Happy new year ...

Hello friends, Happy new year and merry Christmas, may all of your dreams come true, and 2010 will bring the Iraqis and the world peace, may 2010 be without wars, bloodshed, and sadness..
2009 had good and hard times, but I am so thankful for god for keeping me and my family, friends, and loved ones alive, and in a good health .. . this year I found an agency for my book, and went to the engineering college, so I am close of achieving two of my dreams ..
My mid year exams will start on 10/1 , I feel worried a lot, specially that I study a lot and the professors told us " whether you study or not, you're not going to succeed from the first or second try" from their opinion engineering is too hard to succeed from the first or second exam, we're doing our best despite everything, and professors not only explain in a horrible way but make us feel so frustrated, our marks are horrible .. the highest mark in the class in 3 out of 10 !!!!
I spend a long time searching in the internet for good sources, sometimes I spend 4 hours searching for an answer to one question !!! sometimes I feel frustrated, other times I do an extra effort and challenge myself to find the answer.
I am studying hard, and need your prayers ..
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Next Saturday, my relative, and dear friend Raghda, will have her Nishan party, she got engaged .. so I wish her a successful and happy marriage, and god bless her and her fiancé .
Sunshine

Eid ..

Eid mubarak (blessed Eid), for you all, I really missed writing to you, and feel so glad to post again, I have a lot of news and new stories .. …
Since collage started I became so busy, I come home at 3 and half pm, have lunch and a quick nap, and start studying at 6 pm till mid night, honestly I thaught college will not be stressful for me, but the first week was hard, our university lecturers are horrible in general!! We have two good professors and the rest have no idea what they're talking about, they have a paper and they just write it and leave the class leaving us confused ! when I ask a question I get the same reply which is " time is too short to answer" or they just ignore our questions , and that's because they don't even know the answer !!
I depend on myself, and ask the students older than me, specially their professors were different, I also borrow books and try understand the lectures such as CDs , books, and lectures from older students.
I think I am doing fine so far.. I have a new friend who's from Basra and I spent most of the break time with her, and when it comes to lectures and studying I have 2 classmates who are clever, we spend a lot of time explaining to each other .. one of them is from Baghdad and the other was with me in primary school and he remembered me so well !!
The second week of college was so stressful and crazy, I lost appetite, and I had horrible insomnia, I was thinking about the lectures I didn't understand all the time.
on Thursday (3 days before Eid), I had unbearable headache, , after midnight I woke up shaking harshly, and my jaws were killing me, I had a high fever, I stayed awake till 4 am I couldn't leave my bed, then when I was able to walk I went to mom who gave me medications, at 6 am, the fever was so high, as soon as I left my bed I fainted, my sister was awake and she started to scream calling dad who carried me to bed.. it was a horrible long night, I was in pain and also worried about my studying schedule..
In the morning my grandparents arrived from Baghdad with both of my mom's uncle and aunt and their families, my health started to get better by time, and I was able to leave the bed, I didn't have high fever, but I had a bad flue!! but I was enjoying time with my family and relatives.
Thursday was Eid's night, or as we call it Laylat al Eid, we took showers and wore our new pajamas it was fun :D

In the first day of Eid al Adha, my grandparents decided to slay a ram a allocate it's meat to paupers and relatives, so the butcher came early to our house, this is a tradition called Dhaheya.. I didn't have the courage to look at the poor ram ..
At 11 pm, we went to my grandpa eldest brother's house, where we had a family meeting.. it was a real family meeting, there were so many relatives, a lot of food, and a nice pleasant time ..
At noon we came home, and I started to show the pictures I took among the laughs of my family, there were hilarious photos .
On the next day of Eid, we didn't go out, we enjoyed our time with barbeque in the garden followed by Iraqi tea on coal !!
On the third day of Eid, we had a family meeting in my other grandpa brother's house, before lunch S (my dad's cousin) logged in to the internet and we talked with our relatives abroad in a voice chat, and they saw the whole relatives by webcam as the computer is in the living room, it was so much fun, we talked to my dad's uncle in Saudi Arabia, my dad's cousins in Canada, America, and Egypt. And they were able to live the moment with us..
While we were having lunch accidently the soup fall on my trousers, and I spent half an hour in the girls' room trying to remove the oil with baby powder (it's a useful way)..
Then, my mom's uncle who is painter, draw a picture of his brother and my relative while we were watching. then he draw a picture of me and grandpa. it was great.
On the fourth day of Eid we went to my grandpa cousin's house, there was a big family meeting, we saw all of grandpa's cousins, their kids, and grandkids.. we saw Najma and HNK with their family and we spent very lovely time.
In the evenings, we enjoyed playing some old games and tricks with matches, coins, bottles, and pens, and made shows of fire plays in the clear shy.

After Eid, my grandma had a bad influenza, we were planning to go shopping but it was canceled at first .. then my mom suggested that I go with uncle's wife and show her the market and do some shopping..
My grandparents and relatives went to Baghdad , I miss them already!! It was the best Eid ever.. hopefully next Eid we'll be celebrating with all of the relatives who left Iraq , it is a dream, and maybe one day it will come true, I miss them so much, specially my aunt..
On Wednesday after Eid, I went to college, but I was surprised of not seeing professors , and there were only 4 students in my class.. although it is not a holiday, it is silly, before Eid professors were talking about the discipline and how we should never miss a lecture and re build our country, they talk and never act.. our professors disappointed me so much, although they have high degrees they are unable to answer our questions, and not qualified to teach a generation that will one day re build Iraq, they can't give what they don't have..
Sunshine..

Sunshine, the future engineer ..

The holiday is almost finished, I had the happiest time in the last month of the holiday, I applied to engineering collage and I was accepted , so it is a dream come true for me after the hard work I did, my friends were also accepted in the collages they wanted.
Two weeks ago, my family and I visited my friend who recently graduated from the medicine collage, we had a fantastic time together, I taught her how to use her new mobile (N 97) and her laptop, she didn't have time during her six years in medicine collage to learn using the new electronics devices..
Last week I was invited to a big party, my friend Y's brother graduated from law collage so his mother made lovely party, we had lots of fun and danced a lot, I reached home unable to walk and I walked shoeless inside the house for two days !! (the shoe wasn't comfortable but nice!!!), everything was perfect, the DJ, the hall, the decoration, and the food, also the invited people were all from the most respectful families in the city, they had a great spirit, classy with a sense of humor ..
Last week also, our close friends, uncle S's family invited us for lunch, Najma and HNK were there with their mother, we spent a great time, their new house looks wonderful, I'd never seen such a lovely, comfortable, and classy house, my favorite thing in their house was the summer living room with glassy ceiling(sky light) and green house, it is great to lay in the living room and watch stars, and they also have a warn living room in winter, the architect did a great job, it is definitely the perfect house..
the other great thing that happened was visiting my new collage, I loved it from the first sight, the university is huge and had so many collages, many are over hills, also there is a mall inside the university with cafeterias, when my mom and I went out of the collage, we went to a small and lovely shop for soft drinks, then we went shopping, I am soooooo eager to start the new academic year, in the career I choose despite people's ideas to attend dentistry or pharmacy, I thought a lot and both of my heart and mind were telling me to attend engineering .. and I prayed that I made the right choice.
As I am so happy to be an engineer, I invited my relatives for lunch, I want to share them my happiness, so last Saturday was the big day..
I made two turkeys, and 3 kinds of dessert (Caramel cake, cheese cake, apples pai, kamal pasha which is a Turkish dessert), my mom made salad so famous salads Fatoosh, and aubergines salad. my grandma made Dolma, kuba, Erook, kabab, Tuka, rice with roast chicken. My relatives were amazed and adored the meals and the turkeys I made, and asked me to be a chief instead of an engineer :D hehe
There were 27 adults, 6 teenagers, and lots of kids, everyone was enjoying time, and thank god no one talked about policy and bad news, the men talked a lot about cars and social subjects, and women talked about their kids and school , cooking and such topics, while relatives my age and I said lots of jokes and talked about collage and clothes.
Any topic is better than policy, it will never lead us to a solution for the situation, and will cause more pain and sadness only.
After my relatives left, we cleaned the whole house, I was exhausted, as soon as I laid on bed BOOOM an explosion happened, I was praying " plz god, not today I can't clean and fix the house today plz plz" it was a nearby explosion but the windows didn't break, my grandpa's idea to put wood and corks was good, but the house looks dark..
This month I decided to look at the bright side only, and remember only good things, if I want to live happily I must accept life the way it is , bad things happened but I should move on , because I am incapable to fix the world, and unable to bring peace to my country, all I can do, is to live every day the way it is, and keep in mind that life changes and hopefully bright days will come , and it was a good idea, I feel much better now.
Sunshine, the future engineer .

The tires passed over the hill !!??!!

The last couple of weeks were great, we were invited to 3 Nishan parties and wedding party, as well as my best friend Y visited me, I didn’t see her for about a year, and we had a great time together, we've been friends for long time, I know her since I was one years old!!
the best event was Najma's nishan party and seeing the old friends, it was the best party ever, when I saw Najma walking with Bookish wearing her classy and gorgeous dress I got emotional and my eyes filled with tears of happiness, I look forward to see her in her wedding dress.
The other awesome event in this week was going to Arbil (or as it is called Hawlair), my family and I went with 40 relatives (my dad's uncle with his wife's big family), we had amazing time together..
we prepared lots of food (Iraqis eat a lot during picnics) we made pop corns, chips, candies, sandwiches, choorak, Erooq, pizza, and sooo many other dishes. it was decided that all relatives who live in our side of the city should gather at 6 am in our house, and we went to pick up the rest of relatives..
My relative and friend (B), bought drums, so we spent the whole way singing, and the guys said amazing poems, I was surprised to see such a wonderful talents !!
We were 9 teenager girls, and 9 guys.. and the rest of the group were kids and adults .
There were so many check points, each time, they used to check our identities, and bags, search our pockets, and they even took pics for us !!
Near Arbil, suddenly, we heard sound of crack and the bus slanting, the bus was full of smoke and dust, the driver was excellent and he controlled the situation and everyone remained calm till the bus stopped and that was the best thing to do, pray and be quiet...
Couple of cars stopped and men started to run toward us, I didn't know what was happening as I was busy singing and everything happened quickly and suddenly !! but the men near the windows saw the whole thing, two tires in the behinds were separated. One of the Kurdish men who ran towards us said " I saw one of the tires flying 10 meters in the air, you are lucky because the bus didn't turn over"
Uncle A said that he saw the tire rolling, and he added " it passed the hill and I think it is in the other side of the hill" I laughed because I thought it is impossible that a tire passes the hill and doesn't stop for at least 50 meters, the distance was huge, and we didn’t drive fast, but it was true !!! I took some pics !! the tires rolled for 100 metes and climbed a hill !!!
There was no way to fix the bus , so the driver called his company and they said within an hour and half a buss will come and we'll continue the one-day picnic !
We are so lucky because we weren't driving in a mountain, and the behind tires separated and not the front ones, otherwise we wouldn't be alive !.
What should we do during this time ?? I had a speaker and mp4 , the guys started to dance dabka in the street !!!
And we the girls, made a party and danced inside the broken bus!! Iraqis have amazing ability to make every reason to celebrate.
Then we played Bingo till the new bus came..

We went straight to shaklawa, but we found it neglected and dirty, it was a waste of time only, so we went back to Arbil , to the playing city ..
What a wonderful, free, and amazing time we had , I was the leader of the group although I didn't visit it before and I don't know the place, but we felt it will be better if someone leads the group, so the girls chose me. We were 9 girls age 13-27 years old. The guys went alone because they wanted to play "dangerous games!" , and our parents took the kids to the children's games.
For the first time since so long, I walked in a place feeling free, knowing that there will not be any shooting or kidnapping, it was awesome.
We played a game called " the serpentine", and a water game, and at the end of the game we were completely wet .
Then we played the "car crash", and " crazy dance" twice, it is the best game I've ever played in my life ..
The best thing in crazy dance is a singer was sitting in front of my seat, when he knew that we were Arabs, he sang Arabic song, we sang and clapped with him, it was a great time, we didn't sense this happiness since so long.
I find the Kurds very nice and good people, I hate their government and ours, but I respect the citizens, their cultures, and the way they dress.
Everyone was nice in arbil and I found a difference between the kurds in arbil and dhook (in my opinion)
For example, in Dhook some of the sellers in the malls who understand and speak Arabic refuse to answer us or even take a look, but in arbil, I asked about the price of a nail colorings, the seller didn't understand Arabic, she left and after awhile she brought a man from a nearby shop to translate, I felt shy and I bought two !! and the same thing happened in different places, when someone didn't speak Arabic he/she would send for someone else to help us, no one turned his back and left without understanding our question or request....
The funniest thing, I was in the WC, and I heard a woman shouting something in Kurdish, she was opening the door to the opposite direction and she thought that she was trapped and started to scream and call for help in Kurdish, my relatives and I hurried towards her, but she was out of control screaming (maybe she had a phobia from closed places), I shouted CALM DOWN WE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU, but she didn't understand us, and started to kick the door till it was stuck this time!! my relative know few words, in some way the woman understood that we'll help her, so my relatives and I started to kick and after all we forced our way in and she was talking in Kurdish and hugged me a huge hug !! and I was thinking "oh no, she just used the toilet " and my relatives were laughing about me!!
So many things happened in that day, and they'll always be in my heart and memory, I wish my whole life, and all Iraqis life will be as fun and safe , and everyone can feel joy and happiness as I did that day, for a while I forgot that I live in a war zone..
I took those pics and I hope you'll live the moments I did through them.
Sunshine

So MuCh FuN ..

Hello friends, I've been in Baghdad and I didn't have time to use the computer, I was busy preparing for Eid, we also have several apportionments with Doctors, as you know the laboratories and doctors in Baghdad are much better than those in mosul.my mom did some tests she is doing fine now .
Our way to Baghdad was good, there weren't any troops or closed roads, but there were so many check point (every 100 meters) and we drove slowly (60 km/hr), the soldiers asked the driver to drive slower while he was driving at 70 km/ hr . it is ok as long as the road is safe .
We arrived Baghdad at 11 and half am (we left mosul at 5 am), my grandma was making deserts for neighbors, and she asked me to deliver them, for the first time since so long, I feel safe to walk alone and cross the street, I am 17 and it seems strange that I can't walk one step without an adult around, but the situation in my neighborhood forced me to feel this way .
Anyway, I delivered the deserts and in my way home I saw a neighbor "A" parking his car, he just came from hospital with his beautiful wife who gave birth to a healthy and cute baby boy.
I love my grandparents' neighborhood, it is safe and classy, the neighbors cooperate and love each other..
I took a nap as I was a little bit tired, and when I woke up I helped grandma in cooking and preparing Al futoor for us, and for our neighbors "A's family".
Grandma prepared a great futoor for the neighbors ( Dolma, Chicken, rize, Kabab, Lazania , Orange juice , yogurt, dates, Adas soup, and a dessert so famous in Iraq called Basbosa) grandpa and I took the salvers to them, and it looked like "a royal meal".
In Most of the days, my mom's uncle had al futoor with us, his wife is in Syria and his daughters are in Amman and Egypt, he talked about his visits to Morocco, Jordan, Syria and Sulaymaniyah, we had a nice time.
In the second week of our visit, we made klecha ( an iraqi dessert for Eid as traditions), we also cleaned the windows and prepared the guest room, but a sandy storm ruined our cleaning ! but as I say always "I prefer that my hard work in cleaning ruins by a sand storm than from explosions"
While I was cleaning the windows with grandma, I smiled and said to her " it is the first time I clean the windows and know they are not going to break soon" .the day before Eid called Laylat al Eid (means Eid's night), we finished everything, I took a shower and dried my hair (and kept showing off , my new hair style looks great)..
I was watching Tv. And smelled dust and I know my nose never lies, I hurried to the windows and couldn't see anything, there was a huge sand storm and followed by rain, so can you imagine how did the house looked like? Muddy from the outside , and dusty inside, what a great Eid gift!!
We woke up in the first day of Eid early, and cleaned the whole house quickly, then we changed our clothes and continued cooking for lunch, the family meeting this Eid was in grandparent's house.
My mom's cousin came with her small family, my mom's aunt came with her son , daughter, and husband , as well as my mom's uncle who is alone. So we were very few.
In the past, we used to gather for lunch in my mom eldest uncle's house, about 15 families, can you imagine how many people we were? then after lunch Najma's grandparents and aunts used to join us, we used to have the best times ever..
Eid have a special spirit, all relatives must attend in the eldest family member's house, what a lovely time we used to have around the lunch table , specially as a kid when I try to look among my relatives to see what kind of dishes are there!! I miss the view of kids playing with their new gifts and running everywhere.
The older men and women used to stay in the living room and guest room , the young women used to prepare the lunch table and tea etc, while the young men try to make the ladies mad by picking up few pieces of food, and joking about their clothes or hair style, I remember my relatives (the engaged and new couples) used to stay in the garden with their loved ones, and the kids play and chase each other around them.
I remember those Eids, and I want them back. That is my Eid when I was a kid.. not the "Eid" when we spend the time calling our relatives aboard congratulating them, and wish to be with them next time.
Everything changed in our lives, not only Eid's traditions and spirit.
The most effecting thing that make Iraqis abroad miss Iraq and their families even more, is Eid's time, because there's no Eid better than the one in Iraq, no one can feel Eid's spirit and celebrate away from home family and relatives.
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Our small family meeting was nice, we had lunch, and talked about different things. in the afternoon our relatives left, then our friends visited us for about an hour.
In the second day of Eid, we visited my mom's aunt, and then my grandma's aunt, we were stuck in the crowded streets for 2 hours at noon ! we came home feeling exhausted, my sister and brother fall asleep in the car.

Since war began, so many cars entered Iraq, specially Baghdad, it takes 2hours to reach a place while it used to take only 30 minutes in the past.

To avoid the crowded streets we didn't go out of the neighborhood except few times, We went to al Rubaii street before Eid (my favorite place in Baghdad), and in the day after Eid we had dinner in a nice restaurant called Saysaban, which I like so much.
Then after Eid, we went shopping .. and that's all ..
Even though we didn't go out much, but at least, we had 2 safe and quiet weeks, and for me that's all I need, Safety ..

When I came back to mosul, I applied for collage, and we'll get the approval results after 3 weeks.
Few days ago, we were invited to a friend's Nishan party. next week, we'll attend another relative's wedding, and after two weeks my family and I will attend a Nishan party of my dear friend and relative, gorgeous Najma ( I congratulate you and Bookish from the bottom of my heart and wish you guys a successful and happy marriage, you look so nice together, may all your days be as warm as your love ).
Sunshine
P.S Nishan party is when the fiancé give his fiancée his golden gift as a symbol of his love and appreciation to her..

P.s I'll publish few pics asap

Anxious to go..

This Ramadan was calm and fun for me, I spend the time on the internet, reading, watching Tv. And cooking, we also went shopping few times preparing for Eid (feast).
I'll also go to Baghdad few days later with my family, I'll sped the last 10 days of Ramadan in Baghdad and also celebrate Eid there, with my grandparents , relatives, and friends .
I love going to Baghdad, and I am really excited .. I'll post whenever I can, and I'll write a post with pictures about my visit to Baghdad.
Sunshine
P.S I'll apply to collage soon, and I may apply to engineering collage.

Bloody Wednesday ..

Ramadan the month of peace and forgiveness, that all Muslims wait eagerly, it helps us to be more patient and more understanding, we fast from sunrise to sunset, and continue our day despite the hunger and thirst.
Before Ramadan, people who have disputes, must forget it and forgive, that's why it is the month of forgiveness, and also the rich people offer food and money (more than any time in the years) to the paupers, so it is the month of merciful and blessing.
I was hoping that this Ramadan will bring peace to Iraq, and that we won't spend more Ramadans under gun fires and explosions.
But, few days before Ramadan starts, Baghdad witnessed a bloody day, it was named " the bloody Wednesday" and "the red Wednesday" , it brought back old memories, of "black Wednesday "of last year..
In the morning of Wednesday, huge explosions happened if the capital, killing, injuring, and frightening the innocents .. the government didn't say the true numbers of people who died and injured, they were afraid of a "revolution" or "a panic situation" .. but from doctors we know that 1700 citizens were injured, and more than 500 died ..
I was so afraid about my relatives and grandparents, but thank god they are ok, but very upset ..
I don't know when will the government wake up from their torpor.. we are sick of their speeches and promises, we want a solution , but nobody cares, all they care about is stealing the country more and more..
The politicians are not Iraqi, they don't feel our pain, Wednesday was the most horrible day in Iraqis lives, all you could see is blood and dead people in streets, and people running, all you could hear is the shouts of mothers crying, all you could feel is a scare.. few hours after explosions, Baghdad became a city of ghosts, the streets where empty ..
Many questions are in my mind, why didn't the soldiers notice the lorry bombs which carried 10 tons of explosives ? who did those explosions and who helped those terrorists? For how long shall this situation continue? Will we live in peace ? I am still alive I wonder and wonder, but I find no answer.
I won't talk more, I'll let the pictures speak, and believe me, there are horrifying pics that I didn't have enough courage to look at ..

Sunshine...