By Jason Beaubien, NPR

Lea Hatouni is like a lot of other teenagers around the world. She likes music and hanging out with her friends. Her favorite band is the British rock band Coldplay. When she has free time she stops by the snack shop where her brother, Kenny works. "I talk to Kenny. We laugh and put on music. We start to dance and doing crazy stuff," she laughs.

And she loves to paint her fingernails her favorite color— dark blue.

Like any teen, she has big dreams.

Right now, she shares a bedroom with her four siblings. She fantasizes about a room of her own. "With a big closet full of dresses and clothes," she laughs. "And I’ll have my own window and my own bathroom!" One day, she hopes to become a translator and travel the world.

But there’s an edge to these adolescent dreams. Hatouni is a Christian living in Beirut, Lebanon, a part of the world dominated by Islam. Her family is crammed in to a small two-bedroom apartment in Achrafieh, the city’s Christian section.