HOSPITALITY IN A WAR ZONE

"While in the North I have acquired a fine layer of fat which would be more appropriate on a bear preparing for hibernation. A number of times on this trip, I have felt like an overripe watermelon which is ready to pop. This is, of course, the direct result of Kurdish hospitality, in which one eats too damned much wherever one goes in The Region. This is where one is told, "You know you don't have to be shy in your sister's house," as more food is pushed at you. It doesn't matter that you ate too much at someone else's house a couple of hours before, you are still fed as if you hadn't eaten so much as a molecule for the last twenty years.

If you don't run up against a full-blown meal, you may be forced to undergo the tea ceremony. This generally occurs in the evening (after a large meal at home) and begins with the serving of tea. You will be expected to consume a goodly number of glasses of the hot, sweet liquid during the tea "phase". After the tea is retired to the kitchen, a tray of soda and water follows after a brief rest. Surely, you think, this is it. We will go home now and sleep it off. But no, you cannot skip the fruit "course" because here come platters of watermelon, peaches, and apples.

After consuming a suitable amount of fruit, and having reassured your hosts that you have eaten so much that you must be transported to the car in a wheelbarrow, you will be permitted to go home to sleep it off and to steel yourself for the following day's hospitality."
Rasti