Have you ever been in a situation were what you would expect as a regular day, turns out into an adventure, of the good kind, not the stress-filled kind? Have you been in such an interesting experience?
Well, here’s what happened to me on the evening of 12 Nov. 2006. A friend of mine in Sulaimaniya, is working in Sulaimaniya Expo which was opened on 11 Nov. and will go on till 14 Nov. And that friend had suggested that I come and visit the Expo and take a look around. I also wanted to see this Expo myself. The last time I’ve seen one was in 2001 or 2002 in Baghdad, and I actually worked on the 2001, and it was very tiresome, trying, but still somewhat fun.
Anyway, I went out of my Sulaimaniya home by 4 pm, knowing that the Expo will close completely by 6 pm, and the entrance would be closed an hour earlier. I calculated some 15 – 20 minutes to reach that destination, but the 1st obstacle was finding a taxi. 4 or 5 drivers said that they won’t go there (probably because it was too far), and another two asked for a high amount. I finally got a taxi and was on the road around 4:15 pm, so I am still ok with time.
When we got to the main road leading there, we saw this huge traffic jam, and the road looked really further than every time I went on. When I arrived at the Expo’s entrance, it was 5:01 pm, and they closed the door a minute earlier. People kept arguing with the police that they came from far away places and this and that, but it was useless. I sent my friend a short text message, saying: “You know what? They closed the door. I’ll go home.”
That was what I said alright, but how on earth do I intend to do it. The sun was down by the time I decided to leave the Expo, which was 5:10, and darkness crept really quickly. Now to give you an idea about where this Expo place is; it is some 20 kms outside Sulaimaniya, with some 17 kms on the Kirkuk road, then you turn right as if you’re going to Dukan, in a vast area called Tasluja. The Expo is on a side road that is usually common with private cars, pickups and trucks, but not taxis. So, the first step was to start walking about 3 kms till I get to the Kirkuk – Sulaimaniya road, and from there, I’d try to find a bus, a taxi or anything to carry me through the 15 kms mainly uninhabited stretch of land. More darkness came along, and I kept walking, humming some coming-home songs, like Haytham Yousif’s “Baladna” (Our Homeland), and Hatim Al-Iraqi’s (Iraq) song, to name a few. I finally arrived at the Tasluja interchange after half an hour’s quick march. There were some 4 people waiting there, and they were later joined by another two. I waited for some 10 minutes, then I decided t walk as much as I can, and keep looking for a passing bus or, if I get more lucky, a passing taxi.
As I was walking, humming, and munching some toffees I bought earlier in the day, I thought: What if I don’t find a car? What if I had to walk up to Sulaimaniya? What if I get too tired? What if I had to make a fire and look for some creature to hunt and eat? What if I’m too close to the Airport, and a landing airplane wakes me up as it roars down the runway?! Where can I get a harmonica? If not, then where would I find a guitar, or someone who’d teach me how to play the guitar?! If there was someone how’d teach me the guitar, they’d probably drop me into town in the 1st place!
I walked for about 500 meters or so, when I saw a bus stops about 100 meters away, so I began to run towards it, and luckily enough, they saw me running so they waited. I couldn’t exactly understand where it was going, but I got that it reaches an interchange, and I was lucky because it was the 60th Street & Salem, which makes me inside Sulaimaniya.
I took another walk from that interchange to home, which was about another 2-3 kms, not because I had to, but to discover a part of town I don’t get to see, being away from my regular commuting axis.
Anyway, I arrived home, had a warm shower that made every joint of mine crack, checked my e-mails, watched some TV, made and ate some tsatsiki (AKA cacik in Turkey, jajik in Iraq), wrote these couple of pages, and then it’s snooze time, not forgetting to let you know though, that I’d probably try going to that no-man’s place again tomorrow, but much earlier I’d say.
Hopefully, someone would go with me by their car, otherwise a harmonica would be really handy!
