Hannah interviews our director, John, and his wife, Mary, about how they became parents while living in Iraq and what it was like raising their family there. Living in Iraq has unique challenges for parents. (While Colleen watched the kids!) Want to join us? We're always looking for more adventurous families to join our teams in [...]
I am hot and sweaty. I recently arrived back home in Suly after spending two days trekking across Northern Iraq to see the schools in Dohuk and Hawler (Erbil). It was an interesting adventure of bumpy roads, security checkpoints, and back roads. I was again impressed with the beauty of this country. The mountains and [...]
Sometimes I am astounded at my kids. This week has been… I struggle to find a sufficient adjective to describe the strange combination of blessings and struggles. One boy brought me a little charm of the American Flag. A girl brought me a necklace that she made herself out of little gold colored glass beads [...]
One of our favorite topics about Iraq is all the ELECTRICITY! Also, the lack of it. It's one of those things that we in the U.S. definitely take for granted and see as our right. Not so in Iraq! Power outages are common and wiring is... creative. =) (Also, there is conversation about the electric [...]
Is it Secret? Is it Safe? Hannah and Colleen finally dive into the question you have all really been wondering about. Is it safe? What they really wanted to do was give you the statistics about how much more likely you are to be killed by car accidents, falling pianos, or even your own clothing... [...]
Keep Your Shirt On: Clothes in Kurdistan Hannah and Colleen address one of the most commonly asked questions about living in Iraq: "Do you have to cover your head?" And they give a rough overview of women's clothing in the Middle East with a focus on what they saw and wore in Northern Iraq. Then [...]
Kurdish Language Adventures Hannah and Colleen bring along the amazing and talented Steve, who has been learning and speaking Kurdish for many many years. He shares with us about the history of Kurdish, the various dialects/languages that are part of Kurdish, and some of his own experiences speaking the language. Join us in Nashville or [...]
We all know that some words are not easy to translate into other languages. People collect these words and make lists of them (see here and here). But most of the time these words are used quite rarely, like Gokotta -- to wake up early in the morning with the purpose of going outside to [...]
What do origami frogs, fire, and the Odyssey have in common? Did you guess teaching in Iraq? Hannah and Colleen remember the adventures of each of their first years teaching in Iraq. Thanks to Julia for suggesting this topic. It had us wandering down the road of memories and how both of us had unusually [...]
Islamic Holidays in Northern Iraq This is part 3 of our episodes focusing on holidays! We tackled American holidays (we're good at those!), Newroz (you just get swept up in in!), and now we're attempting to explain the Islamic holidays. Disclaimer: We are not Muslim and while we did some research online, we certainly didn't [...]
