My stay in Palestine

My name is Coco, I'm 23 years old and I`m a midwife from Germany. This year I was staying for 4 weeks in Hebron and participated in the ¨Study Arabic¨ program at the Excellence Center. I want to tell you a little bit more about my stay.
It was the first time ever that I visited an Arabic country and for the first few days I felt like I stumbled pretty clumsy through this foreign culture. I didn`t speak the language and I didn`t really know much about the culture. Thankfully everyone was so patient with me and supported me in every way possible.
I was staying with a Palestine host family that took very good care of me. Everyone was always so friendly and welcoming although it was challenging to communicate because I spoke little Arabic and they didn`t speak that much English. But surprisingly it worked out every time. I also probably gained about 3 kg because they feed me all the time delicious food. And I could get really get used to the practice to have tea or coffee basically all the time. I enjoyed this lots!
I had four Arabic lessons everyday and my teacher Maryam was really good and so patient. I only knew the alphabet before I came here and she helped to improve my Arabic really fast. I`m still a little bit shy with speaking but actually there`s no reason for it as I know all the necessary grammar and words now. Nevertheless Maryam never gave up with getting me to speak. I always have a lot of questions and sometimes I get frustrated easily but she always had been so patient and tried to encourage me.
The environment of the Excellence Center is also a very friendly one. Everyone has always been so supportive and caring. Whenever there was a problem or I needed anything, everyone has tried his or her best to help me. I also enjoyed my time with the other Internationals here and a few good friendships have formed. They have been very important for me while I was here because the understand the struggles you sometimes face while being away from home. We usually would go out every other evening to a coffee shop and it was always lots of fun. I`m gonna miss all the people here – the one`s that work here and my fellow Internationals.
It also never gets boring because the Center organizes lots of activities you can participate in. Unfortunately I didn`t get to enjoy too many as I had been ill during my stay and also needed a lot of time just for being on my own. So I only got to participate in a trip to Jericho and the Dead Sea and it was amazing! I have seen the pictures of people floating in the Dead Sea but it`s a very special experience to really do it yourself. We had lots of fun on your trip although I was very tired when we returned in the evening.
I also got to celebrate my birthday here as I turned 23 during my stay and it was a really good experience. The people from the Center had organized a small party, there was a cake with a picture of me on it and they even got me presents! I was really amazed how everyone tried to help to have a good time and I did in fact. It was a beautiful day and I`m glad that I got to celebrate my birthday here.
What could be challenging from time to time was that I`m a vegetarian. Palestine food contains lots of meat in general but it`s still possible to get by. Especially the Falafel place across the street has a huge place in my heart. As does the bakery. Those cookies are just delicious. I also enjoyed the breakfast in the Center with lots of hummus. I could totally keep that up in Germany. So even you have to search a little bit from time to time it`s still possible to survive here as a vegetarian and there are really lots of delicious food you definitely have to try!
Another thing that was on my mind (and my Mum`s) was the security situation. In general I felt safe most of the time. There had been protests in December after Trump accepted Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but I didn`t really see much of those as they were pretty far away from my host family and the Center. I always felt as nothing could really happen as long as I didn`t go to the protests and just stayed inside. Be carefull, pay attention to the things around you, read the news and ask for advise from the people at the Center and you will be fine. For most of the time everything here is just as normal as elsewhere.
In general I enjoyed my stay in Palestine very much. Sometimes it`s not easy because of the different cultures – for both sides. But just be open and talk with the others if there are problems. It´s also a huge learning experience and I didn`t only learn a lot about Palestine culture but also aboutmyownandaboutmyself.EveryonehasalwaysbeenverysupportiveandkindandI`msadthat I have to leave soon. If you want to learn about another culture and learn Arabic I can only recommend you to stay at the Excellence Center.