Some things I like about Palestinian culture

There are some really great qualities about the culture here. One is the love of family. Even teenage guys can't wait until they get married and have families. It's so refreshing to see high school kids holding babies, babies not even related to them. They just love children and the idea of family, and it shows in their faces.
Another great thing is that if there is an occasion to celebrate, no one does it like the Arabs. I had the priviledge of going to a wedding reception this past spring & it was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. There was a huge hydraulic studio camera filming the whole event and there was non-stop dancing and feasting. It was a really great time. Just yesterday, our whole road was blocked off for what I can only guess was some sort of block party or wedding celebration. Our neighbors were kind enough to let us know that we would need to move our vehicles before they closed the street. It was very odd to see our street so bare - there were no cars to be seen, which before would have been completely unimaginable. Can you believe that people would actually comply with letting their street be closed off for someone else's party? Not just for a couple of hours - it's been going on for the last two nights, and it was only just a couple of hours ago that cars have been back on the street. Whatever the celebration was about, there was a stage stretching across the whole street with a live band (a really good one, I must say), a street full of people, and of course, fireworks. Erin and I walked up to it, but there was a tent surrounding three sides, so we couldn't see very much. We did peek in through the seams of the tarps and saw the band and lots of men dancing up front.
Speaking of men dancing, that would be another thing I like. I love to see men actually dancing; you know, lively, fun, traditional dancing, not nasty bump & grind junk. (I have an appreciation of hip-hop and break dancing as well.) Guys are much more openly affectionate with each other here - kisses on the cheeks, warm hugs - and it's all very natural and genuine. I love to see the interaction.
Now, there are some things that aren't so nice about the culture, which of course is true for any culture. But, I'll save that for another time.