Changes in Erbil - 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.
Changes in Erbil, Iraq
posted February 27, 2008
Well, I actually did use the heater in the room in the early morning. The days here are like our April in Wisconsin. The room is tidy. There are only a few TV channels. The milk house size generator rumbles outside the building. There are no towels. But there is hot water. Breakfast was tea, round bread, a couple types of cheeses, carrot jam, and a type of sour cream. Two half hearted young attendants reluctantly cleaned up the tables.
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- Night colors in Erbil, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
There is a new Internet cafe around the corner. Last year I had to walk a good distance to find one. Oddly, this far east is the first time Heide and I got all the Web cam, voice, and chat to work on both ends. But, we have come to expect the unexpected if it involves Iraq. Some of these computers are so full of spy ware protection I have to struggle to get my email up. One of the computers in the cafe in question just ate a prepared email post pictures and all. Yikes!
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- Busy Erbil, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
A book store owner walked me around the corner to the sidewalk money changer who also sold cigarettes. There is no coinage in Iraq, only bills. The guy kept the small bills crumpled in a plastic trash bag.
- Paperwork vendor for court cases, Erbil, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
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- Old to new Erbil, Iraq; the new giant mall is in the distance,
photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
I walked to the new mall which is just on the edge of the old city beneath the castle. The building is mammoth. You can view it in the "Old to New Erbil" picture. There is an escalator in the open-air front. The building is still a work in progress. The monstrosity is butted up against a large cemetery. I mean right up so you can touch the tomb stones. Some of the vendor stalls are open on a couple of the floors. I think I counted seven floors.
To a visitor like me, the giant mall in the middle of an ancient city which by the way is in a quasi war zone, speaks to the contradiction that is Iraq.
Bob Keith
Erbil, Iraq
Changes in Erbil, Iraq
posted February 27, 2008
Well, I actually did use the heater in the room in the early morning. The days here are like our April in Wisconsin. The room is tidy. There are only a few TV channels. The milk house size generator rumbles outside the building. There are no towels. But there is hot water. Breakfast was tea, round bread, a couple types of cheeses, carrot jam, and a type of sour cream. Two half hearted young attendants reluctantly cleaned up the tables.
- Night colors in Erbil, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
There is a new Internet cafe around the corner. Last year I had to walk a good distance to find one. Oddly, this far east is the first time Heide and I got all the Web cam, voice, and chat to work on both ends. But, we have come to expect the unexpected if it involves Iraq. Some of these computers are so full of spy ware protection I have to struggle to get my email up. One of the computers in the cafe in question just ate a prepared email post pictures and all. Yikes!
- Busy Erbil, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
A book store owner walked me around the corner to the sidewalk money changer who also sold cigarettes. There is no coinage in Iraq, only bills. The guy kept the small bills crumpled in a plastic trash bag.
- Paperwork vendor for court cases, Erbil, Iraq, photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
- Old to new Erbil, Iraq; the new giant mall is in the distance,
photo by Bob Keith, February 2008 -
I walked to the new mall which is just on the edge of the old city beneath the castle. The building is mammoth. You can view it in the "Old to New Erbil" picture. There is an escalator in the open-air front. The building is still a work in progress. The monstrosity is butted up against a large cemetery. I mean right up so you can touch the tomb stones. Some of the vendor stalls are open on a couple of the floors. I think I counted seven floors.
To a visitor like me, the giant mall in the middle of an ancient city which by the way is in a quasi war zone, speaks to the contradiction that is Iraq.
Bob Keith
Erbil, Iraq
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