My experience at the Excellence Center in Hebron, Palestine

I’m Alessandro Cordova, from Italy. I’m 21 years old and I study Intercultural Communication in the University of Rome, to get a future job in the field of International Cooperation for Development and Humanitarian Aid.
I participated in the TESA program because I wanted to get an insight view on the Palestinian issue and reality, because I wanted to improve my Arabic both through lessons and real-life communication and because I wanted to live an amazing life experience that could make me grow academically and personally.
Hebron is a safe city, easily comparable to many European towns. I was positively impressed by the incredibly low rate of micro criminality in the streets. I never felt to be in a dangerous city, not even at night. The situation in the old center of the can be surprising at a first sight, because of the presence of soldiers in the streets, but I never felt threatened by that. This applies to basically every city in the West Bank. They’re all normal and beautiful cities, full of life and amazing things, absolutely not a war zone.
I would recommend learning Arabic before coming here basically because the direct contact with Palestinians is an essentially important part of the experience. Moreover, even if starting from a basic level, living and studying here is the chance to get an incomparable improvement, especially in oral communication skills.
My best memories in Hebron are the visits to Umm Abed, a woman living in the center of the city. I just loved hearing all her stories and tasting her amazing handmade food, prepared with lots of love. I loved to see how genuinely happy she was every time we visited her.
I tried to learn some Dabka steps, but unfortunately I didn’t have enough patience for that. But for sure I’m willing to learn Maqluba recipe before going back home. Maybe from Umm Abed herself.