I Heart Hawler

This blog is special because it will be about a very special city, a city too close to my heart.  So today, instead of marking papers or preparing a lecture, I choose to blog about a city that bears the scars from decades of war and economic sanction.  It’s the proud home of the Citadel and the Minaret. Its my birth town in the early eighties. It’s the city of Hawler or Erbil in Arabic.

Hawler is where old meets new, a blend of history, mosaic mosques, bazaars, rollercoasters, an appeal to both the young and old generation. The citadel is one of the oldest contiguously inhabited settlements in the world. With its modern shopping malls and verdant parks, Hawler is becoming the welcome break for Iraqis who are still plagued by bombings more than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that led to the overthrew of Saddam Hussein.

If you ask any Hawleri to describe the same Hawler 20 years ago, they would start off with Sami's Park which took an extra year or two to open its gates so trees could grow big enough before young children began swinging on young branches. The trees and roses have flourished, modern colorful playground equipment delights younger sorts while a climbing wall challenges older folk, students walk with books in hand mumbling to themselves as they comprehend their education, roller-bladders discover the roadways, picnickers find quiet spots, and couples boulevard. As the area around the park grows with luxurious hotels and upscale enclaves, and a modern airport, what was once part of the largest military base in northern Iraq is becoming Erbil's "Central Park".

Yes! This is my Hawler.  The city that fills my eyes with tears everytime I am reminded of leaving back for the United States. There is something about this city that tackles me.  What is even more surprising is that I am not a Hawleri by origin neither are my parents.  Hawler has something for everyone.  The whole city has began to bloom and blossom with wider, landscape streets, underpasses and overpasses, and rampant construction - modern shopping malls, coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries, amusements.  There's Queen Latifa's Fatburger, Beyzade Turkish sweets, BooBa Lebanese cuisine, Dawa's awesome dining experience with turnip champagne, Baghdad's Abu Afif Lebanese sweets, Abu-Shahab's local not-so-slow food and KFC (Kurdistan Fried Chicken). How awesome!

Being from Boston, so used to having a Starbucks and a Dunken donuts in almost every corder, it saddens me to see no Starbucks or Costa Coffee but there's comparable Costa Rica Coffee, no Papa John's Pizza but there's PJ's Pizza, no Dairy Queen or Burger King but there's Burger Queen, no Home Depot but there's Home Istanbul, no CompUSA or Best Buy but there's Digital City.

And there's salsa lessons on Thursday and Friday, and dancing on Saturday. This is in addition to bowling alleys, the latest in aqua parks, spas, fitness and sports centers. Nascar races and golf courses? Stay tuned.