Love & War

Again, being in the first group, I was assigned to read pages 149-190. First off, it was very helpful to see the few pages of black and white pictures that were in the middle of the book. My favorite picture to relate to was the last one on page 160 on the bottom. The picture is of a local barge that has a single SUV on it which was being used when two local roads were being repaired. For anyone who has been to Martha's Vineyard, or more specifically Chappaquiddick, you would recognize a similar barge, (or the one-time ferry) which takes one car back and forth from Chappy to the mainland of the Vineyard all day! Clearly the need for this barge and the recreational need for the one of the Vineyard are different, but the technology stands as is.  

  

Bibi Maryam, Daughter of Atif 

After reading both stories, the second one stood out as the most intriguing, mostly for the way in which it was written, and the repeated bad news that was occurring in the stories. There are many instances that are considered normal for people of Afghanistan such as the following:  

• arranged marriages
• young marriages (under 18)
• death of parents and siblings
• borrowed money from family members
• prayers to Allah 
• Soviet invasions
• murder/disease to young children

The line that really hit home in this chapter was on page 186: "Now I only have one child remaining." I cannot imagine what it would be like for a parent to bury their own child... Let alone the children that Bibi had to put to rest. What a nightmare..