A Star from Mosul

On the left is a photo of the last two packages of books I have received. Five of them will be at the associate dean's office first thing tomorrow, and two (The Calculus and the Electronic Devices books) will accompany me through the rest of the year only to end up at the associate dean's office on their way to the library by the end of the year.

The books: Power Electronics, Microwave Engineering and Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, were bought and sent from an Iraqi studying in Malaysia.

The other four were sent from Dan Cline whose donations - along with John's - of books have reached about 50 books so far.

Also an Iraqi student studying in Canada has also been of great help to the project especially by providing books on environmental engineering. These books however are sent directly to mom's college where students and professors make the most use of them.
An Iraqi student in Yale university is currently planning a book drive and collecting money to buy books for the project.

The books that have reached the house and weren't sent directly to the college or the Central Library are 179 books from various senders. Many others were sent directly and so I wasn't able to make a record of them.

The important thing is, the project is still on and going well.. It's me who's too lazy to update.

A BIG thank you to all of you who have helped by either buying books or donating money to the project.
WE appreciate it.

Labels: book project

It turned out that the break was a much needed one. I slept and slept for all the times I couldn't sleep long during college, and it was better than expected, I got out of the house three times!

The break ended this Sunday and we spent most of the week receiving the exam papers and contemplating our mistakes. There weren't any unpleasant surprises and I am quite satisfied with my marks. In Electromagnetic however, I was hoping for a much higher mark because I understood the subject very well and was desperate to prove myself but the exam questions were really long and my brain just stopped responding. I got 80% but the prof unexpectedly canceled two questions which carried the lowest marks for every student making my mark 90%. It's unfortunate however, and for me only, because another student who had 58% originally now has 88%, only 2% lower than mine instead of the original 22%. I am still waiting for my marks in 4 subjects but I'm expecting them to be high (though not full marks, I was assured by 2 professors of this fact!!) except in Human Rights, I was inventing a bit :D

I have some big news that I have been intending to break for a while now, about 8 months! Aya and Ayman are expected to have a new brother some time really soon! No comment on the subject from my side, mom went crazy, my sister hiding from my mom's remarks, Aya excited, and my love, Ayman still doesn't know what this might mean!

The other day as an American patrol was passing in front of our house, shooting started, and there was a little explosion so they came into the house for cover.
They searched through the house too just for people not for weapons, and they didn't mess it up. They felt comfortable when they saw that we could all speak English. Some sat in the kitchen with dad around the kitchen table and asked him questions for about half an hour.
They finally said that "You guys are cool", apologized for coming in like that and left after a visit that lasted about an hour.

Many neighborhoods have been searched in the last month, and we heard stories of arrests and cruel treatment. At one neighborhood they got the residents out of their houses, entered with their dogs to search for weapons and such, and kept the people outside for hours in the cold (one time they even got the men to undress except for their underwear). In the news they said that two new-born twin babies died in the cold outside.

My cousin was awaken one day by a soldier with his weapon directed at him, he was too sleepy and waved the gun away until he realized the situation he was in.

Mom has been trying to get us ready, "they might come from the roof, so don't be scared if you see them at your room in the middle of the night", I start whining and tell her to stop but she keeps reminding me that it can happen and I have to be ready. That visit was on-the-go, not part of the plan, we're still promised a serious one.
Now if my sister decides to have a baby in the middle of the night, what shall we do?
Conversations like this went on and on between my mother and my aunt as I and my cousins sat trying to imagine a better future!

God shows me his love in so many ways.. And I trust that there will be a way out one day, one very happy day... I just can't see it yet!

Labels: college, exams, vacation

I've finished my exams on Wednesday and have been putting off the task of writing a post and answering my emails ever since.. I'm feeling a strong urge to close this window and postpone my writing this post again but I'm going to fight this and try..

In short very little is going right, and the situation in Mosul is going from really bad to much worse.

During the exams period, and in the course of one week, two professors in the university were killed in their way back from their colleges. One was killed in front of his children as they were with him in the car, and the other in front of his son who also got a bullet from the attack but survived it.

Also during the exams period a whole building exploded in a neighborhood full of poor families, Al-Zanjeeli. Many died, more were injured, and some are still under the wreckage as a result.

Labels: bored again, college, depression, exams, explosion, vacation