A Star from Mosul

Last and Least

During the time I wrote in this group blog the neighborhood generator broke down, then was fixed, the telephone line was repaired, then broke down again, the exams started, then ended. . . . It all comes and goes, days repeat themselves. . . . It's all boring, it's all intolerable.

I had plans for the break: Work on the Internet, write a post, watch some movies, read a book, get my room cleaned up and a whole bunch of things. Now, I just feel numb.… I don't feel like doing anything.

I finally got the chance to visit a relative today. Her grandfather had died two weeks ago, and I was hoping I would get to talk to her since neither she nor I are able to go out much. But when I got there, I found she had gone with her dad to visit her grandfather's grave, and I ended up listening to some old women talking about who died and who is dying.

Bird flu was found in Kurdistan, and that is just what we need, one more burden to carry. "No more eggs," mom declared. "But can't we just die and get away from here?" I asked.

They seem to be in vain, all those discussions about not wanting to live in hell, Iraq. It seems like real hell at times here, it feels like hell, it looks like hell, and it sounds like hell. But at other times, it amazes me that we can still go on with our lives. I smile. I thank God for keeping us safe. Is it that we got used to it? It's good that we did, but it's bad as well, because if we're satisfied, then we won't do what will lead to change.

I will one day regret the fact that I had an opportunity to write for such a site, and all I did was whine. But it's all I could do. It's the day-to-day life in Iraq.

Thank you for listening, and goodbye.

A Longer, Harder Journey to Mecca

Pilgrimage to Mecca, called hajj, is a must for Muslims who are able to do it once in their lifetime, at least. Iraqis go to Mecca by the thousands every year. It is a hard and long journey, made even harder by the new security measures. There are now multiple checkpoints along the road between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It takes a long time to check everyone in a bus, along with their luggage. Military convoys on roads inside Iraq are very frequent, and since buses can not pass them, they have to move slower than the slowest Stryker in the convoy.

Before the war, age was the main consideration to accept applicants to hajj. The Iraqi government gave preference to older people because youngsters would have more chances to go in the coming years. Men had to be over 55 years old to be accepted, while women had to be at least 45 years old. This time, the pilgrims were selected by lottery without regard for age.

My parents have been waiting to go to Mecca for four years, ever since mom reached the legal age. In the past three years, they were hoping mom would get accepted and dad would be her companion, but their names were not drawn in the lottery.

Mom had even sold a piece of land she owned in 2001 to help pay for hajj. The land was worth about $5000 at that time. Now, after their three unsuccessful trials, the land she sold is worth at least $50,000.

Nowadays, mom's salary of one month is enough to get her to hajj, but because of the dangerous situation here, she and dad don’t have the heart to leave us alone. And so this year, they decided not to submit their names to the lottery. My uncles, who couldn't afford to go to hajj before the war, had enough money this year, and submitted their names. About 10 members of our family wanted to go, but only my cousin, the youngest, had his name drawn in the lottery.

Also, the government sent more than the number allowed by the Saudi government, and about 7,000 hajji-to-be came back disappointed after being rejected at the Saudi borders. To make up for this mistake, the government gave each of those 7,000 rejected applicants about $1000 dollars, and promised to get them all to Mecca next year.

Hajjis who went to Mecca, whether by bus or by plane, were nervous all the time, wondering if they'd get through or not. My cousin went on a plane from Arbil. His luggage was supposed to be transferred to Saudi Arabia on a bus along with the luggage of the other passengers. However, that bus was not allowed to pass the borders, and my cousin had to buy everything he needed in Mecca.

Also, I heard here in Mosul that a Kurdish plane with Kurdistan's flag painted on it was not allowed to get in the Saudi airport until they replaced it with an Iraqi flag.

The most famous incident at the pilgrimage this year was a sad one — the death more than 300 hajjis in Mina who were stampeded while throwing stones at three walls representing the devil (a must in hajj). My cousin said the stampede was caused by some who only cared about getting done with hajj. A distant relative of mine, a woman, died in the chaos and was buried by her son in Saudi Arabia.

My cousin came back to Mosul on Friday; I left my studying and went along with the family to welcome him home. Miraculously, he was allowed back into the city (roads into Mosul are closed these days because of the election results!). We barely recognized him; he's thinner now, has a small beard, and has shaved his head. We then gathered in his house and celebrated his safe return.

Ramadhan has started for us yesterday. This is the first Ramadan I spend without school. College starts for me on November.

I am doing Okay these days, mainly happy! I haven't felt bored for days somehow. Aya and Ayman do a great job entertaining the family.

Aya has started to talk.. She can express whatever she wants in words, she asks too many questions it makes me crazy. Ayman has started to smile, a lot, I LOVE this kid.

I love Ramadhan. We all wake up early at about 5 Am, have suhoor, read Quran till the prayer, pray and then sleep.. Then everyone wakes up to go to work and school except me. I wake up whenever I want to do the work mom has asked me to do, usually wiping the floor.
Futoor is at about 7PM, we're eagerly waiting for the time to change so the futoor would be earlier.

HNK has still to finish her Chemistry private lessons, and for the last two times she went there, she bring me back a flower from Mr. Othman (I told you he's so nice).

The last days before Ramadan were full of visits: People visiting us to congratulate us on my success, and us visiting people to congratulate them on different occasions. It was very tiring, having to cook and clean for about 10 people if not more each time, but it's fun too.
Visits might have made me bored before the war, but I love them now. Just the opportunity to communicate and socialize gives me pleasure.

I am trying to learn Speed Reading.. Wish me luck!

Ramadan Kareem to all the Muslims

I will be posting the articles I wrote for New York times these days, for all of you who couldm't read it before.. It was winter, few days before the mid-year exams.

Gas Lines and Student Strikes in Mosul

Today is January 2nd. I got up at 6 a.m. to read for my mathematics exam. The electricity went off at 6:30 a.m. and I had to study by the battery light. I kept trying to stay awake but I surrendered at last and went back to my warm bed.

At 7:30, I got up again and put on my school uniform, prepared my school bag and went downstairs to have breakfast.

Every day, a driver takes me and my sister to school, mom to the university, my niece to kindergarten and then my dad and my older sister to the hospitals. But we were wearing so many layers of clothes today, as it is so cold, the car wouldn't fit us all, and so dad went on his own.

Today, university students in Mosul broke their strike; they were on strike because of the government’s decision to raise oil prices after the elections last month. This made everyone angry, and not wanting the government to control them the way Saddam did, the students called a strike for a week. The strike changed nothing. It started with a demonstration that resulted in the kidnapping and murder of the head of the Iraqi Students and Youth Union in Mosul. It ended today, causing only the loss of time for the students and, well, not much oil use during the strike week.

Today, however, gas stations opened, and the prices in the black markets dropped to only 12 times the legal price. If someone chooses the hard way, he can wait in the line for up to a day – a line that is not less than three kilometers – and risk an encounter with an angry man waiting his turn or being struck by a random bullet fired in street confrontation. At the end of his wait, he may get gasoline for five times its earlier price.

The curfew in Mosul was extended today. Instead of starting at 10 p.m. and ending at 5 a.m., it now starts at 8 p.m. and ends at 6 a.m.

It was a very nice day today.. The school has asked us to come to get a receipt on Wednesday last time we went there.

I and my best friend had decided that the driver would drop me at school, we'd get our work done at the school and then her parents would drop us both at the university so we can tour it by ourselves. This is rarely done here, but the university is one of the safest places that both our mothers agreed to the idea!!

We went to school, where we found out that we were supposed to come the next Wednesday, and then my friend's parents dropped us at the university. Her mom's advice was: "Do whatever you want, go wherever you want, just do not go outside the campus. Take no notice of anyone. And whenever you're lost, just call and describe where you are and I'll fetch you".

The campus is a very big place, the electronics' engineering building is on one end of it. The Civil engineering building (Where mom was) and the Education building (Where my friend's mom is) are in the middle.
My friend's mom gave us a tour by car first and introduced us to most of the buildings so we would know what we were getting ourselves into.

We spent about 4 hours wandering between buildings, trying to take the appropriate attitude at the right times. We got ourselves in closed roads at times.. We asked a woman and she led us to my college, I showed my friend the new building we're going to study in. It was so much fun.
We talked about the university, and planned the party my friend is having tomorrow, and the party I'm having on Saturday (Celebrating our graduation)..

My friend is going to the Medicine college, which is far away, in another campus, and so we wouldn't see each other much. Our other friend is going to Dentistry, which is close to my college relatively. The three of us had excellent marks but each chose to study what she likes most rather than what her marks can get her into (Which is Medicine for the three of us), we'll have to find new friends which I hate to do..

We managed to find the Education building at last, and paid both our moms a visit before we split and went home.. we planned for another similar meeting, a month from now, when everyone starts to go to college and school but the poor freshmen who still haven't gotten their acceptance into college.

I forgot to take any pictures, I will do next time maybe.

I'm going to some kind of a lecture for girls who go to college tomorrow, it's supposed to give us some kind of guidance.. I don't know exactly what it is about, but it should be useful, and I just love going out of the house!

First post: here.

THANK YOU HERE I AM AGAIN...TO SAY TO MY FAR AWAY RESPONDENTS WHO SPENT TIME AND EFFORTS THAT THEY REALLY LEND ME HANDS OF HELP.... SO,''THANK YOU'' ISN'T FAIR...THEY DESERVE MORE THAN THIS ...


THE RE SEARCHER

******************

A REMINDER!!! TO MY DEAR RESPONDENTS... PLEASE THOSE WHO CONTACTED ME AND GOT COPIES OF THE QUESTONNAIRE ,JUST TRY TO REMEMBER TIME WITH ME...AM COMPLETELY IMMERSED AND TIME FLIES...ANOTHER THING,PLEASE TRY TO SUPPORT ME WITH ANSWERS ON WHICH I CAN DEPEND BY STICKING TO THE INSTUCTIONS...THOUGH SOME FRIENDS THANKFULLY PROVIDE ME WITH WONDERFULL RESPONSES,I FIND SOME EMPTY SPACES IN SOME OTHERS...I DO BELIEVE THAT YOU 'RE WORKING WITH ME AS IF IT'S YOUR INVESTIGATION....

THANKS WAITING

I finally applied to the university of Electronics, I decided to study Communication after long thinking. I went to school today and turned in my papers.

Dad is moving his clinic to a safer place because the neighborhood in which his clinic was in is very dangerous and crimes have been commited there lately. We have been a bit busy the last couple of days with the moving and arranging of the room. It's going to be a big change, dad will be able to spend more time at the clinic because he wouldn't worry about the road, but he might not have as much patients.

All of a sudden, my blog doesn't seem to be much of an interest to me. It used to own me entirely, I thought in English all the time, and no matter what happened, my first thought was what to write from it in the blog.
My interest in the blog might have something to do with my interest in the current events. I haven't watched news for a long time, I wouldn't even know if the third world war was on!

And now I can't even find an ending to the post! But hey, it is not that much of a good post, so why care!

Life or something like it I

We were acutally planning to go on a tour to both Syria and Lebanon, you all know what happened to Lebanon, and so we changed our plans.

Doctors are supposed to get the approval of the ministry before going outside Iraq, and dad's approval didn't come from Baghdad.. We waited for 2 months and lost hope. However, we heard that other doctors are going without getting the approval and we decided to take a chance.

We departed to Syria on the 21st of August, it took us 14 hours from Mosul to Aleppo by bus, including 4hours and a half at the borders where we faced a sandstorm.

We stood under the sun waiting for our name to be called to be given the passports, my name and HNK's came last from the bus. They were so unorganised, it was a mess.


At the borders
We arrived to Aleepo at 11PM, we were exhausted and slept right after we found a hotel. The hotel we stayed in last time, although really simple, was quite clean and new. It was all booked this time.
We stayed at a hotel called the Big Middle East, it was really big horizontally, it's like a maze inside, I think it was a 2-star hotel.

The second day we wandered a bit in Aleppo and then took a bus to Hama with all the luggage.
Hama is known for its Norias (Water wheels), I loved it a lot. It had a big mall called "City Center", similar to those we saw in Amman last year.


Two of the Norias in Hama

We spent 3 days in Hama, mostly shopping, walking and eating :)

The views were beautiful, and the Norias were a nice thing to observe.



Next was Tartus, 3 days also, on the beach just like Latakia, yet we enjoyed it much more than we enjoyed Latakia last year. We took a boat to an island once, it was really nice, and kind of scary to be in the big beautiful sea.
We also went to a cave there, it was called "Magharat al-Dhawayat", we met a Baghdadi family there..


The mediterranean.. A scene from Arados island.

We took the bus to Latakia and as we arrived, we immediately took a small bus to Kasab.. We've enjoyed Kasab a lot last year and decided to stay in it this time instead of just passing by.. We went to a place called Samra from there, really amazing, the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen.


In Al-Samra, the sand beach is in Turkey actually.


The sand beach is in Turkey, the rocky in Syria

We took a minibus to Aleppo from Kasab and stayed in the latter for 3 more days in which we finished all our shopping. The last day was so tiring, we checked out of the hotel at 11AM and stayed in the streets all the time till 10PM.

Aleppo has many places where women can shop, and it has an enormous number of places where we could eat. We ate in a restaurant called Pizza house the first day and liked it so much that we came again twice. We bought Aya small cakes from there for her birthday. We bought a kilo for Baqlawa for each of my uncles' families, and one for each my sister's family and ours.

Syrians LOVE Iraqis, and I am sure that once you meet them, you can not but love them. The electricity turned off few times in Aleppo and Hama because Syria is supplying Lebanon with electricity.
We found the prices much better than last time, not because they are, but because prices in Iraq have risen a lot.

I wrote no notes, unlike last time which is why this post is shorter.. And some of the best photos are corrupted which is why I posted less photos.

I read a bit of Lord of The Rings there, in the roads between cities, and once in a restautant in a place really far from the city where we had to wait for the taxi to get fixed for 4 hours, the most boring time in Syria of all!!

For those who are interested, and in a very irrelevant note, check out Huda's update on her post: http://astarfrommosul.blogspot.com/2006/07/survey-with-details.html

I came back yesterday, will write a detailed account of the vacation soon.

We had fun, but I'm so tired.