While in Dahuk with Glenn, Gee took us to Ineshke to see the waterfalls. According to Gee, Saddam had these falls created for his own private resort. Once again, Saddam had all of the original inhabitants of the area removed before building his resort. The area today is rundown and neglected.
While I was in Dahuk, I had the pleasure of meeting Gee’s family. Gee’s real name is Ghufran. He is originally from Dahuk. In 1986, he ended up in Nashville, Tennessee. While in Nashville, he met Ravin, who also happened to be from Dahuk. They were later married and now have 4 children: Mateen (son – 13); Avahi (daughter – 11); Ragur (son – 8); and Vajin (son – 5). The kids are Americans through and through.
Gee calls me Boss. I told Gabe this, and now Gabe likes to call me Boss every now and then. When Gee was working in Mosul, I had promised him that I would move him to the Dahuk office at some point. When that finally happened, he moved his family from Tennessee to Dahuk. I kept promising to get back up to Dahuk to visit his family, so Gee kept telling his kids that Boss was going to visit. When I finally made good on my promise, I had a blast with the Barzanis. As I was leaving, Ragur, the 8-year old, said “Bye, Boss”. I think Ragur and Gabe could be good friends!
I must say I love daffodils. They have risen their bouncy heads and opened their bright faces to the sunshine that we have had over the last several days. Daffodils always make me smile. Yellow is to me the happiest color. The forsythia bushes are close behind and should color my yard in a yellow haze soon. Ezekiel has decided he loves daffodils too. Today we were taking a walk around the garden admiring the colors of spring. We were standing near a large batch of daffodils when he suddenly declared, “I love daffodils! So pretty!” He then bent down, wrapped his arms around them and gave them a big hug.
Ezekiel has decided that it is time to learn to dress himself. Whenever he undertakes this endeavor, he alternates between “I do it myself” and “I can’t”. Last night after his shower, he informed his brother “I do it myself” and attempted to put on his pajama shirt. He was soon crying and yelling in frustration. I ran upstairs to see what was the matter, and found him stuck in his shirt with part of his head and one arm through the holes. His brother was standing there laughing and I asked Josiah why he didn’t help Zeke. “He said he wanted to do it himself” was the reply. The boy is quickly becoming his Father. Friday morning, Ezekiel had eaten his cereal and was still hungry, so he decided he would have a snack. “Marshmallows, Mommy?” No. “Cookie, Mommy?” No. “Fruit snack, Mommy?” No. “Chocolate, Mommy?” No. He went on and on and on and on and on naming every unhealthy thing in the house. For those who have been in my house, no matter the location, you know the list can be quite extensive. I repeatedly told him that he had to eat something healthy and to stop asking me for all these unhealthy things for breakfast. After a long while, he finally got quiet. At which point, Josiah turned to him and said, “Zeke, do you want a cookie?” I swear, he’s stealing his Father’s lines. Anyway, I informed Josiah that even if Zeke says “I do it myself”, he may help when Zeke is stuck. Today Zeke was trying to put on his socks. “I can’t,” he said. “Why not?”, I asked. “I don’t know why,” he replied. “I don’t know why” is his favorite phrase. “Why aren’t you in bed?”…”I don’t know why.”…”Why did you take your jacket off?”…”I don’t know why.”…”Why did you get the computer stuck?”…”I don’t know why.” And so my day goes. After getting frustrated in her attempt to help me when she was here, my Mother informed me that I never want anyone to help me. I always want to do it myself unless it is something that I am unable to do and only then will I let someone else do it for me. I didn’t have a good response for her then, but I do now… “I don’t know why.”
Mugs commented on the surprising decor of the house I visited for lunch while in Amadiyah. It was definitely very Brady-esque. For a while now, I’ve been meaning to set up an image gallery on the blog. I thought this would be a great opportunity to get the image gallery running so that you can see some more photos of the house in Amadiyah. If you look closely at the flower rug, you might be able to see some muddy boot prints. Can you guess who tracked mud on the rug?
Let me know if you have any problems with the image gallery.
Muhsan is a 77-year old Kurdish gentlemen who lives in Amadiyah, Dahuk Province, Iraq. Amadiyah, also called Amadi, is approximately 10 miles south of Turkey. Muhsan is the most influential person in Amadiyah; he is also highly regarded and respected throughout the entire province of Dahuk. He spent most of his life as a Freedom Fighter fighting for the Kurdish people. At one point in his life, he was a Member of Parliament for Kurdistan. I had the privilege of meeting Muhsan during my recent visit to Dahuk. Gee was able to arrange the meeting because of his family ties. Muhsan is the uncle of Ravina, Gee’s wife. I visited with Muhsan at the KDP Headquarters building in Amadiyah where his son, Muhammad, works as the KDP leader for the region. It turned into quite an event. After spending a couple of hours in discussions, we had lunch at Muhammad’s house with his father and some of his brothers. In the photo, seated on the orange couch are Muhammad and Glenn. Kneeling in the front is Saleh, Muhsan’s son who is running their farm and tending the livestock. Kneeling in the back is Muhsan’s son Hakar. He is the head of the Special Forces group that provides security at PM Barzani’s ranch. Standing is Ahmad, the son of Muhsan’s daughter. Ahmad’s father was killed by Saddam’s forces in the early 80s. Next is Gee. After Gee is Hashe, Muhsan’s youngest son and personal driver. Hashe’s daughter is in the picture, but I didn’t get her name. The last one standing is Rebin, Hakar’s son. I am seated on the couch next to Muhsan, the patriarch.
After lunch, Muhsan took us into the mountains to see the snow. He is very proud of a road construction project that will provide access for some of the isolated mountain villages and wanted us to see it. We drove along the finished portion of the road and parked at the end. Then we began walking further into the mountains on the unfinished portion. He is extremely fit for a 77-year old man. As he said, he spent most of his life living and fighting in the same mountains. At the crest of one hill, we spotted a Kurdistan flag flying. It had been left by the construction crew when they stopped work for the winter.
