Daily notebook from Duhok 2016

[Piling]

I am a terrible painter and I love GOOD paint, so I stay abstinent.

GOSH you get up early

It is 5am in the UK and I am going to bed

I think it is 8am in Duhok

I am nocturnal perhaps I was a bat in a previous life

I love taking the dogs through the woods in the dark

I come alive in the moonlight because I am a witch

O often wake up at 5.30 am and get up at 6 for making coffee. Then I drink coffee in bed until 7 am.

But at 10.30 pm I sleep

I dislike to go to bed at dawn, I live with the sun.

[Piling]

Question:

Do you know what happened about the visit to see Ocalan?

Did the delegation just give up and go home?

Heard nothing about that. Here in Duhok, people do not care really of Imrali. They have their own troubles with Daesh, social agitation, strikes and unpaid salaries. They are more concerned about Syria also, because Kurdish refugees here come from Rojava and Sinja/Niniveh.

[Anthea]

Heard nothing about that. Here in Duhok, people do not care really of Imrali. They have their own troubles with Daesh, social agitation, strikes and unpaid salaries. They are more concerned about Syria also, because Kurdish refugees here come from Rojava and Sinja/Niniveh.

Do you have many refugees near you?

[Piling]

In the school, a Christian teacher is a refugee. Some students also. One has lost his father, killed by Daesh in Mosul.

[Anthea]

In the school, a Christian teacher is a refugee. Some students also. One has lost his father, killed by Daesh in Mosul.

It is heartbreaking to listen to the stories of people who have lost so much

Trouble with politicians is that they all seem to have forgotten they are not playing video games

REAL PEOPLE ARE DYING

I get so angry and just feel that nobody really cares

Do you ever feel you are banging your head against a brick wall?

I know that I do

[Piling]

Since yesterday, strong wind in Duhok, and a foggy dust that hides all the mountains

[Anthea]

Since yesterday, strong wind in Duhok, and a foggy dust that hides all the mountains

I hope it does not get into your home

[Piling]

I love these hurricane winds. Sounds like an army of ghost shaking the doors in the house.

[Anthea]

I love these hurricane winds. Sounds like an army of ghost shaking the doors in the house.

Is Duhok normally a windy area?

[Piling]

Yes, strong winds are frequent, for it is enclosed between 2 mountains, I guess.

[Anthea]

Yes, strong winds are frequent, for it is enclosed between 2 mountains, I guess.

Not sure I would enjoy living in a sand storm

Did you decide on a present for your friend yet?

[Anthea]

If the dam burst would you become wet???

[Piling]

Living in the high Duhok, I don't think so.

I am not even sure that Erbil would be wet. It seems that it threats Mosul-Bagdad area. Never heard any Kurdish concern.

[Anthea]

Living in the high Duhok, I don't think so.

I am not even sure that Erbil would be wet. It seems that it threats Mosul-Bagdad area. Never heard any Kurdish concern.

That is a relief

[Piling]

I found the gift : a special scent candle for ritual