A Star from Mosul

How to help:

• Donate money by clicking on the button in the sidebar.
• Buy books from the wishlist.
• Send books you have to the address at the end of this post.
• Pay for a supscription to a magazine for the university here: (Note to self: Add link later).
• Call for different universities to hold drives in their schools at the end of the year to collect books and send them here.
• Suggest something?

Details:

It's a project to collect books for the out-of-date libraries in Mosul university in Iraq.

I'm planning to start by collecting books in enviromental engineering , 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 environmental 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 has 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 caling 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 have set a paypal account which you can donate to by clicking on the button on the sidebar.

You can also buy books from the wishlist I created with mom, sending them to yourself then to us since mailing to Iraq is not an option in Amazon, unless you want to try sending them from a website other than Amazon.

The address you should use for sending the books is:

The head of the civil engineering department [E-mail me to get names]
University of Mosul
College of Engineering
Civil engineering department
Mosul - Iraq

I will get mom to spend some more time to choose more books and magazine subscriptions maybe..

Please feel free to spread news about the project, or contact whomever you can. If there's anything else that needs to be explained, tell me, and I'll try to put more details about that.

Technorati Tags: mosul, iraq, university, library, book, magazine, donations.

Labels: book project

I'm finally done with the mid-year exam. Inshallah, those were the last mid-year exams in a school for me ever!

The spring vacation will last till the 12th, next month. I have to continue taking my private lessons in Chemistry till then. And we'll go to Baghdad too, but it's not sure that I will go to Baghdad since I might or might not finish the lessons before going there.

Sentences are not well-formed in this post, I have no will to edit it though, I have many e-mails I'll have to go through today.

The university library project will start seriously today, with $60 in the account so far, and a book in the way, I am one step ahead in the road..

Write to you soon, today or tomorrow, depends on what's on TV today!! I'm hoping to see a good movie, that's if I could stay awake to see one since I woke up at 5AM today!

Only three more exams, last on Saturday, did good so far..

I just wanted to tell you I'm Okay since some are worried and I have no time to reply to e-mails now.

By Saturday, I will have writen my last post for NYtimes, and will have returned to you to write about that and other experiences.

I know this is kind of crazy.. But I miss you all :((

Studying in the Dark

The mid-year exams began on the 15th this month. I have finished the oral exams and am taking the written (more important) ones over the next ten days, starting today.

The telephone line for our house had been out of use for about two weeks, but it was repaired finally two days ago. We've been shocked though, by a bigger problem: The neighborhood's generator has been out of commission since Sunday. A neighbor was generous enough to share power from his own generator, but yesterday it started smoking and soon enough it too stopped working.

So I'm studying by a battery-generated light and am getting sleepy and discouraged. Studying in the dark is no fun at all.

Mom took her mobile-charger to the university today to charge her phone, since she's not sure she'll be able to do that at home any time soon.

The only one who actually enjoys the power outages is my little niece, Aya, who just loves to play with her shadow nowadays. She used to be afraid of her shadow, but, like all of us, she has grown accustomed to new visitors.

All I ask for now is a prayer, for a little bit of luck to the poor people of my neighborhood in these dark, dark, dark days.

Electricity shortages started in the 90's. After that I can't remember electricity being continuously available for anytime other than maybe on Saddam's birthdays, Eid or the like — sometimes when the government felt like giving us a gift, which we thankfully received. Now, with more people destroying than helping to solve the problem, it doesn't seem like I'm going to live in light anytime soon. Even when we went to Syria, the electricity was turned off for a few hours in Latakia. But as an Iraqi poet once said: Even darkness in more beautiful there (in Iraq) for it hugs Iraq.

Dressing for Eid

Eid is finally here. Every Eid eve, we take a shower, put on new pajamas and go to bed early so we can wake up at about 7 for the Eid prayer in the mosque. The weather is rainy — rain for the next four days of Eid, it seems — but I’m keen to walk under the rain.

I will finally get to wear my new Eid clothes, some of which I ordered from Syria a few months ago.

By this time of the year, shops get really crowded with people buying new clothes for Eid. Before the war, Dad used to take us to the market at night because it was too crowded at noon. Since that’s not an option these days, everyone now shops at noon.

You’d think that would mean that shops are really crowded at noon this year, but they aren’t, not as much as before. Not everyone is buying new clothes. Some either have a family death and are sticking to black, or they still have clothes they haven’t worn from the last Eid, or they just don’t feel like buying clothes they’ll barely wear other than during Eid.

We have a uniform at school, and we rarely go anywhere other than to school. Mom’s only motive to buy me clothes is for university.

A few years before the war, the government distributed uniforms to students at the universities for very low prices. But this, along with the uniform itself, was canceled after the war. Now students can wear whatever they like at the university, and since they aren’t able to wear their clothes elsewhere, it’s kind of a fashion show there.

Considering Mom’s reputation for stylish dressing, she would certainly hate it if her daughter went to the university next year and spoiled that reputation! I have seen this every time I go with Mom to the university. I have to walk, talk, wear and act very cautiously, ’cause she’s watching me.

I confess, I’m pressing that button way too much these days, but it’s serving me well. Two skirts, three blouses and a pair of boots were the result. All are for Eid, and, well, for university next year.

You’d think that would mean that shops are really crowded at noon this year, but they aren’t, not as much as before. Not everyone is buying new clothes. Some either have a family death and are sticking to black, or they still have clothes they haven’t worn from the last Eid, or they just don’t feel like buying clothes they’ll barely wear other than during Eid.

We have a uniform at school, and we rarely go anywhere other than to school. Mom’s only motive to buy me clothes is for university.

A few years before the war, the government distributed uniforms to students at the universities for very low prices. But this, along with the uniform itself, was canceled after the war. Now students can wear whatever they like at the university, and since they aren’t able to wear their clothes elsewhere, it’s kind of a fashion show there.

Considering Mom’s reputation for stylish dressing, she would certainly hate it if her daughter went to the university next year and spoiled that reputation! I have seen this every time I go with Mom to the university. I have to walk, talk, wear and act very cautiously, ’cause she’s watching me.

I confess, I’m pressing that button way too much these days, but it’s serving me well. Two skirts, three blouses and a pair of boots were the result. All are for Eid, and, well, for university next year.

Okay, okay, I confess, I betrayed you :((
I wrote somewhere else all this time and didn't tell you, but I swear I would have.. If only I had time!!

They asked me and I couldn't resist, who cares if I write in the mid-year exams if I'm gonna make money out of it!!?

I was and am writitng in NY times this month.. I'm a guest columnist at Times Select, which you can't read if you don't have a subscription to Times select, and can't subscribe without paying for it. And so I can't copy my posts here since I'll be betraying them too..

Please forgive me.. PLEASE!!

Anyway, I'm not the only betrayer!! But I'm a good person, and won't mention the others 'til they tell you themselves.

Oh, oh, I almost forgot the reason why I got here in the first place, I wanted to wish all the Muslims in the world, a very happy Eid.. Enjoy your time while you can, and remember, somewhere in this world, there are people who have to go home before 8 because of the curfew, poooor people, aren't they?
And they have to study for the Mid-year exams because they're right after Eid..
And, they have to write to NY times while studying..
But, they'll still miss this small spot of their own.. Their very cozy blog.

God, I have home sickness!!! WIERD..

BTW, my new pajamas have a big writing in the front that says: UNIVERSITY! And guess what? I love it..

Hey, wish me luck, I know I look insane up there, but I'm also happy.. It is obvious, right?

Oh, and I got to delete two comments the other day, will have to deal with that later since one was seriously angry at something that is sooo wrong!!

Technorati Tags: eid, times, insane, happy

FINALLY, I can go a step further..

The button is in the sidebar.. Won't do anything with the money till February (The end of my exams) 'cause I'm kind of punished for spending too much time working on it!
This month will only be for collecting, money or books, no buying.

I'll try to answer the e-mails tomorrow, don't want to spend a significant time online :(

Holiday Visits and Hot Showers

Today is Friday and we stop going to school from now until our mid-year exams on the 15th. Eid al-Adha (an Islamic holiday) starts on Tuesday and lasts for three days. I am studying for the subjects I'm not quite good at these days, and also the subjects that I think will require more time than I have.

The day started well. I had been waiting for the electricity to come on for the last two days so I could take a hot shower. But we only get electricity for about two hours a day, and it doesn’t always come on in the morning. So I made dad turn on the gasoline-powered heater and finally got to have a hot shower.

I have been trying to get into the habit of having a shower every night before sleeping, but only got the chance to do so once, since electricity and luck are rarely on my side.

My aunt and her family came for a visit today; we haven't been able to go see them for a long time, because my dad comes back from work not long before the curfew starts. My aunt and her family, however, had to leave before five o'clock, because of the security situation. It was fun having them at our house. My aunt was feeling depressed because of all the bad news she hears everyday; she needed to hear normal stories.

When I tell my mom that I want to go out, she tells me it's not safe, but if we were to wait till it's safe, we might not see our relatives at all.

The Eid will give me a chance to see my relatives, but we'll have to go back home at five everyday then, too. The rest of the holiday I'll spend surfing the Net, and maybe even studying. So much for an Eid! Sigh. I'd better go search for playing cards; it'll be a good idea to have something for the family to do during free time.

I hope I will have time to update this with a longer post.. Blame my teachers if I don't, tomorrow's exam is killing me!!

Anyway, happy new year!! Wish this year is different, in a good way!

PS: About the paypal account, I'm just waiting for a friend to come online to set it up. We can't use it in Iraq, and so I need his help.. But with my busy schedule, and my friend's busy schedule and time difference, I think it will take time..