Peaceful, that was my first impression here.  It’s quiet, no violence, and really not much to do.  The city Sulaimaniyah in the Kurd area of Northern Iraq is big, and growing tremendously with every block having new construction.  Two huge multi-million dollar universities are currently being built, and it’s 5 years from being a major city.  The price of land per sqft in some areas are equal to prices in New York City. In the summer temperatures reach over 120, and in the winter less than 0. The city was barely touched by Sadam’s regime, but just an hour outside of the city you hear horror stories.

In Shorish, where SP is building a large community center complex, the people were consistently attacked by the army.  At one point the area was gassed.  The young men who survived were taken to the desert and stranded to die of thirst.  Sadam’s army was posted on the top of the hills surrounding the area and would shoot at will, but now there is peace in the area.  Of the 70,000 people that live in the area, 60% are widows or orphans.

I’ve realized that the people here know much more than I do about the US presidential canidates.  They are very concerned about the outcome because it affects them greatly.  Unlike the rest of the Arab nations who hate George Bush and the US Government, these people ADORE them.  I suppose they wouldn’t have peace right now if it wasn’t for them.  We’ll hopefully be visiting these people Sunday and I’ll have some more interesting stories and photos.

the city of Sulaimaniyah

In Shorish, walking sheep

owner of the construction company and an engineer working on the community center, partly shown in the back

me looking fat and squatty

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