CAZENOVIA — Since mid-October, Cazenovia resident, business owner, and activist Pat Carmeli has been hosting two foreign exchange students, Medhat al-Rubei from Gaza City, Palestine, and Andy Topchiev from Sofia, Bulgaria.
al-Rubei, who turned 16 last May, is a junior at Cazenovia High School (CHS), and Topchiev, who turned 16 in December, is a sophomore.
The students came to Cazenovia through Greenheart Exchange, a nonprofit organization that offers cultural exchange programs in the United States for people all around the world.
Carmeli, who owns the Pewter Spoon Café and Eatery on Albany Street, got involved with Greenheart after her daughter Dana mentioned that she kept seeing appeals for someone to host a foreign exchange student from the Gaza Strip.
Carmeli lived in Israel from 1992 to 2004 and, while there, became an activist for Palestinian human rights. She has continued that work in the US and is a founding member of the Syracuse-based group Justice for Palestine.
“We hold events, sponsor speakers, show films, [and] have discussions with the aim of educating others about the inhumanity of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands,” said Carmeli.
Having never heard of Greenheart or considered being a “host mom” before, Carmeli contacted local Greenheart coordinator Catherine Jeannin, who lives in Erieville.
When Jeannin explained that the organization was looking for a host family with kids, Carmeli figured she was “off the hook.” Several weeks later, however, Jeannin was still in search of a host for the student from Gaza.
Eventually, Jeannin reached out to Carmeli to request that she take in not one but two young men.
“With a certain amount of trepidation, I said I’d give it a try,” said Carmeli. “She brought them over to meet me and then brought them to my home sometime later.”
This trip is al-Rubei’s first experience outside of the Gaza Strip.
“Medhat is from Gaza, which is also known as the largest open-air prison in the world — called that because Israel controls the borders and rarely allows people out,” said Carmeli. “. . . It’s a sad fact that I have seen so much of his ancestral homeland, and he has seen none of it. Despite this, his English is excellent. I guess it’s the wonder of kids all over the world watching US television. . . He’s a smart kid, and when I think of the explosions he has had to hear raining down from F-16s, I shudder. Of course, I’ll have his face in front of me every time I hear of new conflicts in Gaza.”
al-Rubei said he decided to study in the US because he likes to try new things and wants to get a good education.
“Education in my country is not a really good education, and when I study it will give me more opportunities for higher education,” he said. “Since I have always wanted to study abroad, I found going on an exchange year is a really good idea, especially in the USA.”
al-Rubei joined the CHS varsity soccer team last fall and said he made great memories with the team.
According to the student, one difference between his school in Gaza City and CHS is the number of students. He noted that a single classroom back home might have 40 kids, while even the most packed classroom in Cazenovia does not have more than 20 students.
al-Rubei said he was impressed to discover how calm and quiet it can be out in the countryside versus in Gaza City, where it is “always loud.”
“When I go to sleep, I do not hear anything — no cars, no people chattering in the street [in the] late hours, nothing,” he said. “So, I really like [Cazenovia], but still, I am a city person.”
According to al-Rubei, not much else about living in the USA has surprised him.
“In 2023, with all the stuff on the internet, we can get information about almost everything,” he said. “. . . When I watch shows on Netflix, I learn lots of things about many cultures, especially the American culture.”
Although he will miss the countryside, the friends he has made, and, most of all, his host family, al-Rubei is looking forward to enjoying the activities, food, and architecture of his home city.
“Gaza city is a really interesting place,” he said. “You will find modern architecture, and you can find old places — really old, like the Great Mosque of Gaza, a place with a history of 2,000 years, and the Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, a 1,650-year-old beautiful church.”
For Topchiev, who is in the US for the first time, the differences in his everyday life in Cazenovia versus in Bulgaria’s capital city are significant.
In the city, he lives primarily in a second-floor apartment with his mother and younger brother. About once a week, he stays with his father in an apartment on the 14th floor.
“Right outside my apartment building is a 24/7 shop where I can go to buy juice or snacks,” he said. “Where I live in Cazenovia, I’d have to walk 3.5 miles for snacks.”
Topchiev added that, like Cazenovia, the people in the quieter section of the city where he lives tend to know each other.
A notable difference in his daily routine has been his commute to school. In Bulgaria, the multi-step journey takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes with no traffic and involves catching a bus, taking a short walk to get the subway to the city center, switching subway lines to head out of the city, and then waiting for the next bus to take him to the main street where the school is located.
“If I attended the public school, it would only have taken me a couple of minutes, but my mother thought the private school was better,” he said.
These days, his morning commute takes just six minutes via yellow school bus.
“From the movies, I never thought yellow buses were a real thing, and I remember my surprise when I first saw one coming down the road,” he said. “Houses and cars unlocked — the level of trust was [also] a big surprise. Tax on top of stated price in stores surprised me. When I went to buy something for two dollars and the clerk asked for $2.16. In general, the prices [for technology products, like] phones, are less expensive by a lot.”
Another change in Topchiev’s life recently has been his participation in school sports, which are not offered at his Bulgarian high school.
Since arriving last fall, he has participated in CHS’s football, hockey, and lacrosse programs.
“In the US, high school sports are supported by the community,” he noted. “I love sports. In Bulgaria, I had to travel two hours to the stadium for rugby practice. Here, sports are either next to the school or you get a bus to go there — for instance, hockey in Morrisville. . . The coaches have been great, and I feel I have been supported by them. They want me to improve and get playing time.”
Having grown to love American football, Topchiev is looking forward to playing the sport back in Bulgaria, despite its small teams.
“My most memorable time was after our first football quarter-final victory and the feeling in the locker room afterward,” he said. “We were all so happy, playing music, and seeing the coaches super happy.”
According to Topchiev, he plans to bring home as much gear as his suitcase will allow, making sure to pack the new football he got for Christmas and his new football helmet and cleats. He also hopes to fit his hockey helmet and a plaque he received at the hockey banquet to remember the great times he had in that program as well.
“I will miss most the kids I became friendly with and the coaches I became close to,” said Topchiev. “I loved taking the classes Studio Photography and Food and Nutrition. I’m looking forward to seeing my family, friends, and dog in Bulgaria, but honestly, I’d rather stay in Cazenovia because I like it here. I just like how the people treat me and each other. People are super kind and trusting. I’m hoping to go to a college in the area — SU, Colgate, LeMoyne? Unfortunately, it won’t be Cazenovia College, which I think would have been a good choice. I would like to thank the people at Greenheart International, the [Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program], Catherine Jeannin, my local coordinator, and my host mother, Pat Carmeli.”
According to Carmeli, al-Rubei and Topchiev are sure to return home after the school year with memories of her chickens running around; her horse, mini-donkey, and two mini-schnauzers; her cats that have been sleeping with them nightly; and their trip down to New York City.
“When I took the boys to NYC, Andy was so excited about having a hotdog from a street vendor,” Carmeli recalled. “Medhat lamented that he couldn’t have one, because it would probably contain pork and not be hallal, [the] Muslim version of kosher. Well, as soon as we arrived at ground level outside Penn Station, we saw that all the food trucks were hallal. What a pleasant surprise for Medhat. He and Andy both got hotdogs but were actually pretty disappointed in the taste. But they had a great time and loved NYC.”
al-Rubei described the trip as the best memory of his time in the US.
“[New York City] is my favorite place I have been to in my life, and I got to speak Arabic multiple times,” he said. “It was a wonderful trip.”
The students, who are scheduled to head home on June 4, will depart with not only the memories of their experiences but also photo albums that Carmeli made with pictures from their New York City trip.
Carmeli said that although it will be nice to get her house back to herself and watch what she wants on the television, she knows how much she will miss the students and she will keep them in her thoughts.
To learn more about Greenheart Exchange, visit greenheartexchange.org.
