War is a Drug, Part two: Early Days

 Me and my boy, Shaheed Ciwan, as I awaited exit from Rojava. He's flipping you off in spirit.

 

     Pictured up top is the Foreigner academy classroom at the YPG Academy (Note: I lost a lot of pictures when my old phone crapped out on me, so I'm having to make due with newer ones and the kindness of friends.). This is the first stop for westerners upon entry to Rojava. Before that is a labyrinth of Emails, Bona Fides and general Shenanigans. When I went, the contact route was the Lions of Rojava website, which is now no longer in use. For those that are interested, I believe the route is now through https://ypginternational.blackblogs.org/ . (Knock yourself out, kids. That's how

it's done now.)

     After a trip to Suleimaniya Iraq, (right before new years, 2016) and a ten day stay in a safe house a group was smuggled across the border (Some things I won't go into detail about, even though the info is already out there on the internet. People are stupid.). From that point, a training program in Kurdish language, YPG tactics and ideology, and Soviet Style weaponry is embarked upon. I've heard of people going through this training in as little as three days, and as long as over two months. It really just depends on what's going on at the time. If, for example, you're a legit combat medic and there's a massive operation underway, you're probably getting sent to the front before you can speak much passable Kurdish. Overall, I found the training useful, mainly for the Kurdish lessons--and for the morning runs and afternoon hikes. I had showed up on the er, husky side.

        After about twenty days,  I, as well as the guys I'd been with up until this point were- out of the academy and on my way to Tabors (similar to a platoon). We were told there was a big operation coming up. Possibly within ten days or so... or even sebe...("sebe"-pronounced seh bay is equivalent in meaning and usage to "manyana" in Spanish. Want to know when something is happening? Sebe.)

 

     (Note: For anyone planning a hitch in Rojava, I highly recommend reading Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia." The parallels are great, and it was passed around as a sort of bible among some of the other volunteers and I.)

     

      And the next sebe or two, we were off to new things.