HW 34: Riverbend's Cultural Experiences in Iraq

While reading Burning Baghdad the readers get to learn about Iraq’s culture through Riverbend’s eyes. In Iraq everyone drinks tea everyday. Riverbend exclaims “No matter how busy the day, everyone sits around in the living room, waiting for tea” (Riverbend, 108). Tea drinking is taken various seriously. It’s not just dipping a tea back in to hot water. To make the tea you first put the kettle of water on the burner to boil. Once the water is boiling the tea leaves and the water are put into a separate teapot on a low burner until the tealeaves rise to the top. Finally the teapot is set on top of a low burner setting to settle. There are hundreds of types of tea available in Iraqi markets. Riverbend says that the best types are from Ceylon. Iraqi people also drink tea from special glasses shaped like the number “8” called Istikans. Drinking tea in Iraq is very important in Iraqi culture. They drink it at breakfast, the afternoon and with dinner. Gold is also important in Iraqi culture. “Iraqi people don’t own gold because they are either spectacularly wealthy, or they have recently been on a looting spree….People began converting their money to gold--earrings, bracelets, necklaces--because the value of gold didn’t change” (Riverbend, 100). People in Iraq also use gold when a man and a woman marry. The man often gives the woman a dowry, a “mahar,” which is composed of gold jewelry. Gold is also often given to a family in little gold trinkets when a couple has a child. In Burning Baghdad, Riverbend explains her experience with the raids. On October 8th, 2003 the American troops were on Riverbend’s street. Her and her family feared they would take the gold jewelry. So the women in the family wore the jewelry underneath their cloths and put the rest in their pockets. That way if the troops did invade their home, they would not take their valuable jewelry. Luckily Riverbend’s home was not raided and their jewelry remained safe.