“We are humans” is a freelance project, with which Lundagård journalist Eleonora Kleibel and photographer Hauke Steffen aim to point out the great cultural variety the entire body of Lund University has to offer. This week we present a student of the university: Firas Habibi.
Where do you come from?
– Syria, I come from Syria. I’ve been in Syria for 18 years, then I left. I got a scholarship, so I travelled to Lebanon to start my education there and then I came to Sweden.
Where do you feel at home?
– At home? No place currently. There is no place I can call home.
How did you come to Lund?
– Exchange, two and a half years ago. I came as an exchange student but took Master courses. I wasn’t allowed to continue my Masters because I did not know Swedish. It was all very bureaucratic. I am sure you know that in Sweden there is a lot of bureaucracy. So I should have my Master degree by now, but I still need one year to get it. I lost a couple of years basically.
Can you tell us the story of your name?
– My name is Mohammed Firas. It is a very common thing, in Syria at least, to have Mohammed as your first name and the middle name is actually the one people call you. So it’s for religious purposes, like a blessing or something. And Firas, I guess my parents thought it was trendy. Maybe it was at that time.
Do you have a word you particularly like in your first language?
– I really like Arabic as a language. I am fascinated by it. My favorite word would be liqaa, which means meeting. Well, not an official meeting, but when two or three people just meet. Maybe more like the first time when you meet someone. It sounds really nice. And since I am Syrian there are many, many special people I would like to meet again
