homestay

I got very lucky with my home stay placement. I live with a wonderful family who is open minded and kind. The mother and father are pretty young so there isn't much of a generational gap, and they are very easy to talk to. The father is a teacher at a local university and is goofy. The mom works at the mayor's office. There are three kids, Wathiq is 11, Shahd is 6 and Shaden is 8 months and is one of the happiest babies I have ever encountered. Another girl from my program is with me here which is actually nice having a little bit of my US world with me, and I'm pretty sure she's happy to have me with her too.  Another colleague of mine is in Bethlehem, but is living in a different part of the refugee camp. He is over pretty much everyday though since I think he misses family and enjoys the dynamic of this home. It's entertaining because the father, who is fully capable of speaking English, will speak Arabic to my English speaking counterparts because he insists it's the only way they will learn.
 I get to practice my ability to communicate in an Arabic dialect that I'm not that familiar with which is fun. My Egyptian accent gets made fun of often, but it's all in good fun. 
Through the family, my classmates and I have met some wonderful people.  The mom's brother somehow knows all of Bethlehem so whenever we hang out with him we meet a slew of new people.  The father's nephew is an absolute goof ball and probably one of my favorite Palestinians thus far.  He makes ridiculous jokes and sticks his tongue out every time, but is incredibly aware of what is going on around him and in the world. He is very passionate about being Palestinian and the passion fuels his every decision. I got pretty lucky with these people. I find that I usually am fortunate with the people that come into my life.