In the spirit of collaboration, we asked writers we admire if they'd like to ask Haneen a question. For the next few weeks, we will post one a day.
Hope this e-mail finds you well. I
loved reading Falcons! I love the olfactory presence in
literature, so I'd like to what your favorite smells were growing up in Iraq
and now, living in Egypt.
Haneen Alshujairy:
I used to love the smell of a
specific plant we had in our garden back in Iraq, the plant’s name in Arabic is
(Shabboy) but I’m not sure what’s the name of it in English, it gives such a
warm scent when the night comes.
Now in Egypt I’m much more
attracted to the smells of food : ) the smell and taste of fresh fried onions
on a plate of Kushary, just yummy!
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What kind of books do you like to read? Do you have a favorite
author?
Haneen Alshujairy:
I do have a favorite author, his name is Ali Al-wardi. He's
Iraqi and he wrote many books discussing social science in general and talked
about Iraqi society in particular in a couple of his books. I was also into
self help books at one stage of my life - although they didn't do much help. :) But I read them anyway, and now I just buy novels that I know I'll enjoy
reading.
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Lily Hoang:
If you could design a print for your Converse, what would it be?
Haneen Alshujairy:
I don't think I'd change much in it, maybe add a star and choose
a color that doesn't exist in their collection, otherwise I'll keep it simple
and comfy.
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What American foods have you had? What's your favorite? What's
your favorite Middle Eastern food? I guess that's technically 3 questions, but
they're all about food, and I like food so much, so I feel like it's important?
Haneen Alshujairy:
I love food! Tried every fast food restaurant we got here Burger
King, Hardees, Mc Donalds, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, I know Mc Donalds is American
but I'm not 100% sure about the rest. My favorite is Fudreckers, I love their
burgers and chicken Cajun!
And for eastern food I’ve got a long list also but I’m gonna tell you my favorite dish is murgat bamia which I already told one of the writers about you can also find a link for its recipe :)
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Kevin
Thurston:
I've heard Justin's side of how he found you, but I haven't
heard what your initial thoughts were. Did it take some time to trust this
random American who had all of these questions for you? Did you just think
"who is this crazy man?" and hoped he would go away? What was your
prospective at the beginning of your relationship?
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Haneen Alshujairy:
Oh, he was
very professional, especially when we first started talking. In the first
message he ever sent me he stated the fact that he was a published poet – which
I thought was impressive – and then continued to ask me about my life being
Iraqi and all that. I normally don’t trust people who approach me with
questions about the war and such sensitive matters, but I remember searching
his name on the Internet at that time and realizing everything he said about
himself was true. so I began to trust him and with tons of back and forth
e-mails we reached a level of friendship that I’ll cherish forever : )
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What is your favorite traditional Iraqi dish? Why is this your
favorite? What special memories do you associate with this food? Lastly, if you
know the recipe and how to prepare it, I'd like to know!
Haneen Alshujairy:
My favorite dish is
Murgat Bamia. It’s a lunch time dish and people usually mix it with either
white rice or Iraqi bread, I love the smell and the taste of the stew when
mixed with the rice. I googled a recipe for you and found this one which is a
close match to the one we make at home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2QpvV5Z6go
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Have you felt physically safe for any significant period of time
since you were old enough to be aware of what was happening in the world around
you? If so, when and where was that? If not, how do you think that almost
always feeling physically unsafe has changed the way you think about yourself
and the world?
Haneen Alshujairy:
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You've done a lot of wonderful work trying to get different
cultures to communicate effectively, to prevent future misunderstandings and
conflicts. At what point in your life did you decide to take on that endeavor?
Where did you start?
Haneen Alshujairy:
Well it wasn’t a
particular incident that led to this, I was just a curious girl growing up and
very into talking to people from different backgrounds. I was also into
websites that had people meeting for the sake of cultural/language exchanges, I
thought of it as a way to improve my English and at the same time know more
about other countries, so I ended up meeting a lot of people from different
places around the world and what was frustrating is that the more I met people
the more I learned how little they knew about the middle east and how we live. Sometimes that was frustrating, knowing how badly portrayed the Arabs are
to the western world. So I tried to change that image with every person I met, It wasn’t big but it made me feel like I’m doing something, and if one of them
corrected at least one misconception thrown in a conversation about Arabs then
the word will spread somehow, to me that was something.
In 2007, I met Justin
who had the same enthusiasm – if not more
– as I am about this issue, and I guess
the rest is history.
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When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Haneen Alshujairy:
As a kid, I dreamt of becoming an inventor. I thought if I
would invent something cool and related to technology I'd get to travel to
Japan :) Till this day Japan is on my list of places I’d love to see before I
die.
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Are there any words you refuse to use?
Haneen Alshujairy:
I love your question!
it’s interesting ‘cause it got me to think of any words I absolutely refuse to
use, and I couldn’t think of any. But of course I’m excluding the words that
could count as offensive or could hurt people. I’m loving the
question because it took me the longest to answer, it took me a while trying to
go through my daily life dictionary of words and I think I could not find any
because it’s never about the word itself, it’s more about the meaning behind
it. So long answer short:
no.
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I love the title of the novel not only for how it ties
into the story (the prisoners being described as crying out like falcons from
behind a locked door) but also because of the poetry in describing someone or
something being held back. A falcon that doesn't fly, but is kept grounded to
the floor. I read this as a metaphor for our two heroes in the story--that they
are being kept from 'flying' by the war. That there is a greater version of
themselves they would rather be. We all dream of being better versions of
ourselves, or of better lives, but I wonder if maybe this seemed particularly
true for you, as someone who was forced to leave your home country?
Haneen Alshujairy:
Of course, we all rather be greater versions of ourselves, and I
did feel connected to the novel in too many ways, it was one of the main
reasons I helped Justin with writing it.
But if you think about
it, all of us are faced with circumstances that hold us back, this is what
life’s all about, and it’s up to us. We decide if we’d rather sit down and whine
about it or get over it and start pursuing the version that we want to become
and reach our life goals. I guess I’m lucky to have been born in a family that
pushed me and provided me with enough love for me to look at everything with an
optimistic eye and to not let me dare to compare my life to others. It’s true, I
was forced to leave my home but if I looked at it this way I would live in
anger, frustration and I would be giving myself an excuse to not be become the
person I want to be or even be productive. So I try not to look at it this way,
instead I try to look at the glass half full and think of it as “an opportunity
to live in Egypt”, for example.
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Do you love oum kalthum?
Is she loved by all
egyptians?
Did you love her in iraq
also?
Or not?
Too many questions!
Haneen Alshujairy:
I’d say Yes, Yes and Yes! :) She’s an icon in every Arabic country I can think of. Her voice and type of music took some getting used to with me though before I started to appreciate her music.
I’d say Yes, Yes and Yes! :) She’s an icon in every Arabic country I can think of. Her voice and type of music took some getting used to with me though before I started to appreciate her music.
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Who is your favorite comic book character - and why?
I’m not much of a comic books fan, I only had two comic books, one was Spiderman and the other was X-Men. I’m saying (had) because I decided to give them away to a friend who was a bigger fan than I am. But if I had to choose I’d say Spiderman because he was an ordinary guy who became extraordinary due to an accident and decided to use that power for good instead of evil. Cliché but sweet.
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In Sex and the City 2, the 'girls' went to Abu Dhabi and, though
I haven't been there myself, it felt like a real cheap shot at the Middle East, a stereotypical / cliche fest - am I right or wrong?
Haneen Alshujairy:
I haven't watched that actually. I've heard of the Sex and the City
movies and the tv series but never watched them before, so I can't really be
the judge of that, but if it was it wouldn't be the first and certainly is not
going to be the last movie that showed the Arabs in a cliché or a stereotypical
way. I am though one of those optimistic people that think this view
will change to a more positive or at least realistic one. : )
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Who is your favorite artist?
Haneen Alshujairy:
Favorite artist would
be Alaa Bashir, this is a link to some of his artwork:
Also my favorite
singer is Souad Massi : )
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Michael Kimball:
What was it like to be a 13-year-old girl and leaving Baghdad in
the midst of a war?
Haneen Alshujairy:
The leaving part was not the scary part to be honest, the worst
part was the nights of the war itself; going to bed not knowing if I'll wake up
the next morning or not was the scary part. I was just like you said, thirteen
years old, so my imagination took the best of me. You can only imagine the
thoughts that were going through my head each time I heard the sound of a bomb
going off. The first night I thought we were all going to die and freaked out!
like REALLY freaked out!
I remember my mom giving us kids some candy. She gave me Twix, she thought it would help somehow. Funny thing is I still can not eat Twix till this day. Don't think ever will.
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Is there one thing you fear most, or more than other things?
Haneen Alshujairy:
I think the thing that
comes on top of my list is FISH.
I know it’s weird and
kind of funny too, but it’s very real. I’m telling you, Edward, I can not look
at fish. Not even if it was drawn on a tuna box. And here’s why: When I was little my
family and some friends of the family all went on a trip to a very nice
place in Iraq, it was a small beach with a big lake that families go to during
the summer time. All of my family were sitting on the beach chatting with the
other families when I decided to collect rocks from the bottom of the lake, not
knowing how to swim. I ended up slipping on some very slippery rocks beneath my
feet and I drowned. I don’t know how long I lasted under the water or what I
saw when I drowned but all I know is once they took me out it was the start of
a fish-phobia – as I like to call it – that caused/still causing me some really
embarrassing moments at fish markets, aquariums or mom’s refrigerator.
If you know any people
with fish phobias please let me know, I’d love to meet them!
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I'm imagining that
your time in Egypt has exposed you to a new set of turbulent political
developments -- the so-called "Arab Spring" for one, that began in
2010. Do you feel "inside" or "outside" the Arab Spring? By
that, I guess I mean to ask, does your displacement from Iraq continue to make
you feel displaced, even as intense sociopolitical movements have erupted in
the region? Do you feel that the calamity of the Iraq War (my term) has slipped
into the past and has been replaced by other crises and developments in
North Africa, the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf?
Haneen Alshujairy:
As to the other part
of your question, I will tell you this, the way I see it is the middle east’s
boiling one country at a time. Each Arabic country is emotionally connected to
one another through the people, and each country is cheering for the other to
get their freedom the way it should’ve been long time ago. Because this time – as
cheesy as it may sound – it’s a
revolution by the people for the people. When I visited Jordan during the
Egyptian revolution every single Jordanian I met was cheering for the
Egyptians. Now I’m in Egypt and every single Egyptian I talk to is cheering for
Syrians to get their freedom and I bet in Jordan they feel the same way too. I
bet they feel the same way in every Arabic country. So my feeling of
displacement as an individual is very insignificant compared to my other
feeling of hope for a positive future we’re making for the generations that are
yet to come.
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Zach Dodson:
What's your top score in fruit ninja? Mine's 1384, in arcade mode, but it was a very lucky game after a LOT of wasted time.
Haneen Alshujairy:
The best score I got playing fruit ninja was 305. Not so good, I know but ask me about Angry Birds, and I’ll give you a headache talking about my accomplishments playing that game.
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My name is Mike, and we're Facebook
friends! Justin Sirois emailed some folks asking them if they'd like to ask you
one question about your life, and I said yes, that sounds fun, so here goes.
What is one thing you miss from your daily routine as a kid that you wish were
in your daily routine as an adult?
I am asking this because it's Spring outside in Baltimore and I just got coffee, but I realized walking around that there used to be this 3-foot high park wall that I would walk on while walking home from school as a kid, and I miss not having any walls to walk on anymore.
I am asking this because it's Spring outside in Baltimore and I just got coffee, but I realized walking around that there used to be this 3-foot high park wall that I would walk on while walking home from school as a kid, and I miss not having any walls to walk on anymore.
Haneen Alshujairy:
We are Facebook
friends! And I love your profile picture! Always thought it was taken out some Hollywood
movie. The thing I miss the most is riding my pink bicycle. I had one as a kid
and every time I rode it I had this feeling of owning the street near my home.
Amazing feeling!
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What is the thing you miss most about Iraq?
Haneen Alshujairy:
The thing I miss most about Iraq is my home. I grew up in a very friendly neighborhood, and our house was in the center of a fairly long street. At one end of that street was my primary school and on the other end was a small food store that sold candy, potato chips, and all kinds of yummy stuff. I miss all that. And right at this moment I’m missing some delicious Iraqi Kebab!
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Haneen Alshujairy:
Interesting question! I asked my father if anything cool happened on the day I was born, and he could not remember! He just said: “khosh sana chanat” -- Iraqi for “it was a good year.”But I’m not gonna your question unanswered so I’m relying on Google now and I just found something for you, it was ... wait for it ... Qussay Saddam Hussein's birthday! Hah.
So on the day I was born Saddam’s family was celebrating.
