Chaixana Paris

After lunch everyday we go to this one chaixana (tea house) which has the best tea in the street.  There are no chairs and it is just a tea stand in the street open to the elements. These are everywhere, mostly in front of food places (you can have tea with a meal) but often tucked into alleys and doorways or just on the footpath. These are for men only, though very rarely a woman will drink tea there. While nothing is said it is not a respectable thing to do.

Kak Nazad always greets me with 'Hello, good morning, welcome to Slemani City' regardless of the time of day. He also changes the name of his chaixana everyday and today it is Chaxana Paris. As everywhere in Kurdistan people are chatty and friendly and will occasionally strangers will pay for your tea just to be hospitable 

The tea is very sweet and of course hot and here you pour the tea into the saucer and drink from that. I remember when I was very young, older people in NZ drinking their tea from the saucer. The habit is alive and well in Kurdistan.