Summary

Matar begins this chapter by admitting feeling anxious, detached, and overwhelmed at the presence of his large extended family. Though there were over a hundred cousins to visit, Matar vowed that his first visit would be to his Uncle Mahmoud's house in Ajdabiya. Mahmoud was his father's youngest brother, separated by sixteen years, and thus "seemed both uncle and brother to Ziad and [Hisham]" (41). Because of a combination of Matar's exile and his uncle's imprisonment, his memories with his uncle are limited, yet very meaningful to Matar. Along with Matar's father, Mahmoud, another uncle, and two cousins were kidnapped in 1990 and taken to Abu Salim. All except his father would be released, due in part to Matar's efforts, in 2011.

The landscape of Ajdabiya is particularly striking to Matar; he notices the green shrubbery along the road, the "dry light, the blue of its empty...