Pictures of You: Alia Yunis

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“Two” by Alia Yunis

 

Fullscreen capture 3132015 21822 PMBaghdad, Circa 1958

This is a photo of my mom and her fellow teachers on the train in Baghdad, which my mom used to say was their weekend escape to the big city.  My mom and her friends were Palestinians and Egyptians who at 18 years old were sent by their families to help out with finances by teaching newly oil-rich Kuwaiti girls Arabic, English and math.  It reminds me that  Baghdad once meant hope, sophistication and fun, not tragedy and terror.

Fullscreen capture 3132015 21831 PMFlower Power

I love how happy I am here because I was so proud of that dress.  It was the height of fashion, I was sure, and I loved to be seen in it. I’ve never been so sure of the wow factor of dress and its ability to transform me into a great and powerful lady of style and class as I was at that moment.  (also in the photo is my brother, Sam Yunis)

 

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Alia Yunis is an author and filmmaker and a PEN Emerging Voices Fellow.  She’s currently in post-production on a documentary about olive oil, which is the Mediterranean’s greatest storyteller.  Her novel, The Night Counter (Crown/Random 2010), has been praised by the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, the Chicago Tribune and many others.  The Boston Globe called it “poignant and hilarious.” http://aliayunis.com/