Fill er' Up!

This photo has to be one of my favorites. When I went out the first day in Kurdistan (Iraq), I saw these plastic containers literally lined up one right after the other on the side of the road. Curious as to the contents, I asked my husband, "What is in those things?"

He replied, "Welcome to the local gas stations!" I was like what???? He said, "Yeah, go figure, the worlds 3rd largest oil producing country and they have their fuel in plastic containers."

I must say that it was quite a shock. They have no places anymore to refine the oil. Due in part to the war and other political reasons. There is a shortage on fuel in this country. Due to this shortage, there is also lack of power for hours at a time which is challenging. Luckily for us, we had a generator supplied by my husbands company.

The people of Kurdistan are very friendly and family oriented. It's amazing how much time you actually spend with your children and other family members when there is no power. There is a type of closeness you start to have. Sort of like how it used to be in the states.

Now a days we are all just engulfed by television, computers, playstations etc. Children wanting you to spend this or that on them. A bit sad really.

So, it was the type of closeness that families had in Kurdistan that I admired most and the respect they gave you as a person while visiting their country.