EC

I came to the Excellence Center to study Arabic intensively 15 hours a week for 4 weeks. I had private lessons with the wonderful Afnan, who used a variety of techniques to help me build on what I had studied previously. She is an excellent communicator and teacher, and laughed at a lot of my silly jokes and anecdotes and helped me express myself more confidently in Arabic.
The entire staff at the EC was helpful and friendly. In general, Palestinians are very warm and welcoming - foreigners here get chased down to be offered free coffee and food. I ended up befriending some locals at the restaurants I would frequent, so I got to practice my new vocabulary chatting and laughing with them late into every night.
As an Asian, I did receive a lot of stares and treatment that made me uncomfortable. No one was malevolent towards me, but it did feel unfair that the locals treated me like some exotic animal while they treated my white colleagues with more humanity - I chalk it up to ignorance.
I was also fortunate in that all the other foreigners with me at the time were brilliant and fun. We'd have enriching discussions - in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish - about serious issues like justice in Israel/Palestine as well as silly ones like our pets.
I studied at EC in the winter - houses are not insulated for the cold, and my apartment bathroom frequently leaked. Be prepared to be a little uncomfortable if you come in the winter. But my roommates were fantastic and will likely be friends for life.