Entry 21

The other day one of my friends who is also an English teacher told me about a few questions she had asked her students so that they could practice their speaking English...
One of the questions was this: " Who is your hero? " ...
If I were supposed to answer this question, I would say , " My heroes are the artists: the ones who have created something to remain alive after them: the poets, artists, novelists, playwrights, directors, musicians, ... My heroes are all the martyrs, all the ones who have been brave enough to put themselves in danger to fight against cruelty , the ones who have endured great pains in prisons to protest against the injustice and defend the truth ..."
And ... now:
My heroes are the two Italian girls who have chosen to leave their comfort, their home and their loved ones and go to another country to help the poor , injured and oppressed small girls & boys ... : a country in which there is no comfort, no law , no kindness, no humanity , no love , no faith ... and the only things which exist are fighting, bloodshed, massacre, cruelty, aggression and violation ...

Entry 20

Some weeks ago I heard about a girl who had committed suicide because she wanted to marry a boy whom she loved a lot, but her dad had forced her to marry one of her suitors and the girl could not have borne it and had decided to get rid of her bitter life...
Some time later I heard about another girl who had planned to continue her studies, but her father didn't let her do it ...
About a month ago my friend & I were talking with two girls... they were surprised when they heard that there are lots of girls who marry at the age of about 27 or more ... one of them said, " ... in our city if a girl has not been married at the age of 20, everybody will think it's become late and she won't have any choice for marriage... " ; then she told us that she had been a veryyyyyy smart , clever and hard-working girl at school who liked to continue her studies, but she had been forced to get married and stop studying...
One of our main and most serious problems which causes lots of problems in families is that the majority of people in some cities, towns and remote villages are still under the influence of the old, illogical and sometimes destructive traditions and habits... and the situation is worse for the girls & women...
These people are afraid of changing these traditions and being a little creative in their thoughts & decisions...
Living with these traditions has made the life for most of people and families hard and sometimes intolerable ...
Some of these traditions seem not to be so much destructive, but I do believe they prevent us from making progress, thinking creatively and making a new, modern and healthy culture in our own lives as well as our society ...

Entry 19

Today : We see the pictures of killing 50 ... 60 or 70 people in Iraq ...
Yesterday : the pictures of kidnapping men and women and threatening them with death ...
Another day : the pictures of their parents in tears demanding their government that they take a step to make them free ...
Another day: the pictures of the people in their country demonstrating in support of the kidnapped ...
Another day: the pictures of bloodshed in Israel and the death of the innocent... Another day: the pictures of the towers in New York collapsing and falling down ... Another day: the pictures of the students in the school in Russia being shot while trying to flee ...
Everyday while sitting in the living room to have a break and have a cup of tea , or while passing there to go to the yard or go out, I'm confronted with one of these pictures ...
It makes me sit, watch and listen ... then think & think & think ... trying to find an answer to my questions : WHY ? UNTIL WHEN ?! ...
I wonder where the world is going ? Towards peace ?!!??! ...

Entry 18

The other day my mom was talking to her cousin who lives in Canada ; he was telling my mom about sending his father-in-law to a NURSING HOME...
Whenever I hear this word or someone sending their parents there , I feel terribly bad, sad and depressed ...
I can never see a son or daughter sending their parents there although they have their own reason; most of them say the reason is that they cannot take care of their parents well at home ; but I don't believe: it's just an excuse ! ...
Most of these families who send their parents to a nursing home are rich enough to get a nurse and want her to take care of their parents at home...
Sending parents to a NURSING HOME - in my opinion-shows complete lack of love, kind feeling , affection and sympathy towards them...
The intertsting point is that most of the families who send their loved ones! there are rich ... and nobody has ever seen a family, who aren't able to take care of their parents, send them there ...of course it may be because of the expenses , but I think it's not the real reason ...
I can never tolorate a mom or dad's innocent looking at the door of a NURSING HOME, expecting their children to arrive on a holiday , and the worse , looking at them innocently with their eyes filled with tears when they are leaving ...

Entry 17

While I was studying English Literature at the university, I read lots of English masterpieces and read and studied lots of critical writings & commentaries on them...
I'm still reading and enjoying them a lot ...
Two weeks ago I started reading a different one :" Cat among the Pigeons " by " Agatha Christie " ...
I love her works and enjoy reading them a lot ...
I used to watch them on TV when they were shown ... they cause a great challenge in my mind and make me think carefully and logically ...
I enjoy this kind of thinking and finding solutions for life problems ...
I love Hercule Poirot ...
He has a great mind as well as Miss Marple does ...
Poirot's character is really interesting ... he gets great results from events which seem to be of little importance in the story...
Despite Agatha's husband betraying her and the sad life she endured, she is now the world's best known mistery writer ...

Entry 16

At this moment that I'm writing , all the news channels around the world are showing the live pictures of the Russian soldiers attacking the elementary school taken hostage two days ago …
At the moment lots of gunfire and explosions are being heard and probably lots of innocent people , mostly children are being killed for no reason …
At the moment I see under the pictures of this scene other news about the fate of the two French journalists taken hostage by Iraqis ...
Two days ago I heard my mother's depressed scream for watching the scenes of the killing of 12 Nepalese hostages ...
Some months ago we watched the beheading of a Korean young man in Iraq who was begging to remain alive … he loved LIFE and we all love LIFE and everyone loves LIFE …
I'm shocked , depressed , sad , tired … and silent … silent , because I've thought a lottttttttt and I haven't found any answer that how one can prevent happening these events …
I haven't still found a solution ...

Entry 15

We are in the 29 th rank in the Olympics 2004 !
I didn't expect it ...
When our competition with Israel was cancelled , I was really disappointed ... Watching the lively people from all over the world , even from the poorest countries in Africa where there was no limitation for women , had made me so upset ...
Now I feel happy ...
In comparison with some other countries like Denmark , Argentina , Switzerland , Belgium , Ireland , Mexico , Portugal , ... whose facilities are indeed more than Iran , we can be proud of ourselves now ...