“the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.” so, i supposed the opposite of war is not peace. it's indifference.

 In lieu of those thousand pictures..

         There's an old Arab proverb that tells you to trust in Allah, but tie your camel.  One of my favorite authors, Hunter S Thompson, says to call on God, but row away from the rocks.  These notions of doing rather than being plagued me throughout the drive to Basra International Airport. With eyes fixed on the town that welcomed me with a holster and a gun, I drowned in my own river of desires. I wish it was all better. 

         The words that poured so easily out of my heart upon my last goodbye in '09 seem to be lost in my own mental maze of ideas and schemes this time around. I want to leave you with words, anecdotes, and observations. I want to sum up the last few weeks of the beautiful and painful things that I experienced. I would love to deeply imbue you with profound thoughts in this last post. But, I can't. Ladies and gentleman, I have nothing to say. Maybe it's time to stop saying and start doing? On that note, goodbye for now. I have to go find a post to tie my camel to.

Xx,

Layla Karim Shaikley

"observe the wonders as they occur around you. don't claim them. feel the artistry moving through, and be silent." rumi

              

the dystopian [non]fiction ii

Exterior view of al-Faw

Interior image pre-war. Source unknown.

Interior image post-war. Source unknown.

       Despite the cramped and filthy hole where Saddam was captured, he was the owner of many lavish and garish palaces. 8 presidential compounds have been listed by the UN, containing grandiose mansions with guest villas, huge office complexes, warehouses, garages, man-made lakes and waterfalls, gardens, marble rooms, and many other luxuries. Saddam's holdings included a thousand buildings spread out over 12 square miles (Cambridge, Mass is 6.4 square miles). 

     In a boat tour of Basra, along with water buffalo (COOL!) and farmers, we were able to boat past Saddam's Al-Faw palace, feeding into my sick curiosity of how he lived. One palace of 99. This palace, in particular, was inhabited by the British military upon their arrival to Basra. U.S. Commanders also inhabited the palace's 62 rooms and 29 bathrooms. The British, who had hold of the ancient port city, left the palace to Iraqi government officials. 

      In 2008, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki discussed turning this palace into the Basra Museum. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/01/iraq-museums-palace

basra med

Dr. Thamer shows mama his photo as Dean of Basra Med

College entrance

Mohammed looks at a book by Dr. Thamer with Dr. Thamer

The lab

Lecture hall

Pops

                Deans in Iraq are the equivalents of Lindsay Lohans in LA. They are the Eric Schmidts of Silicon Valley. As we left our hotel, a group of twenty somethings stopped us. "Hi doctor," said the boys as their eyes humbly met the floor. Each boy shook our host's hands and continued on. Our host and a good friend of Baba's replied respectfully.  At a restaurant, the waiter who seated us did a double take, "hello professor." 
               Approaching strangers is relatively standard in the land I am most familiar with. Ashton Kutcher goes to Mr. Chow to be photographed by paparazzi. However, rather than directing praise towards entertainment celebrities, Basra's superstar is none other than its Med School Dean Dr. Thamer Hamdan. 

"for the sake of the flowers, the weeds are watered"

          Our little armed boat tour. By this point, the guns didn't make me so uncomfortable.  I just read a Rumi poem that nailed this moment on this little old boat. Every object and being in the universe is
 a jar overflowing with wisdom and beauty--a drop of the Tigris that cannot be contained
 by any skin. Every jarful spills and makes the earth 
more shining, as though covered in satin. 

vernacular iraqi housing

Courtyard style house, with all program around open courtyard

       In our tour of Basra, our hosts offered to show us their grandparents' house. When they mentioned that it was of original Iraqi design, I jumped on the opportunity.

      With fine attention to culture and climate, vernacular Iraqi housing was more common before the British entered the country in the 20s. The house is based around an open courtyard, which mitigates extreme heat known to the country in the summer months.  The courtyard also provides a place for women and children to live in privacy. 

Living room upon main entry

     The house begins at a bent entrance, traditionally reserved for male guests who are not supposed to watch the female inhabitants live. The bent entrance leads to a courtyard, which has for many centuries, been the dominant element in the plan of the Iraqi house.  Excavations at Ur have shown similar courtyard houses dating back to 2,000 BC.

Outdoor kitchen

Stacked horizontal circulation

View from first floor down to courtyard

      Socially, the courtyard has met the need for private and secluded open space for family activities. This is dictated by religious-social criteria. 

      The courtyard is spatially the focal point of the home. It is the general and central space that every moment in the houses passes through, begins, and ends.  This space reduces circulation space within the house. This space also provides a place for children to play and be watched by their mother.

Column to roof detail

        Check out the timber studs too. The tree trunks span between walls to which timber boards are nailed, and two layers of woven reed mats are laid, followed by a layer of earth and finished with brick paving. The ceiling is made up of long timber boards with timber trims covering the butt joints. 

Interior of 1 of 17 rooms

       

     The roof is constructed the same way, but rather than earth layer there are two layers of a mud and straw mixture. 

       The roof is finished with brick paving or locally-produced cement tiles known as Kashi. 

       

shanasheel

Shanasheel

   Back to the topic of Iraqi vernacular. Shanasheel on the external elevation are small and few in number to reduce heat gain in the summer and provide security against burglars. These windows are too high for passers-by to look in the house. 

Mass grouping of homes

Oriental courtyard houses are grouped in mass form to expose an absolute minimum area to the sun.  The groupings produce alleyways that are shadowed by external projections of the first floors and roofs of these houses.  These help keep the external environment cool in summer and protected against rain in the winter.  

  

    

     There is a definite hierarchical order in the formation of these alleyways.  Many enclose large blocks of houses, which are divided into smaller blocks by narrower alleyways that lead to closed alleyways (American equivalent: the cul-de-sac). The closed alleyways provide more security for inhabitants, as they exclude nearly all strangers and passers-by.   

     In the early 1930's, foreign architects arrived in Iraq who did not understand or appreciate the sustainability of this type of courtyard house plan, and a Western or Closed style house became introduced.

Sections drawing of courtyard style home

a little trivia game

          Q: Lot in Basra. How much do you think this plot of land cost a recent Iraqi-American buyer?

          A: $500,000

Businessmen internationally have attacked Iraq like a vulture would a carcass. Unfortunately, Transparency International ranked Iraq 176 out of 180 countries in the latest index of corruption, hindering certainty on many levels. What's worse? Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Somalia, according to this particular study.

More facts I picked up (hearsay, really).  A square foot in Baghdad: $250. A square foot in a part of Karbala without infrastructure: $3. 

ba'ath party, yacht party--we just like to party

 Saddam's yacht, Basrah Breeze 

         A little eerie, right? Totes. Saddam's yacht, Basra Breeze. Unfortunately closed for the common visitor. At 269 feet and with features that include marble, gold faucets, a bulletproof atrium with seating for 200, two medical treatment centers, and a theater, this baby was on the market for $30 million.


Disclaimer: despite the kitschy name of this post--no, I am not a Ba'athist. Nor have I ever been. But it's true, I do just like to party.