A story on a night raid I went on will be posted later today (today? Does anyone really know what time it is?), at Blackfive and I thought it would help to describe some of the details of Iraqi homes here.
What is standard in North America is not standard for a good bit of the world. In Iraq, the homes follow a pattern I’ve seen across Europe and even into Asia a bit, particularly in warmer climates. That is, the home and yard are surrounded by a wall that is at least six feet high, if not higher, and entry is usually through a single gate. A basic home is actually built right up against the neighboring home, and may even share a wall, with the couryards also sharing a common wall. The courtyard is small in a city or basic home but can include some grass, garden or other. The bathroom for the home is most often outside, against the outer wall. The home itself usually has a large common room, where the family will sleep and eat, and then several smaller rooms inside and away.
This mirrors the sheik houses, which often feature a large “sheik” room (as one Iraqi called them) where the people under the sheik can come for meetings and such. The sheik room can be a separate building in some cases, or, when part of the home, has no doorways into the home from it. For while hospitality here has very open rules (someone can drop in and visit, and one may not ask them why for three days, at least in some Sunni homes, for example), the home is sacred and only family may enter for the most part. It can be very rare for women and children to come out if there are visitors (again, at least in Sunni areas).
More soon.
LW
