The Druze village of Usfiya is located on the Carmel fifteen kilometers from Haifa. Rami lives in a tightly-knit compound, housing his close relatives. In Arabic "hamula" is the word used to describe the immediate and extended family. Rami's children are free to run from aunt to uncle to grandparents, finding a warm home in each.

Janet lives and works in Haifa, the port city at the foot and slopes of the Carmel. She works at the Haifa Museum located in the Arab quarter, and lives in a neighborhood originally settled by Jews from North Africa. As those move on to new neighborhoods, recent new immigrants from the Former Soviet Union settle in.