Why the name "Suli Street Kat"?

So, why did I name this blog "Suli Street Kat"?
The simplest answer...I dig cats.
Like the real-live Suli street cat who posed for the cover photo with me!
I call her "Pisa" but more about that later...

I guess you can say that I have found inspiration in what I see as a "Street Kat"kind of spirit. Yes..."Cat" really must be spelled with a "K".
But, more on discerning trendy logography later...

It has been my experience in the Middle East that not many people have dogs and cats as pets. At the same time, there are often many, many dogs and cats trying to survive in the streets of every Middle Eastern city I've ever been too. Their lives are not easy and in some cases, quite brutal.
Still, they persist.
I love and respect that...and them.

Travel and work in the Middle East for me has always been exciting and interesting, but often brutal.
Still, I keep coming back.
In some cases, just day by day putting one foot in front of the other.

Pisa and I having a little dinner out front of our apartment.

I've met street cats in Egypt, Lebanon, Oman and in the U.A.E.
The situations are often the same.
Some times they run and hide and other times they steal chicken straight off your table.
Still, in other moments, they are the only ones to acknowledge you that day and offer you a warm greeting.

In the case of the cats of Sulaimani...well they seem to be a particularly spunky breed.
In fact, I didn't see them at all until one night I happened to be sitting on my mother-in-law's roof one night about 3 o'clock in the morning 'cause that is a thing that we do here.
Well, truth be told...it was both the time and place my hubby and I could enjoy a beer and some alone time...and that too is another story for later.

Then, there they appeared. They came from behind walls and out of garbage cans, down the streets in twos and threes. Seriously, imagine the opening scene from the musical "Cats" are there you have it!

Image taken from http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/cats-the-musical-review/

So I started feeding them, clandestinely, at night. Then one night, one followed me home and straight up to my mother-in-law's kitchen door!
Later, when we moved into the apartment we are in now, I met a particularly chatty kitty who now calls loudly to me when she spots me walking home from school.
"Pisa" will run down the street to meet me and often accompanies me on the walk to the local grocery and back again to our apartment.
The thing is, more often than not  people shoo the cat away. In fact, every time I even looked at a street cat, much less tried to throw it some food, people would tell me "Na, bash neya! Pisa! Zor pisa!". In other words, "No, that's not good. Dirty! Very dirty!".
Well, you've probably now guessed how Pisa got her name.

So, in creating my blog where I will share my shenanigans and my inner thoughts about traveling and working abroad, it seemed appropriate to appreciate and honor the hospitality of my enigmatic hosts.