Tasting the Sky Interpretation Blog

In the chapter that I read today, Ibtisam had to go to the hospital because her left foot was so swollen and infected from walking without shoes for so long. She got to the hospital with her parents and was given an injection and the next thing she knew, she woke up in a room with a bunch of strangers who were also in hospital beds. However, her parents came back and the doctor gave them some medicine and said she could go home and hopefully it would eventually be back to normal. Ibtisam’s father had also just gotten a job delivering crates of soda and she started to go to work with him while she was waiting on her foot to heal. She was so attached to her father and she would almost never let him out of her grasp. However, eventually, her foot healed back to normal and she stopped going to work with him and she was able to start running around and playing with her brothers again. Reading this chapter just made me realize how important parents are in children’s lives. Whenever Ibtis...

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...

In the section that I read today, Ibtisam and her family, besides her father, had made it inside of the shelter that they had discovered. The shelter was a three-story house, but it was no bed and breakfast. There were people running frantically all around the house and up and down the stairs, and then there were people hiding in the corners because they were so scared of the war breaking out. Ibtisam went into the basement of the house and sat in a corner away from everyone else. Then, as she was looking around, a baby donkey walked up and stood next to her. She carried on conversations with the donkey and she even named it, Souma. Ibtisam stayed with Souma until she could no longer hear the air raids and then she started to quietly crawl back up the stairs to find her family. Reading this section warmed my heart a little. Knowing that the family made it to about as much safety as possible and also that the narrator was able to find a friend on the way just makes me feel good. ...

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...

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...