Where I left off...

When last I posted about my trip I had left off here...

So I was not able to cross the Syrian border into Kurdistan the first day I arrived so we stayed overnight in a hotel. Early the next morning I was awoke to a phone call saying that I had not been approved to cross the water to the Kurdish side. I would have to wait or find another way. Oddly Syria had said my children being half-Iraqi could cross, but that since they were children they couldn't without their mother, me, who couldn't!!!

My traveling companions, Meran's cousin, Abdullah, and two other Kurdish women didn't feel right to continue on with the large group that was heading down to the water so they instead went with me to the KDP office to try and work things out. Try as they might, and I was skeptical of how hard they were really trying, they could not get approval for me. They even changed my mothers name from Patricia to Piroz, and my fathers to some other Kurdish name. But nothing worked.

Finally I was able to get in touch with Meran who was waiting with his uncle Issa, who were wondering what was holding us up..."Others have crossed, where are you guys...?"

I firmly asked the men at the KDP office what my options were, they were trying to convince me to stay and wait...I was tired and cranky, 4 days of traveling with 3 small boys, and two "aunties" who were more of a hinderance than a help. They finally told me that crossing the Syrian/Turkish border was an option and that I could take a Taxi from there to the Turkish/Kurdish border only 2 hours away.

"Turks won't bother you cause your American and the Syrians won't care just as long as you don't mention your intentions of traveling to Kurdistan. They don't want Americans to go help the Kurds."

They told me they would help me take care of EVERYTHING, little did I know that this part of my journey to Kurdistan would prove to be the most grueling of the whole trip...

Photos

Here are some of the photos I took over in Kurdistan...sooner or later I will get around to uploading the rest and also some that my husband took while he was working in Iraq as a Kurdish linguist.

Where to begin...

At first I was just going to start where I left off almost a year ago in telling my tale of my journey to Kurdistan in 2003, shortly after we started the war that we are still in now...who knows I might actually finish my story, albeit the snails pace I am going at, but I just might finish before this war does.

But I have decided that i will do my best to finish how I arrived and how I left and everything in between...but now and again I might vear off chronolgically telling it to retell an interesting day that comes to mind or a person I had met there. So bear with me, and I will eventually get all of this out.

Another Turning Point

Another turning point has come in my daugher's life. I will let her tell it to you, but for those that wonder what's going on, you can read a bit of it on the 'sister' blog to this on, The Waiting Place...

Eva wants to write more, but is very busy with living the story. I will put a bit here and there from my point of view, but will leave her story, for her to write...

It's been almost a year...

It's been almost a year since I published anything about my journey to Kurdistan...

This was not intentional. Life happened...and stopped me dead in my tracks. I have gone through a year of so much emotional drama. I told my mother I felt like I had so much responsibility (raising my 3 boys 2,6,7 on my own while their father is working overseas) and barely the sanity to do it.

If not for anyone else, this is important to me, to finish my story...

So please look for new entries soon...and this time, God Willing I will live up to that promise.