Narinjla Visit

Some of my fathers family live in the city of Halabja, the place of the chemical gas attacks in the late 1980's that nearly wiped out the whole city. Since then, it has been beautiful rebuilt and expanded, and now houses many Iraqis fleeing from the current crisis caused by ISIS terrorist forces.

We traveled to Halabja to visit some family and see some sights for the weekend. My oldest cousin is the electricity minister in the Halabja area, and has a lush orchard in a small mountain village called "Narinjla" 20 minutes outside of Halabja. He has fields of cherry tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zuccini, okra, watermelon, and most beloved to Kurds, pomegranates, figs, and grapes.

We then spent the hours leading up to iftar time picking fruit and vegetables, swimming in the pool they had installed to ward off the summer heat, and preparing food inside the small, fully furnished house they have built on the property for overnight visits.

Once iftar was only an hour away, we fired up the grill with wood from the orchard. We made traditional lamb Kebobs, grilled tomatoes and peppers, and chicken made on a "Saj", a rounded, iron pan like grill, used to cook food directly over a fire.