Welcome to the Neighborhood

Hello Neighbors!

I’ve been wanting to start this blog/page for so long and it feel so good to finally start it. Moving to the UK from the Middle East has to having all these conversations about me and my Arab culture that I never thought I’d have and made me seriously think about all these different things about my life (i.e the concept of ‘home’, religion, values, etc). People have had different responses when learning about my life (ranging from out right offensive and blatantly ignorant to very sympathetic and understanding). So it occurred to me that some people haven’t had any exposure to the Middle East outside what Western news outlets show or haven’t had meaningful conversations with people from the Middle East to really understand.

And for that reason, Friendly Neighborhood Arab was born 🙂
We are a group of young Arab around the world here to answer questions honestly and talk about the issues we face daily, with the aim of providing a platform for discussion, reflection, and supporting one another. On our Instagram and here on the blog, different neighbors will answer questions and lead conversations about topics ranging from moving abroad, stereotypes, friendships/relationships, and homesickness. So send in any questions for us to answer, topics to discuss, or any ideas for what you want to see on this platform!

This is just the start, and I hope this community will grow to become something meaningful and causing positive change (but also fun).

~N