“Most of us are very far from home, so these are our surrogate families,” said Arij Beshish, 29, a researcher at UW Hospital who grew up in Libya. “We?re one big family, showing our love for each other.” Families will exchange gifts and friends will dine together.
Sadam Issa, 30, a Ph.D. student at UW-Madison, said he will call his family in Jordan and wish them well, then enjoy lots of coffees and teas with friends. Tuesday?s larger gathering was the perfect start, he said.
“It shows we are one community, that we are one group despite our different ethnicities,” he said.