I got out

Gali Ali Bag  Waterfall

Today, something happened that I never would have expected: I got out. Beyond a grocery store run and more than the orchestra performance I was fortunate to be able to attend last week. Today, I tagged along on a road trip!

By sheer fate, the head PR person finished her tour, leaving moving up the regular No. 2 a spot. By no fault of his own, he’s a man. So is the top dog here, plus a facet of the entire security team.

Since the Top Dog’s job is to represent America, we send him out in the field to do so. Normally, this means visiting local businesses and such but sometimes there are day trips that make several stops to mix and mingle with people. But since America is half-filled with women (or half-empty with men, I suppose, depending on your view), I and another woman were asked to go along for the ride. OF COURSE! I never would have thought I’d be able to wander around Iraq.

Bekhal Waterfalls

 Well, of course I didn’t. We never wander. Everything’s pretty scripted and set up in advance, and we’re pretty careful driving around, so I knew in advance I’d see three sets of waterfalls, and, since I love moving water, knew those would be highlights. And I was right, although not just because of the beauty of roaring water.

The Bekhal Waterfalls, the biggest ones we saw, are in what’s now a summer resort area in Kurdistan. There are viewing platforms on three levels, giving pretty cool views of the falls and rock formations. We were dropped off at the top level, joining a handful of other tourists. The place is a really popular spot, but we had crappy weather in the morning so that kept most people home. But in that handful of folks, there were a group of guys who were immediately struck by a redhead and a blonde. Polite but not shy, they asked for photos with me first and then my colleague, and we had quite the photo shoot going. At one point – my absolute highlight – as I am my colleague were surrounded by 5-7 young Kurdish men, another handed his camera to Top Dog and asked him to take our pictures.

View from the Citadel

We had a picnic lunch at the second set of falls in Kani Maran, where the most we got was a gentleman hanging out of a passing car and professing his love to one of us. I’m not sure which, but, to be fair, he probably didn’t care, either.

At the Geli Ali Beg waterfall, which was at one time featured on the back of the Iraqi 5-dinar note, a couple of groups of young women wanted their photos with us. Again, the men were ignored but the two women in the group posed and posed.

Our first stop of the morning had been at a citadel about 45 minutes outside of Erbil, which, 200 years ago, was fortified with about 50 soldiers who guarded the roads. It was my first view of the greenery of the Kurdistan region. Except for the rocks, it could have been Ireland.

Leftover Easter candles at the shrine

Really, driving was a great way to see the area. Not that I drove, obviously. I was in the third-row seat of a Suburban, straining to see out the window. Those things are almost as bad as airplane seats; they were definitely not at eye level. And the rows are so long, I couldn’t crane my head over to see out the other window because I was belted in. But eventually, I got views of both sides, because as we climbed hills and mountains, the roads switched back and forth.

The most arduous part of the trip was a stop at the Shrine of Raban Boya, a site popular with Christians and Muslims. There’s a monastery above the shrine, and there’s been one there for 1,500 years. Our second stop on the trip, the skies unleashed halfway up the climb, which was kind of brutal since the “stairs,” such as were, gave way to rock-covered switchbacks about a quarter of the way up. Fortunately, no one fell to their death, or even tripped badly enough to fall, which would have hurt pretty bad. The rocks were pretty jagged and it was rough, especially with an umbrella in one hand, but all I could think of was, “I climbed Tiger’s Nest, I can do this.” And I made it!

The single cynic in me loved this.
True love cracked.

The shrine itself was not really a huge deal, but it was kind of cool because, being so recently after Easter, Christians had come and lit candles, so I tried to do some artsy pictures. Plus, the views were gorgeous, and, of course, no one had died.

The trip down scared me far more than the trip up, because you can really only fall so far up. Tumbling down through jagged rocks, though, that’s a much bigger deal. I picked my way down pretty slowly but made it in a respectable amount of time. I was pretty wet, though, but everyone was. That was the end of the rain, though, and the rest of the day was beautiful.

Outside my gym

When I got back down and to the car, I checked the “Health” status on the iPhone. Fifty flights of stairs. It sure felt like it.

Early this week, we had a nice picnic lunch at work in one of the yards of the little former houses that are now our offices. Basically, when we moved in, we just walled off a couple blocks, started paying rent and customized or modified everything. I knew there were pretty flowers, but until we had that lunch, I didn’t realize how many we had. Between that yard and the rose garden outside the gym (yes, you read that correctly; a rose garden right outside the gym) we just have so many gorgeous blooms that I decided to take photos of all of them.

Just the garden outside the gym – it’s not really big – has white, yellow, purple, pink and red varieties. The big garden, which is mostly roses but has some other flowers, too, also has some kind of spotted pink ones, orange, many shades of red/pink and several sizes. It’s just so peaceful and beautiful.

Flowers even make orange pretty.

I decided to pick one rose and take it back to the house I’m staying in, and selected this giant pink one. I’d seen what I figured I could pass off as a vase on a little-used table, but when I stuck it in there, it looked so lonely that I went back out and cut down a few more. Now I regret not thinking of doing that sooner; they’re just so cheerful.