Of Citadels, Nelly, and Pi Day

Happy not-quite-International Pi Day (3/14/*15= 3.1415 for those less nerdy amongst us). In honor of Pi Day (well, actually for a friends birthday, but the timing still stands), my roommate made a pie today. As it was pointed out to me today by a Brit, it's not actually International at all-- the US is pretty specific in writing our dates as Month/Day/Year, while most, if not all, of the rest of the world writes it Day/Month/Year. Thus, to truly be International, it would have to be 31/4/15... which, alas, doesn't exist. So, we plow ahead with our American standards, and dub today a very special Pi Day.

*Pi Day, for the uninitiated, happens every 3/14. This year is particularly special because the year extends Pi out another two digits.

All the pies, along with various other candies to brighten the display

Apparently, this toffee, pudding, whipped cream and banana mess is called banoffee (banana toffee?) pie. 

Earlier today we went to the Citadel, which was lovely, except that it was closed (possibly for renovations, possibly to be decorated for Nowruz, the Kurdish New Year). From the outside, you can still see the pretty spectacular architecture, with lots of people out milling about and enjoying the beautiful weather. The Citadel, like I said in an earlier post, is a UNESCO Heritage Site and is the oldest continually inhabited place on Earth. Now, the way that they maintain this is by having one family living there, in order to keep it "continually inhabited". I find this both incredibly strange and a little amusing. The things you do to keep a world record, I suppose...

Erbil Citadel

Erbil Citadel

And for those who missed the memo like me, Nelly played in Erbil yesterday! Unfortunately, I missed the whole surreal and dated rap concert thing, but apparently some of our staff may have gone. I'll have to keep my eyes open for more weird opportunities.

Last but not least, for those interested in the new digs, here's a picture of my room:

My room in Erbil

Jet lag is kicking in and we are going to dinner at our Country Director's house tonight, so I'm going to go take a quick nap before we head out. More updates soon! I actually officially start work tomorrow!