Iraqi-Kurdistan - Including the de facto capitol, Erbil (~1,000,000) and the surrounding large cities, Duhok (~350,000) and Zakho (200,000)
As I've listed them in order, these are the largest and most socially liberal cities in the region descending. I worked primarily in Duhok but moved back in forth between Erbil and to a lesser extent, Zakho. A little history, for those who aren't aware. Northern Iraq is a Kurdish enclave, Kurds being an ethnic/lingual group more closely related to Iranians than to Arabs. Kurds are predominantly Sunni and are comparative to others in the region, pretty liberal in terms of their women, drinking/drugs etc. Iraq has been a fairly liberal, officially secular country for decades, with a de jure separation of "church and state", almost exactly like how Iran was prior to the 79' revolution.
The Kurds, as a minority race have been fucked with incessantly for most of their recorded history. They're a lot like my people (Jews) in this way. Millenia of attempted extermination and assimilation attempts by their neighbors have turned them into some pretty rugged motherfuckers. There are a lot of guns and as far as I'm aware, no enforced laws in place regarding who can and can't own them. Saddam Hussein was the biggest villain in recent history to the Kurds and as we were at least partially responsible for breaking the guy's neck, Kurds are generally very friendly and welcoming toward Americans. Expect to get free things whenever you go to the store. Being invited over to peoples' houses to eat with their families is a daily occurence and I'm confident a white person could survive indefinitely off of these invitations if they needed to.
Now, for the good stuff, the drugs. Iraq is in the Middle East and Kurdistan itself sits in very close proximity to the Afghan/Iran/Turk/Balkan/Europe route of Morphine/Heroin trafficking. It's referred to as "Brown Sugar" in Kurdish. I was told that there wasn't actually any Heroin in the area and that it was all actually Morphine. I really can't say one way or another. The Kurds themselves are notoriously successful smugglers, so as you might imagine, locating drugs is not difficult. Opium is easiest to locate as it is still used pretty extensively as a cure-all, especially in the more rural areas. Once you locate the Opium and have broken the ice, it's not difficult to locate Morphine from there. There's no open air market per se, but it's easy enough to spot folks and then make the connections.
Backgammon and Tea are the cornerstones of the Kurdish social experience. If you want to meet people and have an authentic Kurdish experience, this is what I would recommend. You don't have to know the language very well to get on. You let the game do the talking as you break the ice and then go from there. A cup of Tea for two is about 30c and a decent, fast-food style meal of Shwarma is about $1.20, so, you can make a lot of friends and buy everyone drinks and food for about ten bucks. Once you attract a crowd, you'll inevitably meet someone who speaks English, now you have a translator. This is how I met most of my good friends whom I still talk to.
Alcohol is a thing here. It's legal and has been for some time, but is heavily frowned upon. It's not uncommon to see groups of men around corners or behind buildings "in secret" drinking Alcohol, like how in America we would go around the corner to smoke a joint or use drugs. It's really not well-accepted and is seen as a "Western" vice believe it or not. I, unfortunately have to go to work now, but I'm gonna finish this up when I get back home!
