Last weekend, I ventured back to my hometown of Flint, Michigan and attended the annual Mid-East Festival hosted by Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church. As soon as I drove in to park my car, I was greeted by two handsome guys that said if I stuck around until the fireworks, they would have […]
Author: Michelle Nasrine Kemp
Michelle Nasrine Kemp is a wife, mother of 2, advertising sales rep, and writer living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Fellaheen rule!
All my life, I was so worried that I was going to turn into “fellaheen.” My mom would use it as a warning to keep my behavior in check. I found myself yesterday using it in a sentence. “Go brush your hair so you don’t look like fellaheen!” I yelled to my daughter. But what […]
Arab American kids, then and now
When I think of my kids growing up, with all the new advances in technology, and how different it was when I was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, I feel bad for them. Sure, they have so many great things like iPads and Xbox games. And they don’t have to deal with the […]
Little sister’s big trip
A month from now, my little sister is embarking on a trip of a lifetime to Nazareth. She will be staying with my mother’s cousins. For 2 weeks, she will be living as they do and experiencing the best of what Arab culture has to offer. She is in her twenties and single, so the […]
Why am I cooking grape leaves?
Like all good Arab daughters, I too have dabbled in the realm of Arabic cooking. So what food did I decide to make that would be my signature dish? Warak Dawali (stuffed grape leaves) and Kusa Mihshi (stuffed squash), of course! Not only are these my favorite Arabic meals of all time, they looked super […]
More Arab than you?
I was recently at a friend’s party and I heard someone say, “Because I’m Lebanese.” That was her answer to another lady that asked her why she was so tan. I immediately gravitated towards her and started asking her a ton of questions! I was so happy when I found out that her dad was […]
A tale of two teitas
“Nous u Nous”, half-breed, half-Arabic…that’s what I am. My mom is a Christian Palestinian and my father is from America. I always felt that I wasn’t enough Arabic for my mom’s family but too Arabic for my dad’s side. It’s a wonderful and weird combination of heritage and even more so as a child. The […]