Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla facilisis suscipit magna, in euismod velit facilisis vitae. Mauris vel aliquet ex. Vestibulum tempor scelerisque augue a sagittis. Sed vitae arcu vel dui vehicula tincidunt ac ut ligula. Sed condimentum et lectus a fringilla. Nunc massa mi, convallis sed convallis sed, tempor eget ex. Aliquam ullamcorper diam felis, viverra aliquet mi mollis in. Pellentesque facilisis arcu eu condimentum gravida. Nullam porta sit amet magna posuere lobortis. Nulla pulvinar sapien quis tellus faucibus vulputate. Praesent pharetra dignissim libero non faucibus.

Curabitur et nulla lobortis odio dapibus fringilla. Sed hendrerit placerat justo, at dictum nisi blandit vel. Integer sed sem at magna sollicitudin tincidunt vel in justo. Fusce nec metus eget eros malesuada scelerisque eget eget ex. Maecenas vitae dignissim mi, non vestibulum justo. Praesent risus diam, accumsan sed tincidunt nec, laoreet eu nisi. Cras dictum nisl magna, eget suscipit ante tincidunt ut. Phasellus at felis hendrerit, porta mauris quis, luctus nunc. Nunc posuere quis enim sed lobortis. Suspendisse potenti. Proin ut consequat sem. Cras nisi augue, lacinia id ornare at, maximus congue nisl. Morbi imperdiet, felis at consectetur venenatis, dui quam dapibus ipsum, a venenatis lorem sapien sed est. Pellentesque tincidunt lobortis arcu, eget finibus est commodo ac. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Nulla auctor risus et porttitor pretium.

Trek notes: November 20, 2019.

Sed congue dui ac tortor luctus, eget congue dolor suscipit. Fusce finibus, ante in vulputate tristique, erat urna sollicitudin odio, ut tristique nibh nisl at arcu. Integer maximus pellentesque metus, in malesuada nisl fringilla sit amet. Vestibulum blandit, sem in euismod porta, neque sapien scelerisque dolor, quis iaculis eros sapien quis ipsum. Vestibulum vitae facilisis nisi. Donec ultrices velit mauris, et iaculis elit blandit et. Donec vestibulum vitae nisi in pretium. Ut condimentum faucibus auctor. Sed non gravida lorem. Quisque faucibus, diam sit amet ullamcorper efficitur, nulla nibh vehicula tellus, a congue urna arcu et ligula. Suspendisse tincidunt urna odio, rutrum bibendum erat commodo in.

Vestibulum condimentum hendrerit metus. Curabitur elementum dictum neque, a sodales felis varius eu. Phasellus non sodales massa. Nam nec hendrerit nisi. Nam dapibus libero semper lorem pellentesque porta. Pellentesque quis fermentum mauris. Aliquam sit amet purus erat. Curabitur quis dictum erat, non tempor nulla. Phasellus vitae efficitur felis, vitae lobortis eros. Vestibulum id venenatis risus, a dapibus dolor. Ut aliquet felis in lectus rutrum fringilla. In fringilla nunc id urna feugiat placerat eu sed lorem. Ut a dui vitae turpis ornare varius et vel augue. Phasellus eget purus in nisi molestie aliquam eu gravida risus. Duis quam risus, fermentum eget efficitur sed, suscipit eget quam.

Donec sit amet velit et dui consequat lacinia vitae vel nisl. Ut quam sem, fringilla nec viverra sit amet, rutrum vehicula nisi. Proin ultricies, quam in varius rutrum, tortor mauris egestas orci, non placerat arcu nisi vitae lectus. Sed tincidunt varius imperdiet. In varius dui eget nibh porttitor blandit. Praesent et pharetra arcu. Vivamus bibendum diam ut diam commodo tristique. Mauris malesuada, felis vel tincidunt ultrices, mauris purus pellentesque enim, eget facilisis arcu magna vel ipsum. Integer ac rhoncus eros. Donec ligula erat, porttitor eu sapien et, porta pellentesque metus. Cras dapibus mauris lorem, eu ullamcorper ex feugiat nec. Aliquam aliquet, dolor sit amet porttitor auctor, felis lorem consequat ante, eu suscipit ligula augue at felis. Etiam sit amet molestie leo, sed feugiat justo. Maecenas quis mi sed odio gravida facilisis. Suspendisse lobortis, sapien nec venenatis tempor, felis sapien mattis nibh, vitae accumsan nunc sem in lorem. Pellentesque sed lectus sed massa facilisis egestas.

Donec sit amet velit et dui consequat lacinia vitae vel nisl. Ut quam sem, fringilla nec viverra sit amet, rutrum vehicula nisi. Proin ultricies, quam in varius rutrum, tortor mauris egestas orci, non placerat arcu nisi vitae lectus. Sed tincidunt varius imperdiet. In varius dui eget nibh porttitor blandit. Praesent et pharetra arcu. Vivamus bibendum diam ut diam commodo tristique. Mauris malesuada, felis vel tincidunt ultrices, mauris purus pellentesque enim, eget facilisis arcu magna vel ipsum. Integer ac rhoncus eros. Donec ligula erat, porttitor eu sapien et, porta pellentesque metus. Cras dapibus mauris lorem, eu ullamcorper ex feugiat nec. Aliquam aliquet, dolor sit amet porttitor auctor, felis lorem consequat ante, eu suscipit ligula augue at felis. Etiam sit amet molestie leo, sed feugiat justo. Maecenas quis mi sed odio gravida facilisis. Suspendisse lobortis, sapien nec venenatis tempor, felis sapien mattis nibh, vitae accumsan nunc sem in lorem. Pellentesque sed lectus sed massa facilisis egestas.

Field/Sulimaniyah note on May 16, 2021

Srood, Daniel and I are sitting on short plastic furniture lined up on one of Suli’s main streets, drinking tea from the teahouse where we just hunted down two Ibrahims, who begrudgingly granted us their portraits.

”ON TIME” on these trips:
Due to our constant culture shock, the almost countless people we meet and the amount of conversations and kilometers covered - on our brains and by our feet - we appear to be loose from time. It’s been two weeks since our plane landed in Erbil, also known as ‘yesterday’, and so much has happened since then that it feels like ages ago. This is the half-way point: so we have time and we are still continuously running out of it with the stuff we still want to, or the things we aren’t sure will work out.

Sulaymaniya, 16 May 2021

Well, this is unexpected - our Ibrahim-driven line of questioning has brought a sheep trader on the verge of tears, in the middle of a vending hot-spot. We’re in the trading pen along one of Sulimaniyah’s main highways out of the city. People come here for the cattle - those travelling from the city to purchase meat as fresh as possible, others coming from the smaller outskirting villages to provide. The wares are most sought-after during holy times, like in the festivities of Eid ul Fitr, the three days that mark the end to the month of fasting of Ramadan. 

The idea arose a day or so ago, when the three of us were taking a five-minute-break from our slow arduous stroll on the Arbat-Hazard Mer hike and trying to look ahead to our next steps. As he stretched himself in the shadow of a tall tree, Srood explained to us what his family would be planning for the celebrations: “Food is really, really essential. And people like to have their own animal to mark the tradition.”

The slaughter, an offering to God, is a tradition that mimics the prophet Ibrahim’s act of faith, who showed himself willing to follow a holy command to kill his own son. As a reward, of course, God replaced Ibrahim’s son with a sheep. Nowadays,”people sometime spend days saving up to be able to come to us and buy their sacrificial animal”, says the cattleman Faroq Tofiq. We stand between the few animals he still has left - it’s 8 am but the buying, weighing and offering starts early in the morning. When I offer the option that this is very important to people - hence their dedication to the cattle market - Tofiq is moved. “One could day we help people in their faith, during Eid.” 

The animal business appears a team effort: herders bring their cattle, intermediaries organize the sale, and butchers provide the final service. We meet two men who have animals slaughtered for their newborns, and watch with them as the meat is chopped up. It is all done very efficiently and I only get a little bit queasy. I stare at my feet for some of the more gorey parts, noticing a tiny bit of fur has gotten stuck to my left boot.
The body parts are separated by the meat’s quality and carefully dropped into plastic bags hanging from the shack’s ceiling. Amjad, whose son was born a month ago, stands to my right, filming the process on his phone. “That’s for my wife, so she can also see we’ve done the thing properly.” There will be a feast for the young family tonight, but the majority of the sheeps’ meat will go to charity. Amjad asks for it to be cut finely, so that it can be even better distributed amongst those he knows who are in need.

The last thing I notice, as the butchers work their knives and finally load the plastic bags into Amjad’s truck, is their belts. Made of sturdy leather, they hold the necessary tools within easy reach. In the back they are carved, “Batman”, “Hardcore”.

The Great Mosque of Sulaimainyah, built in the late 1700s by Ibrahim Pasha Baban, sits in the middle of the city’s bazar. It feed hundreds of the needy on a daily basis. When we join the line for its distribution, to speak to people and the clergy, we are well past the call for iftar. Nevertheless, a meal is arranged for us -- in the sheikh’s quarters.

Sulaymaniya, 15 May 2021

Eid is the perfect time for a holiday outing. Srood takes us to Chavi Land, the popular amusement park on the Goizha mountain, overlooking the rest of the city. Kids in their most festive clothes run about, disregarding their fancy slacks and frilly dresses, dripping icecream and clambering into the rides. There is a tall ferris wheel and a rollercoaster - people’s timed screams drift across the parc’s grounds every now and then. Young couples sit and watch as the carts fly by. There is a water-and-lights spectacle in the fountain that is captured by dozens of smart phones at a time.
Speaking of smart phones - as the three of us stroll about and I try to take a few good photos (Daniel tells me I should practice) a little girl taps my arm. It’s only fair I agree to take a selfie, I reason, because I did just take her picture as she ran ahead. Turns out to be a capital mistake, I realize, as all of a sudden six mums and their kids jump into view, smiling politely and sticking their phones up. I crouch down to stare into the lenses, seeing my own bewildered face looking back from the screens, pixelated and adorned in as many different filters. I can’t quite say I had my picture taken.