Nicolas was born in a small majority Christian town in Palestine, but when he was 2 his family left for Chile, where they had long-standing family connections. In fact, migration from Palestine to Chile has a history going back to the 1920s.    Although the family settled with in Santiago,  Nicolas never felt like it was quite home, and as an adult returned to Palestine to reunite with family and to work.   But it didn't quite work out as expected and Nicolas headed back to Chile to work in the family's restaurant business.   From talking to an uncle who lived there, Nicolas decided to try his luck in Australia, eventually studying engineering in Tasmania.