Teahouse view, Duhok Dam. September 2018
Running from a teahouse to an accident: why I never drove a car in Iraq
For my first few months in Duhok, my Kurdish supervisor, Khedir Ramazan, INSISTED on taking me out each weekend. I appreciated the generosity, but some of the trips were not that interesting and sometimes I simply was not in the mood. Ever the good sport, I rarely declined. He felt very keenly that I must LOVE Kurdistan. One such trip was very memorable, however - the trip where I learned all about traffic accidents in Kurdistan!
We were sipping tea late in the afternoon looking over the Duhok Dam reservoir. The hillsides above the dam held several garden-style teahouses and they were locally popular. The whole reservoir catchment area has no trees (see the above photo), so the view is stark and desert-like. Given other "scenic" places in the region, I would not rank it as one of the best places to sit and drink tea near Duhok, but in the cool of a September early evening after a hot day, the teahouse and its small garden were inviting. We were sitting and chatting about work when Khedir received a text. It immediately changed his whole demeanor. His father had been in a traffic accident! Since he was the eldest son, he had to handle it.
Khedir told me he was sorry but there was no time to drive me home (actually there would have been or he could have called me a taxi - but I was still "new" to Duhok and clueless), so I HAD TO join him. We drove out to the accident site about an hour out of town where we met his father. He was unharmed; in fact, no one was harmed, but the vehicles sustained heavy damage. It appeared that the other man was at fault and after MUCH discussion (by now it was pitch dark) at the accident site, all parties (drivers, family members, and passers-by) drove to the local police where a LONG discussion of "liability" took place. The police heard testimony of both drivers, and apparently anyone else who felt like chiming in, and decided on the spot who was at fault.
The determination was that the other guy was at fault 90% and that he must remain in police custody or "jail light" until Khedir's Dad had been checked by a doctor the next day just to be sure he was OK. If he needed any medical procedure, the other driver was liable for that cost. The man was already on the hook to pay for 90% of the car repair. The process was not exactly efficient, but the lack of efficiency was made up for in seriousness and officiality. After the fifth hour I really had enough of just sitting around and not understanding anything. Finally, it was over and I was driven back to Duhok with only the smallest of apologies (after all, it was "not Khedir's fault"). He sheepishly realized that I had unintentionally gotten a peak into a side Kurdish culture that he never intended me to see. I understood almost nothing of what happened except that after that, I would NEVER want to drive in Duhok and take on any kind of liability in an accident. He most likely viewed it as a setback in his "charm offensive" for Kurdistan.
I am not a big fan of what insurance has become these days in the USA, but the "judge, jury, executioner" approach from the police there in Iraq was downright chilling. In addition, what seemed to be the biggest point in Khedir's father's favor was that it happened near his home and he was a "local", ergo, it was not his fault. Maybe the US insurance system wasn't as bad as I thought after all. The whole accident resolution process I saw was just so ad hoc and wreaked of nepotism. Additionally, I came to understand that Kurdish men, in particular, react very much in the moment and no matter what the result of those actions, it was totally out of their hands. (Read: if you get caught up in my drama, don't blame me. It was out of my control.) This cultural aspect of dealing with Kurds came back to haunt me at work repeatedly. Little did I know that the "tea house accident run" was a harbinger of what much of my work would entail for the next two years, especially with Khedir as my supervisor.
[Note: Khedir's dad was checked by doctor and found to be fine, so the other guy was released from "jail light".]
Thereafter, I declined tea breaks overlooking Duhok Dam. Other more scenic places existed for that around Duhok [see: Zawa Mountain] and, just maybe, that whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth. I was also convinced that I would NEVER drive a car in Duhok - EVER.