Slemani After Hours

We have been in Sulaymaniah (Slemani) for a few days now, and my first impressions are how crowded its gotten, how hot it is, how there are a ton of new buildings, bridges, and freeways that were no there just a few years ago.

Since it is Ramadan, we spend our days fasting, and since its WAY too hot outside to go our during the day while we are fasting, we tend to stick indoors and take a lot of naps. We have been visiting difference close family relatives every day in different parts of the city, which is a good way to see how the different social classes are living, and what state the city is in.

Since we cannot go out much during the day, we go out at night. Since most people fast, they often don't open the cafes, bakeries, restaurants, stores, or bazar shops until after breaking the fast. So the new social schedule is from 7pm to 3am. We were quite happy about that, considering the fact that there wasn't much to do in the US after dark that was Islamically sound. You can only watch so many movies and bowl so many games.

Last night we went to an area on Slemani called "Saholaka", which translates to "The place of the ice" because there used to be an ice factory on that street decades ago. Now, the street is filled with high rise malls, office buildings, banks, restaurants, and outdoor food stands and carts. This area is especially alive during Ramadan, when people are in search of late night snacks.

Some of the most interesting carts were the ones with fresh sun flower seeds that were fire roasted in a weird contraption on the cart itself. A cart with a cucumber like vegetable called "troze" that is eaten with sumac and salt, and not available outside the Middle East, and carts with freshly roasted mixed nuts local to the region.