The Buckles Family

For those of you who know my sister, you understand that she is one of the most motivated, caring, spirited individuals you have ever met.  She loves missions work and has been to Chile a number of times to build schools and churches and homes.  Last fall she told us that she was going to teach English to women at a university in Kurdistan.  Well, at the time she told me, I was probably right in the middle of doing laundry, listening to the girls singing, and trying to pay bills, because I didn't really think about the location of Kurdistan.  When I talked to my brother a few weeks later, he asked me what I thought about Dee Dee going to Iraq.  Wait... WHAT???  I realized at that moment I had not even given it a second thought when she told me.  With everything that is going on in Iraq right now, why in the world would my sister want to go there?!  O.k., she does have a heart of gold, and she believes in helping people.  I am so proud of her and want to support her in everything she does; however, I did have a difficult time supporting her decision to go to Iraq.  I mean, there is quite a bit of unrest throughout the entire region, and I truly don't want her to be caught in the middle of it.  She continually reassured our family that she would be safe, and of course, in the end, what else could I do but give her my blessing, tell her I love her dearly and remind her to RUN FOREST RUN if she encounters any trouble!  She has sent me a few e-mails that I found to be very interesting, and I wanted to share them all with you here.  The first e-mail she sent was about the cultural rules for the area that she is in.  Again, if you know my sister, you know that she has broken just about every one of them any number of times.  She really needs to work on this, as the consequences can be very severe.  Anyway, here is the list she sent:

"CULTURAL RULES FOR HERE
(Not in any particular order…)

1.  Women do not look at men.
2.  Women NEVER touch men.
3.  Women (like me) must pull our hair back (too seductive if it’s down…)
4.  Women NEVER walk by themselves.
5. Women do not take a taxi by themselves, after dark, or sit in the front seat.
6. Women don’t go to the store after dark.
7. Women go in a door after a man.
8.  Women don’t talk or laugh out loud.
9. Women must be covered from the neck to the wrists, to the ankles, ESPECIALLY the rear end!!
10. If a woman is home alone she must never open the door for a man.
11. A woman must never be home alone with a man.  At least 2 women must be present.
12. If a man comes to a woman’s home, they must all cover themselves immediately.
13. NO DATING! 
14. When you go out to eat in a restaurant there is a special section for men only.
15. If women are walking they must stop to buy something so it doesn’t look like they’re just “sauntering around.”
16. If women are out walking they must stay together – like arm in arm or holding hands.
17. Women walk behind men.
18. Women don’t fix their hair in public – like bend over to make a ponytail!
19. Women don’t speak to men unless men specifically speak to them first.
20. There is a men’s section and a women’s section of the bazaar.  If a woman needs to buy something from the men’s section, like an emergency lantern, EXPECT a lot of stares!
21. A woman must never show the soles of her feet, for example, must never cross her legs or put her feet up."

The second e-mail she sent was even more interesting.  Now, keep in mind that she is referring to the area of Iraq where she is living.  These statements certainly don't represent the entire Iraqi population, but it's nice to hear that some feel this way:

"I just got done having a meeting with the President of the University of
Suleimaniyah, Dr. Alli.  He gave me a great history of Iraq and personal
insights from the Kurdish people.  I HAVE to pass this on, because the
people of the United States need to know this!  Iraq began as a country
in the 1920s after the Ottoman Empire was overthrown.  Kurdistan is the
largest state in the world that doesn't belong to a country, because it
belongs to Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria.  When Saddaam Hussein took
over in 1979, he wanted to get rid of the Kurds, so started a program of
ethnic cleansing.  He did this by starting the "no fly zone" that only
was a few kilometers from the northern and eastern borders.  What he did
was to get rid of all the villages within that area.  He kept increasing
the area of that zone so by the end he had gotten rid of 4,600
villages.  The people from those villages got sent to what we would call
"concentration camps" where they lived a miserable life.  Saddamm
brought in Arabs to live within that zone, so the whole demographic of
the people changed.  When Madeline Albright was the Secretary of State,
she told Saddaam that he was not allowed to torture the countries around
him (Kuwait), the people of Iraq, and especially the Kurds of the
north.  The people of Iraq are especially grateful  to the United States
of America AND George W. Bush for freeing the Iraqi people. Dr. Alli
said that the people of the United States are mistaken for talking badly
about George W. Bush for not finding weapons of mass destruction,
because Saddaam Hussein WAS the weapon of mass destruction!!  When the
United States military took down Saddaam Hussein's regime in 2003, there
was dancing in all of the street in Kurdistan. Still to this day, the
people tell me "God Bless you, God bless the United States of America,
and God Bless George W. Bush!!  One of the guys on my team took a taxi
yesterday and the taxi driver WOULD NOT take any money from them!!
Amazing!  He said that he owes the United States a debt of gratitude and
that he would NOT take any money!  My friend Mary Jane ran into the same
thing with a jeweler.  She had a bunch of jewelry made for her friends
back in the States, and he wouldn't accept any money from her!  When
President Alli was speaking this morning, he kept talking about the
gratitude that he had for us, and how he would do anything he could to
make our stay pleasant.  He asked about our accommodations and even said
that he feels guilty for not putting us up at his house!  He said that
all of the Iraqi people feel the same way, and that the people of the
United States should not feel like we "invaded" Iraq, but that we set
them free!  He said that there is a long way to go to be a democratic
nation, but that it is a start.  He knows that Iraq is a developing
country, but kept talking about how our part in teaching the people of
Iraq to speak English will help them get along with the whole world.  My
feelings EXACTLY!!   Like I keep saying - I'm helping bring about world
peace through education!!! I just want everyone to know that the Iraq
I'm living in is NOT the Iraq you are seeing on TV!!!  The Kurds are
such a warm, loving people and are very eager to please and to learn.
ya - the customs and culture are very different from ours, and I'm
having a little time learning them, but as a whole, what I'm doing here
is probably the most important thing I've done in my life!!"

I just wanted to share these to give a different perspective on Iraq.  If you can, please say a little extra prayer for my sister and most especially for all of the military members who are in harms way in that same country.