The Excellence Center Reviews

When I saw the Excellence Center was hosting a trip throughout the West Bank in Palestine, I immediately researched the Excellence Center and read the positive reviews. I then contacted the center and started coordinating my plans to visit Palestine. It was one of the best travel decisions I have ever made.

Being an advit traveler and a Palestinian activist, this was the perfect trip and experience for me. I got to see some of the most amazing places, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jericho and the Mediterranean and Dea Sea among other places. It was absolutely amazing!!! We traveled with folks from the center as well as international friends we made, again, I can't recommend this trip enough. It is a must for anyone really wanting to see Palestine and not the typical Israeli tour. I extended my trip to three weeks, which I used to travel to additional places, volunteer my help and learn basic Arabic.

Sadly this must be said, with perpetual media vilification and demonization of Palestinians, and the anti-Arab propaganda that has conditioned the majority of the western world to view Palestinians in a negative light, this is definitely the trip for you.

Having spent three weeks there with the folks at the Excellence Center as well as all the wonderful international people, you will meet the kindest and experience hospitality like no other - and no doubt have the time of your life.

In wrapping, once again, I want to stress how highly I recommend exploring as much of the West Bank as you can, especially Hebron, Old City Hebron and diverse yourself in the Palestinian culture and be sure to spend loads of time with the local people, you will see an amazing thing, some of the kindest and amazing people you will ever meet. 😊❤️🇵🇸

MY EXPERIENCE IN PALESTINE
My name is Priscilla, I’m 23 years old and I’m from Italy. Two months ago I graduated in interpreting and communication and after that I decided to come to Palestine. I have always had a huge passion for the Middle East and for the Arab culture, (plus my bachelor thesis was about Palestinian refugees after 1948) so I decided to combine all my passions in one trip and the Excellence Centre seemed to be the most appropriate choice. Here I participated at the program ‘teach English and learn Arabic’ and I can say that ithas been a great experience: most of my students were kids and they were so respectful and nice with me. Every time that we had a lesson together they were asking me a lot of questions about my culture and about my country and I was really happy to see that they were really interested in knowing me better. I also had the opportunity to teach in the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar, that was really nice because it was an opportunity to see how Palestinian people live outside the city and to discover more things about the Palestinian culture. I loved going to Beit Ummar, and after the last class one of the students invited me to eat in his house with his family, it was great! Since he knew that I was a vegetarian he cooked everything without meat and at the end of the day his mother gave me a present. We had a really good time together!
At the Excellence Centre I also had the opportunity to learn the Palestinian dialect, and I can say that this was the greatest experience of my journey here. Before coming here I had studied Arabic at university for one year but I wasn’t able to speak it at all, but aftera few weeks of classesI made great progress. Now I can actually speak and talk to people, and that was one of my main goals before coming here. During my stay here, I have lived with a Palestinian family and it has been a great experience. My host mum was great, and her husband and the children as well. Living in a host family is a great experience because you can actually learn more about Palestinian culture, plus it is a great way to improve the Arabic language.
Since I had two days off from the centre I was able to travel a lot around the country: Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah, the Dead Seaand Nablus. Palestine is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been to, the landscape is amazing and the people even more.Before coming here, I was a bit scared;this maybe because I’m a girl, ormaybe because in Europe there is a lot of misinformation about Palestine, but after a few weeks I realized I had nothing to worry about! Palestine is completely safe, people are so friendlyand if they notice that you need help they would do everything possible in order to solve your problem.
The hospitality and kindness of the Palestinian people are one of the things that I have loved,despite the conflict with Israel not being easy, they never lose their happiness and glee and that is one of the things that Ireally admire about them.
In the end, I can say that my experience at the Excellence Centre has been completely positive. I have had the opportunity to learn more about this great country and to meet a lot of people that I will forever remember in my heart.

I am Julia, 28, from Berlin, Germany. I participated in the trip to Palestine that was organized by the Excellence Center in August 2017 and spent one week with a host family in Hebron during which I could experience the local culture and explore a lot of sites in Palestine.

We visited many places, starting with the university and nativity church in Bethlehem, as well as the terraces of Battir, the old city and Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron as well as the local factories for shoes, ceramics and kaffeah and the tomb and museum of Arafat in Ramallah. The Excellence Center included me and the other participants of the trip in their mutual activities, like the shared breakfast in the mornings and enabled us to spend time with the other volunteers and locals.

The highlight was the trip to Jericho and the dead sea. Floating in the dead sea is a unique experience that can't be compared to anything else. You have to experience it yourself! On this day we visited also a spring that was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I could have spend the whole day there.

We could also learn a lot about the current living conditions and the circumstances of the conflict, that you can hardly overlook while in Palestine. We were invited to a refugee camp and to the Shuhada street in Hebron and got the chance to talk with people who suffer from abuse by settlers and the army on an almost daily basis. It was heart breaking!

Aside from these very sad problem areas, the general living conditions are good. Even the heat was not as bad as expected as the buildings are cool from the inside and it is usually possible to find places in the shade. As a respectful visitor you have to adapt your clothing and behavior to the local standards and will find yourself very welcome by the open minded Palestinian people.

Staying with a host family is the best way to immerse in the culture and learn about the daily life in this area. I felt very welcome, appreciated and taken care of. My host family even invited me to a family party which was a great experience that taught me a lot about the culture. I enjoyed it very much.

Security was never an issue! Even the controls through Israelis were fewer than expected and although still an unpleasant experience, nothing to be afraid of. In Hebron, I could pass freely although I was only very few times on my own. The Excellence Center staff, my host family and strangers were all very friendly and helpful. I made a lot of new friends and am really happy that I took the chance of this trip. It was an amazing experience that changed the way I see the world.

My name is Saloua, from France, I have a Master's degree in Human Resources. During my stay, I taught English in several places next to Hebron, often in pair with McKayla, an American volunteer. We went to different cities/villages such as: a center at Beit Omer, a school in Seir and at the Chamber of Commerce of al-Dahrya. We noticed that in the schools in which we taught, the students already had notions of English.
The staff from the center is very nice, for all of the courses inside the center like the summer camps, we had Palestinian assistants who were there to help us to translate the hard words which the students couldn’t understand. That was very helpful. The staff is also here to help you when you need some information about different topics. For example if you want to know how to go to a different city or if you want to buy something special, you can ask them. They will help you with pleasure.
The Center organizes some visits for the internationals. We had a schedule displayed in the kitchen of the center with all of the visits. For example, we went to a sandal and a Koffieh factory, to the old city of Hebron, in a camp… That was amazing to visit these places with the other volunteers.
During my stay, I had the chance to visit several important cities as Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus and Jerusalem. It’s really easy to travel inside the West-Bank, you just have to walk or go by taxi at the city center (taxi station), and then ask for the place you want to go. You can easily organize day-trips with other volunteers or members of staff.
Living with a host family is a good way to discover Palestinian culture. If you stay more than four weeks it can be good to change host family for having the chance to discover different ways of life.
Palestinian food is different from food we eat in France. Here they eat lot of chicken and rice, these are the principal food you will eat with your host family. I really loved the food here. The mothers of the host families take time to cook, so you will have the chance to eat several Palestinian dishes. You will see that people here are really welcoming, in addition of the host family you will be invited by others family to have dinner.
I volunteered in July and August, the weather was hot: from 28 to 33 Celsius degrees in Hebron in the afternoon. It’s easily bearable; you just have to bring adequate cloths.
To conclude about my volunteering, I am very happy to have travelled in Palestine

My only regret is not having been able to stay longer. The Excellence Centre's management are wonderfully relaxed about when you arrive, when you leave and what skills you want to focus on, which makes it possible to fit your stay around other commitments. I'm especially grateful to Usama for helping me settle in and showing me the best falafel dive in town, and Maryam for listening patiently for a solid 3-4 hours as I babbled ceaselessly about what I'd done the day before, my favourite colour etc. When classes were over, we got a chance to what Palestinian culture is really about, through visits to a glass furnace, a sandal factory run by hand, the last kuffiyeh factory in Palestine and the old city, squashed between an Israeli settlement and a heavily guarded checkpoint. All in all this course was informal and relaxed in all the right ways, while delivering an intense and very practical language programme. My fellow foreigners who'd been around for longer seemed to have forged real friendships within the community; Hebron is welcoming, positive and interested in visitors.

Would you like to volunteer in Palestine? Would you like to make an impact in the education of Palestinian children? The Excellence Center in Hebron is the place to be!
I have spent two months Teaching English and Learning Arabic in the Excellence Center, and it has been one of the best choices I have ever made. The working environment is really good, and the staff in the Center are nice and loving. I was teaching various groups of children at regular lessons, summer camps and villages near Hebron. Moreover, I also prepared workshops on academic writing, and gave private lessons on IELTS or conversational skills to University students. Apart from this unique experience of engaging with the Palestinian youth, I also learnt Arabic in the best imaginable atmosphere. I had three hours of Arabic lessons a week, and learnt how to read and write! I will definitely continue developing the skills that the Excellence Center gave me the opportunity to learn in the future!
My period in Hebron is filled with beautiful experiences and friendships, and it will always be in my memory and heart. If you are willing to volunteer or learn Arabic I highly recommend you to come to the Excellence Center in Hebron!

My name is Valentina and I come from Italy. I have a degree in law and I participated in a voluntary programme with the Excellence Centre for 2 weeks. I was an assistant during English lessons for children and I underwent a few Arabic lessons with Teacher Dua’a. The environment in the centre is brilliant - the teachers are amazing and the students are both motivated and polite. My colleagues are really helpful and funny!

In Palestine I visited Bethlehem, and the old city in Hebron, which included visiting the Ibrahimi mosque. Whenever I visit these places alone, I felt safe and did not have any problems regarding the locals or the military presence. I can travel freely around these areas. I really love the hospitality of the Palestinian people because I have experienced help and offers everywhere and at anytime here in Palestine. Each in place that I visited, I found some people - children or adults, that offered services to be my guide around when I was visiting. After this short period, I will go back home with great lessons in humanity and how people living in such predicaments can still be hospitable and open to others. I will definitely recommend having an experience in Palestine with the Excellence Centre. Special thanks to my host family for such an amazing and homely experience staying here in Hebron - I sincerely felt like a daughter to the family!

I am Niccolo’ Costantini and I study Modern Languages and Intercultural Mediation. I am about to finish my first degree and I am now writing my dissertation about Hebrew language and Education in Palestine.

I decided to travel to Palestine for two main reason: the first is personal, the second is academic.
I had visited Palestine before and worked with the Excellence Center. I found them to be very supportive and I had a great time: I met many people from all over the world with whom I am still in contact, not to mention the staff of the Center: when I came back, it seemed like not even a day had passed, and i found the warm and welcoming people that I left last year. I enjoyed this year more than last one as I have by myself, while a year ago I decided to travel with a friend from Italy. I have to admit that travelling by yourself is more productive from some point of view. For example, I was able to practise my Arabic much more as I was not tempted to stick with my friend and speak Italian, and I felt more free and more outgoing with the people.
The second reason is my research. I had to gather information about some issues such as the perception of the Hebrew language in Palestine, the administrative structure of schools and so on. The Center has been very supportive: I had to travel to several cities during my stay in Palestine in order to get the information I needed, and the directress, Marwa, never hesitated to grant me some more days off so that I could do what I had to do. I really appreciate that, and I will be forever thankful for that.

In addition to that, I think that i could spend a word on my stay in the Male Dorms. I found them much better than last year, and I got along with my flatmates. We established meaningful and - inshallah - long-lasting relations and we supported each other. I think that getting along with your flatmates can enhance your experience in Palestine a big deal: whenever I felt homesick or a bit sad they were always there to cheer me up. Once I caught a gastroenteritis which gave me a high fever, vomit and diarrhea. I was feeling very weak and lonely, but my friend volunteered to take me to the hospital and to call the Center for me. I am very grateful for that and I don’t know what I would have done if my flatmate had not been there.

In conclusion, not only did my second experience with the Center satisfy my expectation, it exceeded them. I would definitely recommend anyone to come to Palestine by themselves and let the warmness of al-Khalil take care of them.

My name is McKayla, from the United States and I am currently studying to obtain a bachelor’s degree in International Studies. At the Excellence Center in Hebron, I participated in the Teach English, Learn Arabic program. For the past two months, I have been teaching English in multiple villages around Hebron. Some of the villages included Se’ir, al-Zaharia, and Beit Umar. Each village and the students in them have been very welcoming and eager to learn. In addition to teaching, each week, I took Arabic courses at the Center with a native speaker. These lessons helped me to enhance my language skills immensely over the course of my time here in Hebron.

The atmosphere in the center is vivid and exciting. Each person’s personality is inviting and not once did I feel uncomfortable or worried about anyone in the center or even in the city. The volunteers who come to Hebron are also very interesting and eager to help in any way they can. Whether they were experienced in teaching or not, by the end of our time here, we had a better grasp on how to create lessons, conduct courses, and engage students in learning. In addition, teaching is a very rewarding experience that can not be compared.

The best part of my experience in Hebron was living with a host family. Everyday I came home to a loving family, a nice place to sleep, and delicious traditional Palestinian dishes. I have made connections with my host family that I wouldn’t trade for the world. They were always patient with me and encouraged me to be apart of their culture. They, along with the center, provided travel advice to each of the places that I traveled to in Palestine. Some of the places I visited were Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nablus. Each place was just as beautiful as the last. I had no problem navigating the city alone nor traveling with just one other woman. When we were lost people were so helpful in leading us to the right places and even put us on taxis and buses. As far as safety as is concerned, I feel safer in Palestine than in the U.S.

My favorite thing about Palestine is knowing that no matter where you are, you are welcomed and you are safe. If you ever needed anything people would be willing to offer you their last food, their house, or their time. I wish I could share with you my favorite experience, but my favorite things all include meeting new people, trying new foods and always feeling like I am welcomed. The weather is agreeable (in the shade), the food is exceptional, the people are more than happy to meet you and share their culture as well as learn about yours.

I have already been planning my trip back to Palestine (even with my mom). Therefore, this is an experience I highly recommend and I can promise you will be addicted and come back every year! So don’t hesitate to come to visit Palestine because you will not regret it!

My name is Cynthia, and I am an undergraduate student at the University of Mississippi studying International Relations. I am from the United States, and I am participating in the Teach English, Speak Arabic program at the Excellence Center.

Before I came to Hebron this summer, I was under the impression that I was going to be living in a conflict zone, that I’d have IDF soldiers walking up and down the street, and that fear and political tension would be oppressively present in every part of my daily life. Professors who have traveled to the West Bank told me that I’d want to have someone to whom I could vent to about the situation. I read many, many news articles online that pointed to instability in the Palestinian Territories, and that living there meant inevitably being involved in protests and politics.

However, the understanding of the situation in Palestine among not only common people, but also among those who study the Middle East, is gravely skewed. I had prepared myself for a summer of politics, when I really did not need to. I have spent the past two months with the Excellence Center, teaching English in both the city of Hebron and the village of Kharas. It wasn’t a political experience. It wasn’t unsafe, and it wasn’t nearly what I thought it would be. I lived in a beautiful house, had plenty of hot water for my showers, and the electricity never was cut off. I took public transportation by myself, and passed checkpoints easily whenever I travelled to the Hebron settlement or Jerusalem. While I did have to adjust to the culture with both my host family and the classroom, volunteering with the Excellence Center has given nothing but wonderful insight and impressions of Hebron and the West Bank.

Every day this summer, I would take the bus in the morning from the village where I lived to the center. Ialways would breakfast with the entire Excellence Center staff, which was a great time for me to talk to my friends before we went our own ways for the day. During breakfast, all the Excellence Center volunteers were constantly engaged in interesting political discussions as we talked about Brexit, the Trump election, South African politics, or Hawaii’s complicated relationship to the United States. The people here at the Excellence Center come from such diverse backgrounds, so there’s always a multitude of conversation topics. This was one of my most favorite aspects of working here at the center: being constantly surrounded by people who had so many different perspectives and opinions that no one ever had the same ideas about any subject. Sometimes we would talk about weddings, and the former professional chef from New York City would talk about how she catered an extremely fancy wedding last year. Or we could be talking about Trump, and the conversation would just move to talking about the alt-right movements in Europe. We would always share our languages with each other too, picking up words in Swedish, Danish, Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Italian, and Spanish, as we all taught English and learned Arabic.

The environment here at the Excellence Center is nothing but positive and supportive, even on the worst of days. There’s always someone to talk to, someone to rant to, someone to celebrate with, and someone to study with. Everyone is excited to experience new things, tease out new bits of Palestinian culture that we don’t understand, and to support each other for the time that we’re here. Adjusting to life in a conservative, religious city can be hard, but the people and internationals at the Excellence Center make it much easier.

The most important lesson that I’ve learned from my time here in Palestine is that you really need to go to its cities, meet its people, spend time on its streets and in its public transportation system, and eat in its restaurants and coffee shops if you really want to know what life is like there. My life here in Hebron doesn’t look like your Al-Jazeera documentary or your exposé from the New York Times. No amount of academic research or talking to my professors could have given me the same knowledge that living in Hebron did. I experienced Palestinian culture and what it means to live under occupation. I learned a lot about Palestinian classroom culture, and the positive and negative aspects of having foreigners teach English classes to Palestinian students. I learned how to cook Mensif and Makloubeh, and about how many spoon-fulls of sugar to put in a pot of Arabic tea. Teaching at the Excellence Center has been an invaluable experience that has changed the way in which I look at life and education in the West Bank. I will not leave Palestine with extensive experiences in protests or the IDF, but I know a lot more about Palestinian daily life, which is almost more valuable.

Teaching English and learning Arabic at the Excellence Center was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The experiences I have had and the people that I have met have changed my life for the better, and my knowledge in the Palestinian Question has increased in ways that I had not thought possible before.