Arbil

Well, it finally hit me. A few nights ago, at 4 am, I sat straight up in bed and thought, "I'm going to Iraq. Huh. Are you kidding?" And then I went back to sleep and dreamed about shopping. (Which is weird, by the way, that I was dreaming about something so ordinary. Usually my dreams are about talking raisins or quadratic equations -- funny that those rhyme kind of.)

Preparing for this trip has been unlike any other experience. I feel like I should be getting some sort of a how-to manual in the next few weeks...? This just might be a defining moment in my history of adventures! Truly, I do feel that God is preparing my heart. I can't explain it, but He's been at work.

In the meantime, I'm learning all I can about the city of Arbil, where I'll be living. Arbil was once a Jewish kingdom, then became the center of Christianity (around AD 100). It wasn't until around the 13th century that it became predominately Muslim. Below are some cool pictures I found: