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March 21 kicks off 3 days of celebrating in the Kurdish/Iranian new year. It's called Newroz and involves fireworks, picnics, and days of feasting throughout the countryside.
I was awoken early on the first day to a phone call telling me that the perfect place had been secured for our picnic that day. So, we lazily rolled out of bed, got the kids ready and off we went.
It was just 8:00 in the morning, but already on this first day of the holiday, there was a mad race of cars heading out of the city. People hanging out the windows, bus loads of folks blarring out music, and Kurdish flags streaming from every vehicle. We felt like we were in a parade. But, this was just the beginning.
As the day wore on the city emptied into the countryside as the roads surged with traffic. All roads leading out of the city suddenly became one-way thoroughfares as tens of thousands of cars converged on the ideal spots on the grassy covered hills surrounding the city.
When we got to our 'perfect spot' I was shocked to learn that it was very much indeed an ideal place. One of the only gazebos on the hillside overlooking the city was now our grand picnic area where we enjoyed eating, laughing, playing, and dancing.
For more pics of our time click on the photo album to the left.
For more on the history of Newroz, click here.
BBC: "Thousands of people are reported to have been killed and many others injured in a poison gas attack on a Kurdish city in northern Iraq.
Up to 20 aircraft, said to include Iraqi Migs and Mirages, were seen overhead at around 1100 local time in Halabja.
According to experts, the chemicals dropped by the planes may have included mustard gas, the nerve agents sarin, tabun and VX and possibly cyanide." Read on...
On March 10th, 1991 Kirmanj Aizat Suliman stood courageously in the city square and fired his weapon into the air signaling the uprising for the Kurds against Saddam's forces in Northern Iraq. Instantly, 35,000 of Saddam's soldiers including many of the officers surrendered to Kurdish forces. Small skirmishes resulted in the death of just 4 Kurdish soldiers. However, all the local security police of Saddam were wiped out that day.
On the 18th anniversary we sped on to Soran to celebrate with Mr. Suliman, now the mayor of the region, and to receive as a gift almost an acre of land in part of the city they call, Martyr's Quarter.
It's in this quarter of the city 250 homes have been built to house the widows and orphans of soldiers that fought against Saddam's forces and later battled in tribal warfare amongst the two main Kurdish tribes.
It was a gift giving day as both Abdullah and myself were ushered to the mayor's personal tailor to be measured for new Kurdish suits. Cannot wait to see how the Kurdish dress fits me.
This morning we brought our plan to a local architect and civil engineer to tweek our project for this particular piece of land.
Thanks for all your prayers for us in this. We were shown two different pieces of land, and I believe that we've made the right choice. The other piece truly could have been a 'life taking' decision has it was on the edge of a ridge overlooking a valley -- beautiful but a bit risky. We'll stick with the tried and sure land in the center of Martyr's Quarter, I think.
Please be in prayer for our architect to convey the plan and purpose that God has in store for this project.
A preliminary draft of the project will be ready on Sunday [a work day here], and we are expected to present this to the Soran general manager for final approval on Monday.
If you would like to see more pics of that region you click on the link to the left to see a photo album of Soran.
