My husband and I just booked our flights to Lebanon.  It has been a very emotional two weeks as we were toiling over the idea of going.  This is my first trip back since we left in 1993.  I finally booked the flights today and my heart hasn’t stopped racing since.
There is a multitude of [...]

Growing up in Lebanon, getting a good education was ingrained in our minds.  Our parents spoke of who was well educated and who wasn’t.  As kids, we listened to endless stories about various families and how well their children were doing in school.  Amal and Samir have 9 children, all with PhDs.  Rami and Salam [...]

Over six years in the U.S. and I still can’t seem to get it right.  The “greeting” I mean. So is it two kisses? One on each cheek, or is it three?  Two on one cheek, and one on the other?  Is it one kiss on one cheek?  Or is a hug more appropriate? Or [...]

I’ve been attending an Italian language course once a week for a little over a year now.  We were recently asked to read an article of our choice and summarize it for the class to trigger discussion around that topic.  I chose an article about the acceptance of kids in restaurants, a very neutral issue. [...]

Voting is not only a citizen’s right, but it is also one of his most important duties towards his country. That is what we learn in the few civic education lessons we get as students. While growing up, we realize that it is the means through which we can make our voice heard and make [...]

“Not another play about war! I am tired of hearing about the war and what happened and all the atrocities. Can’t we move on? It’s getting old.” This comment comes from the lips of an educated American resident whose roots begin in the Middle East. Can we ever get tired of hearing about the war? [...]

(Written on September 15th, 2007)
I traveled back home, to Lebanon, this summer to visit for a few weeks.  I learned the hard way that smiling too much at Lebanese men and women is spooky and culturally unacceptable.  I found myself doing that involuntarily while walking by strangers or if my eyes accidentally met theirs, only [...]

Moving from one country to another had become a norm in my young 28 years, but it never hurt as much as the day when I decided to move to Canada and become an immigrant, yet again. Immigrant, a word that has become increasingly popular in our day and age. Our parents immigrated, but never [...]