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Signs of normalcy

(Ubiquitous yet unique - Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.)
Having toiled in blue-colar jobs for most of my life I have always taken a great deal of that life for granted. In the context of a region constantly in the shadow of war or actually at war, activities of daily living take on a new role. Here there is sporadic electricity, few hot water lines, often no heat, unpredictable transportation - just finding an Internet connection can be an ordeal. After finding a connection, it may not work. These are all simple things we take for granted in America.

Some of you that know me will remember I was once a landcaper. The other day I snapped off a couple pictures of a garden shop. In America that may be considered a silly thing to do. But I continue to see things that I do not expect to see in a region antaganized by war. I also am always surprised when I come around a corner and they are picking up the garbage. I am always surprised went I click "send" and it actually happens. What we would consider normalcy peers through the cracks in this society.

When I visited the university the other day, the students had the same desires that students in America have - to find a job after college. Being art students they asked me if I had a favorite American painter or sculpter. Being a criminal justice, communications, and sociology kind of guy in acadamia, my memory of art could only muster up Jackson Pollock (to us blue-colar guys, Pollock slung paint at a canvas on the floor - art experts please forgive me). Anyway, I got some strange looks from the Kurdish students. But then I thought, what could be more normal than a casual converstion on some art none of us knew anything about.

Bob Keith
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

View more pictures from Bob's travels.