March 14-15-15: New Zealand and Home on the “Double 15th”

I arrived in Aukland on Friday March 14th and went directly to my hotel where I showered and then walked to the main branch of the Aukland City Libraries. The director, Allison Dobbie, is a friend of a friend, and this was an opportunity to meet her and some of the other librarians. The library is a busy one, and, in keeping with current trends, there is a nice coffee shop. Next to the shop is a spacious periodicals reading area. The biggest treat for me was the wonderful special collections department. The current exhibit is “The Book as Art: Contemporary Artists and Fine press Books.” This was an opportunity to see the work of Australian and New Zealand artists. I also saw some of the library’s treasures: a French illuminated manuscript, a first folio Shakespeare, Blake’s poems on American and Europe, and other monuments of western literature. Additionally, there is also a local history and research center that houses important Maori documents.

I went to dinner with three of the librarians, one of whom is the new conservator. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of fish, and I sampled several local cheeses, and, of course, drank New Zealand wine.

On my first Saturday, the 15th, I went to the Aukland Museum which has the most extensive Maori collection in the world. I also attended a cultural event that featured Maori singing and dancing.

Over lunch at the museum I looked at the local paper. Imagine my surprise when I read on the front page that an escaped convict had highjacked a bus at the airport at the very moment I was boarding a super shuttle. It turned out that he took over a bus in the domestic terminal, but the Aukland Airport is small and there was no sign of any disturbance as we left.

Then it was back to the Airport after my 24-hour visit. Allison drove me via a beautiful landmark: a cone that was once an active volcano. From the top of the crater there was a gorgeous view of Aukland in all of its seaside splendor.

I am signing off from LAX where I am living through my second Saturday, March 15 as I wait for my flight to Boston, which is delayed 5 hours. It feels a bit like Groundhog day. In fact, it is Saint Patrick’s Day that is upon us. And of course for that, Boston is the place to be!

Tuesday and Wednesday, March 11th and 12th: Can Do in Can Tho

We spent these two days evaluating the curriculum for this undergraduate program. This program is the first step towards modernizing LIS curriculum in Vietnam. The courses were mostly developed by faculty in Singapore and in New Zealand, but one of the organization courses was designed by our own Candy Schwartz.

I should say a few words about learning resource centers. Atlantic Philanthropies has funded several of these in Vietnam. The two I saw are part of the universities at Hue and Can Tho. They are new buildings with new collections and many computers for the students. One interesting feature: the computer terminals are long and rounded, but never circular. I asked about these arced designs. If students want to work together in close proximity, they sit inside the arc; for more privacy they sit on the other side.

Many of our alumni work in these beautiful new centers and their pride is visible. For a country that is still as poor as Vietnam is, these learning resource centers are very important. And they are used heavily.

Bob and I left for Ho Chi Minh City late Wednesday afternoon. I tried to take in every market, every river, and every other scene that I could. Tomorrow morning I begin my journey back to Boston via a circuitous route: HCMC to Hong Kong, Honk Kong to Aukland, New Zealand, Aukland to LA and LA to Boston. In Aukland I will visit a library and the Maori museum. I will write my final entry from the “Land of the Long White Cloud’—the Maori word for New Zealand—tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 5th: Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City

I spent the day traveling to HCMC from Seoul, via Hong Kong. After checking into my hotel, I went out to dinner with two recent Simmons graduates who live in the city: Hoang Tuyet Anh and Truc Nguyen. They took me to a traditional Vietnamese restaurant in the old Hotel Rex. There was traditional music and dancing. It was great to see the two of them here, and to learn about their new jobs. This evening was a wonderful transition from Korea to Vietnam.

Thursday, March 6th

This was my first free day! I decided to go to the Fine Art Museum (Bao Tang My Thuat) and to walk to the Market and the Opera House. The Museum is in an early twentieth-century colonial mansion. The collections date from the classical period to contemporary art. Sadly, it is a very poor state of repair and it is not air-conditioned. Guards stand or sit around smoking. The windows are open. Small fans sit in the corners of some of the rooms. Everything is dusty. In short, it is a preservation nightmare. Worse yet, a number of the works of art have insect damage.

About half of the museum is devoted to 20th century art. Images of and references to war have appeared in Vietnamese art until quite recently. Such themes are a reminder that throughout Vietnam’s history the Chinese, Japanese, and French have dominated it. After Vietnam was split in two, with the Communists controlling the north, the Americans became involved in what became a nearly twenty-year conflict. Thus, Vietnam has only been unoccupied for a relatively short time. Its twentieth century artists evocatively tell Vietnam’s history.

After visiting the museum I spent the afternoon walking around the city. There is so much to take in: the colonial buildings as well as modern structures. The food markets with so many exotic fruits. Flower stalls. The hectic pace. Traditional clothing and modern dress. Bicycles, motorbikes, and cars all vying for space on the crowded streets. (It is amazing how many boxes and packages can fit on a cycle.) My favorite sighting: a woman passenger on a motorcycle holding a goldfish bowl filled with live fish while she leans against the driver.

Friday, March 7th: Away to Hue

Today I flew to Hue—which is about halfway between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Graduation is taking place at the learning resource center on Sunday. Thus, it is the ideal place to hold the ceremony since the students come from all over the country. Hue, situated on the Perfume River, was once the capital. The Nguyen Dynasty lived there and the old imperial city is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This evening I met up with Pat Oyler and Bob Stueart who had just arrived from Thailand where they had taken the Vietnamese/Simmons students on a library field trip. Now everyone was gathering in Hue for the ceremony.

The eponymous Frenchman, Monsieur Morin, opened our hotel, the Saigon Morin, in 1901. It is a lovely building, but once inside you immediately notice that all the guests are westerners. (In some parts of the country, the Vietnamese stay in separate hotels!) Most of the tourists are Australian, British, French, or German. I feel as though I’m in a Graham Greene novel. Not “The Quiet American,” which took place in Saigon, and was about love and murder. No, I’m thinking more about a general sense of intrigue. What has happened behind these walls over the past 100 years? What could still happen?

Saturday, March 8th

I meet up with Simmons alumni who have come to Hue for the graduation of our most recent students. Some of them I had met in December 2004 when Pat Oyler organized a conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Simmons Vietnamese program. Two of the alumni from Hanoi, Bin and Lan, took Bob and me around town to see the Imperial palace, the crafts, and the markets. It rained gently all day. Somehow the overcast weather seemed to enhance the colors and textures.

In the evening I ate dinner at the hotel and signed diplomas.

Sunday, March 9th: The Big Event

The graduation festivities began at 9:30 am in a brand new auditorium in the learning resource center. Bob, Pat, and I all gave brief remarks as did someone from Atlantic Philanthropies, which funded these last two groups of students. The graduation speaker was Lois Mai Chan, who was the Lazerow lecturer at Simmons two or three years ago. There was also a student speaker. Following graduation was a luncheon.

These are the facts. But facts tell so little of any story. There were the families and friends who attended. The little four-year-old who ran to the front of the room to present her mommy with flowers. Hundreds of pictures taken by dozens of photographers. (We will post photos soon.) The palpable relief of those who had just finished the program. The sadness because many of the students, who bonded while in the program, may never see each other again. The touching remarks by the student speaker who mentioned challenges students had faced: learning English, leaving family and friends behind, living in Boston. Also: eating American food, getting over car sickness, and so on. . (Because most Vietnamese own bikes and motorcycles rather than cars, some of them get car sick or “T-sick” when they come to Boston.)

I felt incredible pride in these students—for their hard work in the program—in Pat Oyler, for fifteen years of dedication to Vietnam, and to our alumni. Many of them are now library leaders in Vietnam. One has only to spend a little time over here to see what a difference that GSLIS has made to librarianship in this country.

Monday, March 10th: from Hue to HCMC to Can Tho

Pat, Bob, and I along with all the students from Can Tho spent the day traveling. First we flew from Hue to HCMC, then we took a bus from HCMC to Can Tho, which is on the Mekong Delta. The journey is about 4 hours from HCMC, and the final stretch is a ferry ride. A bridge is under construction so car and ferry or boat are the only means of transportation.

Why are we here? Can Tho university recently established an undergraduate LIS program. Bob and Pat worked on the original proposal. We are now evaluating the courses that were developed primarily by faculty in Asia. One of our alums is running the program and we are doing this to help her. Bob and I are leaving on Wednesday. Lois joins us on Tuesday and will stay on with Pat to hold a DDC workshop.

I am away from Simmons on a multi-city voyage that includes a conference, a collaboration with a university in Korea, a GSLIS graduation in Vietnam, and a program evaluation with Professor Pat Oyler and Dean Emeritus Robert Stueart. Everything in this cornucopia is related to GSLIS, as you are about to read.

February 27-29, 2008: I attend the I-conference.

My first stop was Los Angeles where I attended the now annual I-conference—this year held at UCLA. I was on a panel called “I-Schools & Archival Studies.” Richard Cox and Ron Larsen from Pittsburgh presented a position paper on the usefulness of archival thinking to information scientists, and Anne Gilliland from UCLA and I responded to their presentation.

It is no surprise that Anne and I supported their premise, but each of us added additional ideas. And both of us were somewhat critical of archival programs that are stand-alone specializations where the students have little or no exposure to information science curricula. I believe that a well-balanced program should include the “L” and the “A” as well as the “I,” which is what we are striving for at Simmons.

We could do even better at integrating these sub-disciplines, and I will continue to think about how we can do that at GSLIS. The field of information studies is at the nexus of information and users. The different ways in which archivists, librarians, and information scientists think about this nexus is worth examining more deeply as we continually evaluate our curricula.

February 29- March 5, 2008: From LA to Seoul

From sunny and comfortable LA, to Seoul, where I again faced winter. (The weather in Seoul is similar to Boston, but with less snow.)

I spent three days in Seoul at Yonsei University considering ways in which our two programs can collaborate. Protestant missionaries founded Yonsei, the oldest university in Korea, in 1885. The library and information science opened in 1957. It is the best program in the country. Our faculties and programs complement each other. Thus we are looking at ways in which students from each of our campuses could takes courses on each other’s campuses. We hope that our faculty will also find ways to collaborate.

Professor Jee Yeon Lee, chair of the department, was a wonderful hostess. I stayed at one of the guesthouses on campus. She and the faculty took me to fabulous restaurants, including an old Buddhist place with teas and vegetable dishes I had never tasted. Buddhist art adorned the entry rooms. Vegetarian cooking in Korea was a revelation to me. Those familiar only with kimchi, or Korean BBQ, should try the vegetarian restaurants when in Korea.

A trip to Seoul wouldn’t be complete without seeing at least one Simmons alum. Professor Hae-young Rieh graduated from our DA program about a decade ago. She took me to a wonderful restaurant with many tasty vegetarian soups. Joining us was Professor Yi-Mun Park, a poet and philosopher who used to teach at Simmons. Professor Park is famous in Korea, and his poetry is regularly published in the U.S., France, and, of course, Korea. Nearly 80, he teaches a couple of courses a year at Yonsei. He had very warm memories to share about Simmons. And I have many greetings to pass on to CAS faculty when I return to campus.

There were light snow sprinkles throughout my visit, though these never lasted long: each day brought sunshine as well. I quipped to my host that the old line about Boston works well in Seoul: “If you don’t like the weather wait five minutes and it will change.”

Now on to Vietnam, where I am in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) as I write this. Stay tuned: I’m off now to visit another Simmons alum.

My initial impression of the USA and Boston was very nice. I met a lot of nice and generous people here -no offense- more than what I had expected (with all due respect). That is because I have seen a lot of bad American movies which describe the people here in a different way (and bad way in many of them). In addition to that, I thought they will not be able to spend that much time that they have spent with us just to make us feel comfortable here.

At the same time, I have very good friends here. However they just shocked me in their extreme generosity and caring even more than what I expected (because they are very busy people and their time is very limited as I know).
The place here is very different from what I expected. I thought that all the buildings here will be very large and tall. It is big and nice (more than the one that we have there in our home). But I used to see very tall towers (in the movies and photos) in the USA. And I thought it will be like this here in Boston.

We have ventured out with some nice people who were sent by the very wonderful and kind Dean Michele V. Cloonan, and some other people from Simmons College. They volunteered to take us out in Boston. They took us on tours to discover the city. We used public transportation, and saw the important places.

We visited the MFA “Museum of Fine Arts”, the Boston public garden, and the historical places in Boston. We went to Boston Public Library and some others colleges in the neighborhood, like Harvard and the MIT which are two of the most famous universities in the USA.

There are a lot of universities and colleges in our neighborhood. In fact, we live in the middle of University community here. One of the things that we did not know was that a lot of the educational institutions that are called Colleges here are Universities!?!. It is a confusing thing. One of the best examples of that is Simmons College. We thought that it is only a College. But it is a University at the same time. It contains many colleges in it. The colleges are called “schools”. Simmons College contains many schools such as the GSLIS (Graduate School of Library and Information Science). It contains also other schools which are: School of Management, School for Health Studies, School of Social Work, and College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Studies. It has M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in it. Some of them have B.A. in it, and others are not (like GSLIS).

For us, we haven’t started our studies yet. But Simmons College arranged an English course for us in the Boston languages institution for 4 weeks. We tried to improve our English language as much as we could before we start the courses.

We hope that we will succeed in that “Insha’Allah”…

Yours truly,
Khairi, Abdulateef Hashim

It has been a very long time from the last training course in UAE in 2006. We were very eager to meet all our best friends here, especially Harvey. We came here to Boston and waited for the day that we would see him again. But unfortunately, we heard some news here that made us sad. We heard that he would come in the next week, but would be leaving Massachusetts to go to another state to start his new job…

The news just shocked us. But at the same time we heard that he got a good job there. So, we were very happy for him, and sad at the same time.

After one week, we heard that Harvey has arrived in the USA. We had been told that he’d like to meet us the next day. We met him, and it was a very nice moment. He was our close friend, so we were very happy to meet him at last.

We had lunch together. We talked about a lot of things. He asked us about all the things that we have done in Baghdad up until we arrived in Boston. Then, he confirmed the news about his moving to another state. He invited us to visit his house the next day, because he had to move out the day after that.

The next morning, he picked us up at the main door of Simmons College’s main building. Before we went to his house, he took us on a nice tour of his neighborhood. It was a very nice place. The natural surroundings there were very attractive. He showed us some historical places where some famous people had lived.

We went to his house. It was a very nice and warm house. We met his wonderful wife there. She was a very nice and kind lady. We had a very nice time there.

When we left Harvey’s house, we went to a market near there. We saw some nice things to buy. We picked out some gloves and a scarf, but Harvey insisting on paying for them. We tried to tell him that we are ok, and that we can afford it. But he refused to listen to us and he paid for them. He is a very nice friend and he says that this is what friends do for each other.

When he got us back to our dormitory, it was a very sad moment. We were almost in tears. He told us that we should visit him some day, and spend some time with him in his new house. He will be in place far away from here, but he said that we can visit him when we have the time for that. We told him that we will do that some day, and that it will be an honor for us.

During the time when we were in his house, he asked us about the computers, and if we had gotten laptops yet. We told him that we were still checking the prices and quality of them. He told us that we should go to see one of the employees at Simmons College next Monday, and she will help us. But the shocking thing was that when we met her, she just asked us about the type and the quality that we need. Then we discovered that Harvey had sent some money to her, and asked her to help buy laptops for us…

We cannot say anything here that could describe the generosity and kindness of this great friend that we have… But all we can say here is… Thanks dear friend Harvey… We will never forget what you have done for us… we cannot pay you back for all the nice things that you have done for us… We miss you a lot already. We wish you all the success in your new job… And hope to meet you very soon Sir.

Yours truly,
Khairi, Abdulateef Hashim

We all hope for this library more progress and success.

Thana

This is Khairi, Abdulateef Hashim - I’ll talk here about the arrival to Boston. After a very tiring trip and lots of suffering, we arrived to Boston. When we arrived to Boston airport (as I have said before), & finished some small paperwork & passport check, we went to the main incoming passenger’s hall & there was something very nice to see, the wonderful Michele Cloonan, the Dean and Professor in GSLIS at Simmons College & her husband Dr. Sidney Berger. When we saw them, all the tiredness & the suffering was just gone & disappeared. When she saw us coming, she just jumped in the air expressing her happiness. In that moment, my tears almost fall down… it was a very special moment to me! This moment made me think about all the difficulties in getting to Boston, but it is best to forget these now.

As I said, it was a very heart warming to see that view. We got out of the Airport & it was my first time that I saw the snow… I have a curiosity to touch it, & I did, because it was just looks like something almost unbelievable to me.
We went to Michele & Sid’s house, where we spent our 1st night there. Their house was very nice & warm, & there we met Sid’s son “Rafe” who is a very nice young man.

In the next morning, Mr. Sid offered us to taste some pancakes that he made. They were very delicious and I said to him “Aashat Eidak,” as we say in Arabic word (or in Iraqi accent actually), which means “long live for your hand.” That is what we say for someone who does something very good. We found that Michele & lots of nice people at Simmons College had brought lots of things & gifts that we might need here, such as blankets, kitchen stuffs, & some other things, which were waiting for us in Michele’s house for a long time …

Next, we went to the Simmons College student’s dorm, where we received the keys for our rooms. We put our luggage in the rooms & went with Michele & Sid to buy some other things that we might need. Later, we got back to the dorms to unpacked our things, & started to explore our new place.

For my colleagues in Iraq & the others who have not been here, I’ll try to describe the dorms for you. Our dorm is a nice building in 4 floors, containing a main sitting room in the 1st floor (which my room is there on this floor) and one group of bathrooms & showers for each floor. The rooms in the dorm are a little small, about 2.10x3.00 M, & contain a bed, a clothes cabinet, a small wardrobe, a reading table & a chair. It has a small window & central heating. It may be a small room, but I think that it is enough. The building that we are in is co-ed (co-educational as they say it here - which means that it contain men & women in the same building). In the basement there is a small computer lab (4 computers) & one printer (connected by network), with internet lines, & it is free for the students here. There is one kitchen for the hall building, & a laundry room containing 6 machines in it (3 washers & 3 dryers). Laundry is not free, you have to put $1.50 in each one to make it work, or you can use your ID which you can put some money on, & it will work like the electronic account cards inside all Simmons College buildings (& also outside in some clothes shops & restaurants in the neighborhood).

The dorm contains also a TV room with TV channels, CD, DVD player & of course some furniture. There is a small reading room too, containing reading tables & chairs. All the lights here ( in the basement) are switched on electronically as you go into the room & are switched off when everybody leaves the room - that is a nice thing, don’t you think!

There is a small restaurant between these buildings which is supposed to serve food for all students here, but it did not open yet, & we have been told that it well be open on the 20th of this month. There is a big sports center here, & a health center too.

There are too many things that we have mentioned here, & I’d like to tell you about it, but I’ll try to talk about it later, because this Blog has become too long already, & I don’t won’t to make you tired or boring here…

So maybe I’ll tell it to you latter, in other Blog “Insha Allah”. For all the people who read these Blogs, & for my colleagues there in Baghdad & Iraq, I say… thanks for all your nice, warm, encouraging messages, & God bless you all, & I asked God to keep all my good colleagues & friends safe, & not forgetting to pray to God for make my 2 families safe, the one which contains my wife, daughter, siblings & mother, & the other which contains the good people in all Iraq, & in the whole world, & to stop all the bad thing that happened there… “Amen”.

Yours truly;
Khairi, Abdulateef Hashim

I am happy for the participation of friends and colleagues by writing my thoughts to you… In fact, I’d like to thank Mr. Harvey Varnet very much for encouraging me today to the need to join with you in my thoughts. This is a pleasure for me and strengthens the resolve to strive to provide a pleasant response to Simmons College and the college staff.

After the trouble of travel and access recently in Boston airport, we found in reception at the airport the Dean Michele and her husband Mr. Sid. That made us feel really that we are between good friends and parents.
And, we forgot all the troubles that we have had to face in our country & in the journey, even at times the sad farewells to friends and family. I also would like to thank and express great appreciation for the efforts of great people such as : Michele Cloonan, Harvey Varnet, Melissa Stevenson, Caryn Anderson, Candy Schwartz, Sheila Murphy, Valerie Foster & Meaghan O'Connor, & for all other people who have been so helpful to us in getting to Boston and Simmons College.

Yours,
Falah D. Rashid

This is Khairi, Abdulateef Hashim, I’d like to talk here about our trip, & what we had faced on it.

After we finished the papers in our University, & all related things, we start the “happy - sad “ times. As you know, as much as we were happy that we had finished all the paperwork & started to think about our trip and making our travel arrangements, at the same time we had to think about what we are going to lose here. It is not too easy to leave our families behind in Baghdad, especially in bad situations in Iraq & all circumstances that we have there. For me it was a very sad time, because (as some of you know) I am a married man & I have a small family contain my wife & my little daughter there. I have a big family too, which includes my mother, brothers & sisters. It was a too complicated thing, & I have been in a big conflict with myself, because I am too worried about leaving both of them (my two families). So, I was so sad in the time that I was supposed to be very happy for my life opportunity, which will make me safe & away from lots of bad things that I am facing every day.

In that time, it started to be a very sad weather in my home. My wife, my mother, brothers & sisters were crying for any reasons related to my trip, & it was a very sad environment there…

Then, after few day of trying we got the plane tickets (because it was the holidays for Christmas & the Islamic Eid). Getting the airplane tickets was not so easy, but we did finally get them & started to get ready to travel. A night before our travel date, the environment in our home become more sad. A lot of friends & neighbors came to say “Good Bye” to me, & you know, there was always lots of tears in these times.

I feel so bad because I made lots of my friends & neighbors, in addition to my family, suffering like that, because we have a very strong relationships between our families, neighbors, & friends. But they all said me don’t be so sad, we are very happy for you, & we will be more happy when we know that you are safe there & away from all bad things that happened here. Some of my family told me that we prefer that you’ll be away & safe so we won’t worry about you so much. It was a very sad long night, & the minutes were just like hours & days…

In the next morning the taxi driver came, & we put our bags in the car, and it was more tears & more sadness. We traveled first to Amman in Jordan. We had bought tickets from Amman to Cairo “Transit” & we stayed in Cairo airport for 13 long hour. Next, we took our plane to NY, & it took us about 11 hours 30 minutes to arrive at JFK Airport. We had tickets reserved in NY (which was already taken care of by the great people here in Simmons College, & that made us more & more grateful for them), & we waited for almost 2-3 hours to take the last plane to Boston.

It was a very tiring trip, & we have suffered a lot in it. But, you know what? When we arrived to Boston airport, & finished some small paper & passport check, & went to the main incoming passenger’s hall, & saw the wonderful Michele Cloonan, Simmons’ the Dean and Professor in GSLIS, all the tiredness & the suffering was gone…

And that is the thing that I will talk about it in my 3rd blog, “Inshallah” as we say.

Here, I’d like to say some thanks, to all the good, kind, & wonderful people at Simmons College, who made our dreams become true, & who have do a lot of things that nobody else has done for us. Thanks so much to Michele Cloonan, & our best friend Harvey Varnet, who were the 1st ones that make the 1st step in all this thing, & to the great team & people here at Simmons College, like Melissa Stevenson, Caryn Anderson, Sheila Murphy, Valerie Foster & Meaghan O'Connor, & for all other people that we may not be aware of for their efforts to make our dreams come true, for all those people I’d like to say:

Thanks, we’ll never forget what you have done for us, & we will be grateful for you forever!

To be continued …

Yours truly,
Khairi, Abdulateef Hashim

This is Khairi, Abdulateef (or Khairy, Abdul latif as you knew me from my old Blogs). As some of you know me, I am from Baghdad-Iraq. I am a university professor in Al-Mustansiriyah in Baghdad, & I am now at Simmons College for my PhD studies (along with my colleague Falah).

I’d like to tell you here about our long trip from Baghdad to Boston, but you know what, that will be a long Blog, so, I`ll try to do it in three different Blogs. The 1st will be about our suffering in Baghdad, the 2nd will be about the long trip, & the 3rd will be about what happened after we came here to Simmons College. This will be my 1st Blog.

I think that almost all of you are aware about what happens in Iraq & Baghdad, & I have written about it before. However, for this trip, I think that we faced more problems. One of the least helpful things was the non-cooperation from some of our employers in our university, so, it has taken a very long time just to finish some regular routine
papers. We should have started our 1st PhD semester course here in Simmons College in September, but, because of these difficulties, we were stuck with this paperwork for more than 1.5 months later, even when we had started these procedures from the end of June.

The people here at Simmons were very worried about us, & we were very worried that we might lose this great opportunity, which might came once in the life time for somebody in our circumstances. In the same time, we were very eager to get this opportunity, & because we are the 1st Iraqi people that join the Simmons College, & the 1st ones who will get the PhD in LIS from the USA (& maybe any other places out of Iraq as far as we know). So, you can imagine how eager we were to take this great opportunity.

After all that suffering, we got some of the papers that we needed. Then, we needed some other regular routine papers in the University, & another one from the Higher Education ministry. When we were in the University, someone there advised us to contact the college that we were accepted in (Simmons College) & ask them to send us another acceptance paper containing some new wording on it because there is a new routine set of instructions that might make us start over from the beginning. So, we took his good advice & asked the great people at Simmons to help us again by sending the new acceptance papers. In a very short time, the rescue came by the great people at Simmons College, & we finished our papers in the University.

Now, we started to have some other bad luck. Fortunately for our best luck, we found a good friend there to help us in Dr. Zainab A. Al-Wa`aly. (Dr. Zainab was in the 1st & 2nd Iraqi groups in the training courses held by Simmons College in Jordan & UAE). So, she was very very helpful to us, & she let us know whatever we had to do exactly to finish all the paperwork in the best time. She did whatever she could just to help us finish & get to Simmons, & she is the one that we will be grateful for her forever!

After all these troubles in Iraq, we had some visas problems, which was due to the timing & other things. One of the problems was because we had to go to Amman in Jordan to get a visa. You can not get a visa to the USA in Iraq. That requires an early appointment, & some other things such as getting to Amman, which was a little difficult, too.

Finally, we have got the visas, which were sent in our Passports in the (ARAMEX) fast mail (some thing like FedEx that you have). We started to get ready to come here after we finished other small paperworks in our College.

To be continued…

Yours,
Khairi, Abdulateef

EID Mabrouk for everyone. I hope it will be a real Eid someday when Iraq is safe.

At Eid I can see my childhood, Thana, with 2 long pigtails, jumping from place to place, happy with new wear (clothes) and eidieah (mean money) for children to spend.

Eid was different when I become a mother, because of big responsibility for me. My children Yasser, Sarah & Hageir were all born in the period of embargo (blockade) to Iraq. It was hard years for all women in my country. Children needs do not end, and hard to do with bad salary of no more than $4 monthly. Can u believe that any family can live on that? ...so when Eid used to come, I was feel sad before many days, hard to buy new wear for children. But I did what almost all Iraqi women did...we change old clothes to a new model. I was designing the model and my friend Azhaar (al Moustanseireyah Univ. lib. & info sci.) and her sister Anaam (study now PhD in al Moustanseireyah Univ. lib & info sci.) saw this clothes and everybody surprised about my children’s wears (clothes) and how much it’s beautiful. Great thanks for good friends.

Also, my neighbor is Christian and she was come to give my children eidieah before Eid, She did that to help me in buying my children wears (clothes).

Iraqi people help each other, and love each other, we aren’t intolerant, and can’t believe now when we hear about sectarianism – it’s foreign for us to find.

Now (December 2007) I can buy everything my children need, and I am so happy to do, but...where can they wear this new clothes??? only at home as we can’t get them to a restaurant or playing outside in the city, etc. because of the danger.

In Eid, we exchange congratulation with neighbors, relatives & friends using Mobile phone because of many dangers in Iraq.

At last, remembering this story makes me feel strong willed, that always hard days makes u feel the wonderful taste of good days.

Happy Eid for everyone in the world!

(This blog edited by Harvey Varnet, who was requested to do so by Thana. The blog shows the spirit of many of our Iraqi colleagues who have suffered many hardships yet maintain a strong sense of human warmth and compassion. There are two “eids” in the Muslim calendar. The Muslim holiday "Eid al-Adha" (the Festival of Sacrifice) follows the annual Islamic pilgrimage (Hajj) and Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of the holy month of Ramadan.)

Today is my last full day in Kuwait – T & I bug out tomorrow morning early on the BA flight to London, then off to Boston and home. In the past week, we have visited with friends, hosted dinners and lunches, enjoyed the Embassy party hosted by John Berry, ate Christmas dinner at the AUK Diner (food was superb) and walked a lot. Yes, things get real slow here when the Eid and Christmas holidays occur simultaneously and everyone bugs out. I did take T to see the Red Fort in Jahra and the pink mosque out innowhere. Like many of you, she reads about these adventures but hasn’t been able to share… at least she has seen some of the interesting things Kuwait has to offer.

Last night, Ray & Dina hosted a small New Year’s party – small group, but food enough for an army. The mix of people I have come to appreciate so much – we were Yanks, a Brit, a Palestinian/Lebanese, a Chinese and a Kazakh – not sure how much of that I’ll be dealing with back home. I just dropped Marjorie Kelly off at home (3pm here), as we had her over for lunch. MK and I have seen just about all there is to see here in Kuwait – she’s been a fun traveling partner.

So, now I’ll finish this up, tidy up the office one last time, and head back home to finish cleaning the place up for Simon, Rena and Adam.

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Okay, time for some thinking about this whole experience.

As usual, you learn more about yourself than anything else when you live abroad. Some of it ain’t pretty, but, hey, you are who you are and you learn to deal with that. I know for me, as I get older, my tolerance level for anything less than maximum effort is close to zero! Performance is one thing – effort another. I see so many with so much talent who are on cruise control, yet they want something – grades, respect, rewards, whatever. These people move straight to my B list (it used to be called something else, but censors and all that). Give me a colleague or student who tries, gives their best – that makes such a difference.

Similar to Nigeria and Oman (previous overseas experiences), I know that I am resourceful enough to live just about anywhere. My facility with language is mediocre, but a smile and an effort to say a few words in Arabic (or Efik) works wonders. I have grown very fond of the Middle East, and hope some day that things settle down so that every day people get to live every day, normal lives (if I prayed a lot, this is what I’d pray for). I’m not nuts about Kuwait – too many people spoiled and expecting too much for too little effort – but I love exploring this region. We Americans have so little history, and I for one feel that a long history does affect how people view their world. New countries want too much, too fast.

As all you FOHers know, I have grown very fond of the Iraqis we have worked with. They live in hell! How they do it is beyond my comprehension, yet they maintain their dignity and sense of humor in the midst of everyday chaos. Some day, I’ll get there – I want to see for myself this amazing country, visit its wonders, and do what little I can to be of assistance. I love their perspective – they can differentiate between ‘governments’ and peoples – and thank god for that. In this region, we (the US gov’t.) have used up 100+ years of good will (even my dearest friends say this, including those very pro-American and educated in the US) – but, the people still like Americans – wow!!

Leadership! It scares me to see so little in education. Any d--- fool can manage, but so few can lead and inspire!! What seems to be true (remember, this is my personal perspective) is that leaders get in trouble because they lead – they get ahead of things, push issues and institutions, people. My own library mentor, the late Dick Palmer, was fond of saying “you can’t make progress and be comfortable!” The longer I live, the more I see this, and the more I fear that managers get rewarded and leaders get sacrificed – no wonder education is so PC, politically correct. It is okay to feel uncomfortable, to not have your prejudices confirmed, to be learning and not preaching…

I’ve been very lucky in my career, and each new place brings its pluses and minuses. One constant for me has been my good fortune to meet compatible and friendly people at each stop – can’t ask for more than that. I’ve also been lucky in that ‘locals’ have been willing to feed my curiosity and educate me about their area. Unlike many of my AUK colleagues, I think I’ve seen most of what Kuwait has to offer, from border to border, and I have some sense of its history and people. Lucky, indeed.

This diary – this is my 60th message – has been a personal indulgence, and you FOHers have been very tolerant. I hope it has been entertaining and informative for you. I know it has helped me gain some perspective on my time here, and it has kept me in touch with many of the people I’ve just mentioned above that I’ve known from each place we’ve lived. I know this is not the last time you’ll hear from me (eeeekkk, you say!) – but this type of entry only seems to make sense from this kind of distance. Perhaps an epilogue…

Ma salaama – goodbye for now!

The past few days quite a few students have stopped me and said “heard you were leaving, sorry for that, and good luck.” Several have also said I know you only know me because you throw me out of the library, but I like you anyway – sweet, I think. I don’t teach here, so my contact with students is mostly as “library hall monitor,” trying to keep the decibels down to a reasonable level. For the most part, the students here are like those anywhere else but less experienced in an environment where they are responsible for their own work and behavior - good kids, mainly, just in need of a little discipline and guidance.

Today is last day at work. AUK will close down for Eid and then a winter break. Several colleagues already have traveled, with almost everyone else bugging out – and why not! I’ll make the rounds later today to say “bye” – I’ll still be around until 2 January so I’ll be able to tidy up office and leave stuff organized for Amna.