Sleet in Baghdad

The hubby sent me these pics from a recent sleet storm in Baghdad. Quite interesting.
Enjoy!

Pops is Heading to Hajj

After 63 years of living, 33 years of living in America, years and years of watching his teenage son and daughter head to the Holy Land before him, and years of me praying and praying for him being able to make it to Mecca, Baba is finally heading out in a couple of days inshaAllah. Thank you , O God.
I'm so happy for you dear baba, may you make it through the rituals safely and come back in excellent health, and may you be healed of your ailment.

Fatima

Touchy Thought

So, I've been thinking this thought for a long time now, but it's not really an important thought, nor one that will result in anything fruitful, so I hesitate to write it down.
I have never been so proud in my life, nor felt so much like I belonged to this country, as I did on the night of November 4th, 2008, when Barack Obama was overwhelmingly voted in as the new president of this great nation.
I did not believe it possible that majority white, small town, elderly America was ready to vote in a black man, where a short 40 years ago, it fought to keep the black man from the ballot. But I am so proud that there is a new generation that has overwhelmingly overcome this issue. I am so happy.
But then I think to myself, if Barack had 'really' been a black man, had been black from his mother and his father, would he have been so easy to vote in? If he looked like the African American next door, would white America, Latino America, female America, been ready for him?
I fear that this is an almost dangerous, worthless question to bring up, but it sometimes stirs in my mind.
U S A!

Now For Some Deeper Thought

So, I'm still riding on a cloud, but I do want to think about this issue on a deeper level. In my thirty years of living, and my twelve years of voting, I have never seen such euphoria over a candidate and president-elect. I have never seen such an election. I have never seen such a turnout. I have never seen my state of Virginia with the possiblity of 'switching sides', from Republican to Democrat. And I have never seen such a strong victory for a presidential candidate.
But all that happened, and the streets of American are jubilant, and one year ago, I did not think this was possible. I did not think that America, small town America, white America, older American, was ready to elect a black president. I hoped, but I said, no way. And now, I'm so happy that America proved me wrong, and put a black man in the White House.

Now, I want to understand why my country is soooooo unbelievable excited about this? On my Facebook account, last night around midnight, when McCain conceded and gave his speech, and when Obama gave his victory speech, Facebook was alive. Unbelievably alive with tens and tens of people declaring their absolute EUPHORIA and excitement at Obama's win. People were euphoric, jubliant, unbelievably happy, and every other synonym out there. Why this amount of feeling?
For me, I think that it's a translation of 'minority' people's happiness at finding 'one of them' elected into the strongest position of leadership in the modern world. A feeling of happiness at finding that America truly represents you. That you really belong, now matter what you look like, no matter what your name sounds like. Its a pride in knowing that a large number of Americans share this view, and have overcome their prejudices and stereotypes of just a few decades ago.
Its excitement at seeing a younger, more diverse spirit leading this nation.
For me, I am so proud of America right now. Proud of it for overcoming so much, and showing us what it is capable of.
And for me, I really hope that Obama does not disappoint. I hope that he leads this nation to justice and equality for all, and that he stays away from aggression, wherever it may be. I hope that he does not become just another one of them presidents.
And finally, I really do salute John McCain on his work and his speech last night. It was chivalrous, and I hope he rests after his long years of service.

GOOOBAMA! Long Live Justice, Equality and all this is good in this world!

So Proud to Be An American

On this day, watching Obama's acceptance speech, I am so proud. I am so proud of America to have overcome its prejudices, and biases and hatred and to have voted into power the first black president of the United States of America.
May God give him the clarity of mind to make the right decisions, and to help fix everything that is America.

I am so proud to be an American.

SUVs and Attitude

There's something I distinctly do not like about SUVs. And yet, I have recently joined this ostentatious, take-over-the-road car club. Only because I abhorred the idea of getting a minivan at the time, though since then, I've kind of wished I had considered it... (don't tell the hubby).

We were recently involved in a small car accident, hit by a 2008 Lexus sedan from the back, while stopped at a traffic light. Our bumper was cracked and scratched, our spare tire fell out the bottom of the car, and the left muffler was a bit bent. Nothing major alhamdulillah. But the poor old lady's car was pretty much screwed up. Her hood went up 1/3 of the way, her radiator was leaking fluid and her lights were crushed. She had to be towed out of there.

Everyone told me, you should be thankful, you're in a big, safe car. Otherwise, you might have been hurt more. But all I could think of was, if we had a smaller car, that lady's new Lexus would not have been destroyed.
It's this big consumerist mentality that really bothers me; this American attitude that says, 'You be safe, and who cares if the world around you goes to pieces.' I can't stand that attitude, I can't stand that SUV -buying/driving mentality.
And yet I drive around my first brand-new car, a Mazda CX-9. But in my defense, I must say, it's a space issue. :)

You Sound Tired, Hubby

My hubby called me last night a little bit earlier than our usual call time, and sounded really tired.
"I had a tough day today, Fatima." A thousand pictures flew through my mind, and I was happy that I was talking to him directly, that I could hear his voice and be reassured of his presence.
"What happened?"
One of his colleagues had been targeted when someone booby-trapped his car. On his way to work, it blew up and he was taken to Yarmouk Hospital. My husband and co-workers went and picked him up and transferred him to Ibn Sina hospital for better care. The poor man lost both his legs, and my husband was there to see a friend go through this, was there to transport him in his state of agony and pain. And I can only imagine how difficult it was for hubby; for him to admit to me that he'd had a tough day was a big deal.
On another note, another one of his colleagues had faced the same situation a few weeks ago. Apparently strategy has changed for these chaos-mongers and instead of kidnapping and ransoming/murdering folk, they just booby-trap their cars. But I must say, these incidents have lessened greatly in the last year, but these last couple of months have spiked a bit. Allah al-Hafith.

Update: Yesterday, hubby was describing to me a little of what he saw a few days ago with his friend, 'I'. He told me he was there with him before the surgery took place, and 'I' was conscious throughout the whole ordeal. (warning: graphic description): He told me he saw a bone sticking out on one leg, with no muscle/meat on it. The right foot looked ok, so he asked the doctor if they could save that one. The doctor picked it up, and the only thing keeping the foot attached was a bit of skin. Hubby was telling me who gruesome and horrible that scene was, but he stayed by his conscious friend's side through out it. The guy has had his leg surgery/amputations done, and now, doctors are working on extracting shrapnel from his eye. May we never see such a fate with our loved ones.

Reality Check

A few months ago, my husband was visiting us from Baghdad and we were chatting with his newly married sister. She was telling us about the coolest present she had received for her marriage, and it was a gift certificate to ride a hot air balloon, or skydive or some other 'extreme sport (extreme in my book, at least. :))

So, we were just going back and forth about which sport we'd choose if we had the choice, and my husband mentioned he'd definitely go for sky-diving. "At least there's a use to it."
I was like, "What in the world use is there to sky-diving?" And then it hit me. Hubby was seriously tied to his life in Baghdad, and I had forgotten the daily realities he lived through. He rides helicopters sometimes, and private planes, and they definitely have enemies. So for him, an sport activity of this kind could one day come in handy as a life-saving exercise. And he wasn't thinking too far into the future either.
Reality check indeed.

Iraqis and Facebook

Not a scientific article, by any means, but I find it increasingly interesting how fast the Facebook phenomenon is spreading worldwide. My (egyptian) cousins in Egypt are avid Facebookers, adding every application and friend they can find. And for me, that was the best thing I've gotten out of joining Facebook, keeping in touch on a 'regular' basis with my kid cousins.
And now, I've noticed that Iraqis are increasingly joining the world of Facebook! It's not as widespread in Iraq as it is in the rest of the Arab world, but it is slowly gaining in popularity. From my husband's account, I see a good number of his colleagues and former co-workers adding him as Facebook friends. And one of my buddies from Iraq added me recently.
What I've noticed is that a number of Iraqi Facebookers are now ex-patriots or 'refugees' to a degree, i.e. they've left Iraq and that's how they got introduced to FB. And from those still inside Iraq, they're youngish (20's-30's), educated and have 'int'l' friends (Americans, etc) or found out about FB from friends and family forced out of Iraq.
Just a peak through my narrow glimpse into this worldwide phenomenon.

(btw: i'm not yet ready to give out my Facebook name. :) sorry folks!)

Living on in Our Hearts and Prayers...

One year ago today, a young man was the last one to leave his house. He had said his good byes to his parents, siblings and cousin as they headed out before him. Little did they know that it was their last time to see each other.
One year ago today, Bilal headed out to university to take a final exam. He hadn't been to university most of the semester because of the threats, but today he was called in for an exam.
One year ago today, Bilal was chased down in front of university by armed, masked men in cars.
One year ago today, Bilal dropped his school notebook as he ran away from his kidnappers.
One year ago today, Bilal made three desperate calls for help from his cell phone, while running away from these men in black.
One year ago today, Bilal's 10 year old brother answered the phone to a panting Bilal screaming, 'They got me, they kidnapped me... Let me go.... Let me goooo....'.
One year ago today, the university population stood and watched a young man kidnapped and taken to an almost certain death...
One year ago today, I heard the news of Bilal's kidnapping in my husband's silent voice...

May you rest in mercy and peace ya Bilal, and may your mother's, father's, sisters' and brothers' hearts start to find some healing...