Nazareth Homestays

My apologies for the inconsistent posting here, the  trip and HW has been taking priority i'm afraid.  Now that the official  abroad has concluded, I am travelling with a friend, Adrian, for three weeks and will be posting much more regularly both retroactively, to catch you up on my abroad goings on, as well as what I am up to currently.

This is my wonderful homestay family in Nazareth.  from left to right, Suhair,Taha, Sa'id, Osama, and Hammad.  Thank you so much for welcoming me into your home!

 The time I spent with my homestay family was an enlightening, albeit brief, foray into the daily life of a middle class Arab-Israeli family. The opportunity to visit with Taha and Suhair's family and friends revealed many cultural differences and nuance which helps me better understand the other as a whole. I had the opportunity to head out to Akko with Taha's friends Horon, Raaz, and Zacki Darwesh. Two of these men are professors at Haifa University teaching the subjects of Arabic Literature, and Children's literature. Zacki Darwesh, brother of the late Mohammed Darwesh writes short stories. All three are published authors. These men plunged me into an atmosphere of intimidating intellectuality, which was a pleasant treat. We discussed politics and religion, told jokes and drank coffee while the men smoked shisha for nearly three hours at a beautiful cafe built on Napoleon's old harbor, surrounded on all sides by the imposing ramparts of the ancient port city of Acre.

Taha is a wonderful example of working class Arab-Israeli. He is the manager of an office north of Nazareth. Horon, unmarried and brazenly intellectual, is his best friend since grade school, and the connection between Taha and the other literary types who joined us in Akko. Horon is a self described “spiritual thinker”, Raaz is a practicing Muslim, and Zacki says he doesn't believe in God. The religious and philosophical discussion illustrated the diversity of thought within the Arab population and brought some interesting thoughts to my mind as well. The connection between God and man was discussed, along with hypothetical discussions on the origins of deity. Horon made connections with the Jewish narrative and biblical history, expressing that he was taught much of the Jewish narrative during his primary school years in Israel. Horon told me that “Israel and the Middle East are places of belief, not understanding.” This struck me as central to the continuing conflict, if no attempts at understanding the other are made, personal and cultural beliefs derived from religion and communal narrative will continue to rule the political scene, working unilaterally in the multilateral arena of regional politics.

Education was also discussed. Two of the four men were currently professors and Zacki is a retired professor so they had interesting insights on the nature of learning and concepts of continual growth. We discussed finding the right questions to ask. Not worrying about the answers, but learning HOW to learn, to continually challenge oneself with contrary ideas and opinions to shape and strengthen one's own beliefs and understandings. This is one reason I enjoyed such plurality of religious beliefs within these four gentlemen. They all met and discussed these subjects in order to learn and grow. I realize how integral friends are to the learning process as they provide trusted and respected, yet different narratives and beliefs. Some of the best conversations I have had on this trip, with the most growth, haven't been in class discussions, but impromptu chats about the travel and those we meet with another abroad member, or a new friend at a coffee shop such as this night in Akko. These friendly discussions can cover innumerable topics, weave in humorous and earnest elements, and promote an unforeseen growth intellectually and interpersonally. I am grateful to have this night as a memory from my travels here, and to continue to learn and grow from the ideas that were shared with me. A sincere thanks goes out to Taha and his family for hosting me, Horon for being my translator, and new friend, and Raaz and Zacki for making this night truly extraordinary. Near the end of the night, Raaz and I were walking along the docks, getting a bit of fresh air from the nargile-stuffed cafe, and looking out to the Mediterranean Sea, thinking. Raaz left me with another quote that was both simple and deep, if not too cliché, “The sea is like our futures, both inviting and frightening.” I'm anxious to paddle my way out into the warm surf of my future, determined to grow with every stroke.