As readers to this blog may know, my daughter Eva - aka Nirgaz - has been busy raising three sons, working a part-time job, and performing volunteer work at a local mosque. Her husband - my son-in-law Meran - recently returned from over 2 years in Iraq is not only busy catching up with home life, but actively seeking the next chapter of his life. While I was visiting, he went on interviews with private corporations that want his expertise as they take advantage of economic opportunities in the rebuilding of Iraq. One day while we were having lunch, a phone call came in from a recruiter calling from North Carolina.

They were interested in both Meran and Eva, since Eva is also a competent linguist in Kurdish, Arabic, and a bit of Farsi (we won't mention Spanish...!) as well as her journalism background. Eva told me yesterday that the recruiters are taking about flying them to North Carolina for further in-person interviews.

Personally, I hope they go for it. Eva is concerned (and rightly so) about the education of the boys over there since the schools are not, in general, as good as here. I told her that if you want to make this work, you will have to get creative - search for American or International schools, or boarding schools, or even consider home schooling. She also has put a condition on her going to Meran, that they would have to build their own home there - no more staying with relatives! Hey, I am all for that one - been there, done that.

To slightly change the subject, I just found out my son-in-law was a movie extra. This past year, Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi made a film entitled "Turtles Can Fly", filming on location in Iraqi Kurdistan. When the time came to film scenes with American soldiers, local American troops were approached, and decided to cooperate with the project. The unit Meran was attached to were among those chosen. Meran played a driver in some scenes...