2008

Dr. Othman Al-Helli arrived from Iraq to take up his scholarship at UCL. He wrote a diary for us to share his experiences as an MBI Scholar in London.

4th February 2008

I have not written for a quite long time as I have been extremely busy. During January I did lots of things which provide a solid and sound basis for the whole year if not far beyond. These things range from finishing applications for UCL and British Council scholarships for 2008 and most importantly enjoying the first real vacation in my whole life in the city of romance!

The British Council scholarship is composed basically of two aspects; financial reward and more importantly a prestigious title "UK International Student of the year 2008". I worked on it for almost four weeks to complete the first stage of the competition which is writing an essay describing a student's life here. Marylyn from the MBI Al Jaber Foundation was extremely helpful in revising the essay. I do hope to get some prize, if not the first one, especially after all the hard work done for it!

The UCL scholarship is another story. It also involves writing a personal statement but it's mainly based on a departmental recommendation to be written by my mentor. It is mainly a financial reward ranging from £500 to £1000. I feel pretty confident of getting this one as my mentor wrote very nice things about me, namely, hard working, motivated, passionate and well-organized. It will be a very nice 'add on' to my CV. However, I applied for it at the very last five minutes before the deadline!

The trip to Paris was enjoyable, refreshing and exciting. I felt as if I was 9 years old, rather than 29 years old. I was jumping, running and laughing - all from my heart. This was the first real vacation in my life, especially as I used to work as a human machine. Now I have all I wish for - I am studying at a top grade university, I am fairly paid, I have a good to very good life standard, and my family back home are in a better situation.

The way to Paris was never smooth but the good thing is that I have made it at last. The visa application process took four weeks, - yes weeks rather than hours. As the story with every visa application form goes, I have submitted all the documents I have. The most important ones were a letter issued by my sponsor, the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, and the letter from the International Students House in which they stated the programme for the trip and confirmed that its fees had been paid. My budget for this trip was £70 with a standby of £50. I came back with empty pockets!

One of the most amazing things about this trip was the company. The other 13 students were so friendly, nice and cooperative. I felt so lucky to have such company which increased my pleasure! They were from all over the world and were studying different subjects at a variety of UK universities. The person that I liked the most was a girl from Belarus. She is doing a PhD in Islamic studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. We had a very lovely chat on the way back discussing many topics. She is so friendly, likeable, intelligent and extremely nice. I wish her the best in her studies

Because Paris was really refreshing, I did not feel tired after getting back to sweet London and the sweetest Queens Square. I felt so energetic and keen to work and study with much more passion. Life is continuing to look pink and bright pink. In fact, I am afraid that I may envy myself!

In January, I managed to send back home $700 which was extremely helpful for my family in their current financial hardship. I have started the application process for an MSc in Neuroimaging for my little sister and hopefully will get her a conditional offer soon. I have asked her to read for TOEFL and to do it as soon as possible, so that her offer will be changed into an unconditional one and she will be able to apply for scholarships. I hope that she will be able to do her TOEFL before May so that she can apply to the MBI Al Jaber Foundation which is, in my opinion, by far the best choice for Iraqi students.

Today, I received some very good news. An old Iraqi friend of mine, whom I helped with his application for a UCL MSc in Neuroimaging, was awarded his Chevening Scholarship from the British Council, after the Director of the Institute's Education Unit called the headquarters of the British Council to confirm his status as being fully eligible for the programme. He was so excited and happy when he knew that. I felt so happy for him as well.

Despite all of this success and achievement, I still feel that there is something missing. I cannot figure out what it could be. But, however, I do realize that I have now established a solid foundation for a bright future. Hard work, therefore, is still the one option but definitely not as a machine like before. I will try to have vacations every now and then. I am thinking of applying for another International Students House trip which will be to Holland in late April just after the exams. In addition, I may get a sponsored trip to Canada in May to present a poster on my research.

6th January 2008

Out of the three weeks of the vacation, the last one is the one that deserves to be called a real vacation. I had many enjoyable activities that gave me massive refreshment and made me feel really prepared for the New Year with all of its challenges. The feeling of loneliness, which was successfully managed by doing some reading, has completely vanished. Instead, amazing feelings of joy, pleasure, and excitement have developed.

The most exciting activity I had is ice-skating at Queensway. I went there accompanied by a close friend of mine who is also a student at UCL. She is a very kind person and feels a great deal of sympathy towards the Iraqi people. Since I was a kid, I have wished to do this lovely sport. When I had my feet on the ice, I got avidly excited and appreciated that a childhood dream was coming true. Wow! This was so nice!!! I tried my best to enjoy these long awaited moments. Despite all of this, I had a terrible backache after falling when I had just start skating independently.

My friend was quite cooperative and appreciative and was trying her best to support, teach and encourage me. During that night, I kept smiling the whole way back home like a child who had just got a toy that they had been looking forward to for a long time. The joy of this is still inside me and motivating me. When I skated independently I felt myself flying like bird. It was an extremely nice feeling!!! I promised myself to do more practice and try to learn this wonderful sport as quickly as possible. My wonderful friend promised that she would help me to achieve this dream!

Before that, we went to a Mexican restaurant which was pretty delicious. However, it was a little bit expensive, but honestly it was worth it. One of the many things that I am learning about from my life in the U.K. is friendship with the opposite gender and this is obviously not that available back home, because of the conservative traditions. Now, I am enjoying friendships with many people from all races, colours, cultures, and backgrounds. Well, honestly, I think I have significantly more female than male friends, which by far was not the case back home.

I dropped into the Karim Rida Said Foundation Office as Ita Gallagher, the scholarship officer, asked me to fill in a report about my training (I was sponsored by them for the first half of 2007). Ita is one of the best persons I have ever met. She tried her best to help me enjoy my KRSF scholarship despite my having passport and visa problems and having to apply to extend my UK residency status every six weeks. She convinced the trustees to pay the application fees for me for three times despite the fact that my scholarship contract did not mention that.

We had a very nice chat when she asked about my current scholarship and my studies. She recognized Carolyn of the MBI Foundation and felt sorry when I told her that she would be leaving the Foundation shortly to manage a UCL museum. She had a quick glance at my writings on the MBI website and she was hugely impressed by the quality and quantity.

She asked me several times, did you write all of this now whilst studying for your Masters? I told her yes. It seems that the MBI Foundation has unleashed a deep potential in me as I have had the same lovely impression from many people and many have asked me to keep on writing as it is inspiring, honest, and a well-presented picture for many young Arabs and Iraqis who have given up hope in furthering their education.

She asked my to quote some paragraphs so that they could put them in their information booklets for their newly arriving scholars. She thought that shopping tips, bank problems, telephone issues and saving tricks would be extremely helpful for their scholars, especially for those who have never left the Middle East before. I was so flattered when she asked me to give her advance notice before dropping in again so that she could invite me for a coffee and have a longer chat.

Today, I went to the Royal Arts Gallery accompanied by a colleague of mine who got me a free ticket. We spent more than two hours there enjoying the wonderful paintings of the British and American painters. The paintings I liked the most are those focused on still life. I felt that the painters were trying their best in order to create some sort of vitality in the painted subjects. They are trying to achieve this by focusing on details. However, since I have an obsessive personality, I found some mistakes in some of the paintings like mal-positioning of shadows. My friend told me that I should be a critic as I have a good potential for art criticism. Well, I do not think it is the case! I bought a book from there containing all of the portraits so that I can enjoy looking at them whenever I wish to.

Today's evening was amazing as well. I went to a dinner arranged by a close friend and colleague of mine who had just come back from home. She is from Algeria and sponsored by the British Council. She is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met in my life. We were joined by two colleagues of mine, one from Pakistan and the other from Mexico, in addition to three residence mates of my Algerian friend; one from China, one from Australia, and the other from Italy. We had a very lovely international dinner composed mainly of Chinese and Algerian food in addition to some Italian. It was such a lovely gathering, as they were chatty, friendly and very funny.

I am still working on two scholarships that I am thinking of applying for. One is a UCL scholarship and the deadline is 31st January. It requires a good personal statement as well as a departmental reference letter (which was written by my tutor - she mentioned very nice words about me like, passionate, hard working, highly motivated, keen to develop more knowledge, and sociable).

The other one is a real challenge. It is a British Council scholarship and the deadline is in three weeks time. It requires writing an essay about an international student’s life in the UK. I have written a draft but am still not happy with it and I may re-write it. These scholarships do not mean money only but honor and support for my CV.

Tomorrow the winter term will start. I feel anxious about it as the exams will be held when it ends - maybe because I feel that I am not that prepared or maybe it’s my long-term obsession with exams. I still have to do lots of reading and work for my research project.

Now, I am fighting on two hard fronts; my extremely demanding project and the challenging exams, in addition to this term’s assignments. But what shall I say other than I will manage it –inshallah! This is not only for my sake but also for the sake of my family back home and moreover for the sake of the people who trusted and sponsored me with their money and care. I do feel so grateful for having this chance of a lifetime! And I will make the best of it-inshallah!

1st January 2008

It was amazing, wonderful and enjoyable. This is the first time in my life that I have shared a celebration of something with such a large number of people in one place. Of course, I am talking about the fireworks of 2008. I went to Trafalgar Square with my friend from Iran to witness this event. We were looking for a suitable place from around 10pm to get the best view. We waited for two hours until the countdown started. People, all together, shouted 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, and then it was the first second of 2008, a new year, a new era, a new stage in my life, a year that will be full of challenges and achievements, a year that will provide a solid foundation for the coming years and a year that I will keep remembering for it being a cornerstone in my life.

When Big Ben announced midnight, all of a sudden the dark night turned into bright day. Wow, the sky became colourful with many different, lovely colours and the fireworks were in many gorgeous shapes and designs. Some of them were based on the London Eye Wheel, emerging into a spider-network like shape. Their sounds were loud and even scary. Honestly, when witnessing this event, a flash back of the first night of the 1991 war came to my mind. Because of the similarity of sounds and lighted sky, maybe. There was, however, above all, a significant difference between the two situations. Here, everybody was so elated and people were celebrating living in the New Year, while there, everybody was scared and afraid of losing their life each second!

Aside from this, the last two weeks were a little bit boring, as the residence was almost empty, and almost all of my friends and colleagues went back to their homes. I spent the first week of the vacation doing the training for my dissertation project at the hospital, so that I had to go there from 9 till 5 every day. During that week, I did not notice that many of my friends were saying good-bye and leaving the residence. Maybe this was why the following week, I felt lonely as I realized that there was virtually nobody around.

I contacted an American colleague of mine, however, who was staying in London over the vacation (she is not religious and thus she does not believe in Christmas). We had an enjoyable day wandering around Camden Market and at night we went to Covent Garden where we stayed till around 11pm. This was, more or less, good refreshment. I did some reading as well, not for my masters degree but for the research which still scares me as it is quite complicated. I still fear that I will not be able to do what is expected of me by my professor who allocated this research to me despite my limited experience. This issue is stressing me out!!

On Christmas Eve, a friend of mine called me saying that he was in bed because of a bad cold and he had no food at home. He asked me to do some shopping for him which I did. I arrived at his place around 9pm. I did some cooking and washing up and left around 11pm. I was shocked when I found that the tube station was closed as I thought it was supposed to be closed on Christmas day rather than the eve. I went back to my friend’s place where I spent the night. The next day, I walked for more than two hours at a rapid pace to get back home!

London on Christmas day is not the real London that I have known. People, cars and shops almost disappeared. There were minimal signs of life as most shops were closed and no public transport was available. It reminded me of Baghdad where the streets are nearly empty in the afternoons as people do not dare to go out as they risk getting killed or injured by a bullet or shrapnel from here or there.

In addition, on Christmas day, another walk was waiting for me. I had to walk from the residence to the place of a colleague of mine in order to attend a Christmas dinner. There were seven people at the table, my host, her fiancée and three other colleagues. The food was quite delicious and the gathering was nice. They were so friendly and chatty. Another good thing was that one of the invitees gave me a lift to the residence after the dinner. This was kind of him as my feet were aching at that time.

One of the bad things about the vacation is catering. The residence used to provide two meals per day, five days a week. This was waived for the vacation. At the beginning, I used to eat ready-made sandwiches until an Iraqi friend of mine visited me 10 days ago. We went out to shop for some ingredients like rice, chicken fillets and potatoes and then he taught me how to cook some basic and time-saving dishes. Since then, my main meal is composed of red rice and chicken breast fillet in addition to potatoes and some salad.

I tried to make the best of the winter sales since I had many things to shop for. On the 27th, I went early in the morning to Marks and Spencer, Oxford Street, trying to hunt for some good stuff with good reductions before they sold out. I was lucky with most, but not all, of the things I needed. My shopping policy is still the same; when I need good quality stuff, I will go to an M&S shop to get either items labelled “outstanding value” or “clearance sale”. I think I got some good bargains on that day such as original leather, Italian-made ‘Autograph’ shoes for £29 only, while the usual price was around £100. In addition, I bought some gifts for family and friends back home.

At last, I have bought a laptop. I have been looking for one for the last three months. The one that I bought is a good bargain indeed! It cost £500 inclusive of a one-year manufacturer’s warranty. The online price of this machine is £600 but I got it from the Gulltronics shop in New Oxford Street for £100 less as the shop was offering winter reductions. It is a Toshiba, 13.3” and it has good processor and RAM. The most important criterion is that it is light weight (less than 2 kg) so that I can easily carry it between the Institute, Hospital and student residence without having backache. When I got it back home, I kept looking at it for more than 15 minutes saying “at last I have my own Toshiba machine”.

My expenditure during December was quite high, exceeding £420. This was mainly due to the bulky shopping that I did during the last few days, but this should not cause any financial crisis or difficulty as I still have fair financial cover till late January when I am supposed to receive the second maintenance payment from MBI. The financial circumstances back home are relatively stable, but I do hope that I will able to send some money very soon.

19th December 2007

I am still finding it difficult to believe that I have been living here for three months. The first term has ended. Twelve weeks of lectures, sessions, tutorials and seminars and a quarter of my masters’ year are over forever. I find it really hard to believe, but it is a fact of life that good days pass by very quickly as Uncle Einstein implied in his theory of relativity. I have handed in my essays at the very last hour as I was quite obsessive about whether they were as good as I wanted them to be. After I did so, however, I experienced a great deal of relief and peace.

The MBI reception was fun, refreshing and successful. I arrived there in time, accompanied by a friend of mine, who is an Iraqi-British student. She is studying pharmacology and she is very interested in catching up with fellow Iraqi students. At the entrance, I met Professor Michael Worton, the Vice-Provost of UCL, who was one of the invited guests. He is one of those people who encouraged me to apply for an MBI scholarship and because of him, I am enjoying it now. I congratulated him on getting UCL to be rated the eighth mostly highly ranked university in the world. In addition, I discussed with him some ways to help future Iraqi students who cannot do the English language proficiency tests back in Iraq. I suggested that it might be more helpful if they were able to take the tests during the first term of their higher degrees. Should they fail their tests, they would be excluded from the programmes.

I had a chat with Carolyn (Director of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation) about many important issues that had been dwelling in my mind for quite a long time - namely the future of the MBI programme of Scholarships for Iraqis, their projects in Iraq, their connections with the Iraqi Ministry of Higher education and the sad news about her leaving the Foundation. I was so sad to hear such news as Carolyn has always been very helpful. She has encouraged me and believed in my potential. She gave me the opportunity to develop both psychologically and socially when she allowed me to express my thoughts, pains, joys and my daily life details in this diary. She teased me about it by saying that I was an ‘open book’ when we were discussing the November surge in my expenditure. She reassured me when I was anxious about writing the diary by saying that she was confident that I would manage very well.

I had a fun time with Marylyn. We were teasing each other and making fun of each other, well mainly making fun of me!

I met all of my fellow scholars. They were very friendly and funny. I liked specially Barakat who represents a typical young Iraqi and he reminds me of many old friends of mine who have the same spirit. He is the type of person that can manage combining work and fun. He suggested, and later on created, a page on www.facebook.com for MBI Al Jaber foundation Scholars so that we can keep in constant contact. I met Mustafa and Zainab and I enjoyed chatting with them as well.

Now, presumably, we have a three week vacation for Christmas and the New Year. In fact, I still have to go to the hospital every day from 9 to 4pm/5pm to have my training for the dissertation project which will start in mid-January. The project will be on 9.4 T MRI findings in Akinetic Rigid Syndromes. I know that the title seems complicated but the content is definitely much more complicated!

In addition to reading and training, however, I am planning to do some sightseeing in London during the vacation as I do believe this is going to be my only chance before starting the exams and dissertation in the following terms. Hopefully, I can do this before next September when my programme ends and I go back home to establish a career. Many friends of mine do not believe that I have not yet been to the London Eye, Madame Tussauds, the Royal Academy of Arts and other attractions. I will start being a tourist later this week as I will be accompanied by an American colleague of mine. She is not going home during the vacation as she does not believe in Christmas. She is very good, likable, chatty and friendly.

I was selected by the International Student House Travel Club to join their three day Paris trip in late January. I was so excited when I got their offer, as visiting Paris has always been a life dream for me. There were more than 100 applicants and they accepted only 15 for this amazing trip. In a period of two days, I prepared all the necessary documents including an impressive letter from my sponsor to the French embassy stating my condition as a sponsored student and asking them to be co-operative as this trip would be very important for me to take part in. I managed to get an appointment at the embassy just 3 days after first knowing about the trip. I was able to do this by continuously logging into the appointment website throughout the whole of Thursday afternoon. If I was not able to get such an early appointment, I would have had to pay an extra £60 to get an emergency one. After waiting for few hours, however, and paying £43 for visa application fees, I handed in my documents to the visa officer. They said that I would receive their decision by post and that the visa would only be for three days.

At last, my long lasting problem with the mobile phone has been solved. A friend of mine got me a contract in his name, but the monthly rental, which is £15, is to be withdrawn from my account. This is a great relief as a phone is crucial for me to contact my colleagues and friends. As for my family, I used to use phone cards and the hospital landlines which made the cost much lower. I call home every other day for a period between five and ten minutes. When I called my family yesterday, I asked my sister to hand the phone to one of my parents, so she gave it to my mother. I kept talking to her for the whole time apart from the last two minutes. I then asked her to let me speak to my father but he refused to do so as he was a little bit upset with me for talking to my mother ahead of him. I know that he has a big heart, however, and will forgive me quickly.

I am still thinking of applying for two grants - one from UCL and the other from the British Council. I have started the UCL application which includes a departmental letter of recommendation, in which my mentor wrote very nice things about me such as ‘passionate’, ‘motivated’, ‘well-organized and possessive of good communication skills’. Because of this letter, I feel optimistic about getting the grant. As for the British Council application, the case is quite different as I may need up to 12 hours of focussed work to complete it. Most likely, I will do it next weekend as it needs continuous and dedicated time and effort in addition to the help of my dearest friend, Marylyn.

During the last two days, I have been asked the same question several times; once by Carolyn (from MBI), another by Katherine, a consultant of mine, and another by Tisch, my academic mentor. The question was “Othman, how is life with you nowadays?” My answer to all of them was the same “Perfect!”
Well, why not?! I am living in the heart of civilization, gaining knowledge at one of the world’s leading academic institutions, experiencing a good quality of life, in addition to being in such an appreciative, respectful and friendly atmosphere. Yeah, I still see life in pink!!!

1st December 2007

I have not written for the last two weeks as I have been a little bit busy, partially because I was finalizing my assignments and mainly for being a bit preoccupied with the many things I have in mind. Overall, the last three weeks have been quite productive and enjoyable.

Lecture materials are becoming increasingly difficult and are presenting more and more new and up-to-day knowledge. The programme is demanding and complicated but very interesting at the same time. Most of the lecturers are competent with very good communication and presentation skills, in addition to being very keen to answer students’ questions, trying with passion to convince them.

Study-wise, things are becoming more serious not only because of the lectures but because assignment submission deadlines are in two weeks time. I have finalized one of them and have written the draft of the other which I will show to the mentor next Monday before finalizing it. I may say, however, that study “stress” is not stressful as the education system is trying to make studying as interesting and enjoyable as possible

The security condition in Baghdad is still relatively good. My father is still optimistic about going back home early next year but to a lesser degree than he was three weeks ago. So is the rest of the family. Hopefully, very soon, they will manage to set up an internet service at their temporary home so that we will be able to chat online whenever we wish. I have internet access both at the Institute and my residence through common cluster room computers. I am waiting for the January sales to get a laptop as I fancy a Dell XPS laptop (current cost is £800).

The economic condition, however, is still as bad. My family’s main income is the rental of their properties but these have been evacuated due to the ongoing violence. The good thing is that my sister has managed to get a job so that she, at least, can maintain herself. I am trying to send at least $500 back home each month which I think is providing good support, but the problem is that I do not know for sure whether I can continue doing so.

My monthly maintenance allowance is £500 which is presumably more than enough, especially as I am living in a student residence that comes with catering five days per week. This was okay during October because I spent £250. In November, however, the case was dramatically different as my expenditure was up to £450.

The November expenditure surge is mainly due to the numerous social activities that I have been engaged in. Most of them were with my classmates. Once we went to a Mexican restaurant, another time to a Thai one, and there have been many others. I did enjoy all of them. They were very nice experiences and my colleagues are quite friendly and likeable. In addition, such social activities give a sense of warmth and excitement. I feel very keen to try new things and to engage in new activities.

Not only this, I am expecting my expenditure to be more as I am thinking of doing some courses. The one that I am most interested in is in Brain Anatomy and the cost is £240. It will be a very important aid to refresh my knowledge of Neuroanatomy. I am also thinking of doing a course on writing dissertations and medical papers. The cost of the latter is £250. I need these courses to develop my skills further and to support my CV.

My little sister who will finish at pharmacy school in May has asked me to apply for her for an MSc at UCL. I have searched all of the relevant programmes and have discovered that the most interesting programme that she may be eligible for is an MSc in Neuroscience. I will help her with completing the application form and will then pass it to the education unit for processing and evaluation. I do hope that she is given an offer for this programme as it is a very good one and will provide her with innumerable job opportunities in Iraq (as there are so few holders of such vitally important degrees).

Many friends are asking me: “What are your plans for Christmas? Are you planning to go back home?” My answer is no. Not only because I am not missing my family too much but also because the whole thing is not good value for me as a return trip to Baghdad would cost at least £1500 which is a sum that I cannot currently afford by any means. The other good option which I am seriously thinking of is to arrange to pay for my parents to visit me here in the UK, hopefully in late March, after the exams and before starting my dissertation. If I am not able to do this, I will wait until I finish my degree and go back home in late September next year- inshallah.

I think I will dedicate the three weeks of the Christmas holiday to reading since there will be a mock exam just after Christmas and I will need to review all lecture materials in order to be ready for it. In addition, I do need to do some reading and training for my research project which I will start in April. This project will be about a very modern advent in diagnosing a neurological disease and in order to be able to conduct it, I will have to have training on sophisticated software.

I did not solve my problem with the phone until now. My request to have a one-year contract with three phone companies has been declined for a reason that I did not clearly understand. They are claiming that my current address has a poor debt history (as a students’ residence). A friend of mine offered to get me a contract in his name and to give it to me to use. I am still thinking of his offer but am hoping to get one of my own.

A few days ago, Marylyn of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation emailed me about the MBI Scholars’ Reception. At last! I have been looking forward to this event for the past two months, not only for a mere catch up with the other scholars but for having a chat about common interests and concerns. The good thing, however, is that this reception will be held just after completing the autumn term, so I will be in a relaxed mood and, hopefully, enjoy it!

4th November 2007

Wow! The happiness and pleasure that I am feeling now is amazing! Things are getting better and better. Life is not only pink but, in fact, bright pink, thanks to the many good things that are successively emerging and being achieved. I have missed these feelings for a long time, or more honestly, I do not remember the last time that I had such a sense of relaxation, pleasure and optimism. No, I do not remember the last time.

The main good news is that the security condition in Baghdad is improving after the post -Ramadan violence surge. The other day, my father called saying that he is confident that they will be able to get back home soon -inshallah. I talked to my little sisters as well and they said the same about relative security in their neighbourhood. No further street battles and no further displacement of families. These were the most critical and prominent issues before. Now there is some sense of optimism for the first time for at least two years when the civil war started.

Last Monday, I met one of my very close friends. He was with me in secondary school and medical school, so we have known each other for virtually more than half of our lives. He is a quite good, helpful and nice person. We had a very long chat about our families’circumstances back home, our own future prospects and, most importantly, how to get a well paid and secure job. Saif was a little pessimistic because of the increasing difficulties that he is facing. His primary concern, just like many other Iraqis, is finding an alternative home country where he can live in peace and optimism. We hope that next year will bring more peace so that we can experience a normal, or at least a near normal, life.

On Halloween, a flatmate of mine asked me to accompany her to a social event organized by her colleagues. Since I am eager to experience new things, I accepted her offer immediately. She is from India and is studying for an MA in Law and as a result, all the people we met there were studying for the same degree. I enjoyed it very much mainly for having such extremely friendly company and the joyful atmosphere in general. Really, it was so nice to make fun of yourself and moreover, to act and enjoy like kids. It was so funny. The only problem with such social events is alcohol since it is the main method of socialization here. Initially I felt weird drinking apple juice while others were drinking alcohol. This caused me to be a little bit tense at the beginning but afterwards, I started to get rid of this feeling by cheering my cup with everybody. I have several photos that I will post on my facebook profile; they are very pretty and cheerful.

I sat the ECDL last Wednesday by doing three modules out of seven. I passed them all, despite the fact that I did not make any preparations for the third module, so perhaps it was matter of luck! I felt so elated for achieving this. According to the UCL ECDL system, candidates should pass at least three modules before 5th of December, otherwise, they would be excluded from the system, which is definitely a bad thing, as obtaining and adding a valuable certificate and adding it to one’s CV, as soon as possible, is very important.

I have finished writing a draft of both of my assignments and, hopefully, during the next week, I will finalize them so that I can post them to my mentor to get his feedback before submitting them. Lectures are becoming more interesting mainly due to the increased clinical nature of their content. But the bad thing about last week’s study was that I could not manage to do any work on my project, which is not part of my MSc but part of a research project which I started when I was enjoying my KRSF scholarship in April. I will, however, try my best to allocate sufficient time to do it next week.

I am now thinking of applying for two grants. One from UCL for its current students which needs a strong letter of reference from my mentor (who has known me for quite a short time but I will ask him anyway). The other one is much more interesting; it is offered by the British Council to international students. In addition to money, it offers a certificate which is an important thing to add to my portfolio. Both of these grants need extra work but I am pretty confident of achieving something. If I do not, it will be okay as well since I will have tried my best.

Last night, I spent more than five continuous hours chatting with a residence mate of mine. I did enjoy talking to her about many diverse subjects ranging from Middle-Eastern conflicts to a student’s life in London. She is doing an MA in Politics as a Chevening scholar. Initially, I met her more than two weeks ago in the residence dining room but last night was the first time we have had such a friendly and prolonged conservation. Yesterday, I realized what Einstein really meant by his theory of relativity. I did not feel the passing of time at all during our conversation and I was shocked when I realized we had spent so much time talking without appreciating the hours passing by. I enjoyed that chat, however, and I did not regret the time at all.

This morning, I went to the UCL gym and paid for a one year’s membership (which is £135 and virtually the cheapest in Central London). Going to the gym and taking regular exercise is very important to me as it will increase my sense of wellbeing and give me a great deal of relaxation. I hope I enjoy it, if only to get value for my money. In addition, I joined one of the social clubs at the UCL union, but there was something really funny about this club in that all of the other members are girls!!!

21st October 2007

I feel more relaxed now regarding the safety of my family back home. They have managed to move peacefully to their new residence which is basically a building that my father owns. They moved some of their light stuff, but not their large-sized furniture and carpets. I am so pleased about this accomplishment.

A despicable civil war is taking place in Iraq right now and such threats were expected to happen sooner or later. Honestly, I seriously expected them to happen a long time ago. I’ve tried to reassure my parents that all material losses will be compensated for sooner or later. The most important issue is their safety.

Academically speaking, last week’s lectures were concerned with a quite interesting topic: namely neuroncology and the lecturers were very good. One of the fascinating things about UCL as a university is the huge sum of free courses it provides for graduate students. These courses are designed for developing research, communication and IT skills. This year, lucky me, the graduation school launched a new programme that involves acquiring an ECDL certificate. The good thing is that the whole programme is free of charge for graduate students. I registered my name at the last minute after an argument with the registration officer as I thought that I was presumably registered online. This certificate will be a good bonus for my resume.

This weekend was the most enjoyable weekend since I arrived in the UK. One of my colleagues, who lives at the same residence, invited me for a Mexican food dinner on Saturday night. She was born in Colombia and lived most of her life in Mexico. She was a very good hostess and her cooking was wonderful. It was similar to our food back home in the sense of using meat as the main ingredient. She was very considerate and used beef rather than pork in her cooking. She asked me earlier about eating pork and I told her that I did not fancy eating it.

At the table, we were joined by two couples; one from Belgium and the other from Italy and Ireland. They were all UCL graduate students. They were chatty, funny, interactive and very friendly. They were keen to know many things about Iraq; namely my opinion about the current war, the previous regime, US policy, Iraq’s future and my family’s current condition. They showed a great deal of sympathy towards my family and wished them safety. I liked and enjoyed their company.

On Friday, I went to the bank where I was informed that my debit card had been issued. It was very good news, especially as I was running out of cash and I am in desperate need of the card in order to buy a phone and to apply for dental insurance. Currently, I have two cavities that will cost me a least £40 to fix. When I get insured, I will be paying £10 a month for the whole year and this will cover me for any future dental problems. I should mention that these cavities are not due to negligence, but they are due to developmental misalignment of my teeth. Fixing this misalignment would cost me at least £3000, so I had better forget it!!

I am now pleased about the good life that I have. I am living in the heart of civilization; studying at one of the top institutions in the world; getting fairly paid; developing new friendships and interacting with many cultures. I have bright future prospects, and in addition to all of this, my family is more or less in a better position. Now, I see life in PINK! And I hope it will remain like this. I do not want any more pain, suffering or need. What I have now is a lifetime opportunity that I should maintain by working very hard and trying to make the best use of it. I am hoping that next year I will be in a better position, in a secure and well-paid job, so that I can start thinking of long-term plans.

I have started to think of visiting some tourist sites. I went to the British Museum which is very close to the Institute and whose entry is free. Despite the fact that I had visited it three times before, I felt like I was visiting it for the first time. It is an amazing place. It took me to another world of history, imagination and future. Whenever I saw Iraqi remains, I thought “This was made by my grandfathers. Although they used to fight each other, they were able to build and create things at the same time”. Hopefully my sons will be able to look at my legacy and think of me in the same way.

14th October 2007

Last Monday, my 29th birthday, I went to the so-called “Cultural department of the Iraqi Embassy” to meet the person who is called the “Cultural Consultant”. I do wish I hadn’t. I waited for 20 minutes at the reception until the consultant allowed me to go in. “How can I help you?” he asked. I explained to him that I am having unpaid leave from my employer, the Iraqi Ministry of Health. I told him that I am doing a sponsored degree and according to law, my employer should give me paid leave. I gave him my papers and asked him if he could kindly certify them and send them to Baghdad so that my family would be able to manage the case from there. His reaction was both funny and painful at the same time. He said “If I would like to do so, this may take until 2011, thus I do recommend that you send the papers uncertified as they are to Baghdad and tell your father to do it all himself

I experienced another aching trauma during last week. My family received serious threats from insurgents to leave their house or they would be killed. They are not allowed to take any furniture with them as, if they did, it would be burned in front of their eyes. My brother told me that they are managing to move some of the precious stuff to another property of theirs, but they are leaving the major things behind in order to avoid attracting attention. I never imagined that some day my family would face such a situation. I still feel shocked. Our neighbours and friends have not done anything because everybody was afraid of becoming targeted in return.

In the last two days, I have had an online discussion with my little brother, Samawi, concerning the current family circumstances. We figured out a solution that, inshallah, would manage the acute crisis. I need to send them all my savings and then try to send a monthly stipend. I hope that I am able to do the latter after getting my registration as a doctor and starting work as a locum. Otherwise, I have to try to save money from the scholarship stipend in order to send some back to my family. I am, however, pretty confident that I will manage.

One of the many good things about being an MBI scholar, rather than an Iraqi movement, Chevening or KRSF scholar, is the good payment. It is about £1000 from MBI whereas the Iraqi government’s scholarships are only £580 and for other scholarships, it is about £800.

I managed to start some serious reading during the last week, since the lecture materials are getting more and more difficult. Assignments’ titles have been posted and I have already started working on one of them. I am trying my best to be as interactive as possible. I never hesitate to ask for clarification if I am unable to understand something. The lecturers are extremely efficient, friendly and interactive with their students.

Today was lovely indeed. I had a traditional Iraqi meal, Doulmeh, with two other Iraqi students who cooked it in my honour. It was a very nice gathering. I had some laughs that were important after the horrible stresses of last week. I was in a desperate need for some sort of refreshment. I do feel very severe pain inside of me. I am here, in the heart of civilization, enjoying security, safety, learning, beauty and good life, whereas my parents and sisters are living in continuous fear, danger, darkness and very bad life. I am so mean, so selfish and so inconsiderate. Sometimes I feel the need to scream loudly to express my conflicting emotions and agonizing pains, but I do not dare to do so.

Othman

7th October 2007

Shopping in London is a quite nice experience. One can get the best quality for the cheapest prices. The market is highly competitive with clearance sales every now and then, aiming to get rid of stock and update goods. However, it is a challenge as well since one needs to spend much time and effort in analysing the market before buying anything. This is especially applicable for ‘low income’ people like me. Oxford Street, being the Mecca of shopping for all Londoners, is very long with inter-operable shops and trade names. As a result, it is very time and effort consuming to look for good value for money.

During the last two weekends, I have tried my best to analyse Oxford Street aiming to save time, money and effort for when I need to buy something. I have come up with a shopping plan that I will employ during my year here. It is simply that when I need to buy something, mainly clothes, I will go first to Sports Direct which provides ongoing clearance sales for casual clothes and sportswear. If I am unable to find what I need to buy, I will then go to Primark which has very cheap clothing, even cheaper than in Jordan but the quality is definitely not impressive. In the case of my needing something of good quality and style, I will go to Marks and Spencer where they offer good quality clothing for a reasonable price in a category called ‘Outstanding Value’. I would not go to other places like John Lewis, House of Frazer and Debenhams except in certain circumstances; for example, in my dreams and during the major Christmas sales when they want to shed their old stock.

I have managed to buy a good quality, wool coat, which is a must here because of the approaching cold weather, for £90. It seems to be a lot of money but it is not the case when compared to other London prices. I suppose it will keep me company for the whole season at least. I still need to buy more things but nothing is urgent. I may wait until the Christmas sales. Buying a laptop has been postponed since my budget does not allow me to do so, especially as I am now thinking of paying £250 pounds to enrol in a part-time Academic English Course to develop my dissertation writing skills. I am thinking as well of getting a bike to save my having to pay £13 each week for bus tickets. I have many ideas but they must all be organized according to a strict budget with a limited range of movement.

Last Monday, I opened a bank account and deposited my stipend cheque. It was a major step that gave me a great deal of relief. In the bank, I noticed an Islamic-looking girl. I thought that she was most likely Iraqi, maybe because of the way she wore her head scarf. We exchanged several glances whilst waiting in a long queue. She was braver than me as she eventually asked me in English “Are you Iraqi?” I said “Yes, from Baghdad”. After finishing our business at the bank, we had a lovely chat, discussing many issues about student life in London and our families’ problems back home. She is very funny, nice, intelligent, brave and, most importantly, not sectarian. I asked about her registration with the Iraqi Embassy and arrangements with the Ministry of Higher Education as I hope to change my status from non-paid leave to paid leave. She offered to help me regarding this issue and most likely we will go to the Embassy next week to try to arrange it -inshallah.

I applied for a part-time job, 7 hours per week, at the UCL Development office. The job is simply phoning UCL alumni to ask them to support UCL’s plan of expanding its scholarships’ scheme. They will tell me within two weeks whether I have been accepted or not. Meanwhile, I am waiting to get my GMC registration, hopefully within the next 4 weeks, so that I can start doing some locums.

The lectures during the last week were purely introductory. They were enjoyable since most of the lecturers have very good communication and presentation skills that keep the audience constantly absorbed despite the dry nature of the lecture material. Till now, I have not done any serious reading, maybe due to the fact that there is no need to do so. Next week the game will be different since lectures will be quite informative and give much new information that will require intense reviewing. I should keep myself up-to-date so that when I am busy during the next few months, I will be in a good position.

Now, I feel much more relaxed. Everything is getting clearer and I’ve even started to like my residence despite the pain in the neck disadvantage of being so far away from my Institute with the implied transport costs. Today, Sunday, I woke up at 12 pm for the first time in at least 3 years. I do appreciate the good conditions I am living in now, but I also keep in mind that every minute here is so expensive since basically one can use one’s time in so many different ways. I am hoping that in the next few weeks I will achieve much more than I have managed to achieve during the last three weeks. I intend to do so by settling down and becoming oriented towards this wholly new stage of my life.

Tomorrow will be my birthday. I will start my 29th year with a fresh, prospective, optimistic and confident beginning. Till now, I have received two congratulations; one from my little brother, Samawi, and another one from an English friend of mine who was my flatmate during my previous training period. The most important congratulations I am waiting for is from my mother; I miss her so much. She suffered a lot for her children’s sake, for them to be what they are now. She is the greatest person I have ever known. Last birthday, I was in Jordan and was unable to return to Iraq, so my family celebrated my birthday in my absence and in the dark as well, as there is no national electricity.

The most important tasks to be achieved during next week will be:
firstly, finalising the Iraqi Embassy issue;
secondly, getting my debit card so that I can buy a phone and get a student Oyster card ;
thirdly, and most importantly, starting some serious reading.

Othman

30th September, 2007

The last two weeks were so exciting with many tasks achieved. I've finished enrolment with both UCL and the Institute of Neurology. It was a nice experience; moving from red to green and then purple zones. I felt as if I was in a kids' show, however, it was enjoyable mainly for two reasons.  Firstly most of the students I met were paying for their fees themselves, whilst in my case, being sponsored gave me a unique and secure feeling of being firmly supported so that I need not worry about bank transfers or credit card problems. Secondly, the huge diversity of students' origins, being from all over the world, took away any impending sense of loneliness and strangeness.

The UCL Orientation Programme for International Students was quite helpful. Despite having lived in London for 6 months in the past, I have learned from this programme new ‘saving tips’ that I will employ during the next year. For instance, when I buy a phone contract, I will be able to negotiate to get the best deal for myself and not be persuaded by a ready made offer.  I will ideally get only what I need, no more, no less.  Another very important thing provided during the Programme was a meeting with UCL's partner bank, Barclays, so that I’ve now filled in an application form for opening a bank account.  This was a very worrying thing since opening a UK bank account is well known for not being an easy task. The good thing here with a Barclays’ student bank account is that they provide a debit card if I put 2000 Pounds into the account.  This is the same sum that MBI provides as a four-monthly stipend. For a student, such a card is an important ‘saving issue’ since one can buy many things and services online for a cheaper price.

I have experienced some very nice feelings, mainly being ten years younger, as if joining University life for the first time or in other words a "Back to School " experience. I had these mixed and conflicting feelings of excitement, optimism, anxiety, happiness and even fear of being on a new stage; really new in everything. Yes, this was a little bit scary and I really got frightened. This year will be a cornerstone in my life so that I should try to do my best but the question is ‘Can I achieve my goals in such academic atmosphere, in an elite Institute, in such an extremely elite University, with highly expert, multi-talented and competitive colleagues.  I’ve asked myself this question many times. The only answer I have is "Inshalla, yes".

The last week was for enrollment at the Institute. The first encouraging thing about the induction course and maybe the whole programme, which is well known for being highly demanding, is that it started with a welcome party where I met my future colleagues.  Here, again, I have experienced diversity by having colleagues from China to Mexico.  I have met some Arabs who were quite friendly as well but their only problem is that their second question is always "Are you Shia or Sunni?" and I keep answering "I am Iraqi no more no less".  Perhaps they do not realize that this question is killing dozens and dozens of my people every single day and because of it millions of Iraqis are homeless and below the poverty line.  Anyway, the Induction programme was very well organized, informative, and extremely useful. I have to say, by the time it finished, much of my initial anxiety and fear had subsided.

On Wednesday afternoon, I received a telephone call that I have been waiting for. The accommodation office offered me catered accommodation and said that I could move in the very next day should I pay the first installment.  I went to the office, signed the contract and started to move my stuff to my accommodation in Camden Road, dreaming of an ideal residence since it is run by UCL directly. I was so excited since I thought that this accommodation would be quite convenient, time and money saving, and comfortable. One of the unique points about MBI scholarships that is not present in other scholarships is their responsibility for their scholars’ accommodation. This is why I was so keen to get catered accommodation since it will save me time and money especially for a bad cook like myself!

I went to the residence with my heavy bag by tube. Once I got out of the tube station, two guys asked me "Hey man, do you want marijuana?" and what could I answer other than "No. Thank you".   At last I arrived at the Residence Office and showed the officer my accommodation offer. She handed me four keys; one for the main door of the residence, one for the flat, one for my room and one for my pigeonhole. In addition, they gave me an ID card that I should show at meal times.  I went to the flat, got into my room, and then started to organize my stuff.  I then had a long nap for three hours.

During the last three days, I have appreciated three good points about the residence.  Firstly, being quiet, secondly the quality and quantity of the food being fairly good to very good, and thirdly, the very friendly flat-mates who again reflect the diversity of UCL' students being from India, Nigeria, Greece and America. They are studying for MSc degrees in different subjects ranging from Archaeology to Environmental Design.

Well, the bad points are really numerous. The most important one is that I have to take the tube or bus to get to the Institute which means at least £14 a week or £50 a month.  Flat residents are wholly responsible for the cleanliness of their flat including the bathroom which is not provided with toilet paper or soap. We have to buy a card to activate the room's landline and another card to activate internet access. On balance, I am mildly disappointed about the residence in comparison to what I was imagining or dreaming about.

Friday was quite nice day since I went to the Foundation to get the first stipend cheque which I did need because my savings are almost finished and I need to buy a coat because the weather is getting colder. I will see whether my budget allows me to get a laptop which is an extremely vital aid to study, as I should send money back to Baghdad. I will try my best to find a weekend job that will not affect my demanding studies and will not suppress my goal of getting a distinction mark. In addition, I want to enjoy myself a little bit, especially after the most stressful last three years. I need to appreciate being human again and not behaving like a dedicated human machine. I am in a desperate need of serious relaxation. I wish I could manage all of this during the next few weeks otherwise, I may eventually collapse.

15 September 2007

Today was for complete relaxation, not only as it was Saturday, but because of what I have achieved during the last week and more specifically, the last two days.

 Okay, let's start from the beginning. My name is Othman Mohamad Al-Helli, a graduate of Al-Nahrain College of Medicine in 2002. I was awarded a scholarship by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation to cover the cost of studying for an MSc degree in Clinical Neurology at UCL for one calendar year. I was born on Sunday 8 October 1978, attended primary school at a local school, and then onto secondary school at the Gifted-Boys School (Al- Mutameizeen School). After finishing University education in July 2002 I worked for two years in Iraq and year and a half in Jordan. Then I was awarded a Karim Rida Said Foundation grant to study for 6 months training in Neuroradiology at UCL from January till July 2007.

 On 26th August, Carolyn and Marylyn called me to say that I had been awarded an MBI Al Jaber Foundation scholarship. It was indeed the happiest news I had heard for a very long time. I did not feel so elated even with the previous scholarship, perhaps because the first one was to conduct training while this is to study for an MSc degree with all the implied future prospects. On 28th August, Marylyn emailed me a softcopy of the scholarship contract and visa letter.

 I applied for visa on 29th August and luckily received it on 30th August. For the visa application, I submitted every single paper I have, starting from my secondary school certificate, university transcripts, letters of recommendation and ending with MBI letters which were certainly quite helpful, mainly for being so comprehensive. This amounted to more than 60 papers in total.

 I started to look for a flight to arrive in the UK no later than 4th September so that I could join a 5 day preparation course for my 13th Sept ‘PLAB 2’ exam. There are two reasons for doing this exam; firstly, my Masters is a clinical one which means I will be in contact with patients, and therefore, should have General Medical Council registration to be able to do so. Secondly, as a student, I am allowed to work for 20 hours a week so that, instead of working in a supermarket or restaurant during the weekends, I might be able to work as a locum. Hopefully, this will help me to save some money to send back home.

 I did my exam on the 13th. It was not as difficult as I expected but it was not easy either.  Results will be issued in two weeks time. Just after finishing the exam, I got onto the tube going to Bond Street Station to meet Carolyn and Marylyn. Both of them were extremely welcoming and glad to see me. We had a very lovely chat for about an hour. Then I went back to my temporary accommodation with a close friend of mine. That night, I had a really good sleep, something that I have not experienced for more than two weeks.

 Yesterday, I went to the UCL accommodation office to find out the result of my accommodation application. They told me that they would not have a definite answer until 26th September. This was really disappointing for many reasons; mainly I need to be settled at a permanent address so that I can open a bank account, register with the Metropolitan police, and go to the Iraqi Embassy with all of the relevant details to inform them that I am studying here. The most important task for next week is to sort out my accommodation so that I can complete all the formal paper work.

Ammar Humadi Al Naimi has spent a year in London as an MBI Scholar. Here are some of his thoughts on the experience:

Wednesday 21st February

This past week was supposed to be the happiest week in my year but, unfortunately it was not. On Valentine’s Day, I got really ill. I got a bad flu with a complicated tonsillitis. I had to spend all the day in bed. I ate nothing and drank nothing. I was feverish and I was delirious. I was thinking of how lonely I was and that if I died that day, nobody is going to know anything about it and no one will care. It really put me down.

The illness was getting worse next day that I had to go to the doctor. I could not meet him because the outpatient clinic opens from 2 pm to 3:30 pm only. I tried to book an appointment but the doctor was booked for a month ahead. I gave it up and decided to take analgesics to relieve the pain and wait till the illness goes away.

I felt better with analgesics. On Sunday the 18th, I went to the Institute of contemporary arts. I watched a documentary movie called ‘Iraq in fragment’. It showed how fragmented Iraq is and it reminded me of how sad the situation in Iraq became. I felt really bad and I cried my eyes out while I was watching it. I was moved emotionally and I was a wreck.

Tuesday 20th February

Tuesday 20th February was my birthday. I became 25 years old and everyone was telling me that I became quarter a century old which made me feel sad that I have not accomplished what I wanted to do at this age yet. Yesterday was awful. All of my friends in London called me to wish me a happy birthday but, the people that I care most about did not call me. My parents did not call me to wish me a happy birthday.

I got so worried about them that I called them. They told me terrible news. They have been threatened lately. My dad had been threatened because he is a doctor and the death squads are trying to get hold of him or his family. It shocked me to the core that I did not know about all of these stuff from my family. They did not want to tell me so that I do not get worried. I feel terrible. My mom said that they will have to leave home soon if they want to keep their lives. I do not know what to do. I am helpless in London. Suddenly, life is not as glamorous as I began to see it. I realize that I left home while my family is facing the worst things of life. I wish if I can sacrifice my life to guarantee their safety. All that I can do right now is to pray for them. Please pray for the sake of me and my family. May god keep them safe…….

16th of January 2007

Today is the 16th of January 2007 and this morning I remembered why I do not like talking about politics. Carolyn had sent me an invitation a few days ago for a lecture by the vice president of Iraq, Mr. Tariq Al-Hashimi at SOAS. I woke up early so that I did not miss the lecture and I arrived at 10:45. I was really shocked at how secure the place was and to see a metal detector and many policemen outside. I was not on the invitation list and I had to wait for a vacancy. About five minutes passed until I was asked to go into the lecture room.

It was not a large lecture room and I recognized that most of the people there are Arabs or Iraqis in origin at least. I took my seat and waited for a couple of minutes until the vice president arrived. He was very frank, direct and sincere. I really liked him because he did not lie; he did not deny how bad the situation in Iraq is. He admitted that people are dying and that the Sunnis are being persecuted in Iraq. He talked for only 30 minutes to allow a lot of time for questions. I was the first to ask him a question. I had two questions, the first about death squads and the second was asking about his comment on Sunnis being driven out of Baghdad. He answered very clearly.

The audience did not like the fact that he said that he asked Bush for more troops in Iraq to keep the peace. The audience accused him of being for the occupation and said that the Americans are the cause of all the Iraqi problems. They defended the Shiites militia and the death squads. I was so frustrated because these people were talking about the occupation as if it is the main problem in Iraq. I was there six months ago and people are dying in dozens everywhere. My country is being torn apart. 90% of my extended family had to leave Iraq in the past year. I remembered that I do not like talking about politics because I can not stand hearing people with no pain or suffering talking about solutions to Iraq’s problems when they are not acknowledging the main problem. I know that I may play a role in politics some day because when I reach the place that I have in mind for myself I will be an influential person that has to get involved in politics. I decided that I will keep myself from getting involved in politics for the time being and just get on with my life.

The lecture was a great experience for me and it showed me how tolerant the vice president was for the harsh and rude questions he was asked. I respect him a lot at the moment and I totally agree with his plan and strategy. I hope that in the following few months I will hear that he is able to accomplish something for soothing the bleeding wounds of my country.

Monday, September 18, 2006

It has been two weeks since I came to London. But to write about the time that I am going to spend in London, I should mention how my travel was. It was a long tiring trip that took more than 5 hours from Amman to Heathrow airport. I had to throw away some of my books before boarding the plane because my luggage was way over weight! Even then I had to pay for excess luggage after throwing away the books because I was still overweight.

After reaching Heathrow, I had to carry my heavy luggage and it really hurt my back. The Underground was not working from Heathrow but there were bus services to compensate and I took the bus to reach the nearest underground station then I took the Victoria line and got to Russell Square station and walked from there to my accommodation. It was about 5pm on a Sunday afternoon. There was no one in the accommodation reception because it was a weekend: I had to call the emergency number and then person responsible came out, welcomed me, showed me the way to my room and gave me my keys. I was finally able to put down my backpack and hand luggage and got the rest that I longed for.

It was just then that I first felt I had finally settled, and I couldn’t have been more mistaken. When I took my first shower in my en-suite bath, I found how much stuff I needed to get. I needed shampoo, soap, sponge, tooth brush and paste…etc.

It was a long list of essential things that you need to use on a daily basis. I thought that I shouldn’t get them from home because I was able to buy them from any store in London, but I now know that I should have brought them from home because they wouldn’t add any significant weight to my luggage and they would have cost fraction of the price that I bought them for. Therefore, I suggest that whatever you think that you need to use daily, and whatever your parents suggest for you to take, just trust me and pack it in your suitcase.

After buying the things that I needed, finding a nearby cheap market to buy the food from, and making a phone call home to tell my family that I was doing fine, it was time to visit my sponsor, the MBI Foundation and meet Carolyn Perry.

Carolyn was very helpful, then it was time to say ‘have a good day’ and I left the Foundation to have a walk in Oxford St. and buy some clothes.

For the following days, nothing big happened. Life was going on smoothly. I met new people in the accommodation and got to know my neighbours who are a guy from China ‘Bing’ and a girl from Korea ‘Heusang’. They are very nice people and I am trying to bond with them as much as I can, as we are going to share a flat for a whole year.

To sum up the things that I experienced in London so far, I got to meet Antonio Banderas and David Hasselback, people are very nice and friendly and they will help you when you are in need, getting an Oyster card is a very intelligent move for paying for public transport in London, getting to know how to move around London by the bus is much more cheaper than by the tube, it is a very good thing to arrive early to the accommodation to be able to get things from the students who are moving out for free and this would save a lot of money, opening a bank account takes a lot of time….

That’s about all that I had in the past two weeks and I will keep writing about my time in London as days go by.

17th September 2007

It was two days before the 17th of September when I received an email from Carolyn asking me whether I wanted to go to a Reception at the House of Lords. I definitely wanted to go there. I went to MBI and got my invitation to a reception hosted by Lord Stone of Blackheath in the House of Lords for the Olive Tree Project.

It took me a long time to prepare for the reception. I wore my suit but I was so worried that it would be a black tie reception because I wanted to fit in more than anything on that day.  I arrived at the House of Lords at 6 pm which was the time when the reception starts and waited in a queue to get into the reception room. In the queue, I was the only one who is not talking to someone and I thought that everybody knows everybody and that I was the only person with no contacts. But then I introduced myself to someone who turned out to be a Judge and one of the Trustees of the Olive tree trust at the same time. He introduced me to an Australian lady who used to work in courts and is associated with law office work.

I got into the reception to find out that I did not have a tag badge so I had to write my own and I was so confused about what to write on it. Who am I exactly and why I am in the reception?! By answering this question I knew what to write. I wrote ‘Dr. Ammar Al Naimi / MBI scholar’ as I thought that this is the most proper title for me.

I met Diana, the administrator from the Olive Tree Trust, and she introduced me to the Olive Tree Scholars. I learned about their programme which sponsors Palestinian and Israeli students to study in university in London and live together until they finish their studies to go back to their home countries to work in joint projects. The idea of the programme fascinated me and I found it to be very moving and clever. What surprised me is that I had not heard about this programme before which was a shame. I was so happy that Sheikh Mohamed was one of the sponsors of the Olive Tree Trust  which gave me another reason to respect this man more and more.

I met a lot of people afterwards and they were very interested in Iraq and me and I told them all about MBI and how they gave me my life chance by giving me the opportunity to study in London. The thing that touched me most is that they encouraged me and asked me to look back at my time in London. I have been in London for one month and I am already in the House of Lords. It really hit me hard when they said that because it is true. I am progressing so far and I am looking forward to my life in London. At the end of the evening, I went to Lord Stone and thanked him for a perfect reception for a great cause. I went back home so happy and ecstatic about my evening at the House of Lords. And now I am looking forward for more and more.