Days of My Life

Talk about daily life of a teenage girl in Iraq, and days of suffering and success. My nick name will be Sunshine..

Monday, March 23, 2009

High school memories …

Thursday was our last day in high school together, we had a great party, a lot of food, music and dancing, we played different kind of music, Arabic, western, Iraqi and Kurdish songs, I enjoyed every second, we kept hugging each other, old memories came back specially when my friend" A" said a lovely poetry about the six years we spent together and the teachers who taught us, it was very emotional..
I took my brother with me, and he had a pleasant time
The food was great, I brought Dolma, I looked funny when I was carrying a big pot and salver!! The best part was when my friend D (she's Kurdish), taught us how to dance the Kurdish Dabka, I learnt fast and D told me that I became faster and better in dancing Kurdish Dabka than her!! It was awesome the majority of girls joined in Dabka, others were either clapping, or taking pics for us, the girls who danced were Arabs, Kurdish, and even Turkmen, from Mosul, Baghdad and from other cities, no matter what are our casts and backgrounds we enjoy sharing each other the traditional dances.. at the end of the party I was unable to sense my toes , imagine 5 hours of dancing wearing high heels!!
Oh god, I can't believe it has been six years since I met my gorgeous classmates, there has been great and bad memories, my friends and I cried and laughed together, shared each other everything, we are really like one family, when one of us get hurts, have hard times like threats or losing someone close we all feel the pain, cry together and try to be supportive, when we feel that one of our classmates is not able to buy the necessary things and in need, we allocate our saves and buy too expensive gifts for birthday or any occasion without making our friend feel that we are intending to help.
when one of us have something pleasant like a wedding or party we all feel happy,we help her with choosing clothes make up advice her how to do her hair etc, and even do her homework as she will be busy !! when one of us cant understand a subject all the students try to teach her, repeat the subject over and over till she understands it! The relationship we have is strong, and I wish it'll always remain like this..
I'll share you some of my best memories;

I smile whenever I remember that time we had teacher's day in the third class, we thought the break time will last for long as the teachers were having a party, my friend H was complaining that she doesn't know the Turkamny dabka although she's Turkmanian, and my friend L offered to teach her how to dance the Kurdish dabka instead, my friends joined them and L started to explain the steps, and then all the girls started to dance Dabka together, while I played the rhythm on the desk using rulers!! Suddenly the door was opened and the history teacher came in!! We were shocked then started to laugh, the teachers party was canceled because a VIP came to school!!
In the fourth class, I had the best time in the end of the year, when we knew that our marks were really high that we don't have to attend the final examinations for most of the subject, and a band came to school, we practiced to sing a song about Iraq, I had a great time, the musicians played really well, and I liked the song a lot, it was our first song and it was shown in the national TV. And on satellite channels! The training was so much fun, there are many good voices in our class..
My other best memory also when I asked my friends to make a surprise for our friend R who lost her dad and several relatives, I thought she needed to feel excited and happy so I decided to buy her a PC computer, my friends participated with some of their saves and I bought the computer, wrapped it and took the present to school. The students, teachers, and R were shocked, it was the best birthday gift ever..
In the 5th class, with the help of older girls we allocated money for the students who were forced to leave their cities, the sums we allocated was big, we bought blankets, clothes, and everything they may need with part of the money and gave them the rest in cash, and we made a party for them as well, it was fun.. in the same year I started to sell magazines in school and the profits went to the orphans in Mosul, I am very blessed and happy that I got the chance to help people in need, the teachers used to encourage and help us to do good things for others..
In the sixth class the best thing that happened was the final party for us together and the competition we had with the boys..
Beside all the good events there has been very painful memories, when R lost her dad and several relatives, when M lost her mother, whenever a classmate have to leave Iraq, or get a threat, as well as all the times we had to hide under our desks when shooting starts, there has been terrifying battles near school, a mortar once fall, too many car bombs exploded, mines etc .. Many times we had to go walking among the tanks; our way to school is dangerous.
I'll always remember the good events and laugh, and the hard ones will only give me the strength, power and make me prepared for every hard thing I may face in the future
Sunshine.
PS. we don't know when will our exams be, some say it will be on the first of June, others say it'll be on the 20th of June !! too many bruits, but I made two schedules to be prepared for any date, so I know exactly what to study each day for the next 70 days !! I need your prayers and wishes, I am doing the best I can…

Thursday, March 12, 2009

My diaries in short...

I spend most the time these days studying, I stay up till 11 pm and wake up next day at 6:30 to go to school, I am not getting enough time to sleep, and my face looks tired, but I know these days will pass, but the result of my study will not fade away, so… I can sleep later.
The situation this week was very bad, many car bombs exploded, we hear shooting the whole time, many were killed or injured, and many roads were closed, I spend more than an hour trying to find an opened road in my way from school to my house, I arrive exhausted, with red face and killing headache after I take a nap for an hour to rest, I have physics or chemistry lectures at home, after that I do my homework while I listen to slow music, and my favorite songs ..(I like Whitney Huston, blue, west life, George Michael, Shania twin, Josh Groban, and too many to mention, I also like country music a lot, and I hear Arabic and some Iraqi music)..

In spite of the unbearable situation, I feel very optimistic and positive this week, because I didn't hear TV or radio news at all, whenever someone starts to complain about the situation and hard life I go away, when I feel stressed a little bit I put headphone and enjoy my new MP4,I read at least one page of the gorgeous book ( la tahzan= don't be sad), I try to create good things, instead of waiting for good things to happen to enjoy myself and everyone around me ..
You remember when I talked about the competition?? I have good news, both sides got the same marks.. It was a great competition but the judges were unfair with our side, they asked us harder questions and also about things we'd never heard of in our life!! When we answer a question but make one mistake they give us zero, while they give the other team one or two marks even if they didn't answer the whole question correctly, the teachers told the judges to be fair, but they didn't listen, I have to admit the antagonist was very smart, but we did better..
We competed with guys; they were dressed up very nice, my friend told me that she knew from one of them that two guys bought new clothes for the competition to look handsome; they wanted to impress us, as they were competing with 22 girls! Well to tell the truth many looked handsome, I love the spiky hairstyle a lot, and their clothes seemed very modern and new: D
Next Thursday, my classmates and I will have our final party in high school, and we'll have to say good bye to each other as we may not be in the same collage next year, it'll be hard to do so, we've been together for 6 years, shared each other the good and bad times, cried and laughed together.. I wish everyone the best of luck..
I'll start to finish the curricula alone on 22/3, I need 8 days to study them well, after that I'll restudy everything I've been studying since April 2008 when I started to prepare for the ministerial examination which will be on 28/5 or the first of June..
Sunshine

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Last days in high school..

After a busy busy week "as usual", many exams, homework, and lectures after school, I feel exhausted.
Only two weeks left and then we, the students' of the 6th class, will stay at home.. For 60 days to study to be ready for ministerial exams, the par we take will define the collage we'll attend.. the students who'll take the highest marks will be able to choose the collage they want, the lower marks they get, the less choices they have ..
Anyway, I am doing my best, and I know from my heart, that no matter what collage I'll attend, it'll be the best for me, but I still feel nervous in these days, because I keep studying, and attending lectures, and still have about 1/3 of the curricula left !! When our 60 days of hard work begins I'll have more time to study, concentrate, and make sure I understand all the subjects that I didn't understand completely..
This week I didn't go to school for two days, the situation wasn't good and the roads were closed..
I already made a schedule for my daily routine in the 60 days , I'll study very well, but I don't want to harm my eyes, health, or loose my mind ! so I'll spend 20 minutes a day playing sport, 15 minutes for reading my favorite book la tahzan (it means don't be sad), it gives me strength and makes me relax, I'll use internet once a week, write a post when I can, and do my favorite hobby which is writing for 10 minutes before I go to bed, I feel much better when I express my feelings, I love writing poems in Arabic, and lately I had so much passion that I could write a long poem within 10 minutes!! i don't know why, but I started to draw lately !! I never draw well, but my paintings in the last couple of weeks weren't bad! I feel glad, I always welcome new hobbies: D
I'll enjoy my last days in high school , in the same time I'll do my best so that I don't regret one day and say "only if I studied a little bit more"
There are some people who seems to enjoy scaring the 6th grade students, by telling stories about intelligent students who didn't take high marks and weren't lucky, whenever I meet such people I ignore them, and stay away.. What's meant to be, will happen no matter what ..
My mom bought me a new MP4, it is great, whenever I feel stressed from studying I listen to music and then go back to study with totally new high spirit ..
In these days, many competitions happened between different high schools in the city, next week it'll be our turn, the teacher chose 20 students to compete, and I am defiantly one of them, we'll do our best to win, like usual . These competitions are very useful, students realize the benefit of team-work, even if they loose.
I know I am not writing often, but I promise to write more and more when I finish the exams.

The encouraging E-mails and comments I get from my dear readers make me feel better, and give me totally new high spirit, even in the hardest times, so thank you ..
Sunshine.