Summary

In Part I, the boy from Shobrakheit left his village for Cairo shortly after his grandmother killed herself by climbing into the stove. “This was ten years ago” (3).

On Noor’s way to Cairo for the first time, she felt out of place. The customs agent seemed suspicious. She thought it was because she was “an Egyptian girl with a shaved head” (4). After seeing her passport, the agents called her American.

After Grandmother’s death, the boy told his mother he was leaving “Shobrakheit for good” (6). She did not understand. He cried into his bag on the microbus to Damanhour. He was 19 in 2007 when he moved to Cairo.

In Cairo, everyone asked why Noor’s “head [was] shaved” (8). She rented an apartment downtown with several balconies. The cleaning lady asked why Noor was there. She was glad when Noor said Egyptians...