Day Trips Around the West Bank: In addition to Fridays during which all Palestinians have the day off, our volunteers have four days off a month. These are perfect for taking day trips around Palestine to see some of our well known historical sights. We at the Excellence Center encourage our volunteers to take in the sights around Hebron. We speak with our volunteers about their favorite day trips to take on their days off.
Gabby from the United States is participating in our “Volunteer to Write about Palestine” Program, she tells us about her many day trips around the West Bank, “I have visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho and the Dead Sea.” She continues, “Jerusalem was so gorgeous, feeling the deep history all around you is a feeling that is hard to describe. I shopped in the old city and bought presents for friends and family at home. Just knowing what has transpired in this city over the millennia is amazing.”
Gabby tells us about visiting Jericho and the Dead Sea, “Jericho certainly is a different city than Hebron. There is a small amusement park that men with exotic animals like a monkey, camel and large snake wander through. For ten shekels they will offer you to hold the gigantic snake, take a picture and print it for you haha.” She tells us that her favorite part of the visit was swimming in the Dead Sea, “swimming in the Dead Sea was amazing, the floating sensation was something else, you can’t sink even if you want to!” Additionally, she says, “also after putting the mud all over my body my skin has been amazing, and I got to buy my family gifts from the spa gift store.”
Edward from Australia is participating in our “Teach English and Learn Arabic” Program and he also cites Bethlehem and Jerusalem among his favorite weekend destinations in the West Bank. Additionally he has been to Nablus and Ramallah. Conner from the United States, participating in our “Volunteer to Write about Palestine” program also speaks of Ramallah, telling us, “Ramallah has so many museums and cultural attractions that are accessible during the day, so it is a great day-trip city to visit.” Conner continues, “Bethlehem is also nice and it is only forty minutes away, also you have to visit the old city in Jerusalem.” It is also possible to find a cheap hotel or hostel and spend the night in places like Jerusalem, as Victor from Belgium has.
There are so many close opportunities to spend the day or day and night in the West Bank. Gabby from the United States says, “I post pictures for my family and friends at home and they are all amazed at how many places I have visited, it is hard to understand how accessible all these amazing historical cities are to Hebron before visiting here.” We love to hear about the stories or volunteers come back to us with after their days off. We at the Excellent Center encourage our volunteers to travel around Palestine in their free time as it helps create a fuller cultural image of our people and our culture.
