Iraqi Students Tour U.N., See Broadway Hit

UNITED NATIONS – It was not known what long-term psychological effects a viewing of the Broadway hit “Blue Man Group,” which features men dressed in thick blue makeup, would have on six college students visiting from Iraq. But by all accounts the students appeared well-adjusted a day later Friday, the ninth day of an 11-day whirlwind trip to cram in as much of the United States as they could.

Other stops included the New York Stock Exchange, the United Nations and Harvard University.

The students from universities in Baghdad and Basra began their day with a stroll around the United Nations before heading to a briefing on counterterrorism and then a two-hour lunch with Iraqi Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie.

The day before, they had stopped at the exhibit on Alexander Hamilton at the New York Historical Society and then saw “Blue Man Group.”

“At first I was bored but then I started to get it: It was about cycles, the cycle of life,” said Suha Muhammad, 21.

The Blue Man Group Web site describes the show as a “multi-sensory experience that combines theater, percussive music, art, science and vaudeville.” It features the eponymous blue men banging on makeshift instruments.

Muhammad said the show was appropriate given her passion for the theater of the absurd.

“If you don’t feel bored, it means the theater of the absurd didn’t give you the real message,” she said.

These were obviously no ordinary Iraqi college students. Qusay Hussein – no relation to Saddam Hussein’s slain son – appeared on CNN and was scheduled to head to Fox News for an interview later on.

Like the other five students, Hussein, 24, is an English major, with a focus on literature – 17th century poet John Dryden in particular. Hussein had wanted to study feminist literary criticism, but the library at Baghdad University didn’t have any.

The students were visiting under the auspices of Providence, R.I.-based Roger Williams University, whose president, Roy Nirschel, arranged the trip. He had decided to get involved after hearing about Basra University students who held a protest to demand they be allowed to go to school and take their final exams.

“This is just one way of giving back to people who have been deprived of so much materially,” Nirschel said. He planned to visit Basra – “conditions permitting.”

Roger Williams has established a scholarship for a Basra University student and has sent supplies totaling $10,000 to the school.

The students had made several stops in Providence and visited Harvard. On Saturday, they’re scheduled to visit the Statue of Liberty.

After Friday’s two-hour lunch with the group, Iraq’s ambassador, Sumaidaie, left duly impressed.

“There are a lot of people here in the United States who are surprised to see young, articulate Iraqis come over and explain their difficulties, explain the situation in Iraq in human terms,” he said.

Several of the students were nervous about heading back to Iraq. While Basra, to the south, has seen relatively little violence, car bombs, shootings and suicide attacks make Baghdad an extremely dangerous place.

Insurgents have targeted many Iraqis seen as collaborating with the Americans, so the Iraqi students planned only to tell a few people about their trip when they got home.

“If (the insurgents) hear that you are going to the states, they say ‘What for?’” said Nazar Hamdan, a computer science professor at Baghdad University, who accompanied the students. “We wish to go back safely so everyone has wonderful memories.”