Tue, 7 Oct 2003 Dear friends the incredible interest shown in every detail of my trip by our community testifies that our connection to our life in iraq and to each other is so strong that even after 35 years we are all desperate to know ,to see , to hear and to relive a chapter of our life that in the word of one email i received remains open and even people who have professed a complete closure on the past are calling me to ask whether the water fountains /toilets at Frank Iny are still there!! today's email is about frank iny FRANK INY : the school still looks and feels as if we left it yesterday . it is divided into two schools . the smaller one incorporates the back section where the school coaches used to park ;plus the "tijary"classrooms plus of course the covered structure where we used to play "hand" ball (does anyone else in the world play that game ??) this section is used as an independant infant school and is entered from the street where the coaches used to enter .the main section of the school is used as the ie'dadiyah el nithamiah and believe me nothing has changed not the doors,locks windows,staircase etc.the americans have decided that every single school in iraq must get a facelift . when i visited the contractor had just finished painting the entire school so it looked clean and fresh but besides the paint not a single structural change has occured in 35 years. the water faucets and the toilets at the back were as we left them even abou kathim' s kiosk is still there . iguess amba ou nisf samoona will be around 1000 dinars! . the entire stock of the desks and blackboards were being cleared in front of my eyes ready for disposal and waiting for the new stock courtesy of uncle Sam . the contractor could not believe his eyes as i spent so much time trying to read the messages inscribed on the desks usually by means of a firjal.i purchased a single desk for history! the sad thing is the total collapse of the ceiling covering the large assembly hall. the stage is still there looking worse for wear with no roof and completely cut off the main building and the entire area is used currently as a garbage dump. i will post pictures as soon as my 11 year old son Elan teaches me how to transfer from the digital to your website.! as with every place i visited the images of the past overwhelmed me . again the contracter could not begin to understand my nervousness as i entered the inner room of the late ustath abdallah and my imagination went straght into the main notice board looking for the results of the lijnat al inthibat! i insisted in going from classroom to another in turn tracing my progress through the school and vividely hearing madame vignolle ,sit sonia ,usthath is-haq etc.i walked repeatedly along the open air corridor emulating dozens of couples pacing the space backwards and forwards . i had to pay the place a second visit without a camera and i entered it as if it was a "holy" site :a museum of memory . the collective memory of a whole community. next instalment: the malaab and meir tweg love to all of you edwin

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