A Life changing Experience

My name is Ruquyya. I was born and raised in Britain and am married with 4 daughters. A colleague from my workplace came to Palestine and advised me to visit.

After extensive searches online and Skype calls and email exchanges, I felt that Palestine Go was the best fit for me and gave me the confidence to visit alone as a single Muslim female traveling alone with my daughter. We booked our tickets and arranged our stay for 1 week as we were still slightly apprehensive about coming to a foreign place alone.

Upon arrival we were greeted by the owners and instantly all of our apprehension disappeared. Everyone was so welcoming that we felt like we had stepped into a home away from home. A host family had been arranged for us and the hospitality of the host family and the people from the center has been second to none. Instantly my daughter and I agreed that we should have come for longer .

A typical day for us here would start with a freshly made breakfast to sit and share with the other volunteers accompanied by enriching conversations. We would converse in English and Arabic and we felt like we were learning something new constantly. After breakfast we would have activities to do that were planned and given to us in advance. This structured timetable made us feel at ease and never uncomfortable. Although we were only here for a week, our timetable included an whole days excursion to an ancient city full of history alongside a guided tour of the holy resting place of the Patriarchs.

We also taught conversational English to students and were given individual Arabic classes matched to our abilities. The conversational English classes were an eye opener and we learnt so much from the students during the sessions, that I would always be sad when they finished.

The classes, my lessons, the center , the excursions and living with a Host family gave me a unique insight into the Palestinian culture that I would not have received had I come alone as a tourist and stayed in a hotel. The hospitality of Palestinian people is second to none and I cannot count how many cups of coffee, offers of meals and invitations to visit people's houses I have received. I have eaten at least 3 times at random strangers houses in the week I was here and had to turn down so many invitations, with promises of the next time I visit.

Just to give an example of the hospitality, I caught a taxi to go to Bethlehem from Hebron and the driver upon learning we were visitors, took us home to meet his wife and brought her along with us for the journey to make us more comfortable. He also made us promise that next time we came Hebron ,we would stay at his house. Another person we met at the old city took us home after hearing we were foreigners to meet his wife, she then prepared an evening meal for us to eat together.

At no time during my stay in Hebron or whilst traveling alone, using the local sharing taxis did I feel unsafe. The people welcome you in with their whole hearts and the center guides you all the time with regards to safety, even on our Free days and evenings.

The only regret I have is that my stay is too short and I will definitely return in the future and encourage others to visit. It’s a true life changing experience.