105 degrees more or less

Yes it is hot and I wonder how I will survive. Me feet are painfully cracked from the dryness. I spend most of the day in the a/c bed room. Last night the wind picked up, blowing across the city, in from the desert. The power went out for a good part of the night and I felt stifled in my foam mattress bed. Very different than my Vermont life. There is a little shop down the street where they hand make cotton stuffed mattresses and pillows; I am very tempted to ditch the poly bedding. I hear that the multi-generational tailors in Iraq are being put out of business by cheap Chinese clothes produced here. Same for the gorgeous traditional rugs; the high quality Iranian- made carpets are less and less affordable to the average person and Chinese-made synthetics are moving in on the local markets.  Our neighbors often hang out the carpets over the walls that surround each house in order to air them out. They catch my eye every time. 

The house water supply comes from the city at unpredictable times of the day and night. The hose is held in a tank on the patio and when it is full a pump fills the tank on the roof, providing gravity feed when the power goes out. There is an elaborate system of staying aware of the sound of water coming in, and switching the pump on and off at the right times. Many times the water just runs into the yard which is good for the mulberry, grape, pomegranate, and fig. 

The elections in Iran are big news however we are limited in talking with locals and hearing opinions and impressions. I haven't yet read an English paper from Sulimani. 

I am working hard to get along with my fellow American room mates, perhaps my greatest challenge here besides the heat! 

Sarchow!