Amazing experience
Hi, my name is Fionn, and I come from Belfast, Ireland. I graduated from Cambridge University last year, where I studied Palestinian literature, like Darwish and Kanafani. This made me fall in love with my Palestine, but the empathy I felt towards the Palestinian cause was often contradicted by the distorted image of Palestine in Western media. For this reason, I chose the ‘Journalism and Media Program’ at the Excellence Center. I am really glad I chose this program. There were many journalists who came in and spoke to us, and we also visited radio stations. I even made some connections with journalists who invited me to work alongside them, and I probably learned the most about Palestinian media in this way. Aside from this, there were many human rights related activities organised by the Center, including several tours, a visit to a displaced Bedouin village outside Hebron, trips to refugee camps and meetings with human rights activists. All these visits were eye-opening for us: even though I knew about the suffering of the Palestinian people before I came, witnessing it was a surreal experience. I really enjoyed my Arabic lessons at the Center. Even though I knew no Arabic before I came, my teacher Dallia was unbelievably nice and patient, and I felt like I learned very quickly with her. When she unfortunately had to stop teaching me due to a serious family illness, the Center promptly found me another teacher, Anas. Like all the Palestinians who work at the Center, he is friendly, funny and genuinely talented at teaching. It may sound like a cliché, but the Center really does feel like a family. Many of the volunteers, like me, had never travelled alone before, and so we were initially nervous, before Osama, Marwa and the rest of the staff made us feel immediately at home. You meet people from all around the world here, yet everyone shares a common love of travel and desire to learn more about Palestine. Before the end of your first week here, you know you have made friends for life. There is a fantastic atmosphere at the Center. You are never bored here: even when you have free time, there is always someone to chat and joke around with. I will never forget the Palestinian willingness to laugh, at almost everything. I think it was so important for me and others to not only learn about the occupation and suffering, but also about the incredible optimism and friendliness of the Palestinian people. My host family were amazing, and did everything they could to make me feel at home. There is strong sense of pride here—not just of Palestine, but of Hebron itself. I am really glad I chose Hebron to visit and, as a woman, I felt completely safe here. To be honest, I felt more safe than any other major city I have visited in Europe. One of the funniest moments of my experience was when a famous Palestinian Tiktoker visited the Center. I had been in Palestine for less than a week, and only knew a couple of phrases in Arabic— one of which was alhamdulillah (the common response to ‘How are you?’). The Tiktoker, when filming the Center, suddenly put the camera on me, and said ‘Good morning’ (sabah alkhayr). In the video, you can see the panic in my eyes as I reply alhamdulillah, although I was fairly proud that I’d managed to say anything at all in Arabic. Everyone looked confused. The celebrity continued to question me in a torrent of Arabic. I froze, widened my eyes, and began to laugh hysterically. By the end of the day, every Palestinian I had met so far had seen the video, and shouted ‘alhamdulillah’ every time they saw me. It was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, but the endless banter that followed perfectly encapsulates the familial, jokey atmosphere of the Center in general. If you come here, it will not only be one of the most informative experiences of your life, but you will also become part of something really special. To use an Irish colloquialism, the craic at the Center is always, always great. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.
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