Our 2nd day here. Erbil is a city in recovery so is mainly a building site - half finished roads etc. Apparently Saddam was a bit of a bastard and destroyed the place. The centre of the city is a hill called The Citadel which claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world (oooh). The rest of the city is built in concentric rings out from this. It's yellow and dusty as you might expect. We're a long way from the desert here and the surroundings are remarkably fertile - wheat is the main crop of the region. Most of Kurdistan is mountain but here we are on the plain - Adrienne said it looks like Sasky (!).
The people are super friendly and often try to not let you pay for things - a refreshing change from Asia. No one bugs you or stares at you but they are very interested to meet you. The food is kebabs, olives, flat bread and kebabs. Delicious but could get a bit samey after a while.
We haven't started teaching yet and probably won't for a while - we're meeting the minister for education today (aah) to sort out some programmes. I even have to iron my shirt (come on over Innes/Al) and take out my piercing - aaargh. Our contract is good and we have a lot of faith and trust in our employers already - all in all we're pretty excited.
Cheers for now, let us know what you guys are up to,
Alex
2 comments:
You need one of these:
http://www.tefal.co.uk/tefal/products/product/index.asp?category%5Fid=500&dept%5Fid=520&sku=U00360&mscssid=GHXPTQ2LLJ4B8KEWAFMNB1D5GEK660A1
Do they sell 'em in Erbil?
hey guys,
well the last place we expected to hear from you guys was iraq. oh my gosh, you guys have balls!!! please take care (like you haven't already heard this before). we are all well here in aussie, kids are growing fast and still talk about you both often. Sara still compares your dreadlocks alex to people we see in the street. talk to you both soon.
love Aust. Leibels
Post a Comment