Birthday Blog

I like the alliteration. Yesterday it was my birthday. It’s hard to describe it in words. It started with a whiskey on the rooftop of our dormitory and ended with smoking a waterpipe after a fantastic dinner. Meanwhile there happened a lot in between. Before I start: thanks for the calls and messages, it really means a lot to me. “I can’t lose as long as you follow”.

We started off with a visit to the Bazaar. I got a traditional Kurdish suit as birthday present and most of the other guys also bought one. We immediately became the talk of the town. In Holland there’s a certain image of Iraq in general, but the Kurds are extremely nice, friendly and helpful. They appreciated it so much that we bought a traditional suit that many of them wanted to make a picture with us. They are so proud of their nation, that it meant a lot to them that we were wearing these outfits. I hope I am able to upload some pictures the coming days; they speak for themselves. 

It also got me in a strange situation. I wanted to go on the picture with some military guards and when I asked them, they were very happy to dress me up ‘properly’. They redid my belt, fixed my hat up and at the end put a gun between my belt and trousers. Nice picture.

We also visited the minister of foreign affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government. It turned out all the other guys took off their traditional outfits, so I was the only to be dressed like that. Even in this very official setting, it was very much appreciated. Minister Bakir is a charismatic man and really spoke off the record to us. Therefore I can’t really elaborate on what he said, but it was nice to hear hes believe the time of violence is gone and the time of dialogue has started. 

The Kurdish region has a troubled history and this is also reflected in society. I would like to express this in a dichotomy of revenge versus forgiveness.  Most of the Kurdish people feel deep resentment towards the Arabs, because their constant denial of their identity and nationality. However, it’s how you cope with this. Move on or stay in the past. Revenge or forgiveness. Violence or dialogue. It’s a choice. In the group of students we have met, these thoughts are also divided. Some realize it’s hard to move on without forgiveness, some feel old debts must be settled. It’s not easy. “Tomorrow’s rain will wash these tears away, but something in our mind will always stay. Nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could… On and on the rain will say how fragile we are”.

Something which is quite remarkable to note is that although many of the students have different backgrounds and have different political views and perspectives, they are all good friends and accept each other's opinion. For me it's the essence of democracy.

It is not important to know the truth, it’s important to realize there are multiple truths. A good conception of the other’s truth gives you an advantage over the one who only believes in his own truth.

More later.