Sometimes there are people that automatically command a certain type of reverence or respect the first time you meet them. I felt this way about our new friend Sheik (Sheik is a title for a well respected arabic religious man, I don’t use his full name for privacy sake). He’s a friend of Jeremy’s (our boss) who we were introduced to Monday night. Jeremy informed us that he is an Islamic religious leader that lived in Baghdad six or so years ago. Because of his peaceful teaching and active work against extremism, his house and mosque were bombed, and his family was threatened severely. Though he wasn’t injured nor his family killed, the threats on their life became so severe that they had to leave. Now, six years later and because of his meeting with Jeremy, I was able to sit in his guest room and talk with him. While dressed in his religious robes and headdress, made us feel right at home while he spoke to us about peace and the corruption of Iraq. I listened intently. After a few minutes however, he abruptly says, “Hey let’s go to a coffee shop.” Big change from what I expected. Turns out he really wanted to watch Spain play Honduras, and he left the room and came back looking super slick. Decked out with a European looking suite, he took on a whole different image to me. The feeling is kind of like the feeling you get when your a kid and you end up seeing one of your teachers in the store. It’s just a deviation from what I perceived as normal. We ended up spending the whole night in a tea/hooka bar enjoying each others company while Spain won, and he was not afraid to celebrate every goal they scored. The whole night was unusual and amazing for us all.
Today, he invited us to lunch at his house, and oh dear lord, the spread was ridiculous. Arabic food is different from Kurdish food, and from what I can tell, it might be better. As we sat on the floor and ate the lamb, rice, fruit, beef/dressing ball thing, and fish, I think I passed the threshold of the most amount of food I’ve ever fit into my body. IT WAS DELICIOUS, and words can’t describe it.
The whole experience with Sheik has been... new and interesting. Sitting in a room, drinking tea, and eating lamb with a man who was the target of terrorists because of his life of peace is definitely a world view changing experience in which I have been glad to be a part.
Life in Iraq seems to be filled with deviations from the norm, at least deviations from my norm, and I like it. I like to think the message of Jesus was a huge deviation from what the world considered the norm.
Farewell Habibi (arabic for my love),
Preston
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