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A reality from Hawler

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Add caption This photo was taken in 2004 in Hawler. Please note the sign behind him.   A man his age should be telling stories to grand kids at home, not sell rosaries on some sidewalk :( This photo taken in 2010 of the same guy in the same exact spot in Hawler I asked if he remembered me buying rosaries from him in 2004? After a long conversation, I learned more about his personal life.  I decided to buy a few more rosaries, however, he refused to accept anything in return despite his poverty!
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The Start of an Academic Year in Kurdistan

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The Start of an Academic Year in Kurdistan,  Students hanging out in the college yard before class starts As you walk through the bazaars and along the streets here in Kurdistan, you will see parents with their kids, busy buying school supplies, sewing school uniforms, and getting ready to have whatever it takes for a successful academic year. College students are also busy buying new clothes, thinking of how they should dress and what to expect out of their courses this year. As for myself, I am a lecturer and being brought up in America, other things are of bigger concern to me. I am worried more about the expectations students have of me. I am worried about the first day. What should I expect? I called every friend I have to explain my worries about the first day of teaching. Will they understand my English, I asked? Will we have a nice professor-student relationship? Will they respect my class rules and regulations? Afternoon traffic in the Duhok city The first th...
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A Quest for Identity

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It should be known that the murder of any identity is our own murder, regardless of what our language, religion or identity might be. To me, my identity is what makes me unique. Well — at least this is the pride I nurtured deep inside me growing up in America. Being expelled from my own culture as a child was traumatic.  My family and I were forced to leave everything behind and head to a place where the culture, language, and people were so different from my own. As a teenager, I was already going through the turmoil of discovering my own personality. Now imagine the added complication upon changing continents, cultures, languages, etc. The difficult transition from a very strict, patriotic cultural background, where the practice of double standards is prevalent, where the superiority of men over women is a given, and where females are not encouraged to seek education, to a culture where females were routinely given opportunities and rights only made life more difficult for a youn...
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