HW 34: Gold and Date Palms

I have always found it interesting learning about different cultures. Learning about Riverbend’s culture from her perspective is great, and I love reading about it, because we don’t hear good things about her culture here in America. “Gold is a part of our culture and the roll it plays in ‘family savings’ has increased since 1990 when the Iraqi Dinar began fluctuating crazily” (Riverbend, 100). The value of gold didn’t change so Iraqi’s converted their money to gold jewelry such as bracelets and necklaces. Iraqi’s receive gold as gifts for marriage or have a child, and that gold can either be kept or sold. The Iraqi people often have gold because it is very important to them. Of course American troops don’t believe that Iraqi’s could possibly own something as nice as gold so they automatically think they have been looting (Riverbend, 100). Date palms are also an important aspect for the Iraqi people. “There are over 300 different types of dates--each with its own name, texture, and flavor” (Riverbend 104). Dates are used for many things such as syrup used for rice, syrup used for bread and butter, the main sugar source for Iraqi sweets, and vinegar. Families trade dates with other families in the summer and it’s a great accomplishment to show off your dates. Palm trees in general are taken very seriously in the Iraqi culture. You cannot find a garden in Iraq that doesn’t have a palm tree, for they are used to protect the flowers and other products in the garden. Even when a palm tree dies it is taken seriously, and the owner is devastated. The cutting down of palm trees in Iraq because of American Troops make the Iraqi’s very angry (Riverbend, 104-105). The section of Baghdad Burning that I have just read was really interesting. I like reading about Riverbend and her culture more than about what is going on in Iraq, even though that is interesting as well. I just enjoy reading about her culture, and comparing it to ours to see how different it is.