March 12th:
Our two month visas expired today, so Andy and I went to the Residency Office with a representative from the school. It wasn't too long of a wait (since everything is a free-for-all without any established lines, it helped that Andy knew one of the officials who moved our paperwork to the top of the stack). In the end, we were told that we needed to have our blood drawn. We picked up Lisa and drove to the department of health (after going to the wrong place initially). The facilities would not have met American standards, but I tried not to look too closely. We were given a vial with our name on it ... the water spots inside indicated that they were reused (ironic since this country throws everything else away). Lisa and I prayed that we wouldn't have someone's leftover bacteria in our sample. I was up first and went through a set of double doors and around the corner to the nurse's station where a little wrinkly woman sat behind a desk. She beckoned me to sit down in Kurdish. After a few questions, we established the fact that I only spoke English and she only spoke Kurdish. She told me I was very nice (in Kurdish) and proceeded to stab me, quite skilfully, in the vein on my right arm. It wasn't as painful as I expected, but I had to keep from looking at the blood stains on the floor from prior patients. She placed a dab of cotton on the puncture and adamantly insisted that I hold it for "egkt daqaque" (one minute). I tried to examine it after 30 seconds, but it wasn't good enough for my Kurdish Florence Nightingale. I sat obediently for another 30 seconds (or more) before she released me. I picked up my things and headed back to the standing-room-only waiting room. After Andy and Lisa finished having their blood drawn, we gave a sigh of relief and headed out (taking note of the bloody cotton balls strewn across the parking lot). The school rep told us he would pick up our visas the next day.
I went home, made refried beans and fried up some corn tortillas (bought in Erbil) for our team dinner. Tried to rest and fight off a headache that has been lingering since our long week away. Stacy and I went for a walk to pick up some groceries. We met up with John, Mary, and Hannah around 5:30 and headed off for our team meeting. Dinner was amazing! We had tostadas with beans and rice. Julie and Dan brought toppings, including homemade sour cream. Lisa made chips, salsa, and a cheesy dip. Mary made a cinnamon, honey cheesecake. Yum! We didn't have a Skype call with Nashville this week, so we Skyped the Suly team instead.
Afterwards, we went around the room with prayer requests. I have been troubled by many things over the last week, but felt the burden increase upon arriving back to Duhok. While we were away, our team director confirmed my growing suspicion that in this part of the world, Asians are hired for sexual immorality. (Thus the incident in the alley.) Since knowing this to be a fact, I have been more self-conscious about my appearance in public, especially now that we are back in familiar surroundings. From the soccer meeting, where I was only one of three women present in a group of six Christian men, to the furniture store where John had to act as my intermediary, to the residency office in a room full of men with Andy standing beside me - I became increasingly aware of how the men with me might be perceived in my company, how their reputations might be affected by keeping company with me. Subconsciously, I began to worry that my presence might bring down the testimony of my team mates who have done nothing but help and protect me this entire time. My shame spilled out as we shared prayer requests. The team was very gracious. They reminded me that we are blessed when men revile us and say all manner of evil against us falsely for Jesus' sake. I felt greatly relieved as the men and their wives assured me that they would gladly bear this reproach with me. God is so good to manifest His love for me in this way!
Played the "name game" afterwards and had a lot of laughs! It was another late night by the time we got home, but thankful for all the fun and fellowship we have as a team.
March 13th:
A lazy day... Woke up at 7 to Skype with my family. It was 9pm their time, but the "littles" had stayed up to say goodnight to me. I think it is getting harder for my family and me as we are coming up to the 3 month mark since I said goodbye. Being able to see everyone's faces is a tremendous blessing, but still can't replace a hug. Lord willing, only 3 months and 4 days before Eithen is in my arms! It was good to hear news from home. I found out that one of the little boys from church asked his parents where they were going for their Spring Break family vacation. When he learned they were "only" going to Disneyland, he was disappointed ... "Can't we go visit Miss Helen in Iraq instead?" That made my day!
After the Skype call, I made a batch of bran muffins and did some housework. It was nice to stay around the house without anywhere to go. Around 4:30 I went over to John and Mary's. We watched Little Dorrit together and had "Pizza Hot." Went to bed late (and we still didn't finish all the episodes)!
