Treasure of Baghdad: Weekend

The last week was so overwhelming and depressing for me. There were too many things to do at once, including keeping track on what is going on in Iraq. “Welcome to grad to school,” one of my best American friends always tells me whenever she sees me studying hard.

I was frustrated so much the last couple of weeks because of the deterioration of the situation especially when my family and friends told me that it’s been ten times worse than before I left. The scene of bodies shown up tortured and killed in the streets is breaking my heart.

I think of Iraq, Baghdad, my family and friends every minute if not every second. Even when I look in the eyes of people, I remember my parents, sister, niece, friends and everyone I know and think of what they are doing at the moment. Are they scared now? Is there shooting near the house? I thought if I keep feeling as sad and frustrated like this, I may end up in a hospital by the time my country needs me to succeed and go back and help.

So to lessen the pain of this feeling, I decided to enjoy the weekend. Instead of staying in the apartment, I thought of going out and have a small trip in Philadelphia’s Center City.

Today, the weather was great. It was chilly but sunny. I decided not to let anything make me upset or sad. I checked my emails, took a shower, had breakfast and went out for my new adventure. In order not to go back home early, I took one of the books with me. I decided to read it in one of the parks.

Market Street was my first destination. Iraqis by nature are addicted to shopping. That’s why you see many of them are killed mostly in markets than in other places. So I decided to go shopping first. The first shopping place I went to when I first arrived was the Gallery Mall, one of the most popular malls which extends over four blocks.

After shopping, I went to Benjamin Franklin Parkway, an amazing place that I would never miss seeing. Being there makes me fee I am in Paris, not in Philadelphia. The surrounding streets look like the Champs-Élysées. My last stop was the Logan Circle where I sat facing the Swan Memorial Fountain. Surrounded by people reading, jogging, taking pictures and children playing, I opened my book and started reading. I didn’t feel the time. I kept reading and reading until I found it was 5 p.m. The beauty of the place made me read as much as I can without feeling bored or tired.

The book I was reading is called Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstile. What is funny is what I read in one of the chapters that talked about truth in covering stories. The writers talked about an incident happened after the death of President John Kennedy. Former president Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, sent for the Secretary of Defense at the time. The book says that Johnson wanted know what was really going on in Vietnam. So the defense secretary, Robert McNamara, went there and came back with two press conferences saying that “progress was noteworthy” there. Eight years later, the book added, The Washington Post and The New York Times published a secret government-written history. “Things were going to hell in Vietnam,” the book quoted the two papers saying. I stopped reading for a second and thought of what is happening now. I laughed at the fact that history repeats itself. Same things are happening but by different people. I don’t know why people don’t learn from their previous mistakes. History is written to teach, not to be in books on shelves.

After I finished reading two chapters of the book, I went back home fresh and satisfied with what I have done today.

Enjoy the pictures.