The War Begins

In the chapter that I read today, the narrator goes back in time to talk about when she was three and a half years old. She introduces her family, which consists of her father, mother, two older brothers, and a baby sister.

One day, her father comes home from work, terrified, and he tells them that the war has started and they need to leave. Her father said that he overheard some people that lived in town say that they were going to hide in the caves for the night and so that is where they planned to go. However, once her family had gathered up everything they needed, the narrator realizes that she is only three years old and she has trouble tying one of her shoes. She looks up to ask for help, but her family is already gone and they are nowhere in sight. She begins to get very scared, but she eventually found a group of people and heard them talking about the caves, so she started to walk with them. After a long trek of walking, the group of people that she had been with made it to the caves and she found her parents and she couldn’t have been happier.

This chapter just made me realize how scary things are in other countries, like Palestine. The narrator can not have one day where she does not think about the possibility of a war breaking out and how she is going to protect herself. It makes me really feel grateful that I am able to have freedom and not have to worry about that everyday. Also, this chapter really makes me idolize the determination of the narrator. She was just three years old and she lost her family, but she didn’t let that faze her and she used problem solving skills to go on a long journey and make it back to her family. It is truly amazing how she was able to make it all the way back to her family and I have a great amount of respect for her after that.

Comments

  1. Mrs. HoupOctober 2, 2017 at 9:08 AM

    The struggles that people, especially children, face around the world is so eye-opening and often such a gut-punch. My heart aches for families who face the struggles of poverty, hunger, displacement, and death because of wars around the world. I think of my son, same age as the child you mentioned above, and though he's smart, I can imagine the fear he would feel in a moment like this. Wow.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Saving Grace

In the section that I read today, the narrator and her family are still trying to run away from the war. The narrator had made it back to her family after being forgotten at her home and now they were all together walking down the Jordan road. There was a large group of civilians that were trying to get away from the war and make it to safety, but all day, there had been no vehicles of any kind go past them. However, finally the narrator’s mother hears the engine of a vehicle and then it starts to get louder and everyone else begins to hear it. Everyone begins to line up on the road so that the truck will have to stop or else it will hit them. The truck appears and at first it starts to speed up, but then the driver realizes that they are not going to move and at the last second, the driver slams on the brakes and the truck screeches to a stop. As quick as they can, the narrator and her family begin to pile onto the truck because they don’t care where it is going, they just want to g
Read more

The Trek to Jordan

Today, I finished that chapter about Ibtisam, the narrator, and her family escaping from the war that is beginning. She, her mother, her sister, and her brothers, had each jumped inside of the truck and were able to ride in the cab of the truck, while her father and a bunch of other men had to ride in the bed or stand on the side of the truck and hang on for dear life. However, they did not care how it happened, they just needed to escape the war and the truck driver and his family were their saving grace. It was a long ride with no stops, but they finally made it into Al-Salt City, Jordan and they arrived at a shelter for women and children. Ibtisam and her family got out of the truck as well as the truck driver’s wife and her three daughters so that they could stay at the shelter. However, since it was just for women and children, the truck driver, Ibtisam’s father, and all the other men had to go find some way to volunteer their help for the city. So the men all left and the women
Read more

Leaving Shelter

Today, I finished the chapter about Ibtisam and her family staying at the shelter in Al-Salt City. The entire time that they had stayed there, they had been safe and they were happy a majority of the time. Everyone at the shelter got at least some food everyday and they were provided with blankets, so they tried to remain positive. However, toward the end of the chapter, Ibtisam’s mother decided it would be best for them to leave with Hamameh, the wife of the truck driver, and her kids to go find Hamameh’s parents in Amman. Ibtisam was happy that they were finally moving on to a new place, but she became very sad when she found out that she could not bring her new friend, Souma, with her. However her mother told her that there was not enough room in the car and that he would not be happy if they made him leave his home. Ibtisam understood and said goodbye to Souma and then she got in the taxi and they left for Amman. I felt like this chapter was a little disappointing, honestly. It
Read more