New post from AMBER!

Amber arrived two days ago.  In that time, she has taught two classes in Jerusalem, met her new Palestinian family, eaten out many times, and recovered from a migraine.  Man, she is a trooper!

Here she is busting out her yoga moves in front of the famous Banksy mural in Bethlehem

Here are Amber's thoughts about the last couple of days:

A typical day in someone else’s life has always fascinated me. What is it like to live in a different country?

When I landed in Tel Aviv, and walked out of the airport, I thought to myself this looks like Florida- I don’t know what I expected to see, but I was shocked at how familiar it looked.

During our trip, we are staying with a family that has opened their arms and home to us. Five excited (and sleepy) North American woman are instantly treated like family. In the morning we all eat breakfast together, if one of us is ill they take care of us. Kathleen said it best, “in Palestine it is important to be a good host and in Wisconsin it is equally important to be a good guest.” My past experiences with international travel included resorts where I was isolated from experiencing the true essence of the culture. I am so thankful I can actually learn about this culture in an organic and real way.

Stereotypes and generalizations can be dangerous. That said, Palestinians I have encountered have been kind, inviting and incredibly open to sharing their thoughts and feeling with me. I am constantly reminded of similarities that we all share. I am grateful for this experience. Our hosts are family. Alaa’ila means family in Arabic, I’ve found my alaa’ila here in Palestine.