A Star from Mosul

First, dad:

• News from the city of Buhrez.
• Bad days.
• Update.

Then Hassan:

• A come back.
• Electricity Vs Water.
• Let's talk about the National Guards.

Me:

• My very first letter.
• Surprise!
• What's happening?
• The days of our life.
• Mad Canuck.
• What's happening?
• Posting a photo.
• What's happening?

Kais (Yes, I was surprised myself to see him posting!):

• New news.
• My school.
• After holiday.
• Golden sun.

HNK:

• My blog.
• I am blind, I can't see the truth.
• What happened to my mind?
• Still alive.
• It's Iraqis life, it's my life.

Dalia:

• Bye.. I'll travel.

Raghda:

• White cat.
• Cat.

And finally Sunshine:

• Sad sunshine.
• At home again.
• Weddings.
• Photo.
• Summer holiday.
• My lovely vase.

Also, you might want to see this:

• Patriot Daily.
• Today in Iraq.

The situation overall is as bad as it can be, and everyone with an old car is finding a way to blow it up, it seems.

The gasoline problem is still present, not improving.. The bridges are constantly getting blocked, if not controlled strictly.

Bottom line: It's always proven that we have not yet hit the bottom!

When you can't walk anywhere without fearing that you'll get a bullet..
When you can't spend a moment without thinking that a relative is at a risk..
When you can't remember the name of your president..
When nothing is truly true but death..
When everyone's hobby is to lie..
When freedom suddenly seems unnecessary, security lost, love dead..
When strykers fill the streets, an occupier rules and birds get replaced with helicopters..
When your memories are horror, present is tragedy and future is unknown..
When all the above seems normal and living without water or electricity (Though you complain about it) doesn't seem impossible anymore..
When fuel, water and electricity become secondary needs..
When everyone who don't like you, hates you; and everyone who hates you, kills you..
When even lives are stolen, when heads are cut, when a human being is bought..

When all this happens and you can still smile, you're no one but an Iraqi who lives in Iraq..
But remember, all generalizations are false, including this one.. Cuz some people seem not to mind about any of the above anyway!

----

I finally managed to get my glasses, and new contact lenses.
Yesterday, my brother-in-law came to show me how to wear them but felt unable after 15 minutes of trying to put the lenses in my eyes; I couldn't stop blinking. Today, he came with Xylocaine, put a drop in my eye and then started trying again to put the lenses in my eyes. In an hour, we were done putting them in, and I practiced how to take them off and wear them..

I didn't buy the contact lenses for daily use, nor do I plan to wear them a lot, but I really want to see people at special occasions.. I don't wear the glasses in weddings for example, and it bothers me not to be able to see the bride.

Yahooo, it's true, I can publish a photo just from two clicks from Blogger!!
Nice!

Now I HAVE to fill this space.. I don't feel like writitng. I will write when I come back from the Physics lessons today..
What to fill this with? Let's surf and find something!
Oh, I have just sent an e-mail to a friend including my new schedule.. Sorry Jeff, you always have to read my schedules twice!

Saturday: 4-6 Arabic
Sunday: 3-5 Physics
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 9-10:30 Chemistry
12-2 Physics
Wednesay: OFF
Thursday: 3-4:30 Chemistry
Friday: OFF

I have too many OFFs but the other girls don't.. They have English and Mathematics.. I will do good without private lessons in both.

Note: The picture is an old one of Aya after bathing..

Mad Canuck:

"Let's imagine we decided to make a small change in the police force here in New York City: instead of driving police cars, have them drive around in Brinks armored trucks with a million dollars in cash in the back of each. And, whenever they go out on foot patrol, we'd make them carry thousands of dollars worth of diamonds in their pocket. And, while we're at it, we'll store a sizeable stash of gold bullion in every police station."

THE DAYS OF OUR LIFE: "In the night of the eleventh of April , 2003 the American forces
occupied (librate) the city of Mosul , they entered the city very
peacefully , though there was rubbing and steeling in all over the
streets of Mosul , they called Mosul the white chicken as a symbol for
its peace and its people's harmony ..."

The neighborhood generator is not working, we're being cooked on calm fire.. I woke up at 6AM today just to scratch myself for an hour, thanks to the annoying bugs. Then I avenged and slept till 12:30, went to lessons at 3PM and came back at 8PM.. As usual, I was hungry I could eat a city but was really fed up after finishing half of my dinner that I had to finish it 2 hours later.

It's not a good feeling to have lessons for 5 hours, miss a prayer and come back exhausted to find out that your niece has just left with her parents :( That's me for the last couple of days..

My friends who wanted to pass the year didn't make it through the IQ test and the fifth grade's exams.. Only 7 of Iraq made it (3 from Mosul including 2 from my school).

3 of 7 from Mosul is a pretty good number but the whole 7 number is horrific.. It's the lowest ever! My friend is Okay, it seems; though I think she's still in denial. But, I've told her many times to put it in front of her, that she might not make it and if she didn't, she shouldn't lose the faith.. A lot of those who do not succeed in passing the year can't continue the school normally, without feeling the failure.. Especially that most of them wanted to skip the year because they think they can't make it through the finals..

At the Chemistry lesson today, the teacher had a headache because of the number of students who called crying for not doing good in the exam(There was a Chemistry exam for the 6th grade today, the exam was hard, it seems).. The teacher kept trying to calm the students down. We ended up taking 1/4 of the lesson because of the number of phone calls the teacher was getting.. Too many students gave the exam paper back to the teacher blank so they would fail in it and have to take it again instead of having a low mark which will affect the average, then the future!

Desperately posting,
Najma

PS: Hassan is back and so is his blog..

First, yes, you are at the right address..

What do you think? Do you like it? I personally love it, I have made two other trials but settled on the last one, though the first two are alright..







Putting them all together now, I think the last one is not the best one.. What do YOU think? Mom says the first is political, second is sad while the last is suitable!

Maybe I'm going to keep this one and change between the three every month? In three months I will do few more of those tabs, it wouldn't be hard; it would be fun.. And I will have one more of those obligations that I want to do but don't really have the mood to do! You know what I mean?

We went out today.. To my uncle's house. We even had dinner there but had to finish in five minutes as dad didn't want us to be home later than 9 PM.. It was weird to be out at nigh, though really nice!

Today, and for few hours, I was in a state in which I forgot how I am having lessons unlike everyone else.. Everyone is in a break, but the poor me. I am supposed to be in a break too if it wasn't for the private lessons :(

It was a year ago that I wrote this sentence.. My very first letter.

"This is my first letter in my first blog, I'm 16 years old, a student in a secondary school. And I'm from Mosul, a city in Iraq, you know it all, even if you didn't before you sure know it now."

Read more..

On the 10th of June, 2004; I wrote my first post on this blog.. I had to check it twice and made dad read it for me, and correct it. Reading it now, I feel like editing it, and writing a brand new introduction, but I won't, it's always going to be a pleasure to see how much progress I've made :)

Since then, I have written tens of posts, made tens of friends, learned tens of words and made lots of memories.. If it wasn't of those, I wouldn't have written this post.

Happy birthday dear blog, tens of years are yet to come, may you only grow stronger and better.. It doesn't feel like a day I should write in but rather to read and remember in.. But, I felt I should remind you of this great event for me.

I might be posting paragraphs of this blog later today, be prepared for updates..
-------

War was never a way of life, but it is turning to be, in the middle east, thanks to America.

Najma.. February, 25th, 2005.

Tell me now, a soldier, holding a gun, pointing at you, you can't see what's in his mind, what he's been through, or what he has come here for.. What you know is that he's a foreigner, holding a gun in YOUR country, and might kill you at anytime since you're always a threat to him.. Is it wrong to kill that man? Is it wrong to defend yourself? Self defense?

Najma.. May, 6th, 2005.

Can't resist pointing to this:

I asked him what vehicle he drove: a Suburban was his reply. I suggested he use a less American-looking vehicle that would not let would-be attackers know they were coming a mile away. His reply: "then the Americans soldiers might shoot at us". With the Suburban, he chose the lesser of two risks. Make your own deductions about life in Iraq for Iraqis.

Gilles, Montreal, Canada.. June, 7th, 2005

Maybe 4 years from now, I'll go vote. Let's just pray that in 4 years things will be much better that I won't have to go through all this battle again..

Najma.. January, 30, 2005.

"It's falling and not wanting to get up, it's hating the life we're living that didn't make her resist the pain. It's like when I fell off the stairs yesterday and lied there in pain not wanting to get up! Mom came and helped me and I went up to continue studying (Nothing broke thank God).. I had something to look up to, a break, a niece, a hopefully good future."

"How cruel life can be, how heartless people can be! Beheading a fellow human being, kidnapping your neighbor or killing your country for whatever!! Giving me more reasons to run away, to get the most education I can get so that I can live a better life somewhere, build a better future for my own family.."

Najma.. January, 17th, 2005.

Today, is a day that should be recorded in history. It's the first Thursday that is considered a weekend in Iraq. Nevertheless, if it wasn't a weekend, we wouldn't have gotten to school anyway, because the bridges are still closed.

Najma.. December, 23rd, 2004.

This blog is not the Qura'an, you can not take everyword as if I meant one hundred things by it!

Najma.. December, 22nd, 2004.

First dad's posts, from both his and the family's blogs:

• Suicide bombs.
• Picture of the old city Mosul.
• Another old picture of Mosul.
• Jack Kemp, Jimmy Carter & Saddam Hussein.
• The bent Minaret.
• Ancient Iraqi civilization.
• Moslawi news.
• Tikrit news.

My posts, from both the family's and my blogs:

• What's happening?.
• What's happening: on private lessons?.
• Web pages from people in the middle east.
• Strawberryfields: Leaving home, going home.
• A glimpse of Iraq.
• Forcing myself to post.. Will it work?.
• Who are the Iraqis?.
• You don't have to give up the day job.

HNK's posts:

• I am what I am Mr.Anonymous.
• What's happening!.
• Days of my holiday.
• Days come, days go.
• Hi and welcome.
• Yahoooo. Don't worry, I am happy now.
• I am 16.
• Thank you.
• Hi all.
• Yes, I am blaming again.
• Water!.

Dalia's posts:

• Palms (Iraq/Basra).
• The marshes of southern Iraq.
• Funny picture.
• Flowers from our garden.

Sunshine's posts:

• My diary for the last two days.
• I am in Baghdad.

Phew, finished.. This took much time to write! I guess this is the punishment for not posting it before!

Gosh, I just had a look at the first page of the blog; I used to talk a lot... Let's hope this one will be long too.

I'm living... Going to lessons, studying a little, surfing the net and waiting for Linux... But, most importantly, I am working on gaining weight.

We were watching a video few days ago of when Aya was few months old (Assuming that she's more than few months old now ;) ), and I noticed I have change in appearance to worse in the last 'few' months, so I decided to regain those few kilos I've lost.. Instead of gaining, I am losing!! I have no idea why, but I'm still working on it, and having fun eating finger-chips every day!

Aya is eating like a monster according to her mom's last SMS report.. My dear, dear Aya.
Did I tell you she's had a haircut? Yes, we took her to a professional hairdresser about two weeks ago, she was polite and acted like a lady as they told me (I had lessons, I missed the first haircut).

So, Aya might not be getting cuter in appearance but she is certainly getting cuter in actions.. In addition to her two teeth that she uses professionally for eating, which are really cute by the way; she now can clap (With hands and feet), accidentally waves, moves on her bottom, hits on purpose, makes NICE laughter, tries to steal my laptop, expresses hunger and knows how to refuse a meal, with really good expressions.. Well, with no hesitation, I can say, she IS my favorite niece ;)



Does anyone know why babies always show interest to the strangest things? I mean, they have all kinds of stuffed animal and toys, but they always keen to things like remote controls, laptops, mobiles and keyboards.. More than that to slippers and books!! If Aya cries too much, a certain healer would be the mobile, most certainly if it's ringing.

Enough of Aya now.. I, with my little observation of life, am noticing an improvement in the security situation, at least in my neighborhood.. The bridge is not getting blocked and no more bombs! We still hear bullets, but who cares for bullets now? Though a bullet might seem scarier than a bomb in times, especially when you're facing one!

I went to a Physics lesson today, it is a little stressful these days knowing that the sixth graders are having their exams.. They finished two tests, Arabic and Religion. It seems that the Arabic exam questions were too long! Although I am feeling stressful just thinking that I will be having those exams next year, I wish I can have them now and finish!

Mom watched me proudly today as I was frying the potatoes for my gaining-weight program.. She admitted that she finds it weird seeing me washing the dishes, cooking or cleaning (Which I do, I really do, but it is accompanied with some, just some whining). Laziness has finally paid off :) Mom is proud!

Has is become a long post yet? Sometimes, I feel a silly post is not worth posting, but I really like silly posts written by other bloggers.. Just being casual, it's always interesting! So, I just end up letting it out.

At the end of this, let's link to few things, I hope I will post carnival of the relatives tomorrow, inshallah.. No one seemed to notice the absence of the carnival, is it of any use to you?

Madcanuck, my Canadian friend, posted about "Family Feud at ITM?", which is something I noticed too.. Usually the counter indicates about 20% of the total visits to the blog coming from Iraq The model, few days ago, Iraq the model was no longer in the list of referrers (Which didn't affect the visiting rate, comfortingly).. Iraq the model removed the link, but not only to me, to their brother too! I wonder if this was a mistake!

Dad posted about some Moslawi news.. The taxi cars are now with no back-lids! It looks too.. Well, weird! But, it was an order! No problem, as long as it is going to solve something, I promise, I will not criticize this, but I have to laugh at it sometimes :D

I officially announce the end of this, now I have to go beg HNK to give me a moment on the Internet to blog this.. Wish me luck!

A Glimpse of Iraq:

"They were Nihad’s brothers. Nihad was a young man who was ‘accidentally’ killed by the US army. I have already told the story in another post. His father was compensated financially. He gave the blood money to the resistance."

Not finding the words to write posts of my own these days, I am linking to stuff I find interesting.. Here's one.. Follow the link, and do NOT forget to read how Nihad was killed..

Strawberry Fields: LEAVING HOME, GOING HOME

Sometimes good posts pass with no one noticing them.. Here's one, she came to Iraq to work, her husband is a soldier here..

Middle Eastern Web Pages - Web Pages From People in the Middle East: "A Star from Mosul
I
think this woman is the aunt of the girl who writes 'Baghdad Girl'. She
tells about her trip from Mosul to Baghdad to see her family and how
she fears for her life during the trip. She is a teacher and often
needs to help her students deal with loss."

WHAT? This reminds me of a conversation with a friend regarding a commentator on dad's blog, he said she was a woman, I said he was a man.. He said he's read that he was a woman in one of the blogs, I told him I am always wrongly described and I have a blog, what about people who don't?

How can this keep happening, I mean, some people think I'm 10yr, some think I'm Raghda's aunt!!