Hello! I’m Noor and I’m in the Iraqi Cultural Association. We’re a new club in Georgetown University in Qatar, and we hope to use our club to discuss various different aspects of the Iraqi culture, including Iraqi art, food, literature etc., and all in all put an emphasis on the many different pieces of the Iraqi individual that disinvolve politics.
This is a creative piece about an important topic we have talked about in the club: the relationship between one’s self and their country.
It brings a sort of comfort
that might seem rather mundane.
Must there be a harmony of pronunciations?
A usage of the same word for the same things,
When it is made abundantly clear that there will, indeed, be people who understand you when you speak, no matter the place they are born?
No.
This comfort is not merely the relief of being comprehended, though that is important too. If I could be satiated by the harmony of pronunciations I would be satiated by conversation.
But I want to surround myself with conversation that blooms like the flowers from a hanging garden,
Like a river that splits in two, a conversation that reminds me how I once wished to distance myself from this part of my soul and how much that has changed. I have cut that distance short with desire alone, desire to connect with what I once ran away from,
And desire became action, for I have already had this conversation with those who share my nation but certainly not my story.
While there are a great many similarities in the way many of us feel about our native country, naturally, my words alone cannot hope to describe all of theirs.
With different stories we come together to learn more about this land named Iraq.
And in the same way comprehension can be achieved regardless of country,
Please know you can join our club regardless of country, and we can,
Together,
Learn more about this land named Iraq.