Greetings from Baghdad, Iraq, to all my brothers and sisters in the Cosmopolitan Club at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. My name is Sabah Steven Kachachi. More than fifty years ago, while I was studying at the U of I (1950-1953), I lived three years at the Cosmopolitan Club at its old address, 605 East Daniel Street. Those years were some of the most memorable years in my life. It was only few weeks ago that I made a new contact with Cosmo again, after all these years, thanks to an old Cosmo colleague, Jack Hayya, who gave me its e-mail address. Well, I thought I would tell you about how I met the Cosmopolitan Club for the first time. In the fall of 1949, an 18-year-old Iraqi high school graduate was sent on a Government scholarship to the University of Illinois, USA, to study chemistry. With large and heavy suitcases full with unnecessary clothing, I embarked on my college journey. After an overnight bus trip from Baghdad to Damascus, Syria, then a few-hours car drive, we arrived next afternoon at Beirut, Lebanon. We were four students going to the United States, each to a different university. After an overnight stay, we took a plane to London. There, we stayed another night. The next morning, we boarded a propeller engine plane to New York. The cross-Atlantic journey took 16 hours. We were already two weeks late for the fall semester. We arrived in New York the next afternoon. Each of the four students on that journey headed to a different university. Alone, I took a train to Indianapolis, Indiana. I was supposed to make a train change there. After waiting in line for my ticket, and making myself clear where I wanted to go, I found out that it was the wrong counter. By the time I found the right one and made myself clear, I got my ticket. When I reached the platform, the train had already left. I had to find another means of transportation. What else, the good old Greyhound bus. I took it from Indianapolis to Urbana-Champaign. After many long hours, the bus stopped at a street intersection and the driver told me here is the Urbana campus. I thought to myself, finally, I was there. Dragging my heavy suitcase, I asked somebody about the address they gave me in the Ministry of Education in Baghdad, which was: Dean of Foreign Students, Administration Building, Urbana, Illinois. When I got there, that afternoon, I found the building closed. It was Saturday. The guard there told me to come back Monday morning. I asked him about a hotel. He told me that the closest one is in downtown Champaign. Dragging my heavy suitcase, I went to a drug store nearby. I asked students there if they knew any Iraqi or foreign students. They told me that there is a house nearby for foreign students. Back to my suitcase, and after a short walk, I got to 605 East Daniel Street. I went in and knocked on one of the rooms. When the door opened, I was face to face with an Iraqi student I knew from Baghdad. I was at the Cosmopolitan Club. Only then I felt relieved. I could not get a room there that semester. I had to wait for the next year. I spent my freshman year in the PGU temporary camp. I don’t think it is still there. I moved in Cosmo during my sophomore year and stayed there three years. My three years of living in Cosmo were most enjoyable and useful in all aspects. I learned there that people from different cultures, races, and religions living together is not only a possible, but also rewarding thing on a personal as well as on a group level. “Above All Nations Is Humanity.” During my stay in Cosmo, I met some of the nicest and most interesting personalities. I learned from them and with them many things, which were useful to me later on in my life. I still remember with deep affection many of my colleagues at Cosmo. To mention only few, Jack Hayya, Bruce Palmer, Jack Karstenes, Don Novak, Kio Yamamoto, Tom Tucker, Ted Kelz, Ed Hernandes, Alen Barry, Jorge Quiros, Asif Zahir, George Remington, Ralf Hines, Hyman Goldman, Tomas Tomason, Donald Ferguson, John Friedlin, and the list will not be complete without Mohkam Sing Sandu. Also, I remember with nice thoughts and affection, many others from outside Cosmo, men and women. I will never forget their friendship. After many years, I found out that if the college education enriched my mind, the Cosmo ambience enriched my personality.
|