Hello Loyal Reader! Today, after five days at a friend’s village house overlooking majestic mountains and the breath-taking river in Rezan, a two-hour drive from the heart of Hawler (the new tunnel is magic. I swear). It feels as though I am packing to return home from a Maldives trip. No exaggeration. We have breakfast... Continue Reading →

Loyal reader, allow me, this evening, to take you to our neighbourhood. There is something magical about spring nights in Hawler. It is as if the entire neighbourhood has come out form their winter hibernation. At 6:30 as the Mulla of the local mosque calls for the Maghreb prayer every child runs inside, everything is... Continue Reading →

You're back! Hello! Wait. Did you read part I to this? How is it that the aroma of the meals you cook in your home kitchen is a reminisces of your Kurdish mother's food, and it tastes like a Kurdish grandmother's lunch that has been cooking on gentle heat since 7 am. But you're a... Continue Reading →

Hello there! The Corona Virus has become the world's biggest social experiment; testing marriages, relationships, family dynamics, patience and effects of loneliness. It has also revealed a Kurdish husband's cooking potential, a human being's ability to open the same fridge 30 times in 25 minutes; revolutionised our perception of the sacred job of hair dressers;... Continue Reading →

My heart is yearning for the Kurdistani spring.. As my government has announced a 48-hour lockdown, and more than three weeks into isolation- today there was not a single heart beat in the roads of my city. What is fresh air and oxygen without souls of people to inhale it? I am yearning to smell... Continue Reading →

Hello in the time of Corona, We are locked down and locked in. You see, in the time of Corona everything is different in my part of the world. Social life is different. Cafe's are different. Health care is different. Education is different. Awareness campaigns are different. We shop differently. Think differently. Talk differently. You... Continue Reading →

Good morning! Today, like all other days I am confused and lost. You see, over a decade later, I still don't understand the etiquette at the naanawa (equivalent to bakery where only bread is made). Where do you put your money? where is the end of the line and the start? How does the baker... Continue Reading →

Hello, reader. It's me. Sazan, in the time of Corona. I can add this to the list of my life experiences in the first 60 days of 2020! I'm a mother. So don't blame me for measures and precautions. I have stocked up on two boxes (10 pieces in each) of masks, one litre of... Continue Reading →

My husband knows the way to my heart. Well, now he does! Not on Valentine's day, not on my birthday, not an anniversary and no, I still have not completed The Thesis. But the experience was such that it felt like it was an occasion we are celebrating. I love my breakfasts. Everyone who knows... Continue Reading →