When I first decided to come to Palestine through Holy Land Trust this summer, the thing that I was most nervous about was the family that I would be placed with. I wanted to know if the family would have kids, if the kids would be my age, if there were any smokers in the family. What felt like a million questions flew around my head, and as the day that I was to leave for Palestine drew closer, I became more and more excited to meet my ‘new family’, and have all of my questions answered.
My mom was in Israel/Palestine a few months ago, and during her trip she met a woman. This woman and my mom became friends, and she offered for me to stay at her home while I was here. Because I had planned to stay in Palestine for two months, I decided that I really wanted to stay with a family for the first month, and then maybe stay with this woman for the second. The morning that I left for the airport, I received an email from Holy Land Trust telling me that I would be staying with the woman my Mom befriended in Palestine for my first month. I was a bit disappointed, because I had been looking forward to living with a family. However, it ended up being the best possible thing that could have happened.
The night I arrived at my host family’s house, I was exhausted from traveling and I missed my family back home. My Mom's friend (and now my host mom), her husband, and her father were the only people living at the house and they all seemed like very kind people from the moment I met them. That night after dinner, I had a small emotional breakdown (in part because of being tired, but mostly because I missed my family). My host mom comforted me and told me about how much she had cried when her daughters got married and left her home. Her patience with me while I was an emotional wreck after only having known me for about an hour helped me to realize that I had been very blessed by being placed in that family for my first month.
My time with my host family so far has been amazing. They take me to meet all of their uncles and aunts and cousins, and when their daughters and grandchildren Skyped them in the first few days that I was there, they introduced me to all of them. After living with my hosts for four weeks, I feel like I am part of their family. Because their three daughters used to live at home with them, my host mom is constantly giving me clothes and jewelry to wear that used to belong to her daughters. I honestly never want to leave!
One thing that I am very thankful for, is how flexible my host mom is. She gives me complete freedom to tell her when I don’t want to do something, she is ok when I don’t eat everything on my plate, and she is perfectly fine if I want to go out with friends and end up coming home late. However, the freedom that she gives me does not translate into her seeming like she ‘doesn't care about me’. During my stay with my host family, there were two consecutive nights that I was away from home, and when I came back, I was greeted by my host mom with, “Habibti, I missed you!”. I have found myself reflecting on how thankful I am for how hospitable and welcoming my host family is almost every day.
I am about to end my first month here, which I thought would mean having to leave this family that I have become so close with. However, recently my host mom sat me down and told me that they have loved having me live with them, and that they would like to have me live with them for another month. I was overjoyed when she told me this, because changing families was not something I wanted to do anymore. I was able to talk with the people at Holy Land Trust about staying with my current family, and now I will get to live with them for the whole two months that I am here.
One of the specific reasons why I think that it is important to have a host family that you become close with, is because it eases the intensity of the situation. While it is very important to experience what it is like to live here, and see the daily struggles that people have to overcome, the constant visual reminders of injustice and hearing how fear affects so many people can be very overwhelming. Being able to come home every night to a house where you feel comfortable and safe in can enable you to process and even talk about the emotions, struggles, and frustrations that the day brought. In this way, having a host family that you are able to connect with can help you to work through all of what you're experiencing, as opposed to keeping it bottled up inside.
This is my host family. They will never be my 'real' family, and we will never be related. But the love that they have shown me goes beyond the love of someone who is just passing through your life for a small window of time (even though in reality, they are). I think this is when the line between real family and host family becomes a little blurred. I have always had a great 'real' family, and since I came here I have been blessed with a great host family as well.
So to conclude, I am so thankful for my host family, especially my host mom. I have been shown nothing but kindness from them, and I feel very taken care of in their home. One of the reasons why I have been able to enjoy my time at Holy Land Trust so much, is because I have a wonderful family to wake up to and go home to every day, and a place that I feel one hundred percent comfortable and loved.
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