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An unfortunate episode
As I look at a job offer in my email inbox, memories surge of my big sister. I remember her university notebooks and her neat tiny handwriting. I tried to mimic her style one time, stealing one of her...
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It must be summer in Iraq
This is in no form or shape an article, with a beginning, middle and a conclusion. Unintentional, but a fact of life in this part of the world. Dots marked randomly (or not) on a dusty large map,...
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Bordering Life
My name is Zainab, and I come from a four-walled planet inhabited by those who believe in the ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality.
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Ten months on
Soon enough, the zest of oranges will infuse the bitter-cold air. Mothers have already packed away summer's clothes and out came the cardigans, scarves and those never-out-of-fashion legwarmers. The...
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Reaping 2009
If you go to www.blog.com, and search for Tuesday 29th December, at about 1pm GMT, you will find a bunch of blogs written in broken English by Iraqi university students. I watched as they wrote their...
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It comes in the shape of an exploratory essay
It's been a while since I last wrote -- for many reasons. At first it was hard to write about a year-long journey. Changing jobs was a transitional period that required all of my energy. Then it was...
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Looted
A hundred and fifty university students had their say on Iraq's archeological sites in an exam last week. The below was my take on the subject.LOOTED: The recovery of Mesopotamia's treasures After...
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It's the end of the world
It's cloudy, and windy - far too cloudy and windy for this part of the world, at this time of year. It's supposed to be warm, but instead, I shiver. I rock my chair and deny myself the luxury of a cup...
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48 hours
Once again, I find their cries amplified into my head and my heart is trying to claw its way out of my mouth. Their blood was no longer in their veins, and had streamed down into the nearest puddle of...
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Iraq prepares for a revolution
Highways between cities are closed off. The country may come to a stand still, or even enter a civil war, in the next few days. We hope that protesters and police will not resort to violence. We are...
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To my students
In Paris, a catwalk model trots in her silky cut-off dress down the runway, and in Banghazi, a father is loading his gun, the mother gathers the food while the children cellotape the windows. In Iraq,...
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Candle fever
The only candle flickering in the vast powerless home threatened to blow out at any minute. I carved some wax off the edges surrounding the wick. The few trickling drops left inside the basin's tap...
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In Quiet Contemplation - The Anthology
An interpretation of my journey in Iraq through verse. Written by my friend and colleague, Francis Owtram.Zainab in quiet contemplationSix poems for Zainab Radhi Erbil, November 2010 - February...
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Dear Pomegranate Tree,
Dear pomegranate tree,What if I were a meter shorter... ? Would you allow my little bones upon your frail branches? What if I let my untamed braids tangle with your young fruit? Would you bounce and...
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