There are three refugee camps in Bethlehem: Aida, Azza, and Di’heisha. Wednesday morning, I volunteered at the Al Rawad Center inside the Aida refugee camp which is home to 5000 refugees. Rawad is the camp’s recreation facility with a theater unit, photography/video unit, drawing unit, and women’s center. I toured the area and interviewed the head of Al-Rawwad Center who is an incredibly articulate Muslim woman. Being here in Falastin where hijab is not mandatory, I have realized that a woman who chooses to wear a headscarf can be just as “liberated” (whatever that word means) or integrated into her community as any “western” woman. The head of Rawaad seemed arguably moreso, in fact, than a certain type of idealized western woman. All cultures produce their own idealized barriers and the people who decide to break them, regardless of how they choose to dress. Social constructs about “west” and “east” start to become laughable when you travel away from home.