Just a few days after we faked our own marriage (my continued apologies to those who believed it.) We were invited to attend a wedding in Iraqi Kurdistan. Being polite Canadians, we asked several times "Are you sure it's ok that we come?". Of course our questions were dismissed and we were told that it's a celebration and everyone is welcome. Given that we were complete strangers dressed in backpacker's finest (which is not that fine) we started the evening off feeling a tad nervous.Realizing that "everyone is welcome" is actually true and all kinds of friends-of-friends were present, we both felt a bit calmer. I asked our host Zring, what will happen if they don't have enough seats or enough food? He looked at me like I was crazy and responded "then they will get more chairs and cook more food." Dumb questions deserve dumb answers I suppose. Wouldn't it be nice if weddings in Canada were this inclusive and laid back?
The enterance of the bride and groom was a lively and exciting procession,consisting of many musical instruments and their closest friends and family ushering them in a dancing frenzy. Kurdish traditional dancing is very energetic, it looks pretty straightforward but is difficult when you give it a try (we did, of course.)
The highlights of the evening came later on, after the meal was eaten and the dancing started to die down. Feeling a bit curious about the two foreigners, many guests came to sit and chat with us. Interestingly many had spend some time living in Canada (mostly Calgary and parts of BC) and were now either splitting their time been Kurdistand and Canada or had returned to Kurdistan now that it's politically stable and economically prosperous.
The friendships we made that night gave us more insight into Kurdish history, culture and politics than any book or movie could have possibly done. Among our new friends, we met a former Peshmerga soldier, a documentary film maker/photographer who had years of his work destroyed by Sedam's army, a 16 year old boy with hopes of going to University in Alberta and a primary school science teacher who was about to retire after 32 years of teaching.
Kurdish hospitality is legendary (nearly everyone we met offered for us to come and stay with them) but their openness doesn't end at offering up their guest rooms. I was taken back by how honest and sincere they were in telling their stories and sharing their views. The people we met have suffered terribly and seen years of war but thankfully most felt hopeful about the future of Kurdistan.
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| Meeting the bride and groom. |
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| The groom is thinking "who is this foreigner taking my picture?" |
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| Meeting a visually impaired 90 year old who spoke no English. Our conversation involved him seeing "welcome, welcome" many times. |
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| New friends. |
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| The bride's family, lady on the left is a good example of women's traditional dress. |
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| Another new friend and men's traditional dress, worn everyday by many people. |
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| Just arrived home from Calgary, where she just graduated from the University of Alberta. |
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| No alcohol means plenty of fanta. |
