Today is Saturday, August 18, 2012. It is our last Saturday to be in Kurdistan. Kathy and I will be departing for the States very early next Saturday a.m. Things are quiet here at the seminary where we are staying. Most of the expats have gone home already. As I wrote in an earlier post, at one time there were 27 expats here to help with Mar Qardakh's summer program. We have dwindled down to 12. Of the 12, 6 are permanent hires who will be teaching at the school when classes resume in September. They live in Ankawa, closer to the school. Kathy and I and 4 others live at the seminary. Where this once was a place of expat activity, it has now become as quiet as a church.
This morning, we 6 "seminarians" will be going together on our final road trip. Plans have been made on our behalf for us to travel by mini-van to the city of Sulaimaniya, or Sulaimanya as it is called on this map of Iraqi Kurdistan. It is about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive from Erbil or Arbil as it is called on the map. It is also very close to the Iranian border. Not sure what we will do when we get there. However, we are all looking forward to getting out and escaping from the monotony of the seminary.
Last night, our Iraqi cooks had the night off. Therefore we went into town yesterday to do some grocery shopping for dinner and for this morning's breakfast as well. Mary made a salad with lettuce and tomatoes. It was the first time I had had a lettuce salad since our arrival. Kathy made a nice roasted vegetable side dish. She also surprised us all with plenty of ice tea! Our meat dish was supplied by one of the local vendors down the road. It was lamb kabobs. It was all very delicious! And the fellowship at mealtime was awesome. We had a very good evening as we reminisced about the summer program at the school and about the road trips we had already taken.
Looking forward to seeing the sights of Sulaimaniya. Hope to post photos of our adventures on this blog tomorrow.
jw
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