Monday was the beginning of Uni Heidelberg orientation. Tuesday (yesterday) was the first day I actually went since I was preoccupied with moving from Marburg on Monday. A lot of things happened on Tuesday: reeling from more market crashes, I felt myself hoping for things to be ok more than I normally feel compelled to do.
Tuesday was also the day when I met an Iraqi student. Perhaps one of the most cheerful people I met. He was thrilled to learn I was from the US and talked with gleaming eyes of how much he would like to continue his studies in chemistry there. I soon felt comfortable enough with him to broach the rather politically charged question of the war in Iraq. To my relief he didn't seem to mind at all; on the contrary, he looked almost pleased to be able to have an exchange with someone on the "other" side of the situation. He told me that things were definitely getting better. He described how there were many different groups of people, some supported by Syria, others by Iran, who were determined to fight each other. He said he felt bad about the war, especially when they hear about American soldiers dying, because those folks have families too. He wanted to know more about Americans felt about the war, and I was glad to do the best I could describing all the different attitudes toward it. I asked quite tentatively how the situation was for ordinary citizens, whether it was safe yet to go on the streets, etc. His answer was a very neutral "no." He continued to tell me more about Iraq and very nonchalantly mentioning that his uncle had lost two sons from car bombings.
Just like that. It hit me so hard. But he seemed so accepting of it. And I thought to myself, what could I say? Here was perhaps a person with one of the biggest hearts in the world, and someone else's greed, ambition, and hatred cost him his cousins. We agreed that we both hate politics, and perhaps that's as best as we could deal with it for one day's worth of thinking - trying to forget it as though it were another world.
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