Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape neurotic Iraqi wife: January 2005

neurotic Iraqi wife

January 28, 2005

The Mark of Freedom......

Wow what a day, a pretty sureal one. The first day of voting was today for all Iraqis living outside, and I believe that in my city alone, more than half the registrants that registered between the 17th-25th came to vote today. A big factor, I think was that today is a Friday(a public holiday),the equivalent of a Sunday in the west.

I stood there at 650 am, waiting to be ushered in at 7. I smoked 2 cigarettes to pass the time. The clock struck 7 and I brisk walked to my station as to be the first voter, but HEYYYYYYY,a colleague of mine cheated and didnt bother to stand in the queue. Instead he entered the area as a staff member and stood at the station pretending to read things off the wall. Grrrrrrrrr. I was fuming. I couldnt believe it. I coulda easily done the same, but I wanted to do it the right way. the excuse he bloody gave me"You were the first registrant, you cant be the first voter as well". I kept pushing him,lol (can u imagine the scene). Two grown ups fighting for who to be first in line, then out of the blue,a young polling staff member said I wanna be first. I looked into his eyes, and saw the excitement in them. I couldnt but let him go before me(and ofcourse couldnt say no to those innocent puppy eyes,could I now.sigh). At that moment, I cracked up laughing, I never thought the day will come for us Iraqis, fighting for who to vote first. It really was an amazing feeling. And not to mention, my horrible colleague was left there for third place,hehe....

Crowds and crowds of people started walking in at 730am on a Friday morning. It was simply beautiful. Families singing and clapping as they made their way through. I cant describe the feelings of jubilation. There were chocolates and sweets being distributed and one family brought in huge pots of rice and mutton and gave it to everyone in the center. Umm, No Thank You, Mrs here didnt have any.....

Alot of media was present as well, and I made sure they knew their limits in taking video footage and pictures. They always have to ask permission before doing any of those, cuz we still have people fearing for their families lives back in Iraq. And they have every right to refuse being photographed. One incident though that took place was a press lady who started asking voters about their choices and when answered she made sneer comments about the party in question. The voters started complaining to the staff, and she was ushered outside to be reminded politely of the code of conduct. She gave the excuse of freedom of press, Umm yeah no one said dont ask questions but its a NO GO Lady when you interefere with the voters choices and belittle them.

That was the only glitch. Everything else went great. We had political entity agents present to make sure that voters are not being swayed one way or another. We had independant observers roaming about making sure that everything is going smoothly. All in all it was a great day. One thing I kinda disliked was the darn ink, it turns a yucky shade of black afterwhile,the colour aint the issue here but the dry sensation makes it real eeewwww....I was told that it lasts throughout the voting period and even more as to ensure no one votes more than once....Hmm a smart idea???Hey HUBBY, thank god u aint here, cuz my finger sure looks like something from the adams family right now.....A change from that red varnish you kinda love,lol....

I guess thats all to report today, everyone was happy, chirpy and at the end of the day real real tired including moi. Most of all, EYES were exhausted searching in the massive crowds for the marked fingers, frowning if they dont see that mark, The Mark of Freedom......
posted by neurotic_wife at 8:36 PM 19 comments


The Mark of my Freedom Posted by Hello
posted by neurotic_wife at 7:35 PM 13 comments

January 26, 2005

Flying To The Moon......

"Tomorrow you have a day off".Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. The relief when my boss uttered these words. Finally after working for every single day since the 2nd of January, no weekends,no Eid vacation, nuthin, I get to spend it BLOGGING.....yippeeee. It was all work work work, and BTW I aint complaining. Infact today I felt pretty weird for not waking up early in the morning and not going to work. I have to say that working with an International Organisation that is involved in the Iraqi elections is pretty interesting and very educational at the same time.

The registration period has ended yesterday, and the polling starts on the 28th through the 30th of January for all of us living outside Iraq. Im making sure that I will be the first voter, just like I was the first registrant in my residing country. The feeling of euphoria, standing there waiting for the queue controllers to usher me in was beyond any feeling I felt before. Everyone stood there clapping as I made my way through to the registration station. My eyes watered, for that day was the first day ever I felt I have a voice in my own country's future.

Its sad that not many people think that way. I was pretty disappointed at the low number of Iraqis coming forward to register. Is it apathy? Is it fear? I dunno. I asked some people who I know didnt register, and all they gave me was a shrug of the shoulders and the words"why should we?". Why should you? Cuz its your country. Why should you? Cuz you can make a difference. Why should you? Cuz every voice counts. So Why Shouldnt You??? What is it that you will lose if you DID vote? Nothing.

This is the beginning of a new era for us. For the first time we are given a choice. For the first time there are names on the ballot papers,and not just the words "I agree" or "I disagree". The latter being the death sentence for anyone who ticked it. People shrugging their shoulders is just beyond me. And seriously I wouldnt blame any Iraqi living inside for not voting, cuz look at us, we the ones living in utter comfort and security have no interest, how about those who are suffering from lack of security, electricity and no damn water for a week. How about them??? They are the heros, the real heros for going out there, knowing that maybe the 30th will be their last day on this earth. They are the ones we should pray for their safety......

HUBBY wants to vote. But HUBBY is in the Green Zone, and I just heard a few days ago that IECI regulations states, that there wont be any polling center in the Green Zone cuz its somehow seen as an American habitat, hmm So I aint sure what HUBBY is gonna do. Him and his Iraqi Colleagues are adamant to vote. And surprise surprise we aint voting for the same party. Im trying to bribe him in every way possible for him to vote for my favourate but God what a stubborn person he is. So now we have made a bet, and umm I wont be going into the details of that YET......

I also need to find somewhere to book for HUBBY's next R&R, which was supposed to be in a weeks time but because of my work I asked HUBBY very very nicely to postpone it until the end of next month. Umm, I never ever thought that the day will come when I'll tell HUBBY "sorry hun,but am too busy to be with you",Yikes it sounds awful doesnt it? NOT,hehe. Let him suffer like he made me suffer. Wowww I just realised that today is our 9 month anniversary!!!! 9 months and only 36 days together, this is really beyond any doubt a "fantastic" marriage.......Dont you think???

Anyways, Im gonna make damn sure that by the first anniversary MR HUBBY will definitely have a far better plan for "our" future than he has Plans for Flying To The MOON.......


posted by neurotic_wife at 5:54 PM 11 comments

January 13, 2005

No Matter What....

I have time to blog,yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.....Im gonna forget about work for the time being, forget about whats happening around the world and start talking about HUBBYYYYYYYYYYYYY.........It feels like ages since I have complained and vented out, hmmm, I think Ive got a serious bug cuz I feel my neurotic behaviour has diminished immensely, NOT A GOOD SIGN....na'a na'a

I just got off the phone with HUBBY, after having embarrased him and me as well. The phone lines have been pretty bad, and because I see everything as a challenge(something in my weird nature)I keep persisting by dialing his number a zillion times, thinking maybe just maybe it will get through,knowing pretty damn well, if the network is down, it means THE DARN NETWORK IS DOWN....But No, neurotic wife just redials all the time, so in anycase, I stayed trying for 30 mins until, finally a ringing tone, yippeeeeeeee.

Man: H E L L O O O This is bla bla's phone, bla bla isnt around...(some weird guy with a pretty serious voice answered, and was talking soooooooooo slowwwwwwwww as if he was trying to make the point pretty clear) Hmmm, me being me, I thought this was one of his colleagues friends idea of a joke, so I supposedly continued with the joke...

ME: Oh ok, so where is he???

Man: Bla bla is in the restroom (restroom????huh????)Hmmmm

ME: why is he in the restroom?(I swear I really thought the guy was joking)

Man: Bla bla is in the restroom call back in one minute

ME: No I wont call back, it took me ages to get through, I will hold....(by now I thought the guy will just crack up laughing and own up)

Man: FINE, Im in the middle of a meeting, Ill give him the phone once he comes back

ME: Ok( the guy puts down the phone and I can hear another guy talking about a project, UHOH, Big UHOH....ooooooops, this is no joke, shit....hehe

HUBBY then comes on the line, and I just laugh hysterically, Sorry HUBBY, didnt mean to embarrass you like this. HUBBY wasnt amused at all, but I thought it was real funny...You see HUBBY has 2 colleagues whom I call Hykle and Jykle. They always are together and whenever I wanna have a private moment with HUBBY on the phone, I can hear their voices, sometimes I wander what are these guys upto... I mean how do they entertain themselves???Ok they have a vast amount of DVD's and you know what Im talkin about here, but then what???

Hmm, I guess I dont even wanna think out loudly.....So now, with this job, I had the difficult decision to tell HUBBY that his R&R has to wait for until end of February which is around 3 weeks from the propsed date. I feel guilty delaying it,but I have no choice, my contract ends on the 28th of February and I cant do much about it. Besides HUBBY's birthday is in March and its gonna be his first birthday that we celebrate together. So basically the perfect timing. But nooooooo HUBBY doesnt think of it this way.

He drove me nuts once he found out I have a young boss. Well hellllllooooooooooooo......Who kept telling me to find a job????And now that I found one, he starts complaining and acting so weird. But you know what, I LOVE IT, finally HUBBY gets to be jealous, yaaaaaaaaaaay.....Wowwww, if I knew this was gonna happen I wouldnt have sat on my ass all this time,lol......

But then again this job is just for 2 months after that,Im gonna be back here sitting on the net and complaining about HUBBY. And believe you me I will complain cuz apparantely HUBBY is trying to find another job in Iraq AGAIN, after his contract ends this May. I dunno what or how will I react if he does find something. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens after the elections. In my own opinion, I dont think anything will change. I dont think that the elections will result in less violence. I hope am wrong, I hope am real wrong cuz I want it to work, I want Iraq to be free, free of these terrorists. I want Iraq to flourish, to flourish and allow the people to live freely......

Lets see what happens, and lets pray that things will work out for the better No Matter What....


posted by neurotic_wife at 10:30 PM 5 comments

January 07, 2005

Answers to your Questions....

Before I do give you HUBBY's answers, bare in mind that HUBBY is in the Green Zone, and his communication with the Iraqi people is limited to the locals who come to work in the Green Zone everyday, and to those he meets when he does have the opportunity to leave the zone, hence its only a tiny persepective with respect to the whole population.


Q-madtom said...
Would he know if the ballots have been printed, and are the names of the Sunni groups that withdrew form the election last month, on them, or not?

A-Madtom unfortunately HUBBY doesnt know if the ballots have been printed out, nor if the groups that withdrew were included. Am sorry but he did say one thing, that as long as they registered themselves then their names should be printed out even if they withdrew....

Q-stephie said...
Ask hubby for me: Is it REALLY as bad living day to day in Iraq as the media makes it look?

A-Stephie, when HUBBY was here and was watching the news especially the Arabic media, he was shocked at the amount of exxageration and kept insisting that the media is playing a major role in the chaos thats happening. He also says that having said that, everyone associated with the Americans are a target.

A-MonicaR said...
I would like to know from your hubby - is the word getting out to the Iraqi population about the parties, what their platforms are, what beliefs the parties represent? Are the lists published and distributed widely? Are these things being debated and discussed by Iraqis?

Q-MonicaR, yes he said that a list was announced and representatives are giving out flyers about the parties. The political parties are campaigning big time by stating what their mission is and what it is they want. HUBBY says that many of them are unrealistic and are just saying things that people want to hear so they win a place. As for the Iraqis he talked to, they dont really know whats going on and whats gonna happen.

Q-1. Does he think the United Iraqi Coalition are likely to win the elections ?
2. Does he think the UIC will ask the US forces to leave Iraq if they do win ?
3. Does he think the UIC will introduce Sharia law if they win ?
Many thanks !
Emma

A-Emma, HUBBY says that he expects them to win a big chunk of the seats. As for asking the US to leave he said eventually they will, doesnt think it will happen soon. As for Sharia law, he suspects it.

Apart from that HUBBY said that he heard from many Iraqi locals that registration forms are being sold for $200 or $300 and other rumours. I hope the answers were helpful.

Im dying to write more posts but apparantely my new job is a 7day thing, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Im beginning to feel cranky and it hasnt been a week yet since I started. HUBBY is talking about his next R&R which is sometime in late Feb,something Im really looking forward to. I too need a vacation after this job is over cuz it sure as hell turning quite hectic and very exhausting, and you know what this is onlythe beginning......

Well these were the Answers to your Questions.....

PS: can someone tell me what they see instead of my photo in the profile, cuz I cant see anything, nor can I display the page, thanx.....


posted by neurotic_wife at 9:31 PM 6 comments

January 03, 2005

Are You Ready???

This is gonna be a pretty short post cuz Im knackered, and I really am in need of a good massage. My back feels like 2 halves, and my eyes can barely stay wide open. The reason for all this, is I got a huge project am working on, regarding Iraq. For security and confidentiality reasons I cant really say much about what it entails but all I can say is that its one of the most exciting jobs I ever had.

I didnt even think I would get the job, I just applied, got an interview yesterday, 5 minutes during the interview I was told "YOU ARE HIRED, can you start today?" Me in utter shock, I kept nodding my head, for any passer by, I probably looked like someone who had lost complete control of her neck muscles.....

Hence, dunno if I ll be able to post regularly but I will try my best. In anycase, I better hit the sack cuz I gotta wake up real real early tomorrow, something that I need getting used to. Darn I better buy myself a decent alarm clock, cuz right now am depending on the one I have on my mobile and believe me, the snooze button comes in real handy...Oh well.....

On another note, this famous arabic astrologer came on TV 2 days ago and said that 2005 holds great achievements for both sagittarians and pisces. Im a sagittarius and HUBBY is a pisces, Yaaaaaaaaaaay, this may be just the start... So any sagittarians or pisces people out there, brace urselves for a great year (hopefully)....2005, Im ready for you, but the question is, Are You Ready For Me???

PS:made a deal with HUBBY to answer any questions you guys have, its easier this way, so anyone out there with questions pls post them in the comments section, and I will post HUBBY's answers once I get them.....
posted by neurotic_wife at 10:40 PM 12 comments