Is this thread still live?

I am from the Middle East too. I was raised in the USA. My mom is from the USA, but I came out dead-ass like my father's side (German/Israeli).

In my childhood, my features didn't grow in at the same time. I had bushy eyebrows on a shallow face, I was the same weight in the 4th grade as I am now (!!!). I just grew disproportionately, and was naturally teased for it incessantly.

I went to Germany alone at 16 and it did a lot for my confidence. When I moved to Israel on my own, without family at 19, it was the first time I felt like I belonged. I've never looked stereotypically "Jewish" but I've always looked Israeli -- probably because I'm not Ashkenazi Jewish or Mizrahi, but a mix, like most Israelis. I don't think I have felt self-conscious since, and I'm in the USA right now. Even so much so that when my now ex-bf became obsessed with a German-clone of me -- a white washed version of me -- I told him off and dumped him. I wasn't going to change or be ashamed of all the things I've learned to love about myself, all the things that make me, me. (yes, they're dating now, and apparently she read all the old messages where I compared us and she cannot look me in the eye. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, I guess...)