Sorry for the radio silence over the last month or so. Life in Baghdad has been this combination of bored past having anything interesting to say and incredibly busy, leaving very little inclination to write anything. I've now been out in Baghdad twice, once for dinner on the Tigris river, which offers this beautiful, tranquil centerpoint winding its way through the city, catching me off guard by how much genuine joy it brought me.
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| One of many dance and music performances of the evening. |
The second was for an Iftar (breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan) dinner for work, with partners and supporters of our organization. The dinner itself was fine, if slightly underwhelming (fan as I am of professional, fancy outings with important people...). But after dinner, I got to stay for my friend's 27th birthday party, held in a big, open air tent behind the hotel, equipped with a stage and tv cameras doing giveaways on Gulf television for Ramadan (giving away A/C units, televisions, travel coupons, etc.), coffee, sweets, shisha (hookah-- flavored tobacco smoked out of a water pipe), music, and dance from across the Middle East. These tents are set up at hotels and parks across Baghdad during Ramadan, giving people places to go and enjoy their time after Iftar with friends and family. Ramadan essentially turns daily life on its head, especially when it falls during the longest days of the year like it does this year. For the uninitiated, Ramadan is the month in Islam where Muslims fast from sun up to sun down. This should include everything-- smoking, coffee, water, sex.. not just food. The fasting brings you closer to God, reminds you of all you have in your life, keeps your baser impulses and addictions
in check, and gives you a chance to reflect and feel solidarity with the poor. How this plays out in practice, is, of course, different from person to person. Some smoke and drink coffee just to keep themselves civil for those around them (an impulse I totally understand, and, as a coworker, appreciate). Others drink water, but otherwise fast. Some don't fast at all, either for health or personal preference.
But back to the birthday party-- The heady combination of my first real, genuine outing in Baghdad with my friends, and my first Ramadan here made it feel like a prison break of sorts. Not that the guest house is bad-- but you really do start to get a little stir crazy, and getting to experience a taste of normalcy can go a long way in balancing that out. My friends here seem pretty cognizant of that, and ask me regularly if there is anything I need "from the outside," as though they are smuggling me goods.
In the meantime, I spend a lot of time hanging out in my room, listening to music, chatting with friends back home and elsewhere in Iraq, working, reading, and in today's case, drawing.
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| Figured I'd change it up and draw a bird instead of stick figures. |
Speaking of friends elsewhere in Iraq, I have a friend deeply homesick for Baghdad, and just wanting a taste of Baghdad's air-- I'm trying to come up with something to bring him when I leave here. So far, all I've come up with is finding a nice bottle somewhere and making some sort of label for it of Baghdad air, or filling it with dirt, or something--
Baghdad in a Bottle-- and bringing that back so he can have a bit of Baghdad with him. It's hard when I can't go out either. Hard to find the right thing. The depth of homesickness that comes with displacement isn't something I can relate to, but maybe I can do something to help... Anyway, I'm open to suggestions, if anyone has any.
Baghdad really is interesting-- the one thing people keep telling me, keep reminding me, is that Baghdad isn't what you see in the news. And they are right. Baghdad isn't just bombs and destruction-- it's parks and picnics and concerts and art and markets and restaurants and birthday parties. It is fun, and lively, and active. Life continues, even amidst over ten years of pain and destruction. Baghdad is the heart of Iraq-- its epicenter for culture and history. And every tiny taste of it I've been able to get has been totally worth it. It breaks my heart to think of what this city must have once been like, and to hear my friends describe the Baghdad of their childhoods, the one that they struggle to keep alive, while the international media bombards the world with images of hatred and pain. Baghdad is so much more than that, and just like in Palestine, that is the story that people most want to share.
