Airports in Iraq

I hear random grumblings from people about how invasive the new xray machines at the airport are and how they sometimes get pulled aside and patted down. Well, let me tell you how we do it Suly style. First you have to navigate your way through a bunch of concrete bunkers that have definitely been scraped up by cars. Stop and say choni baschi (hello how are you) to security at the gate. The next stop they search your vehicle and you have to get out of the car while a bomb sniffing dog goes around your car and sometimes up in it. Then you go to a building that is about half a mile away from the airport where you confirm you are a passenger and have someone scrutinize your passport.* At that point you have to go through security and 9 times out of 10 there is something odd in your luggage (I'm looking at you Iznik tiles) that invites further scrutiny. So, you have to pull your luggage off to the side where you are standing with your head of security, who was kind enough to drive you to the airport at 1:30 in the morning, and at that point you realize that your bra is right on top so you try to tuck it under and the security guard searching your luggage flips everything  over and displays your bra.

At this point, if you are lucky, you have made it through the first round of security and your driver meets you on the other side. While you have been going through security, he has had to go through security and leave an id at the office. If you do not have a driver, then you get on the bus. The final stop is the airport terminal where you have to go through security again. First though, if you are a woman, you have to go to the little room off the corner where you stand with your arms raised and your legs spread and get patted down thoroughly. Did I mention thoroughly? The security woman also looks carefully through your purse. The next step is to fight your way back into the security line and load everything up to go through the scanner again. Keep in mind that even if you are struggling with a big bag no one, not the security guys or a passenger, will help you. Then you have to open your suitcase and explain once again that the carefully wrapped package in bubble wrap are Turkish tiles. This time, thankfully, the security woman is kind enough to help you zip your over packed suitcase.

Finally, you are in. You sit down and realize that your flight is delayed by an hour, delayed by another hour and then canceled. You are told to leave your number and someone will call to let you know when your flight is leaving. There is no way to look up your flight before you leave to go to the airport to see what is happening.  (Al hamdilillah, someone did call to tell me the flight was rescheduled for 2AM the next day.)

I guess my point is, the next time you fly and have to step through the xray machine, please know that I envy you. 


*When I went to London I flew out of Erbil, which is definitely a nicer airport then Sulaimaniya. The guy checking my passport kept looking at me, looking at my passport, looking at me and then finally he said something to the effect of you were fatter. Yes, thanks for pointing that out. I also was frisked at three different times at the Erbil airport.