Trip to Jordan

For those of you who do not know, James and I are now in Amman, Jordan. It was a very interesting trip to get here. A couple of weeks ago James and I found out about the Rebuild Iraq Expo in Amman, Jordan. So we decided that this would be a great place for us to go. Both of us really wanted to visit Amman to see the many places spoke of in the bible. Lori decided to stay behind as she is now working for the University of Dohuk and they have a deadline for writing the college catalog. She didn’t really want to go to Jordan anyway. So we left here with as much money as we could and headed off for Erbil International Airport.

I am not sure what it is about Erbil, but it seems that every time we go there something does not work out. Our interpreter had his relative drive us to Erbil and dropped us off at the USAID compound in Ankara where James and I had a meeting. After our meeting we took a taxi to the Airport. We got to the airport early and made sure everything was ok. We did not have a lot of money so we decided to talk to the bank and see if my transfer had gone through yet. It had not so we sat down to wait for the plane to leave. We knew that we had enough money to make it to Amman and we figured that we would just arrange a transfer once we got there. Our flight was supposed to leave at 5pm. Around 6pm the man in charge of the flight came in to tell us that our flight had been cancelled and we were supposed to go out and get our ticket, reclaim our checked luggage, go find a hotel, and come back tomorrow. As James and I did not have money to do any of this we started to worry. Earlier we had talked to the Western Union people about transferring money and found out that you can not do a credit card transfer online from Iraq for Iraq. We finally got in touch with Dr. Paul Kingery and he took care of sending us some money. This money was enough to take a taxi to the hotel, pay for the hotel, and take a taxi back from the airport. So we did this. The next day we got to the airport at 11:30 AM. James had been told that the flight to Amman would take off at 1PM so we did out best to be there on time. When we arrived at the airport the informed us that the flight did not leave until 5PM and that we could start checking in at 3PM. So we knew we would have to wait for a few hours. Again James and I tried to use Western Union to send us some money, but again they would not let us. So I called my bank to find out why. My bank told me that they could send a Western Union transfer directly from my bank account and it would not cost as much as having Western Union do it. So I told them to transfer the money. Sure enough slick as can be they transferred the money and James and I were sitting pretty. I love gaining new knowledge; I just wish it did not always have to be so hard.

After our financial problems were solved we got on out flight and flew to Jordan. The flight was not too bad, but the seats are not assigned and James and I ended up sitting in the middle of the plane right behind the exit seats. In the exit rows were six people who were so short that there heads did not even come up above the seat. James and I were wondering why they needed the extra leg-room. So we sat behind them. It was not long until the man sitting in the exit row decided to put his chair back in my lap. The flight attendant saw that and quickly came to my rescue and told the man to put his chair up. We landed 2 hours later after criss-crossing our way across the sky. I am not sure but I think we made lazy S’s the entire way from Erbil to Amman. Good thing I don’t get motion sickness.

James and I landed in Amman and boarded a bus. It seemed that the people were in a much bigger hurry then we were as the shouldered their way to the front of the lines and were generally rude. So James and I let them past and walked slowly through the line. When we got up to passport control we had a person take our passports and run us through the visa, passport control, baggage claim, and arranged for us to get a cell-phone and a ride to our hotel. We were in our car getting ready to leave before the first person that pushed and shoved their way in front of us were at baggage check. Interesting how earnest people seldom are really that intelligent. The reason we made it through that fast is everyone lined up in the first three passport checkpoints. We went to the fourth one which was completely empty. Even after we went through nobody went to those lines. I asked if there was a difference between the lines, and the man said there was not and that this problem always happened. 

So after making it through the lines and out to a cab we were taken to our hotel. The cab driver was a very nice man who did his best to let us know what to look out for in Amman. He took us to the Samirammis Hotel and even negotiated a better deal for our room with the hotel clerk. Normally the rooms are 95 JD per night and he negotiated a deal for us to only pay 50 JD per night. As that was cheaper then any other hotel in town I was pleased. The only complaints I had about the hotel was there was not a hot tub, and there was no internet service inside the rooms. As there were two beds and a bathroom it was good enough for me and across the street was an internet café that allowed us to use our laptops. Everything we needed was taken care of.

Our first day here I went down to work on the internet. I wanted to check and see what was going on at the Expo that day. So I brought up the Expo website and could not believe what I saw. Our plane was a day late, so I was saddened that we would be a day late for the expo. It turned out that I was two months early. The expo was not March 7th to the 10th; it was May 7th to the 10th. I would have been mad at myself if we had not arranged for other things to do while we were here. This was not completely comforting as I did still feel like a moron. So we made the most of it. I quickly called a contact I had here in Amman and asked him if he would be willing to show us the sites in Jordan. He seemed very happy to have the opportunity to work with us. 

The young man who we hired as a guide was a Jordanian names Bashar. He picked us up on Thursday around 7PM, as he worked until 6:30PM, and took us to downtown Amman. We sat in a hookah shop and talked to each other learning more about each other. We then made arrangements for him to pick us up at 8AM on Friday so he could show us around Jordan. James and I made an early night of it and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7AM that next morning.

Bashar was waiting for us downstairs at 7:45AM I am impressed with people who are early. We got into his car and he drove us through the Jordanian countryside. If you have never been to Jordan or Israel then it is hard to imagine what this land looks like. The mountains are all old so they have a rolling slope to them. It almost looks like you are out on the ocean with large rolling waves all around you. The white rocks that break through the green grass looks like white flecks upon the oceans surface. Rolling hills give way to deep ravines. The houses are all on the hills, carved from the white stones that give structure and color to all the buildings in Amman. Driving towards the Dead Sea you start to see more evidence of farms. The long narrow fields are covered with plastic pulled tight over bent poles that give the impression of long worms stretching across the landscape. Most of the farms are located in the valleys with homes and businesses still clinging to the sides of the mountains and hills. As you creep closer to the Dead Sea the land starts to flatten out and you can feel the changing pressure on your ears as you drop below sea-level. Our journey to the Dead Sea was cut short as we did a U-turn to start a climb back up the way we came. This time we climbed more to the south up Mount Nebo. This mountain was made famous as the death place of the prophet Moses. As we crested the mountain we stopped at a park. The Franciscan Monks had built a large monastery here in the 5th century. The monastery still stands but is now more of a tourist site then anything else. You walk in through the front gate and walk up a tiled walkway that has red clay tiles inlayed with white tiles forming a sort of arrow pointing down the path. When you come to the top the path opens up into a courtyard that is tiled with large stones set in place over a thousand years ago. The monastery rises in front of you, a yellow tint covers the once white rocks and years of dust, sun, and rain left their own painted handiwork. Walking around to the north of the monastery you see the hundreds of vineyards and olive orchards scattered across the mountain sides. On the western slope you can look down and see the Jordan River Valley, and off in the distance you can see the city of Jericho. The day that we were there a light haze covered most of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. We could see across into Israel but the haze did not let us see to far. We could see how Moses chose this spot to watch as his people traveled into the Promised Land. 

After reflecting in this place for a while we walked back down to our car. Bashar then took us for a ride through the country side. Returning to Amman we went to a coffee shop that catered to university students and ExPats. There we met with Bashar’s friend Nancy. She was a local Jordanian who worked in the telecommunications industry. James had a lot of fun talking to her. Bashar had excused himself for a while so he could write his lesson for that evening. When he came back we left and James and I asked him to drop us off at a McDonalds and then we would find our way home from there. He agreed and told us he would see us again on Saturday at around 1:30 PM. He wanted to take us to the city of Jaresh. We agreed and left him to go and eat our McDonalds.

That next day Bashar was early as usual and we headed off for Jaresh. Bashar told us that this place was very famous but we had never heard of it. Once we got there we could see why it was famous. The sign said that Jaresh is the largest single site for Roman ruins in the world. The ruins stretched for over a mile in one direction. We spent the next two hours walking through temples, theaters, burial sites, archways, columned walkways, racetracks, and all manner of ruins. Some of the columns had fallen and were strewn about the site, but still others were very prominent in standing against the sky. Walking into the ruins you could see the variation in craftsmanship from the Greeks to the Romans. Walking the path we went to the temple of Artimis where Bashar showed us something very interesting. If you took a coin and balanced it on the column you could see an indication of the columns swaying. Without the wood holding the roof together the columns would sway. Interesting phenomenon if you ask me. 

Leaving the ruins we got in the car and drove around the countryside. Bashar wanted us to see how the real people lived. We went through Palestinian refugee camps, which were just small cities that looked exactly like Dohuk and Erbil, and Bedouin and Gypsy camps that were just large tent cities. The people were all smiles with the exception of one sassy girl that ran out into traffic and then sassed back when Bashar honked his horn at her. Bashar then brought us to a local style restaurant where he fed us the traditional Jordanian fare. On our table we had flat bread that was made by slapping the dough unto a paddle and placing it in a brick oven to cook like a pizza crust. There was a dish of chopped tomatoes and cucumber that was tossed with vinegar and salt; a second dish was made of finely chopped parsley, basil, mint, and mixed with yogurt; a dish of hummus and olive oil was brought with a second dish of seasoned hummus; and a final appetizer of olives and pickled beets. After we ate our fill of this they brought us a plate of Kabobs serving chicken, ground meet, and steak pieces. We ate all of this food and washed it down with fresh squeezed lemon-aid. 

Finishing our meal Bashar took us to our hotel. James and I wanted to eat at an Italian restaurant before we went back to Iraq so we had Bashar take us to one. If I might make a suggestion, don’t try out a restaurant for the first time when you are already full. The food was ok, but not great. After we left the restaurant we hailed a cab. We had been warned about how cab drivers might try to take advantage of you by not running their meters. We were wondering if this was true because every cab driver we had was very respectful and drove us exactly where we needed to go. After leaving the restaurant we got to meet with one of the other kind. We got into the cab and I asked out driver to turn on his meter. He told me that this was not a metered cab. So I asked him how much it would cost to go to Samirammis Hotel. He told me it would cost to JD. As I knew how far away from my hotel we were, and I also knew how to get back I knew that this ride should only cost about 1.5 JD. So I told him that I would pay him 2 JD but no more. He said that was not enough so I told him to pull over and we would get a different cab. So he pulled over and then asked us how much we would pay. I told him I would only pay 2 JD and he reluctantly agreed. On the way to the hotel he kept asking if we wanted to go to a night club, massage parlor, bar with Russian girls, or a bar with Arabic girls. We assured him that the only thing we wanted to do was go to our hotel and go to sleep. At this point he started to sulk like a little child. He did not speak to us until we go to our hotel. When we were there we paid him the 2 JD, thanked him, and left the cab. Why do people try to take advantage of tourists?

On Sunday James decided that he wanted to take the entire day to prepare for the GMAT that he was going to take on Monday. I was not sure what I was going to do. So I took a walk around the area in Amman that I was. I walked around just getting a taste of the people and the life in Amman. It is amazing to me what a difference it is just walking one street away. On Monday when James went to take his GMAT I transferred us to the Holiday Inn. The hotel we were staying in was ok, but I wanted to at least spend one night in a five star hotel. I thought I was being extravagant but with my creative online sleuthing I ended paying a very good rate. As I am a member of the club now I can continue to get good rates. So I think from now on we will be spending our time in Amman at the Holiday Inn.

Going to the airport from the Holiday Inn we took a Taxi. Again the Taxi tried to rip us off. In Jordan they have an interesting way of working the taxis. The number system has three decimal points. So one JD would be written 1.000 or even sometime written as 1,00. The cab ride from our hotel to the airport was 7390 or 7.39 JD’s. Our driver tried to tell us that it was over 73 JD. I gave him 10 JD and told him to hit the road before I called the police over. He quickly hit the bricks. Again, Why do they try to cheat us Americans? 

I thought our flight was going to be cancelled again but it was just delayed one and a half hours. We still took off that night and made it back to Iraq safe. All in all it was a great journey.

Dohuk Story

 Dohuk steps out of the mountains surrounding it and settles down to rest in the cradle of a split mountain range. The east end opens to spill the edges of the city onto the flat floor reaching with man-made fingers towards the Tigris River and the southern city of Mosul. Dohuk is a pastel city with its many buildings painted an eternally fading color of light blues, pinks, oranges, greens, yellows, and browns. Man has thrust together mortar, rebar, sand, marble, and glass to house their meager positions while pushing nature further up the mountains. Those same mountains cup the falling rain that washes the city streets clean of collected livings refuse. Dohuk is growing. You can see the skeletons of buildings soon to put on covered dress rising in the sky. You can almost see the smiling families thankful to be out of the cold gazing from the windows yet to be built.

The construction in Dohuk is primitive but sturdy. Poured concrete blocks stack on top of each other. Columns of rebar backed concrete make pillars to which the blocks cling. Uniformity is not a marching order and instead chaotic layering is coupled together and flattened by mortars forgiving guise. Wires and pipes are laid prior to masons craft being complete. Thought is given to expansion so many buildings have rebar, water pipes, and coils of electrical cord stick out the flat roof to allow for vertical expansion.

Outside of town you can watch the creation of the building blocks of Dohuk. Surrounded by flatness a two story rusted metal box breaks the horizon. There is a circular track that leads up the very edge of this structure and back down to the dirt road that fingers its path. The trucks pull up and dump their mixture of sand, limestone and gravel into the large mixer. Young boys stand at the bottom of the metal mixer and open a slot to pour the mixture into a preformed box. Water is mixed in and the block is allowed to harden. The boys seem to know when the blocks harden but there is no clock to mark the passage of time. When the biggest of the boys deems the time is ready they dump the forms over, move the formed blocks to a larger pile, and start their cycle over again. These are the building blocks of Dohuk. These children are creating the things that will house thousands of people, keep them warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. These boys have a very important role, but they just know that this is what they do. They know nothing else but school and home.

School is very important to the people of Dohuk. They pride themselves on having an educated population. During the day you see thousands of young children walking to the many schools dotting Dohuk’s cityscape. Muslim boys and girls go to school with Christians and Yasidis, Kurds, Assyrians, Arabs, and Turks. The level of tolerance here is unseen elsewhere in Iraq. Some schools offer classes all in English while others teach in Kurdish. All students are required to learn English, Kurdish, and Arabic. A Kurdish education inspires great pride. Even with education being free for all citizens through college many of Dohuk’s residents are now looking for better lives.

Once you finish high-school the next step is to move on to higher education. It was very common in the early to late 90’s to set up two year teaching colleges. These schools were used to train women to be teachers in primary schools. Since 1994 the University of Dohuk has begun to offer 4-year degrees in education and English language. Having a small student body, they only needed a small space for a college. Educated men came back to teach at the University. When a new educator came and offered a new course they had to find a new building. The university has thus scattered throughout the city. Donations by wealthy local businessmen saw to the spreading of the University all over the city. In 2003 the University decided to move the entire campus outside of town. The government allocated land for this and the President of the University started building. At the current rate of building and funding the entire University should be moved to the new campus by 2010. Unlike the old campus which converted old churches, government buildings, warehouses, homes, as well as some hastily thrown together structures, the new University is being built with a well functioning campus in mind. Community student and faculty housing is built close to the campus. The government has also allocated land just past the campus for the faculty who want to build their own houses.

This push towards education in the city of Dohuk has created a separation between those who have called Dohuk home and those who have fled to its tolerant shores like a drowning victim clings to any chance at life. Many of these refugees are not educated and with the competitive job climate in Dohuk this makes it impossible for many refugees to get a good paying job. Many of the refugees are then remanded to physical labor that many Dohuk citizens consider too low-brow for a civilized person to have. This turn has ethnicized Dohuk more then anything else causing a crippling resurgence of ethnic tension that will cause problems if not properly addressed. Right now it is deemed more acceptable for an educated man to work in a government office for $100 per month then to work with his hands for $200 to $500 per month.

To illustrate this point let me tell you a story of a young man in Dohuk. He grew up with four brothers and five sisters. His mother stayed at home and his father was a cab driver. When this boy was 14 years old his youngest sister developed a muscular issue that needed to be taken care of. Rather then watch his sister’s discomfort he left school and started to work at some local shops. By the age of 19 he had paid for his sisters trips to Sweden for treatment and saved enough money to open his own fabric store. Now he makes enough money to support his mother and his younger sisters. Two of his brothers work for him and he has employed one of his mother’s brothers to work in the shop. This young man would be considered a success in America. Many people would be happy with him as a son-in-law. Yet this young man talks of going to California with one of his sisters because he is a disgrace to his family. He does not have a government job so he is not considered good enough to court the attention of the girls from important families. Sitting in his shop, surrounded by Turkish goods he sells to many in Dohuk, his head swims with thoughts of America and how he can go there.

This is a reoccurring scene in Dohuk and Kurdistan. The young industrious men without political ties are yearning to leave. They do not see a real future for themselves in a society that is dominated by political and tribal views. You must align yourself with a family to have any real respect or importance in Dohuk. Foreigners are listed in a different class, mostly between how much they can offer the community as a whole, what their title and rank is in their originating country, and what their job or title is in Dohuk.

Even with these kinds of unwritten rules governing society, the people of Dohuk are a largely happy and peaceful people. It is hard to walk down the street without some cheerful faced urchin running up to you and saying “hello mister” drawing out the mister so it sounds more like ‘meester’. Shop-owners will lean out of their stalls to wave hello. School boys will try to practice their English with you as young girls caste shy glances your way before clutching each other and running away giggling. Mustering the small amount of Kurdish we have learned we reply to them. I am sure our accents are as absurd to them as theirs are to us, but we try. Those who we do assail with our weak linguist abilities always are overjoyed to hear our tongues assault their native language with a gracelessness that unfamiliarity breeds.

Walking through the streets one is shocked at how they can be straight and crooked all at the same time. Chaos and order cohabitate in a concoction of massed businesses broken apart by people who blossom amongst them.

Venders selling belts, sweaters, cell-phone holsters, gloves, hats, lighters, and jewelry are packed in next to restaurants plying their offerings of shaved lamb meat that has been hanging in the window for everyone to see. Turning a corner you find yourself in the shoe market where stands show the offerings of tradesmen.

The shoes remind me of a jesters wear; the long slender shoes come to a long narrow point and turn up slightly at the end. The men in Dohuk love these shoes and wear them with pride no matter what their trade.

Passing the vendors you wade through natives that come only to the shoulder of my 6 foot 2 inch frame. Children scream for your attention to their various consumables and trade items. Selling anything from simple candy to pots and pans they jostle each other exclaiming how their product is better then the competing urchins’.

The confusion quiets as you turn down a blue painted cool side street. Here you find the men selling tools and gas products. Their approach is silent and simple. If you venture there you come with a purpose there is no need to call your attention to goods. The merchants nod and smile to you as you pass by often offering you chewing gum or tea to help them pass their time.
You emerge from the crisscrossed allies packed with people walking in no particular direction all at the same time to a large traffic congested street. Here you find the young men selling cigarettes and the shops that sell real-estate with maps of the area and simple pictures of nice homes on their shop doors. Even here you will find the occasional food shop and vendor of phone cards, candies, and simple commodities.

Every part of town is broken up into its district. If you need to rent an apartment you go to one area. If you want to buy a house you go to another. If you want a satellite dish you go to a different part of town and if you want to find a tradesman you go to still another part of town. Breaking apart this apparent segregation are the furniture and appliance stores. They know that their success is based on having shops located all over town for ease of delivery.
In the center of town near to the police station you will find the money changers. These shops are located above and below ground. The young impetuous men are located in the lower regions. Here you will find better rates for smaller amounts of money, but upstairs is where the businessmen go for larger exchanges. The basement is noisy and the hawkers will call out to you for your attention and business. Upstairs the atmosphere is subdued. If you venture upstairs it is because you know exactly where you are going. As din and calm separates the hawkers from the businessmen, so does night and darkness. Being in the downstairs the hawkers are constantly plagued by power failures pulling the darkness deeper into their lair. The opposite is true for the money exchangers on the upper floor. Their offices seem always to be bathed in light. Open hallways and large windows looking into the central garden give those upstairs an air of legitimacy that is lacking in the bowels.

As a whole, Dohuk is a peaceful city whose greatest strength is its tolerance of diversity and separation from extremism. Living in a society where these attributes are considered less then the norm Dohuk stands out as an example for the rest of Iraq. I am quickly growing to love this city and am amazed at how quickly it has started to seem like home.

Feb 12, 2007

I am sorry that I have not written in a while. We are now settling in and I did not think writing about fixing electrical problems, learning how to use kerosene heaters, changing our cleaning and eating habits to be in tune with the locals was much of a conversation piece. Yet maybe it is.

My sister and I took a really long walk up to the cities dam and water reservoir. It is a very interesting structure that was built by hauling in tons and tons of small rocks and piling them on top of each other. It was a small stream when it started by now it has built itself into becoming a larger reservoir. We were again taken aback by the beauty of the surroundings here. The mountains kissed by snow, the valleys hanging on to a tinge of green, the water shining dark blue against a light blue sky. Clouds hanging on with a skeins breath. The area is majestic and sometimes it makes your breath catch in your throat just to be allowed to see it. God blesses us in so many ways.

We are settling into our apartment very nicely. We are developing a routine that keeps us working. We find that we work around electrical power. Every night we work until 1am or later if the power stays on. When they cut the power out we go to bed. At 10 am out interpreter comes and we send him on errands, have him translate documents for us, or he will teach us Kurdish. Around noon the power will go out and we take this time to talk to each other and go over what we all have been working on, and what we have learned. Sometimes we will go down to the restaurant below our house and eat.

My sister goes to the University on Weekdays and helps them with writing in English. Currently she is helping the university with the website and different letters and document they send out. Her day usually ends around 1 or 2pm. That is when power comes back on as well.

After this is when most people are out of work so we start meeting with business associates and university contacts. Most of our business meetings seem to take place at each others’ houses at 9pm. I think I have discussed more business after 9pm then any other time of the day.

On the business side of the house I have been looking hardcore into starting a recycling center here in Dohuk. I am currently talking to buyers for my PET, LDPE, and HDPE plastics. I will also offer aluminum. Included in this research is how much it will cost to truck my goods to Mersin Port in Turkey, and then ship them to whoever wants them. Then you add the cost of machinery purchase, maintenance, operation, and personnel then you have the main costs associated with running this business. Soon I will have all of the numbers and I will be able to approach investors and get my business rolling.

January 31, 2007

So now that I have spent two weeks in Iraq you would think that I would already know the language, have a full time job, know every nook and cranny in the city, and have the entire town know my name. Two out of three isn’t too bad.

My bestfriend, my sister, and I are now moved into our 1,200 sqf flat above a warehouse owned by the Kurdish God-Father. The lack of hot water and furniture has now been remedied. We solved the clothes washer dilemma along with the heating fuel catastrophe. Now we spend $500 per month for rent (payable in three month increments), and $150 per month in electricity for 20 amps. Add to this the $3,000 we spent to outfit our house with couches, chairs, beds, dressers, and desks and you have the American answer to every problem. Throw money at it!

The one thing you cannot do in Kurdistan is starve. At first I thought everyone was bringing out a lot of food to the table because we were Americans. Now I realize they do this for everyone. When James and I go into the restaurant at the foot of our street we are greeted with smiles and yells. Everyone knows who we are, and they seem to like us. We sit down at our table and they bring us dishes of noodles cooked in a spicy tomato sauce, creamed apples, green olives, mushroom soup, baked beans, and a plate of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, black olives, and red cabbage. After this you order your meal. The dude likes to get roasted lamb shank with rice, and I have lately gotten a beef dish cooked with peppers and onions in a spicy tomato sauce called Kali Sil. We eat this along with cans of Fanta and finish it off with a hot cup of tea served in a small glass with no handle and lots of sugar. We eat all of this for the low-low price of 20,000 ID (approx. $15) for both of us. Did I mention that this is the expensive restaurant?

If you would like to eat on the cheap you can go to any of the markets around and buy vegetables, fruits, nuts, pastas, and meat for very cheap prices. The other day I bought one kilo each of oranges, nectarines, apples, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes and it cost me less then five dollars. As you cannot make a meal with just fruit and vegetables I went and bought 12 pieces of flat bread for 1,000 ID (less then a dollar). Add to this meal the frozen meat that I bought for 10,000 ID (approx. $8) and you have enough food for a few good meals without spending the $15 you would on one meal for two people. Like I previously stated, if you go hungry here – it is your own fault!

Going around the town I have been approached by a number of people who speak English. Everyone wants to know more about America and how the people think. I told them that people are paid a lot of money in the US to figure out this exact thing, and not much has been really been found on the subject. It is true though that the Kurds love Americans and everything American. The problem with that is the Kurds do not really know what an American is. They think we are a bunch of Godless people who put more attention into how many wives we can have in a lifetime and how much we can drink before we die. The view of Americans is based on what people see on TV and in movies. I tell them this is a fair view because most Americans only think of Iraq as a war torn region of the world where everyone living there is a terrorist that wants to burn our flag and shoot our soldiers. As both views are an incorrect label of the whole population I can see similarities.

For all of you who are waiting for us to get to work and stop playing your request has been heard. James has been working on our Satellite Internet access, and that should give us enough speed to get our work done. With the initial cost of $1,600 to install the satellite and the $450 per month price tag on the service I hope it works really good while giving me a back rub and a foot massage. Well two out of thee isn’t that bad.

Just to pass the time while I am here I have been asking the locals what they think are the biggest problems holding the Kurds back. The two complaints heard most are about the lack of continuous power and the lack of clean drinking water. Other complaints are about the rubbish issue, airborne contaminants, equality for women, jobs, and government corruption. When I ask those who do not mention government corruption about their views most say that they just expect it from the government so they did not mention it. Everyone I talked to did mention the lack of continuous power is a major concern for them. All said the government should do something about it.

To answer the call of the people I have been working on a couple of business ideas. Two ideas really seem to work the best for me. The first addresses the concern about all of the trash laying all over Kurdistan. It would be advantageous for Kurdistan to have some sort of a recycling initiative. In order to meet this need it is my goal to start a recycling and garbage collection center that takes care of the garbage while destroying as little of mother nature as possible.

Rome was not built in a day, and all roads lead to it, so I decided to start somewhere. The first step that I am going to take is to hire a shipping container and fill it with recyclable plastics. I will then ship it to China via Turkey. Once the container is in China I am hoping to sell it for enough money to pay for filling and shipping a second container. Once I build a system I can start to send more and more containers.

Once I have built a reputation for myself with the local government I can approach them for a few acres of land outside of the city for my facility. At this time I can incorporate more people and more containers into my venture as well as look into recycling more diverse items. Soon my trucks will be loaded with plastics, metals, and glass for shipping to recycling centers around the world.

The next step I would take would be to approach the local government and private investors for permission and capital to purchase and install large scale recyclables processing equipment. To power my site I would install a power generating incinerator built to eliminate the garbage released into the air by most methods of burning trash. Setting up a site like this would allow me to operate off of the local grid while providing a much needed service to Kurdistan and putting some cash in my pocket as well.

This business is one that I am very interested in running and I hope that it will work out. I think that this will help the local people, and provide a good living for me as well. From this platform I can work with water purification and air purification as well. I have high hopes or this venture.

Before I came here I was told to shoot for the stars. So this second business idea fulfills that request. When I came here I was approached by some men who are interested in building a 250,000 BPD oil refinery just north of Dohuk. There are 10 refineries in Iraq with an output capacity of 603,000 BPD. The largest refinery in Iraq has a maximum capacity of 150,000 BPD. An oil refinery in northern Iraq would increase Iraq’s refined oil production by at least 25%. This refined oil would limit Iraq’s dependency on neighbors for oil products like kerosene and fuel. Security concerns are limited do to the proximity of the refinery to Turkey and the distance from Mosul, Baghdad, Tikrit, and Kirkuk. Add to this the capable Peshmerga forces that would be allocated to this refinery for protection and you have a security situations that investors can feel safe about. To further increase the incentive to investors the INOC (Iraq National Oil Company) is willing to give investors 30-40% of the profits in relations to their percentage of the initial startup costs for 10 years. With the current oil consumption on this planet and the trend in market price, the investor would stand to make a substantial profit. We are currently gathering letters from the government that supports all claims, and drafting an investor contract with the INOC and the Kurdish Regional Government along with the Central Iraqi Government and the Oil Ministry.

Building an oil refinery is a very lucrative idea on its own. However building companies right next to the refinery that used the refined products to make further products would only increase the profit potential for the refinery. The local government is planning on building a power plant right next to the oil refinery. Coupling the oil well on the other side of the power plant would allow for minimal transportation concerns and lowered security liability. Having a power plant so close to a refinery would encourage related businesses to spring up further raising profit potential for the refinery.

The power generated by the power plant would decrease Iraq’s dependency on foreign power. This simple task would add to the Kurdish citizen’s quality-of-life. Cheaper fuel oil and a local supply of reliable power would ensure the area’s draw to foreign investors would increase and the subsequent investments would provide a much needed boost to the economy.

Kurdistan has many problems that it has to face in this next stage of its evolution. Whether it continues on as an autonomous region of Iraq, becomes part of a larger Iraqi state, or gains its full independence a recycling center, oil refinery, and power-plant will only add to the viability of any option.

Other then trying to solve all of the problems in Kurdistan I really have not been up to much. I have talked with many of the local kids about how they like life here in Kurdistan, what there memories are of the past, what is their favorite video-game, where is the best place to get a hair-cut, and other important daily issues. The best part of my daily grind is to learn how to speak Kurdish. I have been making daily progress. I have a larger list of words that I can never remember when I should. I will share some more of them with you now. I think first it would do to learn how to count. So I will give you the list.
0 Sifir
1 ek
2 du
3 se
4 char
5 pench
6 shesh
7 heft
8 hesht
9 neh
10 deh
11 yasde
12 duwazde
13 sesde
14 charde
15 pazde
16 shazde
17 hevde
18 hashde
29 nozde
20 bist
30 sih (seeh)
40 chil
50 penchi
60 shest
70 hefte
80 heshte
90 not
100 set
1000 hizar
I think that will do for now. Next time we will learn the days of the week and then the months of the year. That should be fun.

January 25. 2007 update

We are doing OK here. We are now moved into our new apartment. The girls are staying with us for the moment. It is cold tonight. We are going to have to find a way to keep ourselves warmer. I am almost afraid to come out from under the blankets at night. We act like refugees hid in our rooms with our doors closed barring any of the heat that emanates from our space heaters. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be warm again. I am sure I will long for these days when the summer heat comes.

The dude has a huge antenna on our rooftop now for internet service. He said it was working, but I still seem to be the only one sending email. I was sick for the past 2 1/2 days. I had the flu. Yet even with the flu I went to all the government agencies, moved into our apartment, arranged for three contracts to be investigated, bought furniture/appliances/bedding for the apartment, and outpaced out interpreter who complains allot about us working him to hard. At first I thought this may have something to do with a cultural difference and that we were expecting too much from him. I have been assured that is not the case. He is just lazy and I am stupid for doing so much. You would think people would learn to live in the happy medium.

We are living right behind a very nice restaurant. It is so cheap to eat there, and the food seems to agree with all of us. We may not do that much cooking on our own after all. Fortune seems to have blessed us. We have found a great older man who seems to have some sort of ties all around the city. The girls joke and call him the godfather, but I am not sure they are to far off. The good part is we have furnished out entire apartment through this guy for around $2,000. We then found an equally awesome guy for appliances. We have been blessed. We are not completely done with putting things in our apartment but we have outfitted in nice for around $3,500.00.

On the scholastic side of things, we just heard that The Girls are going to be hired by Salahadin. This was good news to them. We will see how this goes. Dr. Dawood was taken us to the site where he is first putting the American Development Center. They need $12,000 to complete building our offices and to furnish them. Then we need to fill the other two rooms with a language learning lab and a distance learning lab. They are building a huge monstrosity up on the hill that they call the Cultural Center. Dr. Dawood would like to dedicate one wing of this building to the Americans. He wants us to come up with ideas on what to put in there. I think he wants us to find ways to fund this as well.

The dude has his hands full right now just figuring out his place here again. He has had all of his projects put on hold or completely stopped. I think he has been worrying a lot about getting an internet single set up that he can use, and getting us out of the hotel into our apartment. I cannot wait on him to get things done as tomorrow is the weekend and we are planning on being on the road on Sunday morning.

Dohuk is a very interesting town. I can see myself living here for a long time. I see some land inside of the new university that is selling for $60,000 per lot. Just four years ago it was $1,000 to $5,000 per lot. Just past the new university there is land selling for the old prices. I may take some of my money from the house sale and invest it in property. The dude wants me to develop it in an American way and build American style homes one it. I think he is right, and that would get us more money in gross, but I am wondering if our time would not be better spent elsewhere and just take the profit on the land once the price goes up. We would just need to hold the land for a couple of years at the most, and then we would be able to sell it at a premium. It is not my desire to live in that area anyway.

I know you are looking for farm land, and I am not sure how that is going. I have not talked to anyone on that specifically, but James has mentioned it. I think you are only allowed to build one home on that land, and there are other restrictions as well.

One of the things that the dude and I are really looking into here is setting up a recycling/garbage collection center. I have been talking with the EPA about helping me find out more about setting up a waste collection facility. I am looking into environmentally friendly waste incinerators and recyclables processing. I want to see what all of the options are and then draw up a plan to present to the governor. When we see how much he will help we can start to negotiate with NGO’s and other funding agencies along with private investors to make this idea a reality. I think I would like to work with this system more then anything else. We can start small in Dohuk just collecting recyclables and shipping them to Turkey or China and grow into running all of the sanitation effort in the peaceful parts of Iraq. Who knows how far we can expand this

Run down on the basics

When you fly into Iraq the best bet is still from Dubai. How you get to Dubai is dependent upon the going rates at the time. From Dubai to Erbil you will need to fly Kurdistan Airlines. When you arrive and Erbil International Airport, do not be surprised by the size. What it lacks physical stature it more then makes up for in historical and political importance. When you arrive you will be processed by the Iraqi military as soon as you walk into the building. If you do not have a visa they will stamp you passport telling you to see immigration within 10 days. By the time you make it through this checkpoint your luggage will be already waiting for you. Do not worry about someone stealing it. There are more security guards around then at a Prince concert and before you are allowed to leave the baggage area you will have to show proof that the bags you have are your own.

Once you are inside of Iraq and you have hired a ride to where you need to go you will need to go to the immigration office. When you go there you will need to bring a passport style photo with you. They will send you to get your blood checked and they will ask you a number of questions. It really helps if you have a guide who knows people in the office. If not, then be prepared to wait around for a while. 

Paying to stay in a motel is nice, but can be very expensive after a while. If you plan on staying more then three months it is best to rent a house or an apartment. There are agencies that are responsible for rentals. Find one that serves you best and go with them to see the houses or apartments. Find one that is in your budget and go for it. Once they call the owner down to the office you will both sign a contract. It is customary to may for 3 to 4 months of rent at a time. Rent for an unfurnished spacious three bedroom apartment is around $500 per month. You will have to pay the agency around $100 for their services. Once you have your apartment, and you have paid everyone you will need to go to the security office with you new paperwork, a passport photo, a letter from someone verifying that you are there for a real reason and that you have an income to support yourself. You will need to jump through a lot of hoops at the security office and be prepared to sit and wait a lot. The sitting is broken up by answering the same questions every time you go into a new office. Once you have waiting long enough and answered enough questions you will be given two pieces of paper. You must take these both back to the rental agency and have them stamp both. They will keep one and give you the other. 

Furnishing your apartment of house if the easy part. The furniture is very cheap by American standards as are the appliances, sheets, pillows, blankets, heaters, tables, and throw rugs. Of course if the low price does not flatter you then the fact that everything is delivered to you door just might add that extra little bit to make you a happy camper.

Once you have those things taken care of you will have to start to learn the culture and language, where everything is in the city, and settle into you new job (whatever that is).

Good morning to all, and to some good evening, good afternoon, and good night;

I am not sure what time many of you will be reading this posting so I figured I would cover all bases. We are here in Kurdistan now and it is very different then when we were in Dubai. We arrived at the airport and the first people we saw were Iraqi Military. They had to check us into the country. After getting through customs we went outside to meet Dr. Dawood Atrushi. He took us to Salahadin University. At the University we met with the President, Dr. Mohammad, and then drove to Dohuk that night. The drive was a revelation for me. I saw many people on the side of the road selling petrol and diesel. The surrounding hills were like a rolling sea of brown sand and rock broken apart by the stone-washed block houses of small villages clinging to existence. The hills gave way to the sudden rise of jagged mountains frosted with a light covering of snow barring witness to the frigged air tearing into the world around it. Dohuk is a jewel shinning up as a beacon of light from the jagged crown of the mountains surrounding it.

Upon arrival in Dohuk we were met by an eager young man named Amad. He is one of the assistances with the International Department for Dr. Dawood. He took us out to eat at a local restaurant where we were able to taste the local fare. Our first night in Kurdistan was spent in a hotel behind a supermarket. The lack of hot water was coupled with the plethora of power failures allowing the blasting heat from the wall mounted heater to subside graciously. I really did love the place that we were in. I cannot complain because where we are staying costs the same per night as some people make in a month.

The next morning Amad was waiting for us at exactly 8am. He took us to the college where we spent the rest of the day meeting the President of the University of Dohuk (Dr. Asmat), the Dean of the College of Arts (Dr. Mohammed), and the office staff in the International Office. We met Amana (the International Office Manager), Raghad (Translator), Nazik (Dr. Dawood’s Secretary), and other staff. I was really pleased with how happy everyone was to meet with us. The Kurdish people are very friendly and seem to have a love of Americans that goes beyond mere curiosity and nudges its way into pop-starish enamor. 

While at the English Department of the College of Fine Arts many of the students pointed at us and giggled. Many of the young girls went up to the women and wanted to test out their English. We men were regarded as oddities that spawned giggles and hurried phrases, but no-one seemed willing to run the risk of even talking to us. That is OK, we understood. I think the combination of seeing Americans not surrounded by armed guards and the students taking their last exam of the semester combined to make a very heady cocktail.

For a late lunch Amad took us to a nice hotel. The Presidents driver, Mr. Emad, also took a car so we would not overload Amad’s car. It was very nice of him to do so. Emad is a large man who looks like he can lift a horse. I think him and I will get along fine. Arriving at the hotel we saw over 15 armed private military. These were not your normal AK-47 toting fierce Peshmerga warriors but fully armed and armored Americans. When we walked into the hotel we saw a table filled with American Military and Civilians. Being the nice guy I am I walked over and said hello. I introduced myself as an American who was now living in Dohuk. It was a very nice meeting that lasted all of a minute. I think I may have made some friends.

Being with the Kurds I have been able to work on my Arabic and my Kurdish. I will share those words with you as I learn them myself. We will start with the ones I remembered to write down.

Thank you – Supas
Good Morning – Speda Bash
Good Afternoon – Evar Bash
Good Evening – Shar Bash
Good by – Bekhatrata
Good By (Reply) – prarbitchi

With every meal, meeting, greeting, whatever tea is served. If you like a lot of sugar then this is the place for you. A very important phrase to learn is how to ask for your tea with sugar or no sugar.

Be-shaker – No sugar
Ip-shaker – with sugar

And if you need to know this word, then you know how important it is to learn:

Dastshow = Bathroom.

Anyone who wants to learn how to count these are always fun.

Zero =Sufr
One =Eche
Two =Dou
Three =Se
Four =Char
Five =Pench
Six =Shesh
Seven =Huft
Eight =Husht
Nine =Nuh
Ten =Duh
Eleven =Yasdah


As my birthday is in January I learned how to say that.

January = Kanon Althani

OK this posting is already getting pretty long. I am going to let this be all for now. I will update you all with information as I have it.