תִּקּוּן בֵּית פִילִיפִּינִים

||I definitely did not fit in! I came from Israel, lived in the sticks of Texas, and then moved to Rhode Island. My city is a multicultural one with my different ethnicities. I fitted NOWHERE! I am a Jewish, Pakistani, Filipino girl. 1. Everyone had some kind of Jew joke. So I didn’t tell people I was Jewish (not until toward the end of high school). 2. What’s Filipino? The one person who knew was Laos and was born there and when I tried to make a connection I was already labeled as ‘the weird new girl.’ 3. I was from Israel. Automatically, it was assumed I should be covered from head to toe and from the desert riding a camel. The lack of knowledge years ago showed people’s ignorance. So I didn’t bother. I just never fit in! There was NO ONE I could relate to! Didn’t know anyone Filipino, Israeli or Jewish. As for my Pakistani side, I didn’t really grow up knowing that because I was born in Israel so we lived a Jewish life; no one ever showed me the Pakistani side. I survived by hiding who I was. Most times if I got asked what I was, I would just answer Israeli and Filipino. Or simply Filipino. There was no support. Old fashioned immigrant parents were no good for comfort on that subject. I wish I could’ve joined a group with common interests but I was very shy when I was younger and nowhere near as outgoing or outspoken as I am now. As for my daughter, I am trying to teach her from my childhood mistakes and to love who she is. Although I didn’t fit in anywhere in the past, I managed to get by and build friendships and I had no problem letting people know who I was at that point. And that’s what was important.|| ~ Natalie. Israeli, Pakistani and Filipino.