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..

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Second turn for the first time..

I came back from Baghdad couple of weeks ago, after spending two weeks in my grandparents house, my grandma had sever disk prolapse , and she couldn't leave her bed for a month and half, and still she must stay in her bed for other two months..
So I spent the whole time doing housework , cleaning and cooking, I improved my cooking skills!!! , we also went shopping three times, and once we went to a nice park where my brother and sister played , it was a nice time ..
I've always loved Baghdad, I had the best memories ever there, and it's painful to see Baghdad in this dramatic change, weird faces, different language , weird costumes, and odd traditions!!.
the Shiites had a ceremony weeping on Al kadhem who died 1400 years ago or so while we were in Baghdad !! They walk to his cist for hours, and days !!
They are free to do what they believe in UNLESS this starts to affect our lives and make us feel so angry towards their own traditions.. they have a special ceremony like this (almost every month), each one last for a week or so, the situation becomes awful, closed streets, dirts everywhere (cans, food, water bottles everywhere in the streets, as the food is for free !!) , adding to that loud DJ, black flags which effect the view on Baghdad, life stops, the shop owners have to close their shops, and people (like ourselves who do not participate) become prisoners in our houses as it is impossible to go out .
While we were in Baghdad we went shopping, concrete walls are everywhere , and behind them, the lovely Baghdadi shops , anyway, at 10:30 pm, we got in a shop which had really cool clothes, my mom, my sis, and I bought several cloths from that shop and stayed in for about 40 minutes or so, anyway when we left the shop , the view was shocking behind the concrete walls, no customers, no cars, although everything was normal about an hour ago.
The soldiers began to close the streets with barb wires after we arrived, preparing for their "religious traditions" which was after few days ..
A Shiites soldier saw us walking, and calling my grandpa who couldn't find a way to take us back home, he said " we'll not allow your cars to enter this street anymore! It will be for mawakeb only (for the people who'll share in the ceremony)" I really wanted to punch him ..
We walked for awhile, and then we found one cap , we reached our home safe but shaking, with lots of clothes!!
I really hated walking over the cans and water bottles, I want to walk in the clean Baghdadi streets, and see the educated people back, it is sad to see this ignorance in the place I love.
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So, my summer holiday started, but it is not like the one I planned for, I'll have to repeat 5 exams, as a second trial .. it was shocking for me!! Only 7 students passed from the first trial, people say it is normal in engineering collage!
My friend saw one of the students who passesd and told him " my marks are higher than yours, and I did much better than you in exams, you couldn't answer half of the questions, how did you pass ??"
He replied "it,s … wasta my friend, you need one! (means influence )
It is so unfair, we study at day and night, sometimes I walk for too far collages if I have a question as our professors are not well qualified!
My grandpa went to my collage, to object on the results, there, a professor introduced himself to grandpa who was a friend of his father in low, this professor doesn't teach us, but he's known of his kindness .. my grandpa told him it is a shame that 90% of the students will attend the second turn , and he took him to the hall where the students were gathering, and grandpa said "look at the angry students, and the crying girls, don't you think they are anxious to study enough, that they are in such sorrow?"
He replided, " you know uncle, the students on the first class weren't lucky enough, their teachers are revenging from them, they are Bathies (saddam supporters) and also they are not qualified to teach , they actually show up of their low ratio of success, ask your granddaughter not to feel sad, she doesn't even need to study more to succeed , I know her, she's one of the best students"
I've met many professors who teach in different engineering collages, and as soon as they heard about the names of professors who teach us they either say " they are sico (sociological patients " , or " God be with you" , or such things .. the professors give the students who have a big wasta (influence ) high marks, I refuse to get high marks even if I deserve them just because I am from a well known family, or I have someone important in my family, so I never write my family name, because I hate to be one of those
Anyway, I'll do my best and see what's going to happen .. my friends and I are taking additional lessons, but the streets are so crowded as a bridge in mosul was closed (huge cracks, because of the tanks and explosions), and another bridge also has huge cracks but they couldn't close it !
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A week ago , we went to my relatives house, their twin daughters passed the third class secondary school with good marks, and one of them got the highest marks in her school, I saw a lot of relatives whom I didn't see for long time (last time I saw one of my relatives was in her engagement party, now she has two kids!!!), we had the best time ever and danced a lot, we really needed to spend such a good time , out of our daily routine..
Also few days ago, my relative and dear friend H, gave birth a very adorable baby girl, she talked to me about the hospital ,she said " I was yelling because of two things, pain and cockroaches " what a happiness ! she even refused to stay in hospital after her surgery, she felt afraid that her daughter may get sick because of the dirt and contamination ..
I may not write that much, as I am busy studying, but I'll write whenever I can ..
Finally, I'd love to congratulate my friend HNK and her fiancé for getting engaged, may their live be full of happiness and pleasure ..

Sunshine

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Writing to you from baghdad .

Hello .

I couldn't write for long time, I have been so busy with my final exams, and now I am in Baghdad, I am going to spend two weeks in my grandparents house, my grandma is sick and I have no time to work on internet, as I have to clean and cook and make sure she's feeling comfortable ..

I have a lot to tell you about, and I will as soon as I have time ..

Sunshine