Interlude: Checkpoint Reached
I am grateful the gift of direction, a gift that is perishable and fragile, that needs protection and one I do not take for granted.
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The Story So Far
Chapter 19: The End of a Beginning
The beauty and the brutality, the wonders and the weirdness leave deep impressions.
Chapter 18: Mountains of Magic
There is destruction and deep wounds visible in the earth, making it feel alive.
Chapter 17: Chomen
I supposed it said more about how men of the culture show pain: they don't.
Chapter 16: Pause in Paradise
I knew that there are some out there who reads, but hearing it meant a world of difference against loneliness, my biggest adversary.
Chapter 15: Advanced Homelessness
I know it, the deep kind of knowing that has no proof, and doesn't need any. But how do I measure it? Or more importantly, should I?
Chapter 14: Steve
It was a joy to see him so unfiltered, with an undying love to a place that has seen so much hate.
Chapter 13: Learning
There was curious caring with a touch of worry. How can a grown man know so little about his place in the world?
Chapter 12: Foreign Aid
Where there is goodwill, curiosity, initiative and drive, people find ways to make beauty together.
Chapter 11: Skipping Ahead
Onwards means homebound, and so in times of loneliness, the bicycle and the road are the ways out of it.
Chapter 10: Darbandikhan Dominoes
From the cute center, to the lush paradise above the dam, to the epic mountains of the east and back into town for one more game.
Chapter 9: Royal Treatment
I gave him my word that I would return to him. And If I give my word, I aim to keep it, or die trying.
Chapter 8: Kurdistan
The land faded into green. Seas of tallgrass waved in the wind and beyond, rolling hills foretelling the mountains in the horizon.
Interlude: The Stories that Matter
The long journey is my own metaphor, an outward quest that is an expression of an inner struggle.
Chapter 7: A Little Bit of Home
The feeling remained, a lingering reassurance that even in this strange place, my family walks with me.
Chapter 6: The Scars of ISIS
The people need healing, and time, and I can only pray they will have it. Insha'Allah.
Chapter 5: In the Dark
You keep telling yourself what you know. But what do you believe? What do you feel?
Chapter 4: In the Light
If there would ever be a sign telling me that this path of life was the right one for me, that was it.
Chapter 3: With a Little Help from My Friends
To value the time, effort, resources and care gifted to us.
Chapter 2: The Small Things
Whatever happens in the theatres of politics and war, there have always been teacups, chairs and smiles in Iraq to welcome you.
Chapter 1: Forward in Fear
"I am in way over my head and there is no turning back. I am afraid."
Prologue: Concerning Iraq
From the rivers of Euphrates and Tigris, through the mountains of Kurdistan, and on.
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