Chapter 37

Summary

• Yara engages in artistic pursuits such as painting and writing to process her memories and feelings.
• She creates a work area in the sunroom by moving Fadi's boxes and starts her daily art routine after dropping her daughters off at school.
• Her paintings feature intense colors and she often loses herself in the process.
• Yara is fixated on a painting of eyes that remind her of her mother's, contemplating her future resemblance.
• The painting both disturbs her and captivates her, leading her to reflect on her family's tumultuous history.
• In her writing, Yara expresses the trauma that has passed down through generations in her family.
• She regrets her harsh judgment of her mother in the past and longs to understand and empathize with her struggles.
• Yara uses writing as a means to reconcile with her mother's pain and to record the hardships her mother endured.
• Returning to painting, Yara is inspired by memories of her grandmother (Teta) recounting stories of the Palestinian exodus (nakba).
• The imagery in Teta's stories, like the displacement of families and the phrase by Edward Said — "All the earth is a hotel, and my home is Jerusalem" — influence Yara's painting.
• Blue colors dominate her current art as she integrates the essence of these historical and familial narratives.