Wrapped up three weeks in Erbil with a run to Carrefour! I
got “out” again, and that second time, hit the mother lode. Carrefour is a
Walmarty store, with all kinds of groceries (but no garlic Tabasco) and then
your variety of clothes, toys and stuff like that.
It was my one chance for a souvenir, but since it was like
most chain store and filled with stuff made in China, I declined. I tried to
get Riley a couple of hair thingies for a care package, but once I got to the
register, I learned they didn’t have bar codes. Since the store had opened
early for us, there was no staffer in the jewelry section, either, so I
couldn’t get one.
So I made do with other stuff, like the Albeni Twix-like
cookies, which I love, but I couldn’t buy much since I headed home on New
Year’s Eve.
Erbil was nice and I’ll probably be back before I leave
Iraq, but if not, I sure made the most of it. Besides the two store runs, I hit
paydirt with a couple of Ace Hardware Iraq mugs for Wendy and a Kurdagonia
shirt for me.
What’s that, you ask? Well, Erbil is the capital of the
Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It’s an autonomous region in the country, and the
Kurds don’t consider it Iraq. I wanted a Kurdish flag but couldn’t find one,
but I did get the T-shirt.
It doesn’t stay Kurdistan; they’re some American’s idea of a
bootleg off the Patagonia brand. They’re not sold on the compound, but I got
lucky and whoever it is who sells them happened to bring them in for an hour,
so I plunked $35 for a cool hooded T-shirt.
I went with the hooded T-shirt because it was darn cold
there, and needed a long-sleeved shirt to work out in. It was just so chilly,
and wet. I hope that the next time I go back I get the same housing but that
it’s a bit warmer outside. And inside. It was so cold inside. All the rooms
that a person spent time in had a wall AC/heating unit, but that still left the
cross-through parts of the house amazingly cold.
Now I am back in Baghdad, where it’s about 10 degrees
warmer, but I won’t be here for long. I’m headed to R&R shortly, and am
spending New Year’s Day trying to unpack, do laundry, repack and recover from
traveling so I can get ready to travel again.
Looking forward to getting Down Under, although I have a
stop first in Amman, where I’ll see a dentist and an orthopedic surgeon to
check on the status of my shoulder and foot recovery. After that, I’ve got
three long flights that should plop me in Cairns when it’s all said and done.
I’ve got some side trips lined up and all my train tickets
booked so I can wind up in Sydney on whatever it is I’m supposed to wind up
there. I’ve really lost track of what day it is. The holidays-on-weekdays thing
really mixes me up big time, not that I minded having three holidays in a
two-week span.
Hopefully, it’ll be a blissful three weeks and not as
expensive as I fear; I’ve paid off what I could up front, including a float
plane tour around Airlie Beach.
I’m still not feeling burnt out or anything, but I am
looking forward to hitting Australia again and seeing the Great Barrier Reef.
Safe travels for everyone in 2019!
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