"As-Salaamu Aleikum, Ya Sheik"

The dust I just wiped off of my black shoes was quickly replaced as I stepped out of the office building onto the dirt-covered sidewalk. I was following the two other guy interns and the male PLC staff as we headed to meet a local sheikh, a close friend and growing partner of Jeremy Courtney. Rumor and near legend surrounded the man now known as "The Sheikh." He founded and directs a growing local charity that cares for Iraqi orphans. His family name illicits respect because of the great work of his father and grandfather. If nothing else all the PLC staff has a great amount of respect for this man of faith, and in turn so will I.

So we continued walking, past awkwardly parked car after car along the dust coated sidewalk lined with a kurdi-graffiti covered wall, to share a meal with this muslim heart mender. The walk was quiet and somber for me. My mind was occupied by thoughts that stirred too deep, and far below my ability to consciously articulate. Needless to say I was not much for conversation as we walked to lunch, and anyway I was not really sure what this interaction would look like. Finally we approached the part of the road that may or may not be a crosswalk. We waved our way across a major "highway" in town as cars tried to decide whether they should stop or ignore our waves and run us over. We managed to convince every car that we were not worth hitting and made it across the road. We arrived at the Shgar, an outside covered kurdish restaurant, that we had actually eaten lunch at each of the past three days.
Finally under the shade of the restaurant we waited for the arrival of the Sheikh. To my surprise most Kurds dress pretty normally, they just dress nice. Normal dress is nice slacks and a collared shirt. Everything is earth toned, so when a man arrived in a bleach-white tunic and a white traditional head covering... I knew it must be our sheikh.
He was a kind and welcoming man who was genuinely excited to see us and meet the guy interns. I was impressed at his congeniality. He understands english well, but does not speak fluently, so he had two translators alongside him. It was an awesome meal. I was able to sit and listen to The Sheikh and Jeremy talk about all the events of the Middle East, both generally and specifically. It was cool to see two men with great vision sit and interact with each other. There are many of you in the 'States that I would have loved to bring into that convo.
It was my first real interaction with Arabic speakers here in Iraq. I got a solid two hours of listening to Arabic and hearing it immediately translated afterward and was surprised at the amount of vocabulary I recognized and embarrassed at my inability to communicate. Insha'allah this won't last for long.
I hope this summer provides many more opportunities to learn from real "movers and shakers" as well as chances to test my lack of Arabic!