A Star from Mosul

It's been a busy week, on Monday, I had a Grammar competition with Al-Zohoor secondary school for girls, although our students are superior than them, but they had that one very good girl who was answering all the questions, I know her 'cause she was with me in the Arabic private lessons. There was a cameraman and they videotaped the whole thing for Al-Iraqia Nineva TV.. I was supposed to see it on TV today, but we didn't have electricity!!
Anyway, we didn't win, we were even..

On Thursday night, I was praying upstairs when the electricity went off, I finished praying and decided to do some sport instead of waiting for the generator to be turned on... Unfortunately, before I could do any further move, I hit my forehead hard with the oil heater.. It didn't hurt so I just changed position till I felt the blood dripping on my face, and that's when I knew I've got a cut on my forehead..
Dad put a plaster on my forehead.. :( One more step to map my face.

The rest of the week was all exams, we started the 2nd part of the year exams before even having the mid-year exams.. It's so tiring. They just wouldn't give us any rest.

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I got a link to a story that is very interesting, read it here: US teen runs to Iraq!
But I think he hasn't seen anything, nor will, if he doesn't leave that hotel he's in.. But that's better for him!

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Oil prices are going UP fast, Gasoline raised from 50 dinnars to 1000, multiplied by 20 times! Dad is now paying more than half of his salary on fuelling the cars.. Students at the universities are on strike now because they can not affrod paying for the gasoline. And because we have no good public transportation (I've never been in a public bus, it's complete chaos, too dangerous for a girl), it is quite reasonable the students are not going to the university.

On another note, after the demonstrations I mentioned in my last post, the head of the Iraqi Youth and Students Union got kidnapped with his friend and was found dead after two days.

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I got an e-mail from a Moslawi citizen living far away, he was suggesting few projects for Iraq. One was to collect books for Mosul University's library. I read the e-mail to mom, hoping to get satisfaction, and she said that the university's library is so out-of-date.
And so dear readers, I ask for your help. I'm planning to collect books in enviromental engineering at first, since that's mom's majority. She asked the head of the department and he gave her the department e-mail, and agreed on the project. If anyone has books in reach, on the enviromental engineering field, it would be great if you could mail them to the department. I am also planning to collect donations to buy books of choice by the head of the department and mom, and to subscribe to magazines depending on the amount of the money I collect.

If anyone would like to participate in anyway, or have suggestions, please e-mail me.

I also wrote to Nancy, I remembered her saying that she was going to do such project and she said that you might be able to help in calingl for different universities to hold drives in their schools at the end of the year to collect books and send them here. Can anyone do that?

It is my #1 step to change.. Hope it goes well. I have already tried the mailing service in Iraq, and it works, but since we're going to subscribe through the Internet, I think I'll set a Paypal account.

Technorati Tags: Mosul, oil, competition, library, books.

Such an interesting, busy time for the Iraqis these days; elections, election results, frauds at the election results, demonstrations against the frauds at the election results, trials, raise in prices of oil, demonstrations against the raise in the prices of oil, changes in generators timing due to the raise in prices of oil and so on...
Yesterday, there was a demonstration in Mosul university in support for the accordance Iraqi front list, and today, against the raise of the prices of oil. Here are some articles about it..

الموصل - الزمان
انطلقت من داخل جامعة الموصل لليوم الثاني علي التوالي، تظاهرة حاشـدة نددت بالحكومة، وشككت بنتائج الانتخابات وطعنت بعمليات فرز الأصوات.
وقال يحيي عبد محجوب رئيس رابطة الطلبة والشباب العراقية فرع نينوي إن (هذه التظاهرة التي نظمتها الرابطة وجابت ساحات وشوارع الجامعة بلافتات تنديدية، تأتي لتطالب قوات الاحتلال بتحديد جدول لانسحابها وإطلاق سراح المعتقلين من السجون والتوقف الفوري عن ممارسة سياسة الإقصاء والتهميش وتكريس الطائفية). وندد المتظاهرون بما وصفوه (الفرز الطائفي للأصوات)، ودعوا إلي (وحدة وطنية إسلامية)، كما ردد المتظاهرون شعارات تندد بالحكومة الحالية وتتهمها بـ (الطائفية والعمالة والخضوع لتدخلات إقليمية)، ونددوا أيضاً بقرار رفع أسعار المحروقات. وأعلن عبد محجوب (استمرار إضراب الطلبة عن الدوام الي أن تلبي الحكومة مطالبهم) التي وصفها بأنها (مطالب كل مواطن عراقي شريف بصرف النظر عن انتمائه)، مشيراً الي أن من أبرز هذه المطالب (إعادة الانتخابات، وإجراء فرز الأصوات تحت إشراف دولي عادل، والعدول عن قرار زيادة أسعار المشتقات النفطية).

Source: Azzaman newspaper.

بعد الاحداث والقرارات المتردية الاخيرة التي صرحت بها الحكومة الحالية من ضمنها ارتفاع اسعار الوقود وتهميش دور السنة في العملية السياسية وخصوصا اعلان اغلب
النتائج وكذلك تلبية لنداء الطلبة اقامت رابطة الطلبة والشباب العراقية /مركز نينوى تظاهرا كبيرا ادت إلى وقوف الدوام في جامعة الموصل والمهعد التقني والكلية
التقنية مما ادى ارباك لدى رئاسة الجامعة وبعض من اساتذتهم ولقد كانت المظاهرة منظمة بحيث التقت المجاميع الطلابية في اماكن معينة من الجامعة ولقد حضرت
المظاهرة الكثير من القنوات الفضائية منها قناة بغداد والسومرية والشرقية والعراقية وغيرها.....لقد كان المطلب الاول للمظاهرة هو العدول عن القرار الاخير بشان
البنزين وعدم اقصاء السنة من العملية السياسية واليكم بعض من الصور عن المظاهرة:

Source: Iraqi Youth and students Rabita forum.

On BaghdadTV by the way, the accordance Iraqi front declared a demonstration against the fraud in the election results in Baghdad, tomorrow (Friday)

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An old system at school was reinstituted earlier this week; students with an average of marks less than 80% at the finals should move to another school the next year. This system was cancelled few years ago, which made our school not as special as it was, since girls with low marks stayed at school. So, I'm happy with the new system, but it will not apply on us -Six graders-, since we're going our of school next year anyway!

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I have two cousins my age in Baghdad, one of them told mom the other day, that there are additions to the literature book we're studying at school.. I was shocked, I told my friends, but nothing proved me right till two days ago.. They gave us new Literature books, just a month before the Mid-year exams!! They've added 18 pages, and few lines here and there.. Besides the problem that I CAN NOT memorize, we still haven't finished half of the old book at school!! So, there's but little hope to finish the book this year! Changes to other books are on the way. What do I call this? DUMB ministry of education.. Yes, adding new materials in the middle of the year IS dumb!! All I ask for is more planning, and faster thinking for God's sake!

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By the way, remember that classmate who got married this year? Not the one whose wedding I went to, the other (Can't find the post where I talked about her) Well, she has a baby now :)
Makes me wonder what she would've done if she didn't leave school!!

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I'm always trying to convince myself that everything is going to be alright. Whether after the partial results of the elections were announced or when the prices of fuel were raised, or when the new books were delivered.. I tell myself that I have to accommodate myself to the situation, that there's nothing I can do, and that only optimism will save me from insanity. I'm trying hard, I'm mostly succeeding, or I just force myself to forget about it..

I pray to God to take Iraq out of the deep hole it's in now.. I'm not sure if I can hang on this thin stick more; either it will break, or I will get tired and fall.. Or God will find me a way out!

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Check this article in NYtimes, blogging the Iraqi vote!