On Friday nights, Orfali holds concerts for young Iraqis at her art gallery in the upscale Mansour district. Through her door come Iraq's future leaders, and judging from the trendy clothes, some are the sons and daughters of Hussein's regime while others are scraping to remain part of the crowd. Youth hardships These youths speak of hardships, and invariably echo the regime in blaming the sanctions. Young women complain that young men do not marry until much later. University classes lack materials.
Rewarding careers are scarce.
Before the gulf war made visas scarce for Iraqis, Raad's mother was a travel agent who traveled the world. Before the government's paychecks became nearly worthless, his father had a good job at the Housing Ministry. While his father makes a decent living peddling smuggled or secondhand stereos and other electronic equipment, the family car regularly breaks down. Tall and bright-eyed but shy, Raad is a student at a technical college where he studies on computers that are three generations old. His mood brightens when he speaks of his name-brand electric piano and his band, although the '80s American pop music they play is even older than the computers he uses.