Preparing for Iraq - Iraq Project II
This is a reposting of my Iraq Project II. I will post a dispatch-entry Monday thru Friday until the original project is recreated. The real-time journey was posted by The Janesville Gazette in February and March, 2008.
Preparing for Iraq
posted February 23, 2008
I bid my Assyrian friend goodbye until I retrace my steps later in the trip and just about froze my hands walking to the bus garage in Mardin. I have moved down the road to the east to a town called Midyat, Turkey. It is about 60 miles from Iraq. There are two Midyats. East Midyat which I am in, and Midyat proper. There was one Turkish check point on the way but they just flagged the van through. The way these van rides are done is you just holler up to the driver and hope he stops where you want - in my case in front of my hotel.
At some point I changed my wrist watch to Turkish time. It is eight hours ahead of Janesville time here.
I am in the Internet shop in the basement of a building a block down from my hotel. I must wear four layers on top and sweat pants under my cargo pants. I have had my stocking cap on for the whole trip. Today is no exception. There is no heat in here. It is probably 25 degrees Fahrenheit out side. They do however have a five foot by five foot big screen TV in an open area by the door to watch soccer. A couple light bulbs hang from cords in the seating area of bent metal and leaning plastic chairs. Full ash trays are everywhere. All I need is fingerless gloves and Charles Dickens meets George Orwell - Midyat, Turkey version.
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- The quiet streets of Midyat, Turkey; an ideal staging location,
photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
Midyat is my staging place to rest and prepare to enter Iraq. My hotel is a palace compared to the Internet shop. The beds are soft. The blankets are warm. The towels are clean. The room is heated. There are TV channels from every country in Europe and the Middle East. The rooms are colorful and the room doors actually lock. The water is cold, but the breakfast of Yentl soup and thin bread makes up for it. There is always coffee and tea.
I will stay here a day or so to regroup, rest, and tie up any loose ends before I enter Iraq. The people in the shops and hotel are nice and remember me from last trip. Midyat has an old Europe timbre to it. The streets are coble stone. A donky pulling a cart can be seen every so often. A variety of small shops line my patient street. There are a couple of welcoming cafes nearby. There is an absence of soldiers and police. No one seems to be in too big a hurry. It is easy to forget there is a war down the road a bit.
Bob Keith
Midyat, Turkey
Preparing for Iraq
posted February 23, 2008
I bid my Assyrian friend goodbye until I retrace my steps later in the trip and just about froze my hands walking to the bus garage in Mardin. I have moved down the road to the east to a town called Midyat, Turkey. It is about 60 miles from Iraq. There are two Midyats. East Midyat which I am in, and Midyat proper. There was one Turkish check point on the way but they just flagged the van through. The way these van rides are done is you just holler up to the driver and hope he stops where you want - in my case in front of my hotel.
At some point I changed my wrist watch to Turkish time. It is eight hours ahead of Janesville time here.
I am in the Internet shop in the basement of a building a block down from my hotel. I must wear four layers on top and sweat pants under my cargo pants. I have had my stocking cap on for the whole trip. Today is no exception. There is no heat in here. It is probably 25 degrees Fahrenheit out side. They do however have a five foot by five foot big screen TV in an open area by the door to watch soccer. A couple light bulbs hang from cords in the seating area of bent metal and leaning plastic chairs. Full ash trays are everywhere. All I need is fingerless gloves and Charles Dickens meets George Orwell - Midyat, Turkey version.
- The quiet streets of Midyat, Turkey; an ideal staging location,
photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
Midyat is my staging place to rest and prepare to enter Iraq. My hotel is a palace compared to the Internet shop. The beds are soft. The blankets are warm. The towels are clean. The room is heated. There are TV channels from every country in Europe and the Middle East. The rooms are colorful and the room doors actually lock. The water is cold, but the breakfast of Yentl soup and thin bread makes up for it. There is always coffee and tea.
I will stay here a day or so to regroup, rest, and tie up any loose ends before I enter Iraq. The people in the shops and hotel are nice and remember me from last trip. Midyat has an old Europe timbre to it. The streets are coble stone. A donky pulling a cart can be seen every so often. A variety of small shops line my patient street. There are a couple of welcoming cafes nearby. There is an absence of soldiers and police. No one seems to be in too big a hurry. It is easy to forget there is a war down the road a bit.
Bob Keith
Midyat, Turkey
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