Emad Abdulahad is from Ras al-Jada in the center of Mosul. He is married and has three daughters and a son. He was living in his grandfather's house with his parents and his two uncles. The house had a window overlooking their neighbor's house, and they opened the window and talked with each other. He says that his parents did not allow him to play in the middle of the day because the neighbors were sleeping at that time. They woke up again around five in the afternoon and had tea, cookies, and yogurt. They made their own bread in a clay oven and sent bread to their neighbors before eating it. Then they gathered and ate it in the hall that was open to the sky. They were the only Christian family in the neighborhood. All their neighbors were Muslims. Their neighborhood was a great example of coexistence in Mosul. They celebrated each other’s holidays like Eid and baptisms. For the Muslim Eid, he would cross the old bridge to go to the amusement park with his friends. On their Christian holidays, they changed the rugs and decorated the big hall to welcome guests. More than two hundred people came to congratulate them. In their neighborhood they had a Christian church that is 1500 years old. Emad went to school and on their way home he and his friends ate sweets with bread that they bought from from Uncle Younis as he mentioned. Emad studied until ninth grade, but he left school after that. He tried to apply again for school, but they did not accept him because he was a solider. Emad woke at eight in the morning and worked on a lathe machine. He likes to eat qaymar (clotted cheese) every moring, and would buy milk from a man who sold fresh milk in barrels.
