BEAUTIFUL KURDISTAN

[Diri]

are those medallions gold?? what are they called? Do the guys also wear bling bling?

Yes, they are. They are called many different things depending on where in Kurdistan you are.

Zincîr / Heleqe / Gerdenî - to mention a few...

The guys don't wear much gold (which are worn under the clothes) - just necklaces and rings along with bracelets...

[raman82]

yeah big necklaces and chains now are just worn by rappers now lol , i just have one chain and 3 rings but i just wear one at the hospital because patients start asking loads of questions lol , I just keep them in my temple .

[azade_]

Thanks Diri you're such a great source of information it's really inspirational for (still, unfortunately) novice like me who's hungry to learn everything there is to know about Kurdistan Det kan sagtens være min svigerfamilie kendes din forlovedes Det lader mere eller mindre som om næsten alle kender hinanden på den ene eller anden måde.

I'm curious to know how far the tradition with the gold "medallions" go back because everyone seems to get one when they get married now. With small variations they all look the same so I'm thinking maybe it means something.
As for men, I dont know anyone who wears anything but maybe a watch or a silver wedding ring, never gold (for religious and probably cultural reasons too).

Raman this was my second trip, I'm going there again in February with my husband. He has 2½ months left, slaving for the turkish army. I'd like to have stayed there longer but I was travelling with my brother in law and he was going back to work in another city.

I dont really look so kurdish but I still love dressing up for weddings!

Does anyone have any ideas about what tourism is like in the Wan/Colemêrg area? I'd really like to bring my family there one time but it would probably be a little hard on them. There's always the possibility of them staying at a hotel but the prices are ridicuously high considdering, and the point would be for them to meet my in-laws.

[raman82]

Are you Irish Azade , you look very Irish? Well I dont think for a typical visitor , Van/Colmerg area would be a good vacation spot given its remote , so many check points , for you its different because your married to a Kurdish man and love Kurdish culture.

[azade_]

I'm danish but if I can avoid it I never say it, it's not something I'm exceptionally proud of.
You're right, it's not a typical vacation spot, although I have seen more than a few japanese tourists in Wan. I wonder what they are going there for. Culturally and historically it's a interesting place as I'm sure most people here on the forum will agree on but like you said it's not a typical touristic place. We'll see hopefully my family will come with me sometime in the near future.

[raman82]

You dont look Danish , the Danes ive seen are like SUPER TALL , girls are 6 foot and guys are 6'6 , and platinum blonde , you seem to have a more Irish pixie look about you.

[azade_]

haha I know, I'm so tiny! But not in Kurdistan, I'm taller than most of the girls there ...except they wear super high heels all the time so we look about the same There's no irish blood in my family at all and my siblings both have blond hair, like REALLY blond, so I really don't know where it comes from Ages ago I used to have a really nice british accent so everyone thought I'm english.
The stork delivered me to the wrong doorstep I'm telling ya! My real family is somewhere to be found in Kurdistan..although there's still the problem of miscolouring

[Kate]

Azade,
I'm Irish and I think you look more Irish than me.

[azade_]

so it's not possible to label people because of the way they look. While in Kurdistan I have also seen people with hair just a little darker than mine, and they were all kurdish as far back as they knew. It's kind of comforting to me really, I hate being labelled as "the foreigner"

[Diri]

If you people see Scandinavians - you will see that Azade looks very typical Scandinavian... Although one of the more beautiful ones...

And Raman - all Scandinavians being that tall is a myth... The girls can be realy small and and mostly they are a bit larger built (bone structure) but ultimately the average height is around 170-5 cm...

[proudkurd]

no matter where your from, i think you are one of the most beautiful people i've ever seen, azade

[raman82]

nah scandinavian chicks look different , azades features are delicate and she said she is shorter , and she has strawberry blond hair , which is very Irish.
In kashmir , you also have a nordic element in 10% of the population, I have 2 cousins with red hair/blond hair , blue eyes , but European features differ from Middle Eastern/Asiatic features even when you have the same hair color and complexion.

[azade_]

This scandinavian stands 163cm tall
I appreciate the compliments a lot but I'm afraid the camera lies sometimes

There are really people of all kinds of colours and hights here but a lot of them are probably not all scandinavian either, some are central or east european just a few generations back. Genetically darker colours are dominant as far as I can remember, like with eye colours. All of my in laws hope that any children of ours will have blue eyes but the chances are almost zero to none.
When it all comes down nobody's really 100% anything as far as origin goes.

[Diri]

When it all comes down nobody's really 100% anything as far as origin goes.

Well said!

And I'm proud to be of Greek-Assyrian-Kurdish background...

[Kate]

:lol:

so it's not possible to label people because of the way they look. While in Kurdistan I have also seen people with hair just a little darker than mine, and they were all kurdish as far back as they knew. It's kind of comforting to me really, I hate being labelled as "the foreigner"

You have a good point. I decided to post a picture of myself in the avatar.