puts them together all jagged in the corners. Outside his shop on the ground he has these big pieces of cardboard that he had collected from some furniture shop near by. He throws the glass he just cut on the cardboard and measures an equal piece. (instead of writing the measurements down and keeping them) He then pulls out his kitchen knife and cuts the cardboard. He grabs the painting and stuffs it in the frame and puts the cardboard on the bottom. These pieces of cardboard actually have dusty footprints on them! It was so funny! After each move he gives a determined dab giving us a look of pride and satisfaction.
In this photo is dear Tanya, my mom and a friend called Adam. He is originally from Poland and went to Hewler to teach english. Really nice guy.
The conference went ok. To be honest it was not very organized. The schedule was off by 2 hours and in the end no conclusion was reached. In my eyes it was a big show off. Pity really. BUT, at least they had a conference and are willing to make a change. I attended a conference in Turkey as well with the same subject discussed. This conference was a success. People were genuinely wanting and struggling for a change. The speeches were inspiring and the stories were told from the heart. Its interesting how the Kurds in Iraq are so different yet very similar to the Kurds in Turkey. I met people in very high positions there who were so humble and down to earth. That’s something I really admire in a person. I asked someone why they differ in manner and he said because the Kurds living in Turkey are still extremely oppressed & “our” Kurds (Kurds living in Iraq) have freedom and that's something they have never had before.
Hewler is a city being built.I was surprised how run down it was.
There are hardley any petrol stations. This is where you get gas!
On the 18th or March it was my b-day! Mamosta Tanya got me a cake and we went out dining. Me, mom, Tanya and Mahtab (a very nice friend I met during the conference in Turkey)
On the 20th of March after arriving in Slemani (suleymaniye in Arabic) the night before, we embarked on a journey to Sar Galu. This is a very small village situated about 1 hour drive from Slemani towards Dokan. In the mid 1800 the profit Bahá'u'lláh stayed there.
Milk and rice were His main sources of sustenance there, which he evidently obtained by occasionally traveling to nearby towns. His dwelling place was sometimes a cave where he is believed to have been mostly engaged in writing and chanting prayers in the wilderness and reflecting upon the events that had transpired and possibly what the future had in store. My goal was to find this cave and visit it. The road was just magnificent. Driving on high mountains the view was amazing. It’s a mix of Tuscan hills with grape trees, snowy mountain tops and villages with small clay houses. Everywhere are these beautiful almond trees with white and pink flowers in bloom. Sar galu is located in between 2 high mountains. We reach and are directed to the cave. The cave was high up on a mountain. We decided to climb. Of course there was no road or path just a little mud where they had taken the donkeys up to carry rocks. Climbing was tough! I had my high healed boots on too! Mam stayed half way. Sweat was running. Our driver was with me & I was determined to see the cave. After a climbing and slipping a couple of times we reached the cave. It was rather small. The walls were wet. I turned around and WOW the view was just incredible. Its an inspiring and magical place. Just looking out and being there makes you forget about everything else. I couldn’t stay long cause our driver wanted to go & I needed his help going down the mountain. So off we went.
This is the cave.
To give an idea as to how high up in the mountians the cave is, the first pic is taken half way up. This is where mom stopped and you can see the white car way down. The second pic I took looking down having reached the cave. That black dot is my mom!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Dhikr<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
On the 22nd of march we went to see “Dhikr” in sheikh Mohammed al Kaznazanis takya in Slemani. To engage in dhikr is to have awareness of God. Dhikr as a devotional act where the repetition of divine names, supplications and aphorisms from hadith literature, and sections of the Qur'an are recited. A takya is like a compound belonging to this sheikh. It is where his dervishes and other live. They even have a school for children there. Its like a mini city where he is the king. I cover my hair with a shawl (cause men cant see my hair) and we go outside. It is 8.30 at night and the crescent is low. There are around 70 men (dervishes) standing in a huge circle. There are 2 kids (boys of course) and 2 men standing in the middle of the circle. We sat far away (cause women aren’t suppose to do dhikr with men. They do it on their own.) The men started reciting two of the Holy Names of Allah, “Hay” and “Da'im” chanting to the special rhythms of tambourines and a tabla. Some men let their long hair down and started swaying right and left throwing their hair around. They entered a trans state. The 2 kids in the middle were throwing their hair back and forth bending and looking up intensely and with no hesitation what so ever. The rhythm got faster and so did the chanting. The 2 men in the middle were directing the others. After reaching the peak they all suddenly stop. This ritual took about 45 minutes. I went to take pics and they let me enter the circle. I was scared! It all looked so intense. Some dervishes started shouting and crying out of nowhere! The 2 head dervishes came up to us in the end and offered to answer any questions I had. We went to a room to talk. I asked him to explain what we had just seen. Of course they named the “tariqa” (meaning the way in Arabic” that was established after the profits death. They believe that a sheikh comes for each time and they are the ones who lead the “Tariqa”. He explained that dhikr is a kind of remembrance of God. To get closer to God. Sometimes “Dharab” (meaning hitting) might occur. This is when they start hitting and hurting themselves like sticking daggers in their faces and knives down their throats to show their closeness to God. This didn’t happen when I was there! Anyways so he showed me exactly what and how they chant. It looked so nice and pure. Like a breathing technique or some kind of meditation or even a harmonic dance. In the end I asked him if anyone (I) can become a dervisha. He answered YES, I can make you one right now. You only have to pledge your belief in “the Tariqa” and our sheikh mohammed! He held out his beads so I can pledge. He was really insisting and kept saying that I can deepen myself in it later. I told him that I wanted to read more about it..hehee….in the end I wanted to shake their hands so I extended mine and they drew theirs back saying they cant. They cant touch a woman’s hand cause then they would have to wash up all over again! Haha..that was close! Oh, then I went to see the sheikh himself! We entered his “resting” area. He was sitting there on a chair really close to a huge plasma tv wearing SUNGLASSESS!! It was rather funny. I didn’t take any pics of him.. felt kinda weird. Said salam and left. MAN, WHAT AN EXPRENINCE! Next day I woke up having dreamt of covering my hair and seeing sheikhs and dervishes EVERYWHERE!
These are the 2 men!
This is so beautiful! It's like a little "bag" the sheikhs use to carry when on a journey. Ofcourse they didnt look this nice back in the days!
This is fabric for making the traditional kurdish clothing. As you can see it HAS TO BE SHINY! I got some fabric and had the tailor make the kurdish iranian dress. The dress in the other photoes is a typical moroccan dress.
Food, Food & Food! AND some random pics in Kurdistan.
Hewler is famous for its magnificent citadel. It was was built on layers of archaeological ruins which represent consecutive historical settlements, since the building of the first village in that place around the 6th millennium BC. It is an inspiring area in the city. A hill of green grass with this ancient decorative wall circling it on the top. 4 months ago it was actually inhabited but it is currently being renovated and taken care of. There is a great museum inside with loads of examples of handmade rugs, clothing and accessories.
On the 8th of March the International Conference on Kurdish Women for Peace and Equality took place. I had my paintings exhibited there. I brought them without frames so Tanya (a really good friends of my mom and I. She is head of the aesthetic department in the University of Hewler) took us to the frame guy. Supposedly best in town! It’s a small shop. A table outside, a mountain of glass on the ground and an old man. Now this was comedy! This guy with his dirty hands handled my paintings like toilet paper. First he measures the painting then he cuts the glass and the frame & puts them together all jagged in the corners. Outside his shop on the ground he has these big pieces of cardboard that he had collected from some furniture shop near by. He throws the glass he just cut on the cardboard and measures an equal piece. (instead of writing the measurements down and keeping them) He then pulls out his kitchen knife and cuts the cardboard. He grabs the painting and stuffs it in the frame and puts the cardboard on the bottom. These pieces of cardboard actually have dusty footprints on them! It was so funny! After each move he gives a determined dab giving us a look of pride and satisfaction.
In this photo is dear Tanya, my mom and a friend called Adam. He is originally from Poland and went to Hewler to teach english. Really nice guy.
The conference went ok. To be honest it was not very organized. The schedule was off by 2 hours and in the end no conclusion was reached. In my eyes it was a big show off. Pity really. BUT, at least they had a conference and are willing to make a change. I attended a conference in Turkey as well with the same subject discussed. This conference was a success. People were genuinely wanting and struggling for a change. The speeches were inspiring and the stories were told from the heart. Its interesting how the Kurds in Iraq are so different yet very similar to the Kurds in Turkey. I met people in very high positions there who were so humble and down to earth. That’s something I really admire in a person. I asked someone why they differ in manner and he said because the Kurds living in Turkey are still extremely oppressed & “our” Kurds (Kurds living in Iraq) have freedom and that's something they have never had before.
Hewler is a city being built.I was surprised how run down it was. 
There are hardley any petrol stations. This is where you get gas! On the 18th or March it was my b-day! Mamosta Tanya got me a cake and we went out dining. Me, mom, Tanya and Mahtab (a very nice friend I met during the conference in Turkey)
On the 20th of March after arriving in Slemani (suleymaniye in Arabic) the night before, we embarked on a journey to Sar Galu. This is a very small village situated about 1 hour drive from Slemani towards Dokan. In the mid 1800 the profit Bahá'u'lláh stayed there.
Milk and rice were His main sources of sustenance there, which he evidently obtained by occasionally traveling to nearby towns. His dwelling place was sometimes a cave where he is believed to have been mostly engaged in writing and chanting prayers in the wilderness and reflecting upon the events that had transpired and possibly what the future had in store. My goal was to find this cave and visit it. The road was just magnificent. Driving on high mountains the view was amazing. It’s a mix of Tuscan hills with grape trees, snowy mountain tops and villages with small clay houses. Everywhere are these beautiful almond trees with white and pink flowers in bloom. Sar galu is located in between 2 high mountains. We reach and are directed to the cave. The cave was high up on a mountain. We decided to climb. Of course there was no road or path just a little mud where they had taken the donkeys up to carry rocks. Climbing was tough! I had my high healed boots on too! Mam stayed half way. Sweat was running. Our driver was with me & I was determined to see the cave. After a climbing and slipping a couple of times we reached the cave. It was rather small. The walls were wet. I turned around and WOW the view was just incredible. Its an inspiring and magical place. Just looking out and being there makes you forget about everything else. I couldn’t stay long cause our driver wanted to go & I needed his help going down the mountain. So off we went.
This is the cave.
To give an idea as to how high up in the mountians the cave is, the first pic is taken half way up. This is where mom stopped and you can see the white car way down. The second pic I took looking down having reached the cave. That black dot is my mom!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Dhikr<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
On the 22nd of march we went to see “Dhikr” in sheikh Mohammed al Kaznazanis takya in Slemani. To engage in dhikr is to have awareness of God. Dhikr as a devotional act where the repetition of divine names, supplications and aphorisms from hadith literature, and sections of the Qur'an are recited. A takya is like a compound belonging to this sheikh. It is where his dervishes and other live. They even have a school for children there. Its like a mini city where he is the king. I cover my hair with a shawl (cause men cant see my hair) and we go outside. It is 8.30 at night and the crescent is low. There are around 70 men (dervishes) standing in a huge circle. There are 2 kids (boys of course) and 2 men standing in the middle of the circle. We sat far away (cause women aren’t suppose to do dhikr with men. They do it on their own.) The men started reciting two of the Holy Names of Allah, “Hay” and “Da'im” chanting to the special rhythms of tambourines and a tabla. Some men let their long hair down and started swaying right and left throwing their hair around. They entered a trans state. The 2 kids in the middle were throwing their hair back and forth bending and looking up intensely and with no hesitation what so ever. The rhythm got faster and so did the chanting. The 2 men in the middle were directing the others. After reaching the peak they all suddenly stop. This ritual took about 45 minutes. I went to take pics and they let me enter the circle. I was scared! It all looked so intense. Some dervishes started shouting and crying out of nowhere! The 2 head dervishes came up to us in the end and offered to answer any questions I had. We went to a room to talk. I asked him to explain what we had just seen. Of course they named the “tariqa” (meaning the way in Arabic” that was established after the profits death. They believe that a sheikh comes for each time and they are the ones who lead the “Tariqa”. He explained that dhikr is a kind of remembrance of God. To get closer to God. Sometimes “Dharab” (meaning hitting) might occur. This is when they start hitting and hurting themselves like sticking daggers in their faces and knives down their throats to show their closeness to God. This didn’t happen when I was there! Anyways so he showed me exactly what and how they chant. It looked so nice and pure. Like a breathing technique or some kind of meditation or even a harmonic dance. In the end I asked him if anyone (I) can become a dervisha. He answered YES, I can make you one right now. You only have to pledge your belief in “the Tariqa” and our sheikh mohammed! He held out his beads so I can pledge. He was really insisting and kept saying that I can deepen myself in it later. I told him that I wanted to read more about it..hehee….in the end I wanted to shake their hands so I extended mine and they drew theirs back saying they cant. They cant touch a woman’s hand cause then they would have to wash up all over again! Haha..that was close! Oh, then I went to see the sheikh himself! We entered his “resting” area. He was sitting there on a chair really close to a huge plasma tv wearing SUNGLASSESS!! It was rather funny. I didn’t take any pics of him.. felt kinda weird. Said salam and left. MAN, WHAT AN EXPRENINCE! Next day I woke up having dreamt of covering my hair and seeing sheikhs and dervishes EVERYWHERE!
These are the 2 men!
This is so beautiful! It's like a little "bag" the sheikhs use to carry when on a journey. Ofcourse they didnt look this nice back in the days!
This is fabric for making the traditional kurdish clothing. As you can see it HAS TO BE SHINY! I got some fabric and had the tailor make the kurdish iranian dress. The dress in the other photoes is a typical moroccan dress.
Food, Food & Food! AND some random pics in Kurdistan.
Turkey (Diyarbakir)
It was the 11th of March. On this day 1991 the Kurdish people got their freedom and their rights (after the gulf war). Its amazing what they have been through. Kurds have been living in a so called “Genocide zone” (Anatolia) since 1870. During the Ottoman empire the Turkish king ruled to eliminate all Kurds. Under the Baath party Sadam created Al-Anfal campaign that started from March 29, 1987 until April 23, 1989. Chemical weapons, the wholesale destruction of some 2,000 villages, and slaughter of around 50,000 rural Kurds. The large Kurdish town of Qala Dizeh (population 70,000) was completely destroyed by the Iraqi army. The campaign also included Arabization of Kirkuk, a program to drive Kurds out of the oil-rich city and replace them with Arab settlers from central and southern Iraq. Kurdish sources report the number of dead to be greater than 182,000.
On this day (11th of March) we were off for the women’s conference in Turkey where I had my exhibition. We left Hewler at 9:00 am and reached the border of Turkey at 12:00. There we spent 8 entire hours waiting. The Turks did a thorough search of all luggage, unscrewed car doors checking inside and dipped their metal sticks into whatever liquid they saw (like yogurt or milk)! Some of the women with us (we traveled in a group with the other conference participants) had brochures with the word “Kurdistan”. The Turks did NOT like that so they tore all of them up! Crazy! At 8:00 pm we left in a bus that the conference people had organized for us. It was another 4 hour jolly, jumpy drive. Finally reached the city Diyarbakir and our hotel.
This conference was a real historical event. It was the first ever Kurdish women’s conference held in Turkey. It was a big deal also because it was organized by a Turkish lady (mayor). She really had guts organizing the whole thing. Authorities will for sure give her trouble for it. She has already suffered and been in jail for supporting the Kurds It was such a rewarding experience being apart of this conference. The Kurds in Turkey are SO oppressed its insane! The Turks despise the Kurds. They have banned Newroz celebrations for this year because last year there were more than 1 million people celebrating in Turkey alone. It is said that more than 25% of the population in Turkey are Kurds ! of course this is scary for the Turkish government so a ban of the festivities was acquired.
The exhibition was a huge success. The gallery space was very big and they has organized hanging, lighting brochures, poster and translation of my texts in Kurdish and Turkish. Many tv channels and other press were there. Diyarbakirs mayors were there and other political people. I guess it meant a great deal to them that a Kurdish woman who has studied abroad and “made it” was exhibiting there. It gave hope and really it was a great honor for me to just be there and meet them.
Friday, April 6, 2007
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES / Dubai
UAE is a Middle Eastern country situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, comprising seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Ajmān, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. I arrived after a 30 hour flight on the 30th of Feb 2007 to Dubai ariport.
I stayed at my cousins house abla Fairuz with her 2 wonderful kids Hozan and Shawn.
My impression of Dubai is WOW! People here have SO MUCH MONEY & spending is a must! This city is growing faster than ever. There is a constant building of skyscrapers and crazy new-age architecture. Little fact: A third of the worlds cranes ARE IN DUBAI!
You mostly see men with their white dishdashes in the streets.
Went out once wearing a dress (nothing short really). Got many ugly looks from both men and women. I also got a comment –Estakhfarallah! The trick is to NOT let it bother you cause your gona get stared at anyways!
Ironically these 4 women were shopping around in a colorful bazaar.
Huge cooking spoons and pots in the bazaar!
Notice the toilet sign.
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