it’s been a busy few days. on saturday, i took the kids to rochester’s main cultural attractions and we roamed around in the neighborhood of the arts. on sunday, we took zooz to canandaigua lake and had lunch at bristol harbor while we enjoyed a beautiful view of the lake. later that evening, i was honored to speak at a rally in solidarity with charlottesville, in washington square park, and feel the solidarity with activist friends and our community at large. over the weekend, zooz made us some delicious shakshuka – so much more delectable than the thick-tomato-soupy shakshuka i’ve had in restaurants here. reminded me of the delicious breakfast my dear friend Nihal cooked for me when i visited her in amsterdam. on monday, i met with two spectacular artists whom i’m looking to collaborate with – a brilliant dance choreographer and photographer. such talent in this city! i made sindhi biryani for zooz and we compared notes on how it’s similar to/different from iraqi biryani. today, zooz left for washington dc. the iraqi young leaders (IYLEP) will be there for a week and then they will be off to turkey, followed by iraq. we will miss zooz so much. she has become part of our family. it’s good to know what a global family we have and it’s good to have an important reason to visit iraq 🙂
