Some Like It Hot

Although I have never been one to fall into the trap of drawing up national borders and thinking every person within should adhere to certain national stereotypes, sometimes I am aware of how 'typically' English I can be.  I can be fairly shy by nature and thus awkward in most social situations, I tend to understate things (everything is 'nice') and when it comes to small talk nothing beats complaining about the weather.**

In the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil, talking about the weather was something almost unavoidable.  Even the locals couldn't get enough about discussing just how hot it was.  With daytime temperatures soaring above 50 degrees and air-conditioning restricted to taxis, hotels and a few lucky shops, most people wandering the streets resembled the Walking Dead, though instead of brains everyone was hungry for some shade.

Luckily enough, the government are in the early stages of a mass redevelopment of the city in an attempt to rejuvenate the image of the region and attract major investment from abroad.  Where once there was arid wasteland, now locals and foreigners alike could relax in the lush green parks and cool of near the numerous fountains and water features dotted around the city.  Indeed, the most popular activity during the evening is to sit near the collection of fountains in the city centre with some tea and a nargile, or even some freshly squeezed juice (the climate being perfect for a variety of fruit).

The problem only really became apparent at night.  In major cities like Duhok and Erbil, there has been a massive influx of workers seeking better jobs and better money in the last few years.  Needless to say the occupancy of hotels and flophouses in those cities has risen to the point that finding a place to stay has become the equivalent of an Easter Egg hunt with the Mad Hatter.  Hotel after hotel would be full, or far too high for my budget.  At this point I now had two other travel companions (Carol from Taiwan and Peter from the USA), but dividing the costs by three was still excessive.  Our only option in Erbil was a run-down flea-pit with no air-conditioning, communal squat toilets and a motley crew of guests that you wouldn't feel comfortable meeting in a darkened alley at night.  So the kind of place where I'd usually stay.

This time, however, the lack of air-conditioning became a big obstacle during our stay as the walls of the 'hotel' were so porous they would soak up the heat of the day and retain in throughout the night.  The rickety ceiling fan only managed to move hot air around the room.  Any time we went to the 'lobby' to get some ice-cold water from the machine, it would be warm a few minutes later!  This is when we discovered that it was actually cooler outside at night and hanging out near the fountains was a really really good idea.

It was during one of those late nights trips that we met a trio of siblings from Mosul.  They were in Erbil with their parents for a few days to have some peace and quiet from the fear of their daily routines; bomb blasts, kidnappings and other much much worse horrors.  The eldest daughter was also hoping to get a place at the art college there.  However, being Arab they had a tougher time of things due to the tight restrictions the Kurdish government put on applicants from other areas of Iraq.  It seemed that the Iraqi Kurdistan region was an inversion of its neighbour to the north, Turkey.  Whereas in Turkey, many 'Kurdish' people I met complained about feeling like second-class citizens, the reverse could be said to be true further south.

I had heard stories of Arabs being stopped at the 'border' coming from the other cities of Iraq and having their vehicles completely stripped apart and their luggage practically violated.  The Kurdish military, the Peshmarga, are constantly on the look-out for terrorist elements and although the result has been a dramatic increase in safety, it has also made it more difficult for innocent Arabs to get jobs and positions at universities and created a level of mistrust.

This was backed up by Jamil, the owner of the hotel we were staying at.  A couple of times while we were out drinking tea or he was showing me some place of interest nearby, I witnessed the mocking he would receive because he was an Arab.  He had a deep mistrust of the police, mostly stemming from the fact he didn't have any identification.  Later on, he quietly confessed that he was in fact a Jew of Arabic descent, but he would never publicly say so for fear of reprisals.  He did stress, though, that it was only a minority of people who had a problem with Arabs in the territory (after all, they were both muslim).  It was the politicians that were making relations difficult, mainly in its attempt to move towards independence.

However, for the present moment independence is not on the horizon.  The Iraqi Kurdistan politicians are fully aware of the struggles that lie ahead with both Turkey and Iran should they break away from Iraq.  For the time being, they prefer to keep the weather the only hot topic.


**  Of course, all the above is pure guff as those characteristics have nothing to do with being English, but for the sake of a handy intro I'm going with it.