Iraq is going to take longer to go through because of the sheer quantity of awesome stuff, so expect a number of posts on Iraq, I'll reflect on the War zone, Alcohol in a Muslim state, the Kurds, Being the only white guy and more, so stay tuned.
So in Iraq both Iraqi Dinars and American Dollars were fairly interchangeable, even on the street. This was unfortunate given the scarcity of both currencies in my possession, is short I was broke.
I had paid for my cab in Dollars and received 10000 Dinars in return. This left me with a dilemma, I was left with 10000ID, which turned out to be just enough for an incredibly filling meal, I literally got a pile of lamb and pita on my plate, and the table to filled with appetizers. It was amazing, I had way too much food, but it was worth every penny. However it then left me with no spendable currency, which as I said was a problem.
The next morning I went in search of an ATM, not an easy task when in Iraq, a place where a 20min drive takes you to Al Queda Central in Mosul. I did in fact fine 2 ATMs and 1 bank with a master-card machine, all of which were broken, which sucked.
I then went to change my remaining Euro into ID to ensure I had some sort of money. However in my wanderings up and down the main street, I got stopped by someone who spoke English.
Vamen was a former Translator for the US army, and in his own words, he "hunted terrorists" He helped me find an ATM, which was excellent. However it went further than that, he became my host.
He took me to see some cool places around town, including a 200BC Kurdish archaeological site, the Dohuk Dam, and their Waterfall, which admittedly looked more like a drainage pipe for the dam.
The whole situation was pretty cool, I went from having no money and no idea what I was doing, to having plenty of money, but not being able to use it, and having a new friend who was taking care of me.
While walking through town Vamen and I chatted about lots of things, including the War, development, poverty, cell phones, school, and Canada. I had lots of questions about Iraq, he had lots of answers. We hit it off nearly instantly.
Vamen worked in a cell phone shop as a cell phone repair guy. So we went back to his shop and he introduced me to what seemed to be the entire market.
Being the only white guy in a city of 1.5million makes you something of a talking point. At times I felt like a celebrity, walking down the street, every head turning to watch me, cars honking at me, at one point an entire school yard full of children was pushed up against a fence to watch me eat some beans. It was odd at times but was neat.
At one point even one of Vamens friends pointed out that his sister had told him all about the White guy who had been at the University that day. I had been at the university that day. I was a celebrity, people taking my picture, I even got asked for an autograph at one point.
Later I met a couple American solders who were taking some R&R away from Baghdad, that ruined the whole "only white guy in the city", but I then changed it to me being the entire tourist industry.
After the shop we went to a place with hookah and baklava, and waited for Vamen's friends to show up to go to the bar.
I will leave you there, because the Bar was pretty epic, it involved a police car, Guns, Beer, a phone call to Calgary, lots of laughs and more
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