Trying Something New

                                                                Blog#6  A map of home a novel by  Randa Jarrar is a coming-of-age story of Nidali’s life and struggles with identity, sexuality, and expectations from her family. The novel depicts the struggles of Nidali and her family, exploring the question of what does “home” mean. Nidali’s story starts in Kuwait, then they are force to leave for Egypt after Saddam Hussein invades Iraq, then she comes to America and has to adjust to the American culture quickly. This has a strong impact on what “home” means to Nidali, she has been moving around for most of her life and this makes it hard for her to call one pla...

  After reading the novel Crescent written by Diana Abu-Jaber and the interview with Andrea Shalal-Esa, it is obvious that food has a key role in this novel. In the interview with Andrea Shalal-Esa and Diana Abu-Jaber, she says “food is such a great human connector, it’s so intimate". Throughout the novel Sirine uses food and the scents of food, and foods colors to describe people such as Han. When Sirine and Han get intimate, she describes Han as “...amber and caramel” “he tastes of almond, of sweetness.,” these are few of the many way Abu-Jaber use food as a tool for expression throughout the novel.     Diana Abu-Jaber's love for her culture's food is prevalent in the novel through many characters. Han, dealing with being in exile, expresses how he misses his home and his mother’s cooking. Sirine works at a café and uses food to express herself. Food is use as a human “connector” throughout Crescent. Food and exile are connected as well in the novel. As mentioned b...