From:  Bob Keith - Cool Dadio Media - Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, 9:00 p.m. Sunday 15 October 2006.

 

 We are back to a society of no street signs again.  I guess in these parts with the war and the fact that when new leaders come along every so often and change the street names it is a lost cause to print maps or put up signs. 

 

  In this culture of change, there are so many new people fleeing other war-torn parts of the country.  Also, some people here do not travel much out of their own neighborhoods.  Many people can't even tell me where the bus station is four blocks away. Just finding a bus station or taxi terminal is an ordeal here. 

 

  In my 15-Dollar-per-night hotel, the satellite TV brings me Martha Stewart (not from prison), Bugs Bunny, 60-Minutes, and that motor cycle building show.  All of these are in English.  There are also about 50 Middle East channels from every county you can find in the atlas.  Many like Jordanian TV have jazzed-up and modernly dressed female news anchors and variety show hosts.  They are very pretty and modern.  By the way in Iraq I change hotels each night.  I do not stay in the same hotel two nights in a row for security reasons.  They all seem to use the same satellite system on this side of Kurdistan of Iraq anyway. 

 

  I think I mentioned that the Iraqi Dinar is suppose to be the money here. But, I see the American Dollar in all the street vendor stalls alone with the Dinar. There are few banks if any, here anyway. 

 

  I am mingling with the blue-collar people.  They often give me free stuff.  The sandwich shop down the street gave me free lunch.  They claim to be socialists, but who knows what that means here.  Their kabob sandwich was great at any rate.  I went back and got another lunch later and paid for it so as not to seem to be a free-loader.  I am trying to at least spread a little good impressions of Americanism.  Most people all seem befuddled by my tattoos and pony tail.  The guys in the sandwich shop however, have fought a couple wars and really do not care what I look like. 

 

  If Turkey has many machine gun toting soldiers on every corner, Kurdistan has that times ten.

 

  There are frequent lightning storms here because of the mountains.  I have lost some writing when the electricity has gone out and had to start over.  I try to save a draft as much as possible but some of the computers purge things when re-booted.

 

  The Internet guy feels bad about the storm and keeps checking on me to make sure I am not unhappy.  I am just glad I can find email in Iraq. 

 

 

Bob Keith - Cool Dadio Media