It is possible he's telling the truth but I'm skeptical. Firstly, Coptic Christians fast at most, about 200 days of the year (if they follow every fast rigirously) and its never enforced upon people who arent coptic or who dont want to fast. And by fast, all it means is that they follow a vegan diet. They do not eat less food, just different food. In fact, most people gain weight during a fast because its a heavy carb diet. Furthurmore, if he had gone to Egypt for four months around the christmas season, then the family would have only been fasting from November 25th-January 7th. So the family wouldn't have been fasting from Sept-late Nov of his trip, Secondly, it is very much a part of Egyptian culture to be hospitable and to offer food at every meeting and gathering. Not feeding somebody is counter-intuitive of Egyptian culture. Thirdly an American dollar is equivelent to 5 Egyptian pounds. He could buy himself an entire day's worth of food for a few American dollars. Fourthly, if they were starving him there would be no way in hell he would have stayed the whole time when he had the option of leaving. He probably got traveller's diarreah and a host of other diseases that he and the host family didnt bother to get diagnosed. Then he probably didnt want his parents to get angry at him and never allow him to leave home again so he lied and claimed he was starved rather than say he was being negligent of his own health. Or he wants to sue the exchange agency and get money for college.