We didn't have internet for about six months (March 3rd to August 22nd) in Tripoli, so of course I wasn't able to post on my blog during that time. I did however continue to write... and write, and write and write. It was daily therapy to sit down and type out the day's events.
I thought about putting it all together and publishing it as a book. But as the war comes to an end and a free Libya opens up to a new beginning I've decided to put the past behind me and post these missing months on my blog. I need to get on with my life. The future is just too alluring for me to be dwelling on the past - but the past definitely needs to be recorded.
I wasn't able to take as many photos as I would have liked because it was too dangerous to be running around with a camera in public during the war for anyone - imagine if an American was caught taking pictures. It would have made me an instant target and probably would have been the end of me and/or my husband.
The internet connection is still very slow so I'll be uploading the images I have as soon as I am able and post a note that new pics are on.
*** UPDATE, September 3rd, 2011: I have added the images. ***
The internet connection is still very slow so I'll be uploading the images I have as soon as I am able and post a note that new pics are on.
*** UPDATE, September 3rd, 2011: I have added the images. ***
I've posted each month separately and put them on my blog as tabs at the top of the page. Or you can find them here:
Please keep Libya in your prayers!
I still say it would make a great cookbook... Just saying.
ReplyDeleteKhadija,
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear you and your family are safe and well. You probably knew I got out of Benghazi by ship in late February! Good to see you supported the revolution. I knew you would! I've got a new job in Saudi Arabia starting very soon but if the BC re-opens I'd love to come back. Rob
I spent the night reading the posts , and I have to say that it's been a while since I've read anything so interesting . I still think that you should publish a book ...
ReplyDeleteI don't think you know me. I live in Kuwait and used to read your blog sometimes. I just wanted to say that i had been thinking of you and am really happy to see you back online! Alhamdulillah.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Publish or perish! (lol)
ReplyDeleteguess you should do it.
and can you be my mentor?
cannot wait to go back
and work for you, maybe?
miss u and ote.
Publish this a la Anne Frank's,
only better (really!).
am already a fan. ;)
Thanks pinky. Come for a visit first. But wait til things are sorted out a bit here.
ReplyDeleteFantastic !
ReplyDeleteThank you these "missing months" !
Brigitte
When you stopped blogging, I saved on my hard disk your last posts referring (although carefully) to the revolution, just in case that things would go terribly wrong and you could decide to delete the blog for safety reasons. I am the sort of blogger too busy and careless to backup even her own posts :-), but I liked yours so much.
ReplyDeleteI thought that if things would go right instead of wrong, you would do well to write a book. You are an excellent writer, you have your blog that already could provide most of the pages, and I suppose publishers would be interested because the public now wants to know more about Libya. You have the advantage to be originally an American, which means you explain everything in a way understandable to Americans, which would not be the case with someone raised in Libya, no matter how excellent his English could be. I even thought about a suggested title: "Enchanted Woods: The Story of a Libyan Mother Born in the USA".
So, probably you could think again of the book.
Oh anonymous... I cried when I read your comment. How you took the time to back up my blog. Thank you my dear.
ReplyDeleteAbout the book - I love the title, but no, not yet. I just want to get back on my feet again and look forward to the future. I'll write a book one day - it's been a goal of mine for a long, long time. But not yet.
Thank you for this diary.
ReplyDeleteI've been following your blog for a long time, it helped me to understand the Libyan mentality.
I'm married to a Libian woman and we managed to flee in the first days of the revolution to my homeland, Portugal.
Please, do follow the advice to publish a book, the talent you have to make people see through your eyes is not commonly found.
Thanks alot I'm from Khooms \Libya and i loved the way you write ........
ReplyDelete