Tears are my secret ink, in the absence of real ink. My true journal is written with no pen or paper, but in my mind, with an invisible hand in the air. I feel that my hand, when deep inside it, reaches out to anyone on the other side of the world who wants to be my friend. I wish I could open my postbox every day. I love to go there, dig the key out of my pocket, turn its neck around, open the door, then slowly let my hand nestle in and linger, even if the box is empty.

Having this box is like having a country, the size of a tiny square, all to myself.

If I die, the key for the box will be under the ground with me. On the days I don’t go to Birzeit, I bury the key in the dirt under a lemon tree near our house. He left Ramalllah and did not want to give up the box, so he passed it on to me. Post Office 34 is the only place in the world that belongs to me. This is what takes me from Ramallah to Birzeit. But I did not go there to chant for freedom.

They chant on the streets that they want freedom from the occupation. In Birzeit, many students become active in politics and have fights with the Israeli army. Some also come from Gaza, Nablus, and other cities, towns, and refugee camps. The passengers are taken by the soldiers and interrogated before they are finally released to go to their destination: Ramallah.įrom the very beginning, her narrative hooks the reader with its simple yet powerful style:īirzeit is where students go to college after finishing high school in Ramallah. As a young woman, a teen, her bus is stopped by Israeli soldiers. In this memoir, Ibtisam Barakat provides a framework for sharing her powerful and emotional story. Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood. OL16809265W Page_number_confidence 92.92 Pages 214 Partner Innodata Pdf_module_version 0.0.18 Ppi 360 Rcs_key 24143 Republisher_date 20220620211026 Republisher_operator Republisher_time 244 Scandate 20220618081653 Scanner Scanningcenter cebu Scribe3_search_catalog isbn Scribe3_search_id 9788483430705 Tts_version 5.Barakat, Ibtisam. Urn:lcp:saboreandoelciel0000bara:epub:a0b2b9db-7e82-4147-b8b6-a14ff3ae8407 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier saboreandoelciel0000bara Identifier-ark ark:/13960/s2h145dgpvz Invoice 1652 Isbn 9788483430705Ĩ483430703 Ocr tesseract 5.1.0-1-ge935 Ocr_detected_lang es Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 1.0000 Ocr_module_version 0.0.16 Ocr_parameters -l spa Old_pallet IA-NS-0001183 Openlibrary_edition Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 15:12:11 Associated-names Peral Santamaría, Arturo Autocrop_version 0.0.14_books-20220331-0.2 Bookplateleaf 0004 Boxid IA40575404 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier

Tasting the sky a palestinian childhood