Kurdish Wedding Time!

Look at this sweet little love boy!

 Doesn't he look spify...We borrowed our friends traditional shal u shapik, and got all ready to go to a Kurdish Wedding.

I got the traditional Kurdish dress this year, but Andy still has yet to get the garb :) Next year Honey!  Just so you know.... Yes, that's a FULL sequence jacket from neck to toe! Pink too! That's right, I couldn't believe it either. The shinier and brighter, the better!

We stopped over to our neighbors house before the wedding to show off Zander to his girl, Lara.  She thought he was smokin' cute!

The wedding was for the brother of our dear friend Zach.

Bummer that sometimes people are trying to get the rowdy 2 year old to look at the camera, but then the adults aren't looking :) and Zander looks extremely uncomfortable. 

This is "Nicole", Zach's sister.  I would love to get to know her better. We have had good talks on a couple occasions, and she is always so sweet! Although she looks beautiful in this picture, you should have seen her dress! I wish I took a picture.  It was amazing and she totally rocked it!

The wedding was at a restaurant in town with a "hall" connected to it.  It was great because as soon as we    got there, waiters came to our table with salads, olives, and soup. We then got to order what we wanted. Sweet huh! No waiting for the bride and groom to arrive, or the best man speech and thinking "Dude, I'm hungry, get on with it"  Don't get me wrong, I do love the traditions of American weddings and they are special and memorable. Because, sad to say, I didn't get even one picture of the bride and groom.  (Who sit on this couch the entire time and people come up to them for pictures, which no one smiles in) I did get this short video though. (which I just tried to upload but it wouldn't with our slow internet.. sorry) After everyone else eats, the bride and groom go behind this screen to eat themselves, while the music gets set up.  Then people line up at the screen and dance and shake this cloth-cymbal thing around and lead everyone up to dance in this ginormous circle. 

Once again- it's always funny for us to see pictures of Andy next to Kurds.  Do you think we get starred at much here? The tallest couple in Duhok (1/2 million people).... by far!

It was a fun experience and a great way to see Zach and his family celebrate such an important day in their lives.  

Blueberry

I didn't take this picture. Petr Kratochvil did.
This is a blueberry. 

I like blueberries.

We can't get them here. Not even the blueberry muffin mix. 

I will pack some of that mix when we come back here. 

There is something else about blueberries that's interesting.

 I have something in me that's the size of a blueberry this week!

That's right... that something is actually beginning to be someone.

A blueberry.... just two weeks ago it was a poppyseed.

Seriously?!?.... I'm amazed at God's workmanship!

Slowly, carefully, intricately beginning to form. 

Meanwhile.... Zander has NO CLUE! But when I hold the 1-year old girl from across the street, he gives me evil eyes that imply "What do you think your doing?"  He will have to start getting used to not being the baby of the family anymore!!!

Sorry I didn't have Zander wearing a "Big Bro" T-shirt. But then all you had to do was look at the picture. That's normally my style, but..... not today. Today I wanted to talk about blueberries.

March Madness- Day 3

Some of the best times come unexpected. We were expecting to rest today as Kurdish picnics wear you out! After spending the morning baking, I was still in my t-shirt and sweatpants when our neighbor came over and asked us if we wanted to go on a picnic with their family in 10 mins!

Lucky for us they were running on Kurdish time and we had 30 mins to get ready plus their niece who I have really been able to connect with (also speaks flawless English) came over and helped me do my hair :)

We found our spot! Gelly Cort (Short Valley) It was a popular place.

This family has been our closest friends while we have been here, and have told us we are like family to them. This has at times seemed more like a polite way to welcome us into their home. It wasn't until today that I actually felt like they meant it because they asked me to help prepare the meal! Coming from a culture of hospitality, this was a first for me while here. So this meant alot. So I got to work chopping the veggies for the salads.

It's chow time! They even had grilled hot dogs because some of them were at our house a couple days ago (see Day 1 of this madness) and liked them so much they wanted to have them again. The simple treasures!

Andy of course lovin' the Chicken Tikka and some quality time with Neighbor and Zander's girlfriend.

So don't judge. Zander drank a pop and had about 100 cookies that were given to him by Kurds. I look at it kinda like grandparents spoiling him. If it only happens every so often it's ok. Right?!?!

All the Ladies (+ Zander)Just the guys!

Ok- Now the real party starts. Get your pinkies warmed up because they will get tugged on for the next hour! Time for some Kurdish Dancing.

Zander didn't quite make it home awake. He had to take a quick power nap while we finished dancing. I know buddy, it's been a long day! But quite memorable!

March Madness- Day 2

Our student "David" asked us to go with his family to a picnic today. So we left at 9am ready to go fully equipped with our badminton rackets, coloring books, coats, diapers.....Not quite knowing what to expect!

2 1/2 hours later it looked like we found our picnic spot. Looked similar to the spots an hour back, but they wanted to take us to the "perfect" spot. Andy enjoyed some kite flying with his student while there is still no rain.

Meanwhile, everyone else gets to work unloading the vehicles and preparing the food.

These aren't the typical pack some cold meat sandwhiches and chips picnic. They bring their little grills, make kabobs, salads, and dolma (rice stuffed cabbage leaves basically)

Ladies here.....Men overthere.....

Just when everyone finished eating and we poured our cup of chai it started sprinkling. Zander was just starting to make friends

But we decided to pack up after it starting raining pretty good. So started making our way back to Duhok. Where both lanes of traffic were going same way. Normal? Only in Kurdistan!

Amidst the tired drive home. David asked about Baptism. Andy feel asleep. So I was talking to him about the difference between infant and believers baptism. He had a puzzled look on his face. "No like what they do in the hospital when a baby BOY is born." OHHHHHHH..... that's not called baptism. That's called circumcision. Slight difference! David is always a good question asker though!

March Madness- Day 1

One of the funnest times of year for me back in the states is March Madness. Growing up with "It's tournament time.... the best time of the year!" in my bones, I can't help it! So although we can follow some of the basketball madness on the internet we don't have the hype of it all here. However, we have our own hype this week. Kurdistan's version of March Madness- Nawroz!

We just completed our first official day of Nawroz. The 3 day celebration for the beginning of the Kurdish New Year, which also coinsides with the first 3 days of spring!

We started the celebration with some badmitton and volleyball in our yard with the neighbors. They came with a gift- Alum Kurdistane (Kurdish Flag).

We then took a drive out of town to the top of a mountain that overlooks the city. It has a large flat area on top, so many people like to go there to jump start their celebration with fires, food, and flying kites.

It started to be a cloudy day, but the city was also full of smoke. Since fire here is a sign of victory, everyone celebrates by having some sort of fire (but since there isn't much wood here people burn tires instead) :S

We saw many people we knew there, which was fun!
After the fireworks were over we made our way back to our house to have a fire on our roof. But first we got a few of these Chinese mini hot-air blimps and let them go in the sky.

Zander even got to participate.

What better way to finish our celebration than with a HOT DOG! That's right you heard me.... a hot dog! Although they aren't American Hot Dogs, they are Kurdish friendly- Chicken Franks. Our neighbors have never had them grilled before and they actually loved them! Who knew?

Crispy and all! Just the way I like em'Kurdish Hot dog bun (a piece of nan quartered and wrapped- sorta like a pig in blanket)
Bon appetite!

yummmmm!

Mom aren't you proud?!? I thought of you a lot tonight :)

So that's Day one of our 3 days of Kurdistan March Madness!!! Fun Times!!!!