neurotic Iraqi wife
June 19, 2006
A Little Prayer for The Iraqi People...
I woke up today only to find that there was no water in the bathroom...I shook my head, trying to shake away the deja vu kinda feeling....I turned both the hot and cold taps...A few drops struggling to come out...Darn I thought to myself...I cant not wash my face, nor my teeth...So instead, I walked to kitchen, picked a bottle of drinking water and used it as my cleaning source....
That actually got me thinking....If this had happened to me 2 years ago, I woulda flipped...Literally flipped...How dare they carry out maintenance work without informing us...How dare they not tell us...I probably woulda planned something in advance, or trained my mind psychologically that water isnt available....But change is inevitable...I was in Baghdad...I know what it feels like when you wake up to no water...Infact although I was staying in the Green Zone I remember very clearly when Al Karkh water plant was bombed or destroyed...I think if my memory serves me right it was sometime in late June or early July of last year....I have to check out the archives....
They sent out an email telling us to use water only in emergency...Then they sent us another email with a timetable...Between 6am and 8am water will be available and then later from 6pm to I think it was 8pm...I used to scurry back to my room intime for that shower...That only lasted a week...At first I was really disgruntled but then you get used to it...That incident was probably repeated one more time and afterwards they made sure we had enough supplies of water...But imagine those Iraqis that live outside...Imagine what they go through everyday...Its part of their daily life, their daily struggle...
I remember very clearly this lady, an Iraqi...She looked in her late forties...I always used to wander about the state of her hair...It was extremely frizzy and wet all the time... She approached me once while I was scanning a document, and started chitchatting...I wasnt really in the mood, I was having a lousy morning...She kept talking about how she first thought I was an American, and that she was shocked to find out Im an Iraqi...Then she started asking questions about where I lived and since when I left Iraq etc....I dont usually give details, or go into specifics with people I dont know...I knew better than to trust just anyone, especially in that environment...So I kept giving her short answers with some hmm's and nods instead of saying yes...At the end, I guess she got the point... apologized for being so nosy and left...I felt kinda bad, but I wasnt ready to make new aquaintences...
A few weeks later as I went inside the ladies, I was shocked to see a woman with her head placed right under the tap...She was washing her hair, right there and then...As I stood there waiting for one of the cubicles to be free, the woman raised her head...It was her... She looked at me in the mirror and said "Im so sorry dear, but we had no water in the house, and I really needed to wash my hair" A pang of guilt just washed over me...I mean I just didnt know what to say...Infact I felt so little by acting the way I acted with her previously...I gave her the biggest smile ever and told her not to worry about it...Ever since then, whenever she would come and ask me something like "what do you use on your face" or "what is the colour you have on your hair" I always gladly answered her, and never got annoyed by her questions again...
I realised that Iraqis are hungry, hungry for knowledge...hungry for new things...new styles...new places...They go through tough times...bad times...They dont wanna be stuck in that lifeless environment...instead they wanna check out new avenues...learn more...more about the world...As Im writing this I remembered another incident...a funny one this time... HUBBY befriended some of the guys that are responsible for keeping the place clean at our compound...He used to sit with them...eat with them...smoke with them...and have converstaions with them...One conversation was with Abu K...It was apparantely way before the time I joined HUBBY...
Abu K used to work in Al Rasheed hotel, during Saddam's time...He was one of the housekeepers...One day, Abu K asked HUBBY, can you show me the map of the world please...So HUBBY made a print out and gave it to him...Abu K then said wain amreeka??? (where is America???) HUBBY pointed at the US....Abu K then asked wain Il 3iraq???(Where is Iraq) HUBBY pointed at Iraq....Abu K looked startled...Asked again you sure this is Amreeka???Yes HUBBY assured him....He then said in Iraqi "lak khara ib 3ardha il Saddam...laish howa mashayif il kharita oo mashaf Amreeka ishkuburha wil 3iraq ishzughurha oo hem dikhal harub wiyahum???Lak 9udug Zmal..."Which translates into...(dont really know how to transalte the first part), Hasnt Saddam seen the world map before???Didnt he know the size of America compared to the size of Iraq before he went into this war???He really is a stupid dumb head...."Its people like these...The simple people....the naive ones that you tend to get close to...Their innocence, their plight to live.... their plight to learn....
So yes, people change when they live in harsh circumstances...I cant say that my one year in Iraq was harsh, not at all....But you learn to appreciate the little things you have...or dont have...The things we take for granted in our daily lives and never think about...The things Iraqis struggle for...So do me a favour, before you take a shower or wash your face, before you switch that AC on or off, before you turn the lights off or on....say a little prayer...A little prayer in whatever faith you follow....A little prayer in your own special way.... a little prayer....A Little Prayer for the Iraqi People...
That actually got me thinking....If this had happened to me 2 years ago, I woulda flipped...Literally flipped...How dare they carry out maintenance work without informing us...How dare they not tell us...I probably woulda planned something in advance, or trained my mind psychologically that water isnt available....But change is inevitable...I was in Baghdad...I know what it feels like when you wake up to no water...Infact although I was staying in the Green Zone I remember very clearly when Al Karkh water plant was bombed or destroyed...I think if my memory serves me right it was sometime in late June or early July of last year....I have to check out the archives....
They sent out an email telling us to use water only in emergency...Then they sent us another email with a timetable...Between 6am and 8am water will be available and then later from 6pm to I think it was 8pm...I used to scurry back to my room intime for that shower...That only lasted a week...At first I was really disgruntled but then you get used to it...That incident was probably repeated one more time and afterwards they made sure we had enough supplies of water...But imagine those Iraqis that live outside...Imagine what they go through everyday...Its part of their daily life, their daily struggle...
I remember very clearly this lady, an Iraqi...She looked in her late forties...I always used to wander about the state of her hair...It was extremely frizzy and wet all the time... She approached me once while I was scanning a document, and started chitchatting...I wasnt really in the mood, I was having a lousy morning...She kept talking about how she first thought I was an American, and that she was shocked to find out Im an Iraqi...Then she started asking questions about where I lived and since when I left Iraq etc....I dont usually give details, or go into specifics with people I dont know...I knew better than to trust just anyone, especially in that environment...So I kept giving her short answers with some hmm's and nods instead of saying yes...At the end, I guess she got the point... apologized for being so nosy and left...I felt kinda bad, but I wasnt ready to make new aquaintences...
A few weeks later as I went inside the ladies, I was shocked to see a woman with her head placed right under the tap...She was washing her hair, right there and then...As I stood there waiting for one of the cubicles to be free, the woman raised her head...It was her... She looked at me in the mirror and said "Im so sorry dear, but we had no water in the house, and I really needed to wash my hair" A pang of guilt just washed over me...I mean I just didnt know what to say...Infact I felt so little by acting the way I acted with her previously...I gave her the biggest smile ever and told her not to worry about it...Ever since then, whenever she would come and ask me something like "what do you use on your face" or "what is the colour you have on your hair" I always gladly answered her, and never got annoyed by her questions again...
I realised that Iraqis are hungry, hungry for knowledge...hungry for new things...new styles...new places...They go through tough times...bad times...They dont wanna be stuck in that lifeless environment...instead they wanna check out new avenues...learn more...more about the world...As Im writing this I remembered another incident...a funny one this time... HUBBY befriended some of the guys that are responsible for keeping the place clean at our compound...He used to sit with them...eat with them...smoke with them...and have converstaions with them...One conversation was with Abu K...It was apparantely way before the time I joined HUBBY...
Abu K used to work in Al Rasheed hotel, during Saddam's time...He was one of the housekeepers...One day, Abu K asked HUBBY, can you show me the map of the world please...So HUBBY made a print out and gave it to him...Abu K then said wain amreeka??? (where is America???) HUBBY pointed at the US....Abu K then asked wain Il 3iraq???(Where is Iraq) HUBBY pointed at Iraq....Abu K looked startled...Asked again you sure this is Amreeka???Yes HUBBY assured him....He then said in Iraqi "lak khara ib 3ardha il Saddam...laish howa mashayif il kharita oo mashaf Amreeka ishkuburha wil 3iraq ishzughurha oo hem dikhal harub wiyahum???Lak 9udug Zmal..."Which translates into...(dont really know how to transalte the first part), Hasnt Saddam seen the world map before???Didnt he know the size of America compared to the size of Iraq before he went into this war???He really is a stupid dumb head...."Its people like these...The simple people....the naive ones that you tend to get close to...Their innocence, their plight to live.... their plight to learn....
So yes, people change when they live in harsh circumstances...I cant say that my one year in Iraq was harsh, not at all....But you learn to appreciate the little things you have...or dont have...The things we take for granted in our daily lives and never think about...The things Iraqis struggle for...So do me a favour, before you take a shower or wash your face, before you switch that AC on or off, before you turn the lights off or on....say a little prayer...A little prayer in whatever faith you follow....A little prayer in your own special way.... a little prayer....A Little Prayer for the Iraqi People...
6 Comments:
You know you hear all the time about the troubles of water. You know we Cubans know all about that, In Cuba water is like a miracle if it's on, most people have built a tater tank so whenever the service in on for a few minutes they can collect it to use later in the day. People that don't have a water tank have to beg from those that do, or wait till it comes back and fill containers. Cuba is not at war, just communist.
In the capital the working part of the water system was built during the US occupation in 1901, and that's the dependable part of the system.
NIW,
I've told a lot of my fellow citizens here in the US that we have it so good compared to other places. That even the worse conditions here can be better than normal conditions elsewhere. I don't say that to slam other places but to point out that life here is a lot better for many people than in a war zone.
I wish many of our young people can see life outside of the US. Perhaps that would make them appreciate how spoiled they are.
Some people are still amazed that we took "baths" with baby wipes or with a canteen of water.
Kind of makes you appreciate the little things in life. But now you know that you're a lot stronger than you knew.
R1
I do pray for Iraqis and for many other peoples around the world. I hope this post will be a reminder to do it every time I shower or drink a cup of tea.
Wow, I never knew that...I guess I should read more about the world...expand my knowledge...How about electricity??? Oh and I hope you dont mind me asking...whats being communist has to do with not having water??? You mean its like boycotted from CUBA??? I didnt get that....
Yesssss Raven...those baby wipes, I had loads of these...you reminded me...I see my nephews and no, I dont actually wish they live what we went thru in Iraq...But yes, you are right, they should appreciate what they have and not get spoilt...Very true...
HoH, Iraqis are resilient people...But believe me if I tell you that the majority that I got to know while working there, hated their lives....hated every minute of it and dreamt of better things to come...better things but not in their own country...Thats the saddest part...I wish theres something we all can do...but there isnt...Unless by a miracle from God, those insurgents and criminals get wiped out...
Jean, I and many others too pray everyday ...Maybe just maybe all our prayers will get answered...
No no water boycott, just no repair and reinvestment, electricity? what electricity, they probably get les than Iraqis are getting, the Cuban people have been on food rations for like 35 years or something, in a country that used to export food. The wonders of the command economy. you know there is only a handful of modern cars, most cars on the island are of 1950's vintage, castro says it's better that way because there is no need to deal with the spare parts industry, something he sees as some kind of capitalist evil. You have no idea.
I PERSONALLY THINK MUSLIM WOMAN ARE OPPRESSED AND THE MEN HAVE TOO MUCH TESTERONE AND LITTLE PENIS.
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