By Mary Laird

We had a great time with the scheduled and spontaneous interactions with the Mar Elias High School students, including on our Sunday trip to Bir’am and sites on the Sea of Galilee;

in small groups in morning classes and around the campus; and at dinners.

Lots of these kids spoke great English; every one spoke more English than the Arabic of our whole group combined. We connected over meatloaf (with Clarissa and Sophia who made a meatloaf and delivered their “Southern comfort food” to the same class the next day), divestment (“how long will that take?”), social media, discussions of our homes and families, career aspirations (doctor philosopher, poet), politics and U.S. news, heroes (Stephen Hawking), and popular culture. Several students sang beautifully to us and another read her prize-winning poem.

A  few deeper conversations, all in English, led to some astonishing and very personal turns on religion and US policy/geo-politics.

Elementary school students charmed us with smiles and practical jokes on the stairs, and outgoing middle schoolers waved on the playground and took “selfies” with us. My personal impression of these beautiful kids of various faiths from Ibillin and surrounding towns: precocious and sophisticated, innocent and hopeful all at once. Highlight of our trip.