Simmons GSLIS: Dispatches from the Field

Hi every one… This is Khairi, Abdulateef. I’d like to talk here about the first few days that we have spent here in Boston.

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

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi every one… this is Khairi, Abdulateef here. I’d like to tell you about the day that we spent here with Harvey.

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

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today is 15th January. Our student 2nd class visited today the Iraq National Library & Archive. They had not visited it before so they were happy to discover this library. The tour was excellent. Dr. Saad Eskandar and his employees are very nice and cooperative. My students liked most the preservation workshop, and it is wonderful to find this workshop in our national library.

We all hope for this library more progress and success.

Thana

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 08:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi all colleagues & friends …

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

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is Rashid, Falah, from the Iraqi group that participated in the training sponsored by Simmons College, which was held in Amman and UAE. I am now a student in PhD program in GSLIS at Simmons College (with my colleague Abdul lateef). Hello for all.

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

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi there

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

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi all,

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

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Happy new year for everybody in Simmons college. I hope for them a new year full of achievement.
And good luck for Falah & Latif, they are 2 good men. I am sure they will do there best to get PHD from Simmons, it is big challenge...we will be proud of them........hope to follow them...INSHALLAH! best to all

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hiiii

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.)

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 08:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hiiiiiiii,

I am Thana, one of group that participated in the Amman training sessions that started on 18th, Nov. that Simmons College is responsible for.

I want first to thank Dr Michele, Dr Harvey, and Meaghan about the big efforts they did to succeed in geting this training, and many thanks also for each one who shared and supported this training program.

I like to talk about the name of our 2 group - for our group work , we choice this 2 names - 1. Chula College and 2. Lala College.

When we call anyone chula in Iraq that means he is a trouble maker. A chula is a small cooker that works in ceirouseen (kerosene) and almost all Iraqi use it in cooking because of gas and power problems. Using a chula is always boring and exhausting and needs a long time for cooking.

Lala is a lighter - we use it for lighting because of electricity problems. If u forget lala at night, you will find your face at morning like aubergine. (This was all done in good fun and made each group – each team – compete with each other in a productive way. Harvey)

At training we enjoyed our lessons and discussion and also the time for fun and shopping was wonderful.

I hope we will meet again, and we wish another meeting that will be in Iraq. We pray that Iraq will be safe to meet our american friends and make them show how much Iraqi people are generous and how much Iraq is wonderful place.

(Note: the above only lightly modified by Harvey Varnet, who was asked by Thana to do so and send to the blog.)

Posted by Meaghan O'Connor at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Those who followed the postings on this blog late last year regarding SImmons' training program for Iraqi librarians may be interested in a recent posting on the website of the Society of Archivists in the United Kingdom. Saad Eskander, Director of the Iraqi National Archives and Library, has published his diary online. It makes for chilling reading:

My secretary, Um Haitham, was a little horrified, as the two bombs landed 70 meters away from her car. Like other people, she talked about the incident for two minutes and then resumed her daily tasks.
I heard another explosion 50 minutes later. The exchange of fire continued for one hour and thirty minutes.
Nadia, a librarian who works at the Computer Department, did not show up. I was told that her father was injured yesterday. He had a bullet removed from his leg.
I met the head of the Bibliography Department, Nadhal, and her supervisor, Jamal, to talk about their works.

Posted by David Dwiggins at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Last Night in UAE
Originally uploaded by Simmons College GSLIS.

Posted by GSLIS Photos at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello everyone - Abdul Latif Khairy has sent along another blog entry, and again I have done some very minor editing (as asked to do by him) and posted it here. I hope you enjoy it - it is an indication of the type of professional he is that he is already trying to implement and teach the new material he learned in the UAE.

August 6, 2006

Hi every one,

Khairy, Abdul latif is here again,

I would like here to tell you some thoughts about what happened after the training course in UAE, there is too many things to talk about too, but, we have mentioned many things in the 1st Blog, so, I will try to tell you briefly about it .

In the last night in UAE we (Juwan, Falah, Thana, Luma, Waleed & me ) decided to go shopping, having last tour, & having dinner together, then I remembered that I have Mr. Harvey Varnet disk USB device, which he give to me to put some photos that he needed. So, We decided to visit them in the hostel, to deliver the disk to Mr. Harvey & see them again, then I called Mr. Harvey to tell him that we planning to visit them, he answered me that they love to, but he said that they can came to us & join us. Then they came to us, we have some soft drink together (because they already have dinner), we have some pictures & have a nice time, then we say greetings each other for the last time …

In the last morning in UAE, we picked our things, saying goodbye for our colleagues that will leave UAE after us in a day or two to Basrah & Mosel, waiting for the driver who will transport us to Dubai airport, then we split into groups, according to the airlines that we have our tickets in it.

We got back to Baghdad, the circumstances there was the same, & maybe worst... the Electricity still too bad, so is water, security circumstances, Even the telephone lines still not working ( in our territory & some other places in Baghdad & in all Iraq ), & too many things to tell ...

After about 30 minutes that I arrived to my home, we heard a very wide shootings... & it have continued to about one hour, we did not know what is it, & for Sure, we did not know what happed even later ... But do you know that this thing happens here all the time!!!

Well, after 2-3 days, I was attending to go to my College to see what's up there, but actually, I was really frighten to went there... later, I have received a phone call from Mrs. Hiyas, Juwan. She asked me to meet her in her institution ((Iraqi Academy of Sciences )), because we should start our program of "Digital Library" that we were planning to, she told me that the organization which planning to pay the costs for this project are waiting for our plans & needs.

Next day, I went to my College 1st , I did not meet anyone there from our colleagues ( we are in the Summer holiday as you know ) except our "head department" & one of our colleagues, they welcomed me, & asked me about the training program & our trip Ets…

Then, I went to Iraqi Academy of Sciences & met Mrs. Hiyas, Juwan, we write down some of the main points for the project, & mention some of our needs (Such as equipment, software, stuffs …).

I arranged with Mrs. Hiyas, Juwan some training courses for the librarians there, we have agreement to give some training courses that contain the new information's & Ideas that we have got from the UAE training course in 5 to 6 training courses by some different lecturers who participated in the courses in UAE, which they are ( In addition to my & Mrs. Hiyas, Juwan ) Mr. Rasheed, Falah & Mrs. Thana, & maybe some others from the training group in UAE or from other colleagues, but we have arranged to make these training courses in next September, because they have a big reconstructions in the institution & they have almost 1 month till they will finished it.

Well, that is all folks, except that I am trying now to put the new thoughts that I have got in to my next year's courses that I am going to give for my students in the lessens that I will teach "Inshallah".

As I said to you last year, I am too interested to do what ever I could, because I would like to do something that will made me feel good by passing the information that I have learned in UAE courses to the people that did not have the opportunity to join us. I think that we were fortunate to have had the honor to represent Iraqi librarians, & we have to pay what we owe it to the efforts of all teaching team in the UAE courses & all the good people who arranged the training course.

I have a small word to the teaching team too : ((thank you very much, & we are very eager & looking forward to meeting you all very soon, hoping that the circumstances in Iraq will get better soon to have you here in Baghdad "Inshallah")) .

I hope that I did not bother you again with my 3rd long Blog, & I will be pleased to let you know whatever you want to know else, so, feel free to ask.

God bless you all.

yours;
Khairy, Abdul latif
Baghdad, Iraq
librarian_latif@yahoo.com

Posted by Harvey_Varnet at 06:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We have been back for nearly a week and I am still processing everything that we experienced. For me there were three parts: the United Arab Emirates, the teaching/translation/logistics team, and the Iraqis.

The UAE

On a map the UAE is nestled on the tip of the "shoe" of Saudi Arabia. The northern most towns of the UAE and Oman are fewer than 100 miles from Iran on the Arabian or Persian Gulf. (In the UAE it is considered the Arabian Gulf; to the Iranians it is the Persian Gulf.) This geographical placement belies the excitement that defines this Gulf nation, where the building of spectacular high rises takes place 24/7. Sixty years ago pearling was a major source of the economy. Today, though still fueled by oil, tourism and finance are central. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are international cities inhabited by many fortune-seekers; it's the southern California--or perhaps the Nevada--of the 21st century. Sun, water, heat, and amusements. Where else in the world can you ski in a shopping mall?

But what made the UAE our choice for this year's courses is the government's commitment to establishing important museums, libraries, and documentation centers. There are many new libraries, and within the next three years, Abu Dhabi will be home to branches of both the Louvre and the Guggenheim. Consider this July 10th headline in the Khaleej Times: " MoU inked to train nationals to protect cultural heritage." This Memorandum of Understanding-- between Zayed University and the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH)--establishes programs to "foster the conservation and promotion of the tangible and intangible heritage" in the UAE.

David Hirsch has studied, worked, and consulted in the UAE over the past 20+ years so his professional connections coupled with the rich cultural resources, made the Emirates an ideal training ground for the Iraqis.

The Simmons-Studded Team

Simmons College "irregulars" Michael Leach from Harvard, Will Wakeling from Northeastern, Harvey Varnet from the American University in Kuwait, and consultant Cynthia Correia, joined the Simmons College "regulars," Pat Oyler, Michele Cloonan, and Carla Magenheimer. But regular and irregular are fluid terms. Carla is en route to Bangladesh to become a School librarian. Ian Johnson from Robert Gordon University and David Hirsch of UCLA deserve the title "honorary Simmons regulars." And there is nothing irregular about the contributions that Michael, Will, Cynthia, and Harvey make to GSLIS. Special thanks to Sid Berger who guest lectured in my preservation course, ran errands, and kept Will Wakeling out of trouble (or maybe he got Will into trouble; I can't remember which).

This was a great team; when we arrived in the Emirates to find that the Iraqis still had not been granted visas, we did what any high-functioning team would do: we drank beer. Then we proceeded to set up our classrooms, make photocopies, and wait for Godot.

And then there were 32

And miraculously enough, all of the Iraqis arrived. Of course the usual delays and dangers awaited them this year. I'm not sure that I can adequately describe the emotions I have felt over these past three summers as we waited for the Iraqis. The first year, in Amman, Jordan in 2004, we held a planning meeting to plan the courses we offered last year. Our Iraqi colleagues faced innumerable challenges and dangers driving across Iraq. When the first person arrived, her head was covered with gauze. I was sure she had been assaulted, but it turned out that she had fallen down at home just before she had left Baghdad.

Last year some of the men were detained. This year the only challenge was the issuing of the visas. It is getting more difficulut for Iraqis to receive foreign visas.

But even when things went well with our training sessions, the agonies of daily life in Iraq continued unabated. The brother of one of our participants was shot and killed in Baghdad, and she had to return home just two days after arriving in the Emirates.

Teaching was a lot of fun. I had seven students in my course, a couple of whom were with us in Amman last year including Fallah, of Tom and Jerry fame. One of my favorite classroom discussions was about the Wikipedia. We were discussing the challenges of preserving dynamic electronic resources. I mentioned the Wikipedia as an example and no one was familiar with it. We browsed it and the Iraqis were both amazed and puzzled by it. They were concerned about reliability and authenticity. They have not yet immersed themselves in social computing, except through e-mail.

At the end of the trip we had a banquet with much singing and dancing. Our stars were Harvey and Cynthia. The singer at the restaurant lent her mike to Cynthia who sang a jazzy/bluesy version of a bossanova song. And that Harvey--he can really dance!

The two weeks flew by. One of my going away presents was a magic lantern. The women who gave it to me asked me to use it to raise moe money for future courses. Enshallah.

Posted by Michele Cloonan at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello everyone - this is Harvey Varnet from Kuwait, forwarding along another blog from Abdul Latif. I did some very minor editing, as he asked me to do - corrected group names, etc. I do not try to rewrite his use of the language, as I feel he can communicate his thoughts and feelings quite well without my undue assistance.

Enjoy - this is a young colleague full of promise!!

July 24, 2006
Hi every one,
Khairy, Abdul latif is here again,

I would like here to share with you here - as I have promised you in my 1st Blog - some thoughts about what happened in the training course in UAE, there is too many things to talk about too, so, I will try to tell you about what happened briefly.

In the 1st morning, we met almost all friends that we have met last summer in Amman, except Cynthia & Ian who were coming later, & there are new 3 persons in the lecturers group, they were Michael, William & Sid, & we met at last Carla, who we knew her through e-mails only.

In our 1st lecture, all of us were in the same classroom, we introduced ourselves to each other, then Michele & some of lecturers talked to us briefly, & then we split into our 4 groups, which were (Digital libraries & automation, Collections management & development, Preservation, Cataloging & classifications ) .

I was in the Digital libraries & automation group, we were 11 participants in this group, it was the largest group. We start with Michael, he is a very intelligent person, we learn from him too many new things, his lectures in digital libraries course was about Database issues, Database types, Networking issues, Software & Hardware issues, I was very eager to learn more from him, but you know that the program was already too late ( because of Visas, airplane reservations.... as I have told you before). In the same time, I am one of a team ( which includes Mrs. Juwan - one of our course group too, & Rasheed, Falah - the other young man from last summer - one of preservation group, & some other peoples ) which plan to create a new digital library in Iraq, by digitizing the Iraqi Academy of Science collections, so we were very interested in this course.

Next, we have Cynthia, which was one of my favorite lecturers from last summer course, because she deals with the thing that I always prefer ( ICT ), she gave us too many useful things about Database interfacing, Searching strategies, Web development and Information Architecture, Site planning & design, Classification, Labeling, Navigation & search, & Evaluation & usability.

For sorry, her lectures were too short, because of the same thing ( time issue ), but I
think that she was clever enough to learn from the course of the last summer in Amman, & the time problems that she faced, she gave us a CD contain all the things that she was planning to give us, & many many things that related to it, such as readings, websites, ... ets.

In the middle of this course, Carla & Michael were have to leave us, because they have another important things to do, we were very sad to see them going so fast.

Beside the lectures & specific groups, this year program is different from the last year, because it contain a very interesting thing, which was the " Field Trips", they took us in number of field trips to many different Institutions in UAE, & each of these institutions contain a different model of libraries. For me, the best of these libraries was the library of American University of Sharjah, it was very unique, in its building design - which has been created by the cooperation between engineers & librarians, computerized systems, the many many rooms for different use & users, & the most thing that I liked was the circulation system, it was very modern & unique, simple & easy to use in the same time. Beside the AUS, we visited many libraries & information institutions, in Al-Ain, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi & Dubai, we noticed that they have spend a lot of money on the buildings & decorations, but they might not be aware about all the users needs (some of these institutions not all of it ), we did not found any digital library there ( except in the AUS, & the documentation center who says that they planning to).

I have to mention here that we have some entertainments times too, we visited Al-Ain museum, we went many times for shopping (in the evening), & we have went to Hafeet mountain in the last evening & have a very nice party there, we done some songs, dancing, & having fun.

In the next morning, all groups took a lecture together for Mr. Ian, his lecture was a new thing to learn from. Well, here the course was ended, & we have received our certifications in a formal party in Zayed central library in Al-Ain in that afternoon, then there was a very sad time, because it was the goodbye`s moments, we were very sad for leaving our friends which we might met again or not ( "if we still a life & safe" I guess - that what I have told my friends there ), some tears was dropped ... it was a very emotional moments ...

Well ... I remember here what my friend Mr. Harvey said in one of last summer Blogs : " The courses may be over but the work goes on!!" , & that is the best thing that I can finished my Blog with...

... to be continued ...

I hope that I did not bother you again with my 2nd long Blog, & I will be pleased to let you know whatever you want to know else, so, feel free to ask me.

God bless you all.

yours;
Khairy, Abdul latif
Baghdad, Iraq
librarian_latif@yahoo.com

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Dear Colleagues - I had asked Abdul Latif Khairy if he would blog again this year, and his first entry appears below. Abdul Latif is a very bright, hard-working and caring librarian and LIS faculty member. His English is excellent, though as you'll see below he speaks better than he writes (though he makes his points very well).

Im will pass along any other blogs he sends, if he can get to writing them. As he points out, life in Iraq is tragic and dangerous every day! Harvey Varnet

July 21, 2006

Hi every one again, This is Khairy, Abdul latif.

I think that some of you knew me from last summer,
It's an honor for me to represent my Iraqi colleagues by Bloging to you ... & through my dear friend Mr. Harvey again. I want to thank him very much for what he has done for us, as I do to the other teaching team members ( Michele, Cynthia, Harvey, Ian, David, Michael, Carla, Pat, William & Sid ) who kindly try to give us what ever they have from the latest developments & changes in our field ( LIS ) , & they gave us the lessons, & took us in number of field trips, which helped us to improve our skills & try to give us information about the latest developments in our field.

I would like here to share with you some thoughts about what happened before, in & after we finished the training course in UAE, but, there is too many things to talk about, so, I will to tell you about it in 3 different Blogs, & here ( if you do not mind ) I will try to tell you about what happened before.

In Iraq, we are in the worst circumstances that you can imagine, too many Electricity power shut down, so is the water, too many main streets are blocked, & too many other things that you may know or hear of it, in the same time we are thinking of what can be done for the sake of preservation and reconstruction of Iraqi libraries, this through some of the thoughts that we have already have, & these we have got from the last summer training courses in Amman.

I want to tell you something new that I have already told my friend Mr. Harvey & some of the teaching team. we have new thing here, which we can call it "Professors Assassinate", & it happens here too many times, as example, in our college, we have lost number of professors, & in 2 days, we lost 2 of them, & in the third day, in the morning, we did not say "good morning" but we asked "who dies today?"

So, you can imagine now our circumstances before we gone to UAE, & for sure, it will stay the same thing after we get back...

Ok, let us talk about the courses, because we have got the invitations for it, but the Visas was too late, & because of that we have lost our reservations for flights many times, & have a very big problem with get another one in the right time, but thanks for god (( Al hamdo le Allah - as we say )) we have got some, but in different days & flight companies, for me, I was in the last group that arrived to UAE, we were 5 persons, me & 4 women's, & we stuck in Iraqi airport from 10 AM to 11 PM !!!, & we arrived to Dubai in 1:10 AM, we call Mr. David, who tell us that there is a driver waiting for us there, & (( Al hamdo le Allah )) we found him, & he have took us to our hostel's which we arrived to it in 3:10 AM ...

We were very eager & heart warm to meet all the good people who arranged the training course & who we met (( many of them )) last summer tomorrow in the first morning ...
... to be continued ...

I hope that I did not bother you with my long Blog, & I will be pleased to let you know whatever you want -- feel free to ask me.

God bless you all.

yours;
Khairy, Abdul latif
Baghdad, Iraq
librarian_latif@yahoo.com

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This blog was written by Dr. Sidney Berger, professor at Simmons College and husband of GSLIS Dean Michele Cloonan. (Harvey Varnet putting it up on the blog.)

An outsider's view of the UAE experience

I was not on the official teaching team for the project to train Iraqi
librarians and library educators, but I did give a 2-hour lecture in
the Preservation class on paper, so I feel like an ex officio participant. Hence my contribution to the official blogs.

All of the students I met--and that was most of them--seemed eager for
knowledge, grateful for the experience, and happy to have the
opportunity to be with one another in what was a combination of an academic and a "vacation" setting. Most of them enjoyed the field trips and the classes, and they all loved the shopping.

For me the most poignant moment came in the lecture I gave. I was
asked to talk about the manufacture and composition of paper and how this knowledge impacted the duties and responsibilities of librarians in terms of housing, preserving, and conserving paper-based materials. The students had many good questions, which led from one thing to another, getting onto important tangents, topics that they would have heard about later in the class from Michele--but they anticipated these important things and wanted to know NOW.

They wanted, for instance, to know about environmental controls and I
told them about HVAC systems; humidity, temperature, and air filtration; monitoring of light levels; and so forth. Then one of them asked me what she should do when her library had no electricity.

We operate in such a privileged environment that we never even consider
such a level of privation. It was startling and sobering to have heard such a question. And it just reinforces how important this program is for the Iraqis, some of whom are working at a truly primitive level in their institutions.

Two nights ago we had a splendid banquet to mark the conclusion of the
formal program of classes and field trips. Everyone ate a modestly sumptuous banquet at the top of a hill overlooking Al Ain. And almost everyone sang happily on the bus back to our residences.

Then yesterday (July 19) we had the ceremony to hand out certificates,
say all of our thank-you's, enjoy a couple of meals together, and say good bye to each other. A few of us--instructors and Iraqis--commented on how sad we were that it was coming to an end. One Iraqi woman said to me, when they were gathering to get onto the bus to take them for the last time to their dorms, "I hate this moment. I just don't want to say good bye." I'll let my readers speculate about what was on her mind.

I can't stop writing without saying something about what was (for me)
two of the most prominent phenomena of the trip: shopping and the weather.

Michele and I were in Istanbul for a few days before we got to Al Ain.
We saw markets and shopping areas and bazaars and shops all over the place, selling all kinds of local or craft items. It was overwhelming. No such experience here in the Emirates. The only local "craft" we saw was date-picking. There are dates everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. You'd think they grew on trees! David and I went to a place last night to ship out a couple of boxes of his books and the men in the business office gave us dates. The hotel had dates, in abundance, in their restaurants. In fact, about 90% of the trees in Al Ain are date palms.

Will and I did go on one mad carpet-shopping foray and wound up in an
Irani carpet market in a suburb of Al Ain. It was primitive and hot, but really fun.

But the lack of local products doesn't mean that the Emerati don't have
anything to shop for. Nearing midnight last night we were in the Al Ain Mall, which was still filled with shoppers and others, probably just trying to escape the weather.

The weather. It was hot. Then it got hotter. When the temperature
went down, it was still hot. At midnight we got out of a cab and were hit in the face with a hot blast of wind. When we got up in the mornings, it was hot. (Am I making my point? It is hot here.) I was either too hot or too cold, since all the buildings are air conditioned to about 40 degrees F.

Will and I shopped for luggage (we hade done some serious
shopping!— especially in the Irani carpet market), and we decided to walk from the Al Ain Mall to the LuLu Center (where we were told we could find a luggage shop). It was only about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile, but it was hot. Did I say "hot"? The walk was worse (better?) than a sauna. We were soaked in the first three minutes. But it was so close, it seemed ridiculous to take a taxi. We commented that the
walk wasn't so bad for the first three or four yards. But then . . . .

Anyway, this trip is almost history. It was fun and educational, but I
can hardly wait to get back to Boston, which is having a killer of a heat wave.
I'm ready for it.

Sid Berger

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Group
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Hello colleagues and friends – as this long-ish note is being sent to the blog site at Simmons College, the group is in its final session on Wednesday morning. Pat Oyler is running a “debriefing session” on what people learned form the visits to the various libraries the past two days. Then, Ian Johnson of Robert Gordan University in Scotland will run a mini-workshop on “change management” – talk about an understatement when it comes to Iraq and its library needs!

The past two days have been very busy and productive (and fun). David worked his magic (he really is a “jinn”) and we traveled to Abu Dhabi and visited three sites. The first place we visited on Monday morning was the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. The facility itself is magnificent, very modern and whoever designed its interior was a first-class professional. The center provides reports to various government officials and focuses on four areas – economics, military, history, and development related to the UAE in general. One of the ambitious goals of the ECSSR is to acquire 1,000,000 volumes in five years – no shortage of work to be done if this goal is to be accomplished. The staff seemed competent, and we were treated with much consideration and kindness. You can find them on the web at: www.ecssr.gov.ae

On Monday afternoon we went to the Cultural Foundation (www.cultural.org.ae),
a hybrid organization that is a library, a cultural center/archive and a center for the arts and crafts of Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The building is a bit older – built in the early 1980s – not as magnificent as other places we visited, but… What was nice is that the library and the arts/crafts areas were being used by local people, including many children. One gets the feeling that this center is a hands-on place, very well used, and very welcoming. Again, the facility is ‘choppy’ in that each collection is in its own area, but it works, and that’s what counts. They have a very nice manuscripts collection, too. One lovely silly: they have painted camels outside of the building, and I’ve sent a picture of my favorite one to the blog – it is painted as a bee – gotta love it!

Our evening (we stayed at the Novotel in downtown Abu Dhabi) was concluded with a visit and mini-tour of the Emirates Palace, a Kempinski hotel that is as opulent as its name implies. Gold everywhere, a multi-story atrium, several hundred rooms, with the lowest priced one going for approximately $500/night in off-season. Visiting royals stay here, on two extremely secure floors – the price per night for a suite of suitable stature is approximately $15,000/night – serious money, as some of my ol’ New Bedford MA friends would say. If you are interested, the web site for the chain is at: www.kempinski.com “All things are possible in the Gulf!!”

On Tuesday morning, we trekked back to the Cultural Foundation for a lecture on intellectual property and copyright. The lecture was given in Arabic (with powerpoint slides in English) by Helmi Noman, a US Embassy staffer of Yemeni origin. Helmi is quite accomplished, and the lecture was of benefit to us all.

Our final visit was to the Center for Documentation & Research, also in Abu Dhabi. Again, a very new facility, lots of flashy touches, and headed up by a man of Iraqi origin – many in our training group knew Dr. Jassem. The CDR (www.cdr.gov.ae) has as one of its goals to scour the world and make copies of any documents related to the UAE, its emirates and its history from any and all time periods. (They also try and collect as much as they can about other Gulf countries.) The intent is to make available, in country, all of what has been written by and about the Emirates. The Library portion of the facility is quite small, but it has a large collection capacity, due in main part to the installation of compact, moveable shelving. They also kindly served the group lunch – deeelicious!

The bus took then us back to Al Ain. One of the wonderful parts of this experience is having fun with our Iraqi colleagues. They sing to us, clap hands to the rhythm of songs, and we sing back. It is amazing the old songs one can pull up from one’s memory, and to be honest, any song will do – it’s the musical bonding that counts. The bus ride back flew by.

To conclude our two-day whirlwind tour, we had a lovely meal at the hotel Mercure Grand Hotel up on Jebel Hafeet. We ate out by the pool – good food with a sweeping view of the city of Al Ain below – the city looked like sparkling twinklies. After the meal, some of us danced (including yours truly, of course) – I think we surprised the Iraqis by our unfettered bouncing around. The Iraqis talked Cynthia into singing, which she does darn well. All in all, a great evening, and of course the bus ride back to our respective residences included much more singing and clapping and good-natured kidding…

So, here are some of my initial thoughts of what have we accomplished on this trip? We have reconnected with people who were at last summer’s session, and we made new friends with those who we met for the first time here in Al Ain. Because of the visa issues, we did get off to a late start, but Pat, Michael, Michele, Will and Cynthia revised their teaching plans and covered as much materials as they could. We exposed the Iraqis to several libraries that are modern and functional, including the one they studied and worked in at UAEU. We talked about what they saw that worked, and what they thought of each place. Perhaps they can’t do everything like it is done in the UAE, but there will come a time soon when they’ll have some resources to begin the rebuilding work necessary to operate a modern university library system. We are hopeful that we’ve given them some tools to see both the forest (the big picture) and the trees (how to go about getting things done, one by one). As leaders, they’ll teach and train colleagues, and of course one of our goals has been to “train the trainers” – we only hope we are at least moderately successful.

The end of any program like this is bittersweet. We get to go back to our respective countries (the USA, Scotland and for me, Kuwait), and the Iraqis go back to Iraq. We have heard many stories of everyday life there and how dangerous venturing out can be. We have been told of literally being chased off of campus by gun-toting thugs and of the many academics that have been killed. There is electricity for a couple of hours per day, yet we talk of cyberinfrastructures. Through all of this, these librarians and library science faculty persevere, trying to serve students and the nation by keeping on task. They remain remarkably upbeat, and to be with them lifts your own spirits.

We’ll miss our Iraqi colleagues, and the goodbyes later today will be with mixed emotions. Here’s hoping that somehow, someway, programs like this continue. For me, it is clear that we are doing a lot more than just teaching and sharing library concepts and skills. We get to show at least some Iraqis a different “face” of America and the west, and we get to know them as individuals. We were kidding around last night, as one of the gifts given to Michele was an Aladdin’s lamp – three wishes, and of course the first one was PEACE – here’s hoping…

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Bedu Tent
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Cataloging Class
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Preservation Class
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Digital Libraries
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Collection Development
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Abu Dhabi Travel Agency
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Work, work, work…

Well, we started the second week of the training program yesterday. Everyone got right to task, and it appears the classes are going very, very well.

One thing that is certain is the deep and intense interest of the Iraqis in the courses and the materials. Similar to last year, one of our goals is to provide them with as many tools as is possible. Admittedly, they will not be able to use them all – at least for now – but at a minimum they’ll have them in the grab-bag of academic/library tricks for future reference. The fact that each person is only in one course also helps with getting to ‘depth’ in the course.

Comments from our colleagues who are teaching are revealing. Things such as: “they really are curious and interested in everything…” and “they have not seen database licenses before, so we went through all of the details…” and “we went down one path, got diverted by an interesting discussion, and got back on track – all of which was useful for them and for me…” and “we talk about what we are doing is not possible to implement now in Iraq, but there will be a better future so the preparation is valuable…” and “class time flies – we cover so much, because the interest is there – I’m tired after class and can appreciate the ‘push’ for knowing more and wanting more information.”

We would be remiss if we did not comment on the incredible helpfulness of the UAE University Libraries staff! These folks have adopted all of us. Of course they know David very well – he’s like family to them – but they’ve also treated us like family. It is an immense logistical effort to move us all around. The Zayed Central Library of UAEU is quite a distance from the dorms and the hotel, yet we all seem to get where we are going, on time, thanks to the excellent local coordination.

On the logistics side, I got everyone’s plane travel back to Iraq done yesterday – what an effort. I made some new-best-friends at the Abu Dhabi Travel Agency yesterday, Miss Dania (from Damascus) and Miss Samiha (from Beirut). None of the Iraqi air carriers is automated, so all 31 tickets had to be done on paper – t e d i o u s! Samiha wanted to talk politics yesterday, with obvious interest because of the situation in Lebanon. We agreed that there is a very real difference between America and Americans. The latter are well-liked and respected here – the former…

As we get nearer to the end of this two-week program, we need to prepare all of the certificates for the participants (done beautifully by Carla). Those for the Iraqis are done, but David and I are working on certificates for local participants – we are so pleased that several UAEU staff has taken up our offer to join classes, as their work time permits. Certificates of completion and appreciation are a big deal here in the Gulf, and we want to be sure that everyone who should be is acknowledged. We went out last night to find more certificates and/or paper and/or a color copier service. David knew of a place that made color copies, but they did not have any appropriate paper stock. The place is run by Iranians, and of course our man from UCLA discussed our needs with them in Farsi – the guy is amazing! (btw, he also talks to the laundry man in Hindi, as he is from India)

Tomorrow we head off to Abu Dhabi where we will visit 1) the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 2) the Cultural Foundation, and 3) the Center for Documentation and Research. These are places of UAE national interest and importance, as Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the UAE. This will be an overnight excursion, so we’ll get a chance to check out Abu Dhabi by night.

Upon our return from Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, we will have a dinner for everyone up on Jebel Hafeet at the Mercure Grand Hotel. The buffet menu looks way-too good and I suspect we’ll have a feast for all!

If you are curious about Jebel Hafeet, here is some tourist information from Wikipedia:
Jebel Hafeet (variously translated Jabal, Jabel and Jebal) is a mountain primarily in the United Arab Emirates on the outskirts of Al Ain. The mountain actually straddles part of the border with Oman. The mountain rises 1240 meters and offers an impressive view over the city, with what has been described as "the greatest driving road in the world"[1] extending to the summit. Jebel Hafeet was a well-known landmark through out the area's history and is a contemporary tourist attraction. An extensive natural cave system winds through Jebel Hafeet.
At the foothills of Jabal Hafeet lies the Green Mubazarrah, a well developed tourist attraction. At the Green Mubazarrah, hot-water springs gush forth in little streams and form a lake. Swimming pools and jacuzzis are scattered all over the Green Mubazarrah. Jebel Hafeet is also home to a wide range of animals including bats, foxes, snakes, etc. It is often incorrectly labelled U.A.E's highest mountain (as it is certainly the most well-known); this honor actually belongs to Jabal Yibir.

That’s it for the moment, dear colleagues. I’ll try to blog again after we return from our road trip to Abu Dhabi. The time is flying by way too fast…

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