Most of our friends and family do not understand why we love Kurdistan and why we are here, but also have not taken the time to ask. Who knows why someone loves France while others hate it? There are those that love Thailand and others who find it terrible.
Most people do not and cannot comprehend that the Kurdistan Region is, for all intents and purposes, a separate country, only it is not yet recognized as one. While only a few short years ago many would scoff or laugh at the idea of an independent Kurdistan, today those same naysayers are jumping on the Kurdistan bandwagon, and it’s quickly filling up.
This is one of the most exciting times perhaps since 2003 to be in Kurdistan and to be a supporter of their right to self-determination. During the last ten months the political situation in Kurdistan has been extremely comfortable and calm but in the last week it's been hectic because the rest of the country is going through a sectarian civil war that truly did not end the first time, after 2003.
After roughly ten years of wanting to come to Kurdistan, and after many disappointments and overcoming many obstacles in the process, my dream came true. It was an incredible experience to see what I've been waiting to see for such a long time and my experiences here have been 95 percent positive. I am grateful that my best friend loves it here as well and had many of her own marvelous experiences, especially volunteering at a refugee camp.
I'm proud of our accomplishments: we've traveled far and wide (still have so much to see) and we speak decent (Sorani) Kurdish-- a feat, especially for foreigners who've only been here ten months. However, I still get asked if I am Turkish or from Syria.
My wife and I are sad to be leaving during such an important and pivotal period for Kurds, and yes, for many, it is unsettling in many of the so-called “disputed territories” such as Kirkuk, a traditionally Kurdish-majority city.
Of course, we are not happy about the violence and sectarianism happening in the rest of the country, but we are happy that the Kurdish Peshmerga troops are successfully defending the Kurdistan Region and in many cases, retaking what was stolen from them under previous Iraqi rulers.
We are proud that the Kurdistan Region not only harbors close to 300,000 Syrian Kurds from Rojava, but has welcomed tens of thousands of Iraqi internally displaced people from al-Anbar province and, more recently, the hundreds of thousands from Mosul and other parts of the north that were not under the jurisdiction of the Kurdistan Region.
Indeed, many thousands of Christians from Baghdad and other cities have known the Kurdistan Region was safe for them as early as 2003. Since then there has been a massive influx of Christians settling in local areas like Shaqlawa, Ankawa (Erbil), and Christian villages north of Mosul. Most Yezidis who live outside of the Kurdistan Region have also been clamoring for months for the Peshmerga to be sent to protect them, and it should be noted that many Arab tribes and Turkmen also feel safer under their protection.
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