Yara’s Journal

Summary

• Yara observes her mother cooking dinner silently in a faded nightgown, preparing okra stew (bamya) despite a recent negative incident with her father (Baba) involving the dish.
• After Baba angrily threw his plate of bamya across the room last week, Yara's mother responded with mockery and spat at him, which led to him storming out of the house.
• In the kitchen, Yara brings up a conversation she overheard about her mother being cursed, which she inadvertently heard from a fortune teller.
• Yara's mother confirms the curse, lamenting her decision to leave Palestine for a better life in another country, expressing regret and a desire to see her mother again.
• Yara is pained by her mother's confession, feeling a new layer of pain as she realizes her mother's unhappiness and the difficult family situation.
• Yara's mother shares her feelings of entrapment and despair, saying, "I don't want to live like this anymore," which causes Yara to feel guilty.
• Despite Yara's attempt to show solidarity, her mother accuses her of thinking poorly of her parenting, which makes Yara feel ashamed and guilty.
• Yara, wrestling with her feelings, asks her mother why she doesn't leave the difficult situation.
• Hearing her mother attribute the inability to change her life to a curse, Yara is left confused but is told by her mother that she will understand someday.