neurotic Iraqi wife
January 26, 2009
The Valkyrie Eye…
Im taking a break from politics, hence look elsewhere for juicy stuff. Right now Im typing and reading with one eye. Yup one eye. I feel like Im taking Tom Cruise’s part in his latest movie Valkyrie sans the black eye patch. I still don’t know what the optician called it, but umm the minute he stared at my eyes through his machine, the first words he uttered were “OH SHIT” I mean how professional can one be.
I sat there with my chin sticking out flickering my eyes. “What is it Dr? Is it THAT bad?” He didn’t even bother replying, instead he ushered my HUBBY and asked him to take a look. Hmmm, is this some kinda male conspiracy? HELLOOOOO this is my eye youre staring at, and I need to know. My HUBBY was far more polite and instead of the “Oh shit” he was like “Oh wow”. Ok great, thanks for making me feel at ease.
After that fiasco I was told that I had an extreme phase of some kinda contact lens infection, had I waited one more day, I woulda gone blind (Doctor’s exact words). Hmmm, that’s extremely re-assuring Dr. That’s what I love about Middle Eastern Doctors, they have such a way with words, it truly amazes me.
So yeah right now Im on killer antibiotics and some weird gel that I have to stick in my eye every five hours. Wooohoooo. Oh and to top it all off, I cant wear my contacts for weeks to come, thank god I have trendy glasses on. All this got me thinking. Ever since I left Baghdad things have gone down hill. Hmmm, maybe I should think of going back. Actually there’s something that is kinda worrying me, and relaying it here will probably make people think Im crazy. Did I say Crazy? Whats new, I am Neurotic after all. So here goes.
Ever since I was young and even now, everytime I had my coffee cup read, I was told I had evil eyes (il 3ain) on me. Hence my obsession with wearing the evil eye to ward off any evil. I wear a bunch of bracelates with cute coloured eye crystals, I wear a choker like necklace that my eldest sister gave me on my birthday, I have a blue stone along with the word Allah dangling from my watch, everything I can find with the eye on it, I just use it. On our last trip to Turkey, I bought a cute ceramic fridge magnet, yup an eye. It lasted on the fridge four months, UNTIL. Until the day before I traveled to Amman. Out of the blue without even touching the fridge, the eye fell and broke in two halves!!! Can you believe this shit? I just stood there, my mouth agape, staring at the broken pieces in disbelief.
I freaked out. Freaked out big time and called both my mom and my sister. You see, evil eyes and envy is written in our Quran and some hadiths and I really do believe in it. My mom and sis freaked out as well, lol. Didn’t really make things easier on me, as I wanted them to say positive stuff. My mom, the pious woman she is, asked me to recite a specific verse many times and hope for the best. This is exactly what I did and I forgot about the whole thing.
But with all the mis-haps that’s taking place with me right now, my operation (long story, some other time), my blasting headaches, my eye infection, my hair going all weird on me, all within a month from the eye breaking, I do believe that someone, somewhere is casting the evil eye spell on me. My question is, why? Why me? Theres nothing to envy me about. Nothing to be jealous from. A BIG FAT NOTHING. Ughhhhh
Sorry, just needed to vent as HUBBY doesn’t believe in this stuff. He thinks Im crazy and that I take things into extremes. Umm HUBBY, Im sorry, but an eye breaking out of the blue is no joke. I did google it though second it happened (Don’t you just love Google). Some articles said that an eye breaking means it did all it can do to ward off the evil. Oh great. What about the rest of the evil? Now what?
Oh well, evil or no evil, for now, I just have one functioning eye :(, The Valkyrie Eye…
I sat there with my chin sticking out flickering my eyes. “What is it Dr? Is it THAT bad?” He didn’t even bother replying, instead he ushered my HUBBY and asked him to take a look. Hmmm, is this some kinda male conspiracy? HELLOOOOO this is my eye youre staring at, and I need to know. My HUBBY was far more polite and instead of the “Oh shit” he was like “Oh wow”. Ok great, thanks for making me feel at ease.
After that fiasco I was told that I had an extreme phase of some kinda contact lens infection, had I waited one more day, I woulda gone blind (Doctor’s exact words). Hmmm, that’s extremely re-assuring Dr. That’s what I love about Middle Eastern Doctors, they have such a way with words, it truly amazes me.
So yeah right now Im on killer antibiotics and some weird gel that I have to stick in my eye every five hours. Wooohoooo. Oh and to top it all off, I cant wear my contacts for weeks to come, thank god I have trendy glasses on. All this got me thinking. Ever since I left Baghdad things have gone down hill. Hmmm, maybe I should think of going back. Actually there’s something that is kinda worrying me, and relaying it here will probably make people think Im crazy. Did I say Crazy? Whats new, I am Neurotic after all. So here goes.
Ever since I was young and even now, everytime I had my coffee cup read, I was told I had evil eyes (il 3ain) on me. Hence my obsession with wearing the evil eye to ward off any evil. I wear a bunch of bracelates with cute coloured eye crystals, I wear a choker like necklace that my eldest sister gave me on my birthday, I have a blue stone along with the word Allah dangling from my watch, everything I can find with the eye on it, I just use it. On our last trip to Turkey, I bought a cute ceramic fridge magnet, yup an eye. It lasted on the fridge four months, UNTIL. Until the day before I traveled to Amman. Out of the blue without even touching the fridge, the eye fell and broke in two halves!!! Can you believe this shit? I just stood there, my mouth agape, staring at the broken pieces in disbelief.
I freaked out. Freaked out big time and called both my mom and my sister. You see, evil eyes and envy is written in our Quran and some hadiths and I really do believe in it. My mom and sis freaked out as well, lol. Didn’t really make things easier on me, as I wanted them to say positive stuff. My mom, the pious woman she is, asked me to recite a specific verse many times and hope for the best. This is exactly what I did and I forgot about the whole thing.
But with all the mis-haps that’s taking place with me right now, my operation (long story, some other time), my blasting headaches, my eye infection, my hair going all weird on me, all within a month from the eye breaking, I do believe that someone, somewhere is casting the evil eye spell on me. My question is, why? Why me? Theres nothing to envy me about. Nothing to be jealous from. A BIG FAT NOTHING. Ughhhhh
Sorry, just needed to vent as HUBBY doesn’t believe in this stuff. He thinks Im crazy and that I take things into extremes. Umm HUBBY, Im sorry, but an eye breaking out of the blue is no joke. I did google it though second it happened (Don’t you just love Google). Some articles said that an eye breaking means it did all it can do to ward off the evil. Oh great. What about the rest of the evil? Now what?
Oh well, evil or no evil, for now, I just have one functioning eye :(, The Valkyrie Eye…
January 20, 2009
An Obama Day...
Yes, Im watching it. Isnt it amazing. I was bummed out when he stammered on his oath. Funny enough just before he started repeating the oath, I turned to HUBBY and said, watch how perfect he will say the words, he probably trained for this day a million times. Ummm, I guess I was wrong and HUBBY just rolled his eyes... :)
The speech though was just amazing. I liked it and dont really care what others might think. Im sure today many Americans are really proud to be Americans. About time too. On my personal facebook, many of my Iraqi ex-Coworkers who got their special Immigration Visas and have long been settled in the US, set their statuses a few days ago by thanking Bush for the life changing opportunity. Others though had "Hoping Obama will bring sunshine back to Iraq" on theirs.
Yeah I guess many are hopeful while others arent too optimistic. Im just keeping my fingers crossed. Lets see what he will bring on. I chatted with a few of my work colleagues back in Iraq. I was told many changes are taking place at work, and there are plans for many to leave and work on reachback just like me with one exception, they will have an office to work from and not imprisoned in a flat 24/7. Im not so sure how long they will keep me doing what Im doing. I think my time will be up pretty soon. Are the changes a direct result of Obama winning?
Oh and me being the financial analyst that I am, decided to give HUBBY some advice and said, "hey HUBBY, why dont you buy some shares, I bet you on inaugaration day everything will go green" Umm, just an hour ago he told me he is down big time. Oooooops, hehe. I guess I may have to take my masters degree again. Atleast he was smiling when he said it, someone else would have probably strangled me. But it did seem logical for shares to go up wonder why it didnt...Does anyone know?
I better get going, I dont feel like writing a long post today. I wanna continue watching Obama and just enjoy the scenes afore me. Today is a nice day. An Obama Day...
The speech though was just amazing. I liked it and dont really care what others might think. Im sure today many Americans are really proud to be Americans. About time too. On my personal facebook, many of my Iraqi ex-Coworkers who got their special Immigration Visas and have long been settled in the US, set their statuses a few days ago by thanking Bush for the life changing opportunity. Others though had "Hoping Obama will bring sunshine back to Iraq" on theirs.
Yeah I guess many are hopeful while others arent too optimistic. Im just keeping my fingers crossed. Lets see what he will bring on. I chatted with a few of my work colleagues back in Iraq. I was told many changes are taking place at work, and there are plans for many to leave and work on reachback just like me with one exception, they will have an office to work from and not imprisoned in a flat 24/7. Im not so sure how long they will keep me doing what Im doing. I think my time will be up pretty soon. Are the changes a direct result of Obama winning?
Oh and me being the financial analyst that I am, decided to give HUBBY some advice and said, "hey HUBBY, why dont you buy some shares, I bet you on inaugaration day everything will go green" Umm, just an hour ago he told me he is down big time. Oooooops, hehe. I guess I may have to take my masters degree again. Atleast he was smiling when he said it, someone else would have probably strangled me. But it did seem logical for shares to go up wonder why it didnt...Does anyone know?
I better get going, I dont feel like writing a long post today. I wanna continue watching Obama and just enjoy the scenes afore me. Today is a nice day. An Obama Day...
January 12, 2009
Children of Shoes...
HUBBY has gone back to Iraq. I asked him about the sentiments there of whats going on in Gaza. “The Iraqis here can care less” He said. Although I did see on the news some protests were held there due to the Israeli offensive, I doubt that the average Iraqi is moved by all this. They have their own problems to deal with.
A few days ago I had to attend some family lunch that my parents were hosting. I wasn’t really up to it but I had to go. As we sat down chitchatting, a few mobile phones beeped simultaneously. “Please donate to Gaza at such and such banks” One of the ladies read the message out loud. She then threw her phone in dismay at the table. “Why should I care about Gaza” She said “While my own country is suffering. What did the Palestinians do for us Iraqis when my people were getting killed by the hundreds” She continued. “Let them go to hell”
I was in shock. “But Khala (Aunti), these are humans dying, not animals. Surely you can be more compassionate” She had a very hard look on her face. She took out a cigarette, lit it, inhaled, then exhaled and shook her head and said “Neurotica, Iraqis are humans too. Do you know what they (Palestinians) did in Iraq? Do you know how the preyed on us when Saddam was in power. I don’t give a damn about these people. They elected their government so let them suffer the consequences”
Another woman joined in and said “She is right Neurotica. You know where the money is going? Its not going to the victims, it will end up in Hamas’s hands, and surely Hamas will buy weapons. All this is propaganda. No, not a single penny from MY own hard earned money is going there, Id rather spend it on the Orphans of Iraq. Half the millionaires in the Emirates are Palestinians, why don’t THEY help their OWN people?” Then she said, “Hamas don’t even care about their own people, theyre sitting comfortably in Syria and Lebanon while their people burn”
As I was about to voice my own opinion another lady said “You forgot what they did to our country Neurotica? To our People? They sent suicide bombers, they joined so called “Jihad” groups and killed hundreds even thousands of our people. They backed Zarqawi, that criminal man” Again as I tried to say something, a few teenage girls (daughters of another woman) announced they were leaving to join the protests. “What protests?” we asked. “There is a protest here in AD” They answered while they fixed their Palestinian scarves around their necks. The women rolled their eyes and shot the girls’ mother an evil look.
“How can you let them go?” The mother shrugged and said, its their choice, and I wont stop them. I just got up and left the table for I knew that the poor mom was going to be lectured. The conversation was already draining me. I went into the kitchen instead and stole a few of the yummy spring rolls my mom prepared and munched away.
To be honest the Palestinian cause was never something of a priority to me or my family. Ever since I was a child I knew of their war, of their suffering, but it was Iraq that I yearned for and not Palestine. Afterall it is Iraq that I was born in. Its Iraqi blood that I have running through my veins. And umm I dont believe in the so called "Arab Nationalism" shit. Anyone who says THEY are, are to me nothing but a bunch of hypocrites and liars.
Nonetheless, I dislike violence. I still think that the massacres in Gaza must stop. And stop NOW. This is probably going to be the last post I write on this subject. On another note, what happened to Iraq? The media has completely forgotten about Iraq. Maybe we should call back Al Zaidi to organize a shoe marathon. That will probably get their attention once again. Aaaaaah yes, atfal il hijara (children of stones) will soon be substituted by a completely different phenomena. A different group of children. Children of Shoes…
A few days ago I had to attend some family lunch that my parents were hosting. I wasn’t really up to it but I had to go. As we sat down chitchatting, a few mobile phones beeped simultaneously. “Please donate to Gaza at such and such banks” One of the ladies read the message out loud. She then threw her phone in dismay at the table. “Why should I care about Gaza” She said “While my own country is suffering. What did the Palestinians do for us Iraqis when my people were getting killed by the hundreds” She continued. “Let them go to hell”
I was in shock. “But Khala (Aunti), these are humans dying, not animals. Surely you can be more compassionate” She had a very hard look on her face. She took out a cigarette, lit it, inhaled, then exhaled and shook her head and said “Neurotica, Iraqis are humans too. Do you know what they (Palestinians) did in Iraq? Do you know how the preyed on us when Saddam was in power. I don’t give a damn about these people. They elected their government so let them suffer the consequences”
Another woman joined in and said “She is right Neurotica. You know where the money is going? Its not going to the victims, it will end up in Hamas’s hands, and surely Hamas will buy weapons. All this is propaganda. No, not a single penny from MY own hard earned money is going there, Id rather spend it on the Orphans of Iraq. Half the millionaires in the Emirates are Palestinians, why don’t THEY help their OWN people?” Then she said, “Hamas don’t even care about their own people, theyre sitting comfortably in Syria and Lebanon while their people burn”
As I was about to voice my own opinion another lady said “You forgot what they did to our country Neurotica? To our People? They sent suicide bombers, they joined so called “Jihad” groups and killed hundreds even thousands of our people. They backed Zarqawi, that criminal man” Again as I tried to say something, a few teenage girls (daughters of another woman) announced they were leaving to join the protests. “What protests?” we asked. “There is a protest here in AD” They answered while they fixed their Palestinian scarves around their necks. The women rolled their eyes and shot the girls’ mother an evil look.
“How can you let them go?” The mother shrugged and said, its their choice, and I wont stop them. I just got up and left the table for I knew that the poor mom was going to be lectured. The conversation was already draining me. I went into the kitchen instead and stole a few of the yummy spring rolls my mom prepared and munched away.
To be honest the Palestinian cause was never something of a priority to me or my family. Ever since I was a child I knew of their war, of their suffering, but it was Iraq that I yearned for and not Palestine. Afterall it is Iraq that I was born in. Its Iraqi blood that I have running through my veins. And umm I dont believe in the so called "Arab Nationalism" shit. Anyone who says THEY are, are to me nothing but a bunch of hypocrites and liars.
Nonetheless, I dislike violence. I still think that the massacres in Gaza must stop. And stop NOW. This is probably going to be the last post I write on this subject. On another note, what happened to Iraq? The media has completely forgotten about Iraq. Maybe we should call back Al Zaidi to organize a shoe marathon. That will probably get their attention once again. Aaaaaah yes, atfal il hijara (children of stones) will soon be substituted by a completely different phenomena. A different group of children. Children of Shoes…
January 05, 2009
The 21st Century Murderers...
I just found out about the death of a school friend of mine in Gaza. This post is for everyone who thinks the Gaza massacre is justifiable. This is for everyone who believes human life, especially the Arab human life is cheap. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.
NO, human life is NOT cheap. The Gazans have every right to live. Every right to live just like you and me. Had the situation been reversed and it was Israelis that were bombarded with rockets, with images of Israeli childrens’ brains gutted out on the TV, WILL YOU THINK THE SAME??? Will you fucking say that this war is fucking justified??? I don’t think so. Every human life is as valuable as the other. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Be it an Arab, a Muslim, a Christian A Jew. Be it Palestinian, be it Iraqi, be it Israeli. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Millions of people all over the world have been protesting the massacres in Gaza. Are all these people WRONG? They have gone out of their way, in blistery cold weather to make their voices heard, are these people wrong??? You, whoever you are, YOU, yes YOU who think all people in Gaza are Hamas, should go there and see who is it being killed, Who is it being slaughtered. Who is it being murdered!!!
The images I see day in day out is not part of a sci fi movie. Oh no. I wish it was. I swear to god I wish it was just a movie. I wish the brains that was splattered on that hospital bed was just some playdo stuck on a dummy’s head for special effects. BUT GOD DAMN IT IT ISNT. OK!!! IT ISNT.
Im not saying Hamas is right. Im not a supporter of Hamas or any organization that deals with violence. But at the same time THIS SHOULD STOP. IT SHOULD STOP NOW. What did my school friend do? What was his fault? Why did he die? He died as a result of this inhumane war. BOTH SIDES ARE WRONG.
I don’t give a damn why this war started in the first place. Nothing, nothing whatsoever justifies kids dying. NOTHING. This post is for every single ignorant person who supports Israel’s current actions. And then you sit and wonder why do people hate us? Why do people dislike us. This is exactly why. You sit and wonder why people want to kill us? All these kids, the kids that have been orphaned, the kids who woke up having no family around will grow up thinking of ways to take revenge. And you wonder why suicide bombers do what they do in your part of the world. Bloody hell even people in other countries are asking to go fight in Gaza...This is exactly what happens as a result of unjustifiable violence.
The images that the Arab world are watching on their TV will move every single person to do something. I doubt you see what we are watching, so stop wondering why this hatred. Why this anger.
Im sorry, but violence can only give birth to more hatred. More violence. More innocent lives gone. Gone just like that. Even my belief in Obama has disappeared. I cant believe he continued playing god damn golf, so calmly, when the rest of the world was boiling with anger. When women and children were being bombarded and getting killed. Yeah I know he isn’t officially the president yet. But why didn’t he atleast comment. Atleast condemn the actions. Ok forget condemning, why didn’t he say he atleast “feels bad” with whats going on in Gaza???????But no, Scoring that hole was by far more important.
Shame on you. Shame on everyone who thinks this is right. Everyone who thinks Israel or any country can do this and get away with it. Whats funny is I know that Israel will get away with it. Like they always do. They have proved to be as bad as all these extremists who don’t believe in human life. Who don’t believe in the right of others to live. They might as well kill us all and have the world to themselves. Right now, to me they are as bad as Hamas as bad as Muqtada, as bad as Al Qaeda.
They say this is to protect them from further aggression from Hamas. Alas, that’s what I used to hear in Baghdad. Muqtada firing mortars and rockets to protect Iraqis from Americans, when in reality nearly a million Iraqis were killed in the war. Al Qaeda said and did the same. They wanted to get the so called occupier out, yet they bombed street markets, and schools. Yeah to me, theyre all the same. ALL are MURDERERS! The 21st Century Murderers!!!
NO, human life is NOT cheap. The Gazans have every right to live. Every right to live just like you and me. Had the situation been reversed and it was Israelis that were bombarded with rockets, with images of Israeli childrens’ brains gutted out on the TV, WILL YOU THINK THE SAME??? Will you fucking say that this war is fucking justified??? I don’t think so. Every human life is as valuable as the other. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Be it an Arab, a Muslim, a Christian A Jew. Be it Palestinian, be it Iraqi, be it Israeli. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Millions of people all over the world have been protesting the massacres in Gaza. Are all these people WRONG? They have gone out of their way, in blistery cold weather to make their voices heard, are these people wrong??? You, whoever you are, YOU, yes YOU who think all people in Gaza are Hamas, should go there and see who is it being killed, Who is it being slaughtered. Who is it being murdered!!!
The images I see day in day out is not part of a sci fi movie. Oh no. I wish it was. I swear to god I wish it was just a movie. I wish the brains that was splattered on that hospital bed was just some playdo stuck on a dummy’s head for special effects. BUT GOD DAMN IT IT ISNT. OK!!! IT ISNT.
Im not saying Hamas is right. Im not a supporter of Hamas or any organization that deals with violence. But at the same time THIS SHOULD STOP. IT SHOULD STOP NOW. What did my school friend do? What was his fault? Why did he die? He died as a result of this inhumane war. BOTH SIDES ARE WRONG.
I don’t give a damn why this war started in the first place. Nothing, nothing whatsoever justifies kids dying. NOTHING. This post is for every single ignorant person who supports Israel’s current actions. And then you sit and wonder why do people hate us? Why do people dislike us. This is exactly why. You sit and wonder why people want to kill us? All these kids, the kids that have been orphaned, the kids who woke up having no family around will grow up thinking of ways to take revenge. And you wonder why suicide bombers do what they do in your part of the world. Bloody hell even people in other countries are asking to go fight in Gaza...This is exactly what happens as a result of unjustifiable violence.
The images that the Arab world are watching on their TV will move every single person to do something. I doubt you see what we are watching, so stop wondering why this hatred. Why this anger.
Im sorry, but violence can only give birth to more hatred. More violence. More innocent lives gone. Gone just like that. Even my belief in Obama has disappeared. I cant believe he continued playing god damn golf, so calmly, when the rest of the world was boiling with anger. When women and children were being bombarded and getting killed. Yeah I know he isn’t officially the president yet. But why didn’t he atleast comment. Atleast condemn the actions. Ok forget condemning, why didn’t he say he atleast “feels bad” with whats going on in Gaza???????But no, Scoring that hole was by far more important.
Shame on you. Shame on everyone who thinks this is right. Everyone who thinks Israel or any country can do this and get away with it. Whats funny is I know that Israel will get away with it. Like they always do. They have proved to be as bad as all these extremists who don’t believe in human life. Who don’t believe in the right of others to live. They might as well kill us all and have the world to themselves. Right now, to me they are as bad as Hamas as bad as Muqtada, as bad as Al Qaeda.
They say this is to protect them from further aggression from Hamas. Alas, that’s what I used to hear in Baghdad. Muqtada firing mortars and rockets to protect Iraqis from Americans, when in reality nearly a million Iraqis were killed in the war. Al Qaeda said and did the same. They wanted to get the so called occupier out, yet they bombed street markets, and schools. Yeah to me, theyre all the same. ALL are MURDERERS! The 21st Century Murderers!!!
