50 meters

Fifty meters was the distance between me and inevitable death.
I was trying to get a bus to go back home after a short day of work. I was walking in Mamoon street (Yarmouk neighborhood in western Baghdad) heading to Al Nissour Sq. in order to get a bus from there and go back home. It takes me 10 minutes by foot to get to that square. I pass by a state-run bank which is called The Trade Bank of Iraq, and also beside it, there is an office of Iraq's interior ministry where Iraqis apply for their national ID cards. It was about 11:00 am local time and usually this area at that hour as it was today is so crowded with people visiting both the bank and the office to get their stuff done. I kept walking and trying to lessen the terrible heat of our burning sun with a bottle of water and a wet handkerchief. Then, I felt like my ears were about explode and my lungs were jumping out of my chest. I then realized it was a heavy blast. I looked behind and I saw nothing but fire smoke and dust. Immediately, a rain of shattered stones and metal pieces were falling over. I stood amazed there for a minute but I was awakened by some bullets were fired by the Iraqi police and quickly I started to escape the bloody scene to a safer place. Another loud explosion occurred, leaving a huge giant of fire and a rain of flying pieces of iron falling from the sky. I raised my head above and I saw a large piece of a car's wheel flying in the air on the other side of the street. Then I sped up again and went to take shelter behind a few trees just to catch a breath. I couldn't believe what just happened. If I was 50 meters back or 2 minutes late, I could be dead. People were running in all directions. And ambulances and fire trucks invaded the scene. I looked back to check on the bloody scene but the smoke was killing my visibility. Anyway, I guessed that the explosions were targeting the Trade bank and the office of Iraq's interior ministry. Later, I heard on tv that each car was loaded with 80 kilogrammes (180 pounds ) of ammonium nitrate. A recent update mentioned that 33 people were killed and 52 others were injured. Five guards of the bank were among the dead and six others were wounded. While many of the victims from that blast targeting the interior ministry office were women, according to the Iraqi army. That truly is painful. Till this moment I do not forget how a man burst into tears as he was running towards the explosions. I'm sure many families have lost their beloved ones today and my family could have been one of those. I ask what is the guilt perpetrated by the poor families to face a horrible fate like that? What those innocent women and children did? Won't the violence and bloodshed stop in Iraq? Should ordinary Iraqis pay the political struggle in Baghdad? Can't those poor Iraqi families live in peace? Is there any light at the end of this long dark bloody tunnel?

The Hurt Locker vs Avatar

Avatar and The Hurt Locker are going to go head to head next month for the Best Picture and the Best Director in what looks to be one of the most interesting Oscar battles. In one corner we have the box office dominating, big budget Avatar and in the other the gritty and critically acclaimed The Hurt Locker. The Hurt Locker is nominated for 9 Oscars, won Best Director and
Best Picture LAFCA Award and Critics Choice Award while Avatar is nominated for 9 Oscars,
won 6 Critics Choice Awards and 2 Golden Globe Awards. And let's not forget that filmmakers James Cameron, the director of Avatar, and Kathryn Bigelow, the director of The Hurt Locker, were once married, which makes it even more interesting!

I think this is my first time that I post something about movies and cinematic works here in my blog and as far as I am concerned I have seen the two films recently and, to be honest, I liked The Hurt Locker more because it is more related to me and my world than that Sci-fi movie. Despite liking Avatar my feet are firmly in the The Hurt Locker camp as it was the best movie of 2009 in my opinion. The Hurt Locker the best American feature film yet made about the war in Iraq. Finally some genuine Iraqi actors as Iraqis instead of Indians and Egyptians. Kathryn Bigelow met some Iraqi refugees when shooting the film in Amman and she casted refugees who had theatrical backgrounds "SPOILER ALERT" such as Suhail Aldabbach, who plays the role of a forced suicide bomber at the end of the film. And because the movie was shot in Jordan within miles of Iraqi borders, the scenery is more alike to that in Iraq.

Avatar is deserving of all the praise that it has gotten but I'm of the opinion that, while it deserves to be nominated for Best Picture, it doesnt deserve to win due to the formulaic nature of its story and bizzare characters. They were very one-dimensional. The men in The Hurt Locker have a lot more depth to them, in my opinion which elevates the movie to a higher
place than Avatar. Avatar, once stripped of its visual splendors, is only several steps above a film like transformers 2 in the cinematic food chain. If The Hurt Locker wins, then it will definitely make the Oscars much more exciting. In the past few years, the award has gone to smaller indie films (i.e. Slumdog Millionaire, Crash, No Country for Old Men) so I think The Hurt Locker has a pretty good chance of winning. However, the only way that will happen is if Avatar wins everything else (technical awards, director, etc.) and then they might give The Hurt Locker the big prize. Anyway, the winners will be announced 7th March so let's wait and see who will win the best picture award this year.

It's barbaric, but hey, it's home!

I love this song! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPUAhSGZtvU&feature=related

Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place

Where the caravan camels roam

Where they cut off your ear

If they don't like your face

It's barbaric, but hey, it's home

When the wind's from the east

And the sun's from the west

And the sand in the glass is right
Come on down

Stop on by

Hop a carpet and fly

To another Arabian night
Arabian nights

Like Arabian days

More often than not

Are hotter than hot

In a lot of good ways
Arabian nights

'Neath Arabian moons

A fool off his guard

Could fall and fall hard

Out there on the dunes

My Broken Foot

Is there a better way than to welcome the first days of the year with a broken? That's what I got here! A broken left foot!

I was playing football with friends when one of them tried to tackle me so bad and I wanted to avoid that tackle by jumping over. unluckily, I fell on the left side of my left foot. I felt a terrible pain and I knew I broke some bone there but I tried to deny that and stand again on my feet. I pulled myself together and stood again but I couldn't hold it to stand on my injured foot. I quietly went to the side of the field hopping with one leg. A friend drove me back home and I convinced myself it's only a bruise and I will get better in the next day but I was wrong.
I woke up in the morning and my left foot was swollen. Nobody was home though; my father was at work, my brother and sisters were at college and my mother went shopping. Anyway, I could handle it with one leg and I brought some ointment and put some on my swollen foot and then I bandaged it. Later, my mother found out about my foot and went crazy of course but I assured her that I was ok. But she decided that I have to see a doc and she hurried to get me a taxi and drag me to the hospital.
As soon as we got there, a paramedic hurried to me with a wheelchair and asked me to sit down on it.. "No! Thank you! I can manage!" I said. but the Paramedic replied: "but your foot is injued, boy!". I didn't pay to him any attention as my mother brought me a crutch. Later, I was examined by a doc who said that I have a fracture in my instep and he sent me to an orthopaedic to splint it. The orthopaedic was very nice as he told me he's been in this field for more than 25 years. He told me that in the same year I was born, he did his 1st operation in his career. "It was terrible at those days because we were in Al Qadisiya war" he meant the Iraqi-Iranian war. "I had to splint about 20 to 30 people a day" he added. Then, he told me to come and see him again in five days. I went out to find my mother was crying! She called my father and she couldn't hold it and she cried... "What the.. Mother?! What are you doing?!" I felt ashamed and sorry for being such a clumsy son! It's my 1st time that I break some bone of me.
Anyway... Here are couple of photos:

Welcome, Twenty Ten!

'm sorry, fellas, for being lazy and idle. I didn't have the chance to publish many posts this year as it has been one busy task. I hope that the good Lord keep you in good health and spirits all through the year. This moment, I wish the best for you and everything that surround you. May God bless you.
Happy New Year, everyone!

Now I will leave you with some cartoons.. I hope you like them.

Another Day in the Countryside

Last week i was visiting the countryside in Anbar, the birthplace of my father and grandfathers. It was my first time there since March 2005. I was invited to my cousin's wedding who he's 19 years old only. Many reasons forced me not go there to the countryside earlier and the most important reason that the whole Anbar governorate was dominated by Al-Qaeda and other terrorist armed groups who terrorized the local citizens there and excuted many of them. My other cousin told me that it was a knightmare for him when a bunch of gunmen attacked him in the middle of the road and forced him to stop and get out of his car. They took him blindfolded to their headquarter and began to interrogate him in a voilent way. He still has faint remarks of bruises and contusions. They were checking if he was a member of the Iraqi police or working as a spy for the Americans. After 5 hours of merciless interrogation, they released him and blindfolded him again and drove him to nowhere, where he freed himself and got back home dead exhausted and horrified.

Another reason I don't like to go there; most of Iraqi villages are pretty sexists. I find that very depressing. I detest sexism! *sighs*

Anyway, I had fun there in "Jezeera" village. I swam down the river although it was a bit windy. I also milked a cow by myself only and without any help from any other person. In fact, it was my 3rd time to milk a cow. The early two tries were done by an assistance of my aunt. :P

I had taken couple of photos and I'd like to show you some of them,

Here's my cow after doing the milking process! I let a cousin to shoot a vid but I forgot to take it later. :(

My uncle's garden! Here where I spent my days in that village. Too bad they didn't let us to play football. :((

Lovely nature, isn't it?!

Green Green Green! Green is the colour!


An ewe and her little baby sheep! Her other Little baby is shown below.

The little lamb to my father: "What the hell are you doing?!".

Notice that the black n white appears above is the twin of this black white-headed babysheep below. Weird!

My father is trying to fool the little lamb.

A view on the river Euphrates. Here where I usually swim whenever I visit the country.

You can see here, the GSM base-station tower (aka base-station antenna) that porvides coverage of mobile communication services for this rural area!
I forgot to mention that I was busy helping my other cousin, Omar, in his new house construction works. Here are some photos....


Here's Omar and he's pushing a cart full of debris. Thanks god, the weather was nice that day! We didn't get exhausted much at that sunny day.

Ok, guys! Let's take a break! Their house from inside! Except the one in the stripy green shirt on the left who is my brother. All of the rest are my cousins but from different uncles and aunts all from my father's side. They are 4 uncles and 3 aunties.

Kids! Those two little goblins didn't let us work in peace. They drove us mad and they didn't care about us whenever we yelled at them. At the contrary, they get more evil! My cousin, Omar, was spending the day chasing them. That was hilarious indeed.

Finally, I want to close this posting with this cute little girl pic, Dima! One of my cousin's daughter. Cute, isn't she?!

Lake Habbaniya

I was intending to make my own posting about Lake Habbaniya one day, but I guess you should check this out as it is mentioned in the NewYorkTimes.

LAKE HABBANIYA, Iraq — A few hours outside Baghdad in the middle of Iraq’s vast western desert is a sight that could understandably be mistaken for a mirage: a long, sandy beach filled with thousands of people swimming and dancing barefoot under the hot sun without apparent care. A disc jockey — “Mr. D. J.,” he calls himself — is shouting into a microphone over a thumping Syrian dance song and blurts out something remarkable in its ordinariness.“A shoutout to everyone from Baghdad!” he says in Arabic.“Yea!” responds the crowd that has gathered around him.“Everyone from Adhamiya and Sadr City who came from Baghdad, show me what you got!” Mr. D. J. yells, referring to two neighborhoods in the capital — the first almost exclusively Sunni, the second nearly entirely Shiite.In response, energetic dancing breaks out all around, and Sunnis and Shiites share a rare moment of careless bliss together. It is amazing, but it is real: for the first time since the outbreak of the sectarian war in 2006, Iraq is enjoying a beach season.The water at Lake Habbaniya in Anbar Province is muddy, and today, a sandstorm has blotted out the sun. Back home, few people have air-conditioning or dependable electricity. And already this month, hundreds of Iraqis have died in the violence that continues to envelop the country.All that, say the sunbathers, is why a day at the beach is so important. “I’m here to get away — from the bombs in Baghdad, from the sound of generators,” said Aya Alshemari, a 22-year-old college student who, despite the fact that she was wearing a modest T-shirt and jeans, was drawing the gazes of dozens of male beachgoers. “We’re here to have a good time. There’s no difference between Shiite and Sunni. We are all Iraqis.”Most people had driven their cars right onto the sand, pulling up next to the water. And because it is Iraq, each vehicle has been carefully checked for explosives and every beachgoer frisked for a suicide bomb vest. On this particular August day, though, there is nothing more harmful than 115-degree heat and high-calorie food: beef and lamb kebabs, biryani, fried kibbeh. A few young men take furtive sips of cold beer. Read more!

Lake Habbaniyah, is a shallow natural lake in al-Anbar, Iraq, west of Baghdad. It has a surface area 140km². Traditionally the lake has been used to hold floodwater from the River Euphrates, and in 1956 a barrage was constructed at Ramadi for this purpose. The lake was also used for recreational purposes.

In the late 1930s and 1940s Lake Habbaniyah was used by Imperial Airways as a refueling point and hotel for flying boats flying from the United Kingdom to India. Nearby on the banks of the Euphrates had already been established the Royal Air Force airbase of RAF Dhibban, later renamed RAF Habbaniya.

Habbaniya is now also the site of a major United States military base known as Al Taqqadum.

1, 2, 3 I'm free!

Yeaah! I'm free! No more college, no more study, no more boring books, no more freaky lecturers, no more scary tests or exams. I'm an engineer now, or at least that's what they said! ;)
I'm sorry, I've been so lazy to post something over here. But since most of you know me either from Facebook or Y! messenger, I guess u know about my graduation.
Now after finishing college, I need to find me a job. I went to couple of interviews and they told me to wait for a phonecall but so far I haven't recieved any of their calls. :(
By the way, now I'm available online. I have purchased a wireless internet service at home. Therefore except the times of the power cuts or the times when my PC go crazy, I can be available. ;)
See ya later!

Gradutated as a Grim Reaper!

To disguise as one of the dreariest death symbols in your what supposed to be significant day of your life, is something weird. But since it is a masquerade party, i guess it would be a cool costume to wear. (in the picture below I'm trying to reap out a life of some poor fella :P)

Just to let you in the picture, most of the colleges and universities in Iraq hold two graduation parties for their seniors just before the end of the scholar year.

Those two parties are:

1st. Graduation photograph shooting session (Casual is required); and it is set up usually in middle of April. In that day, memorial photos are taken for the seniors with their teaching staff and college council. After shooting the picture, the students head to a concert hall to continue celebrating this day.





2nd. Masquerade; and this party is set on the begining of May. Each group of students is free to choose a costume to wear. The party is held within the (university/college)'s perimeter. You can enjoy the loud (sadly Iraqi) music presented by the DJ, you can have fireworks in the daylight, and taking photos.





In fact, I wasn't interested much in such parties and I talked about this earlier here on this blog. I even didn't want to join my classmates in this party beacuse most of them are not friends, they are just colleagues. Besides, the first ideas of what costume we should wear was simply sucky. Some said that we could wear fishermen, others suggested sailors, a group called to choose a folk Kurdistani custome. The most dreadful idea is to dress as business-men!Until, I and some dude were chatting about this band british band grim-reaper. And hence, it came the idea of our costume. Of course it wasn't easy to convince the rest of our partners to apply this scary theme for a graduation party. But after bringing a sample of the "grim reaper" costume and let everybody tries it, all were happy to wear in the masquerade.



I tried as best as I could to look like a grim reaper. I painted my face in black and white, I nail-polished my finger nails with black. The scythe was also important. I couldn't believe how many ppl asked me to take a photo with them. I even scared a young child and the more I tried to calm her down, the more she was feeling scared. I hate that feeling, I used to get scared of those damn things when I was a kid.
The best part of the party is that I took many many pictures with chicks. All of them said that I was acting the role of the grim reaper seriously. The number of chicks and dudes take photos with me made me to feel like I was a celebrity.

1 more left

Hey, guys!
Guess what! I passed all my 1st semester exams! *bounces* Now I have 1 last semester left and i get graduated. :)
My semester ends at the end of June. It took me a lotta hard effort to pass those terrible exams. I was worried of failure. Great news before my birthday! :)

My 25 random things

Rules: Once you've read this, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, you have to write them back to me as a mail or a comment. It's because I want to know more about you.

1. I'm kleptomaniac
2. I am a daydreamer.
3. Ants are my favorite pets.
4. I have never been in love, no matter how hard I tried to find it. And it sucks sometimes.
5. I find sorrow inspiring sometimes.
6. I always have this daydream of being a famous skilled footballer.
7. Call me weirdo, but I dislike cars.
8. I had a vid on YOUTUBE of me being kissed by a guy in a swift sudden move. Arrrgh!
9. I'm afraid of heights.
10. When my best friend passed away, I cut myself and I found much relief.
11. I had a temporary blindness for couple of hours.
12. I have the hots for the girls who smoke.
13. Had my first kiss when I was almost 17. *sighs*
14. I support death penalty. Rapists and misogynists deserve it.
15. Never had vaginal sex. *sighs even more*
16. One of my next plans to do after graduation is to learn Spanish.
17. I can hold my breath in water for about a couple of minutes. I dare you!
18. Once I gave an anonymous present to a miss in the teacher's day. The present was an old bra and torn pair of socks. :))
19. I used AK47 once, shot one bullet in the air just for fun.
20. My wildest dream is to live in USA or Europe.
21. Cloudy days make me feel depressed.
22. I think anal sex is a bit overrated.
23. I don't like to have early breakfast.
24. I find foreplay and caressing better than sex itself.
25. Happy Valentine everyone!

2009 Provincial Elections

It's 31st of January 2009, the provincial elections. To be quite honest, I wasn't sure that I should vote this year for many reasons;
a. No specific candidate in mind to vote for. I'm not convinced with the majority of the parties and candidates listed in the election card.
b. Being skeptical about the integrity and impartiality of the elections. Rumors say that the last elections in 2005 there were several incidents of forgery reached a percentage of 30% of the whole voting process.
c. The curfew of the motor-vehicles, and the nearest voting center is about 2 km far.
d. I don't want that stupid ink stain to stick on my index.
One more reason to add is that I woke up this morning with a terrible earache. I wanted someone to shoot me in head and release me off from that pain. That reminded me by Melantrys when she had an earache. I wished if she was near to borrow her magnificent meds which vanishes the ache away. I took some eardrops meds but that wasn't good enough. But thanks to the wonderful Panadol, only 1 tablet was enough to draw the smile on my face again. (the script written in bold is not a promotion ad) :P
*is typing this post with an ink-stained index* what the f…?
Honestly, I felt that it would be a waste not to participate in such "democratic" processes. If I wanna criticize the performance of the government, the parliament, or the local councils, I should have at least participated in making the decision by voting for the side or the candidate I like. And to be more honest, I felt so fuckin' bored and it would be a great idea to walk out to get some refreshing air in such a beautiful winter sunny day.
I went to an election site and marked the same old bloc I voted for 4 years ago. They are secular but they didn't win many seats at that time. Hopefully this year they win. In fact, I hope everyone who wants to serve Iraq in real wins.
Iraqi official spokesmen stated over the media that security plans were firm and successful and they were 100% by Iraqi forces. Hmm, weird. Because I noticed the existence of US forces units near most of the checkpoints and main entrances of the election centers. However, they didn't intervene directly. Their job was like being supervisors.
anywayz. *is looking at his watch* it's 6:09 pm Baghdad local time. The voting is over. Luckily, no serious accident has been registered. Again, Everyone honest and wants to serve Iraq and intends to bulid Iraq to be a powerful and prosper country, I wish them all the success to achieve that goal.

Memories are not for sale

Last weekend, there were mend and maintenance works in my grandparents' house. They are trying to patch it up again to be in a good shape. I'm afraid they intend to sell it. Grandma died recently after the death of my grandpa by 10 years bequeath that grand house with a small agrarian land and some trivial possessions.
Anyway, that house represents a special meaning to me. I spent most of my childhood years over there and always it brings back delightful and painful memories.
I was in the garret trying to gather, rearrange, and organize some stuff there, when I saw an old closet with few boxes surrounding it. I felt curious and I wanted to see what things were hidden there. I found things I didn't use to spot them for years, such as, my deceased grandpa glasses which he didn't like to put them on, my uncle's helmet, old watches…. etc.
I opened couple of the cardboard boxes and I found plenty of audio cassettes and videotapes. I remember that my mother used to listen for and watch most of those tapes when I was a kid. I quickly hurried to bring a recorder and try to play those magnetic tapes to find out if they were still valid or not. And to my surprise, they still can speak! Songs of the 70s, 80s and early 90s like, "final countdown" by Europe, "let it be" by Beetles, "brother louie" by Modern Talking, "big in Japan" by Alphaville, "eye of a tiger" by survivor and some albums for Bee Gees, Michael Jackson (when he was black :P), Pet shop boys, George Michael. Mom was a big fan of George Michael, but what a disappointment when she knew that she wasn't Georgie's type. I also found some box sets of famous blockbuster movies in the 80s (Rocky tetralogy, Indiana Jones, Conan the barbarian, Rambo, the good the bad and the ugly…. Etc. The amazing thing is each item of that stuff is in a good shape. When I asked about how could they survive so far. They answered me that my uncle (he's now in Ankara) was keeping them in this form.
I really got 20 years back and I felt sorry for selling this big house.
Anyway, I just wanna congratulate you, fellas! Merry Xmas and happy new year.
See you next year! ;)

The president of the Global States

Lemme at first, congratulate you American people who voted for Senator Barak Obama and hope that he would lead your country to great success.
However, I think it's a bit unfair to restrict voting for the next US president to American citizens only. Who leads the White House leads the world. That's why; non-American people should have electoral rights to elect the president they like.
I'm not American, but if I had the right to vote then I would vote for Senator John McCain. The reason why I would vote for that aged senator is because of his attitude concerning the withdrawal of the US army troops out of Iraq. I totally agree with the republicans that the US troops shouldn't leave Iraq soon. There is a lot of work still need to be done on the ground. Iraq hasn't built strong military and Police establishments yet. Their army needs some more time to be strong, immune and firm against any possible threat.
Therefore, leaving Iraq alone is simply not the change we need, dear Obama.

Back in business..

Hi, all!
Long time no see, eh? I'm sorry for being such a lazy ass but I will justify my long absence to the same old excuse: "exams and study". Infact, not only the study took me so long to stay outta sight. I really lost the enthusiasm of blogging (what a shame!) that's because I didn't find any interesting subject or issue to talk about... Anyway, I have to say that I'm OK. I have finished the exams and I'm supposed to enjoy the long summer holiday. I have passed all the the exmas of the 2nd course, however, I wasn't such lucky in the 1st course. I have one item to prepare for the 2nd round in September inorder to be a senior. :)
Since I have some free time, I decided to take advantage of it by going to gym. I intend to gain some weight and it seems I'm on the right path as my weight increased by 4 pounds (about 1.8 kg). I think I will renew my subscription another month. Hehehe, don't think that I'm planning to be the new gigantic Mr. Olympia like Arnie Schwarzenegger or Dorian Yates. Also one of the up-dates to mention is that I'm growing a beard. And here, I wanna assure you that I'm not turning into a fanatical bastard. ;) With new popped up muscles and a stylish beard I'm designing a different new look.
Anyway, I wanted to talk about this...
I was browsing my note-book couple of days ago, when I found this note:"August 21st 2004, Iraq has done it. the Olympic soccer champions have made it to the semi-finals". I remember I wrote this note just after Iraq's winning over Austuralia in the quarter final of the summer Olympic games in Athens 2004. Four years have passed since that day. Unfortunately, our olympic soccer team wasn't lucky this time as they failed to pass the preliminary stage of the asian zone. The other olympic teams (such as Basketball, Handball, vollyball... etc.) weren't luckier than the football team. Their poor results didn't prompt them to play in next Olympic Beijing Summer Games. Our teams failure is an expected result if we consider many effects:
a. The lack (absence) of the governmental support to the whole sport system in Iraq. The sportal foundations and establishments are left in wrecks.
b. The weak perfomrance of the Iraqi Olympic committee and its various federations.
c. Excluding soccer, other sports in Iraq are suffering from the insufficient interest and support by the public and/or the media.
That's why the Iraqi delegation was supposed to include only 7 athletes to participate in the olympiad in less than two weeks from now. However, the Iraqi public was shocked to know that Iraqi athletes have been banned from participating in the Beijing Summer Games by the International Olympic Committee because the government seized control of the country's olympic committee. It happend after Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Malinki 's government disbanded olympic committee and other national sports federations. Iraq's former Olympic committee was dismissed last month by government officials, who said the group was corrupt and not functioning properly. The Iraqi government then turned control over to its Minister of Sport. The transition was a violation of the Olympic charter, which requires national committees to be elected by sports federations in each country. Iraq's previous Olympic committee had been elected in 2004. The IOC ban would affect seven Iraqi athletes: two rowers, two sprinters, one archer, one weightlifter and one competitor in judo.
As far as I'm concerned, it's painful not to witness the flag of my country fluttering in such global carnival. I think it's a great loss espically for those seven of athletes after 4 years of challenge, insistence and hard training who were finally going to represent their country, they have to be terribly disappointed.

Sandman is walking around!

A whole month since the last time I posted in here. I'm too busy these days with tons of works and assignments for my college. Anyway, I decided to post whenever there is a big important event...
Iraq was hit yesterday by sand storms resulted in the suspension of flights from and to Baghdad International Airport, and led to a poor visibility of less than one kilometre what compelled many citizens to stay home. The expertscities the negligence strategy «green belts» near the Sahara made Iraq the spring season of sand storms. The sand storm is coming from the east of the Mediterranean because of the difference in temperature between yesterday and the day before it. Sand storms cover most areas of Iraq and will move gradually to the southern areas simultaneously with the decrease in temperature. Also the scarcity of rainfall during last winter caused an increase sandstorms expected to occur in March and April of every year. Anyway, the weather got better this morning, but as I'm posting this article there are some yellowish heavy winds outside. I think the storm is being regenerated again.

Cheney's in town!

Yesterday's afternoon on my way back home, it was normally to see the huge number of vehicles in Al Jadiriya where the Unviersities of Baghdad and Al Nahrain and some important offical departments lie. It is the rush hour. But at that hour all the roads lead to other districts of Baghdad were blocked. I saw some US armored vehicles and soldiers were proliferated. Therefore, I decided to walk till I get the "Two-layered Bridge" which was called previously during Saddam's regime by "The Leader's Bridge". It was about 20 minutes on foot to go from my university to that bridge. But when I got there, I was surprised when the US soldiers told the people that the walking through that point was prohibited. I asked one of the people there about how long they had been waiting in the streets, he answered me that they were waiting for about 2 hours. *pouts*
"I can't wait forever! It will get dark soon!" I mumbled and then I decided to ask a sweaty suntanned Yankee...
Me: "Hey, sir! Will it take so long?"
Yankee: "Oh, I've been here since couple of minutes... I don't know! No one is allowed to walkthrough the square". He meant the Alhurriya 'freedom' sqaure.
Me: "So, what's the big deal?"
Yankee: "Cheney's is in town! The vice-president."
Me: "Oh!".... "Oh, shit! We'll stay here forever!" I whispered based on the fact when Ahmedinajad visited Baghdad.
After that the exhasted yankee tried do some light aerobics.
Me: "Tough day, eh?"
Yankee *rolls eyes*: "Everday in Iraq is a tough day!"
Then the talkie he had informed him that the road would be open again in 5 minutes.
And indeed, the soldiers hurried to their Hummers and Humvees and left the sqaure. I took a taxi to cross the bridge and get back home. I witnessed from above the bridge some black armoured american made vehicles parking in rows near the house of "Abdul Aziz Al Hakim" Chairman of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
When I got back home, the two "gentelmen", Cheney & Al Hakim, were on TV for a press conference.
I thought that Dick Cheney was visiting Iraq to celebrate with me and deliever G. W. Bush's congratulations on my birthday, but I was disappointed to know that Mr. vice-President was there in a middle-eastrn trip and he was visiting Iraq on the 5th anniversary of the war!! *sighs*
Hey, guys! Today, I'm 24! ;)

A visit to a bazaar

Yesterday, I accompanied my mother and went to the main bazaar near to our neighborhood (Ad Dora Bazaar). In fact, I haven't gone there for more than two years since it was closed and evacuated when all that shit happened.
I used to visit that bazaar a lot since I was a kid. I bought my favorite collection of comics and magazines for kids from a small corner shop. People used to go there to buy their daily life needs, i.e. food (veggies, meat, milk products.. etc), clothes & textiles, house equipments, toys, stationery supplies. You could find also some pharmacies, barbershops, and shops for selling electrical and digital devices (mobile phones, PCs, TVs, washing machines, fans.. etc) and many many more.
One of the familiar themes of that bazaar is OPEN-AIR markets where things are usually cheaper than in shops. Also People used to meet and sell things from the back of their cars which known by "car boot sales".
Ad Dora bazaar was considered one of the largest bazaars in Baghdad if it wasn't really the largest. Thursday evening was the best time for young men to stop at that bazaar as girls often used to go shopping; such as clothes, lingerie, cosmetics and other girls' stuff.
However, the sinful hand of the terrorism didn't let the life to keep going in that bazaar as the turmoil and the death chapters arise. Lives of many innocent people were taken away unjustifiably. The whole thing started with murdering certain individuals; I remember they killed two guys one was selling birds seeds and the other was an old man who was selling cigarettes and matches. I was there when these two poor men were executed, I heard the gunshots but I hadn't witnessed that bloody scene. Later, the killing rate increased, more people were falling down and markets were closed one after another day by day.
Gunfights began to take place everyday between some gunmen (rumored from Al-Qaida) and Iraqi police. The US army often intervened to curb those militias.
Anyway, plenty of procedures and actions were taken to make that bazaar under control. I mean under the control of the American & Iraqi forces to restore stability and constancy to Ad Dora neighborhood generally and to its bazaar specifically. Yesterday, I felt that the life is flowing back in the veins of that bazaar. I can't claim that it's back 100% to its normal, no, The bazaar is changed a lot and many markets and shops are closed & some of them are destroyed by fire. And now you can find some giant masses of concrete are piled together to form walls to block some entries and exits. I asked my mother about the souk and she said that it is getting better there. My mother was there to witness the final days of the ruined souk before it was closed completely. I asked her also about that middle-aged guy who used to sell magazines, newspapers and comics and she answered : "Hon! May he rest in peace! He's been killed.". I really felt sorry about that man as if he was some relative of mine. It's like I've lost another bookmark of my childhood. And what the fuck he did to take a shot to the head? Do his newspapers or comics represent any kind of threat? That's bitchy!
Anyway, one can get veggies, fruits, eggs, meat, milk and milk products from there. You can get some equipments for your house from that bazaar. I saw some clothes markets are open! Ah, girls! You still can buy your cosmetics and lingerie as well. ;)
One funny thing I'd like to tell you about is that when mom and I were walking back home. It was afternoon and the streets were calm and quite when people were having their lunch or a nap. A scary bark broke that dead silence was coming out up from no where. It was an ugly dog running towards mom and it was trying to attack her. My mother made a funny scream and soon she began to run away. The view of his drooling mouth and scary fangs was frightening. However, I grabbed mom's arm* and as a quick reaction my mom slapped the dog with her purse. The dog stepped back and cancelled the idea of terrifying that woman. My mother didn't know if she was crying or laughing. The situation was thrilling but hilarious in the same time. We couldn't stop laughing until we got home safe.

* If you saw a dog running towards you, don't run. Stay calm and steady and try not to show your fear. Dogs can smell the fear inside you! Believe me, I had experienced this in real.

Wake up! It's snowing out there!

Yesterday's morning, I woke up on my sister's voice saying "Wake up! It's snowing out there!". I heavily tried to look at the clock with half closed eyes... "Sis! It's a sick joke!" I replied. But she insisted to get me up and get outside to witness that unfamiliar event. Well, it was cloudy, therefore, I moved my bum out of my bed and grabbed a jacket and went outside. And "Hell yea, it's snowing!". It was amazing thing to watch and feel those soft white chips falling from the sky. They were melting as soon as they touch my warm hand. I've never expected to watch the snow falling on our city.
Anyway, it's cold over here in Baghdad these days. The electric power is off since the beginning of this year, the tap water is available in days unavailable in others, the mobile network coverage is very bad over my nieghborhood & the landphones are out of reach since only god knows when. But the important thing is the security stituation, which is kinda stabled. But I think as a human being, I have the right to enjoy a comortable lifestyle by providing the main civil services like (electric power, feul, water, land phones... etc.). Anyway, let's enjoy the view of snow and hope that the sex part comes later! ;)

Hi... I'm here!

On Friday 20th of September at 08:45 pm I arrived to Baghdad after staying for a year in Damascus. Lots of ideas, expectations and predictions I had formed about Baghdad all the way long. Of course, many of you (blog-mates) are accusing me by being suicidal or lunatic to head back to Iraq during these critical days. But I had explained that to some friends and I'm gonna explain it to you again. I couldn't finish my study abroad because I can't afford the costs of the scholarship there… and that part stinks.. I know!Another reason that I wasn't pleased with the unfriendly...... Let's not talk about that.
Anyway, it was a dark night when I got to Baghdad; the power was out in most of the neighborhoods. When we got down from the bus, I hurried to the luggage box to take away our bags. Later, I hired a Taxi and then zoooooooooooooooooom back home.During my ride back home, I received an SMS from Melantry telling me that she was going to call me in few minutes. Of course she knew that it is insecure if I was outside to pick up and chat along in English, therefore, I had to reject the call. But later when I got home, mel called me again and this time it was Caesar there to answer!
I live in a neighborhood was considered till a recent while as the headquarter of the Al-Qaida militants in the capital. People here told me that they had lived their worst days during those months I had spent abroad. Many (Shiite) people were compulsorily displaced, others were killed, and others were frightened to death trying helplessly to survive.In result of the forcibly mass departure, some (Sunni) people who were displaced from other neighborhoods had to inhabit those desolated houses. Anyway, as a result of the "Baghdad security plan" many of Al-Qaida members are in custody, some are killed, and others had to runaway to other unsteady areas. Thus, the situation now is relatively safer than before. Some fellas told me that couple of days before my arrival, the Iraqi police accompanied by the US forces had found a dead body in a blank pitch just behind my house. Spooky, eh?
I had a walk along through my neighborhood to check the aftermath of those terrible events, and I found some houses were partly or completely ruined. There were also giant stacks of concrete blocking the main entrances of my neighborhood, therefore, there is one way (in and out) as both entrance and exit. They were hard months on those people of Baghdad. However, there is still a bright side…By time, with the appliance of "Baghdad security plan" and formation of councils of Sahwa (= Awakening) and alliance of the free good individuals of this country, security and stability are being restored to the capital step by step. Now the violence levels in Iraq has come to its lowest degrees and , in sha Allah, security will continue and get better over time. Now people are going regularly to their workplaces, colleges, schools, markets, etc. Some families are taking their kids in Eids and weekends to "Al Zawraa Park" which is a famous park (Zoo + playing field) in Baghdad. It's improving slowly and gradually here. When I first got to college, I was worried of that the recent event might affect some fellas *** as I was affected to an a certain level by the media. But thanks god, none of this is real. I'm enjoying the college with my friends whether they were Sunnis or Shiites.
Finally, I'm so sorry for that long absence. But I'd like to defend myself and say that I was busy like hell in the recent while, besides, I have no internet connection at home. I may get Internet service soonish. I promise to keep updating my blog. And lemme say: Happy Eid and Christmas and so.