“I am Luca, 24 years old and I am from Germany. I graduated as a BA of psychology in summer 2018 and completed a pre-master program in international relations this January. I decided to take half a year off in order to explore the Middle East, which is my primary field of interest. Finally, different websites and experience reports convinced me to spend some time at the Excellence Center in Palestine.

I choose to work as a volunteer in the ‘teach English study Arabic’ program from February until April. Parts of my work included visiting schools, teaching classes at the Excellence Center and giving one-to-one classes to students. All of these activities provided their very own experiences.

Visiting schools in Hebron is always fun. The students are very happy and enthusiastic about having foreigners at their school and I was usually engaging them by playing games and doing fun activities in order to provide an alternative to their grammar focused curriculum. At the Excellence Center itself, I had my own class, called ‘the English Club’.

I felt very lucky because we did not have any fixed lesson schedule or exam in the end, so I could tailor the lessons to the individual interests of the students. We ended up having lessons about human rights, social media, and even mental health. I will never forget the way my students were engaged in this class and we had a great time. Private classes offer different teaching opportunities and experiences again.

One-to-one lessons can be very intense, whether one does a grammar-focused lesson, open discussions or listening exercises. In the end, I might have learned as much as my students. I talked about Islam, evolution, and philosophy with a very religious student, about politics with a former lawyer, and learned a lot about economics and businesses from a successful Palestinian businessman.

Learning the Arabic language was also a very unique experience for me. While I was learning the basics like letters and important phrases in my Arabic lessons at the center, I could apply my acquired knowledge outside of the center. In the evenings, I was usually sitting together with Arabic people other volunteers and I learned some more phrases that I could use in daily life. I came to Hebron as a complete beginner, only knowing how to say thank you, and could acquire a good basis that will help me to improve my Arabic skills in the future.

My Arabic teacher was very experienced and, just as everybody else at the center, extremely helpful and friendly. The working climate at the center was great and I felt like part of one big family. I was lucky to spend the time with other great volunteers and I probably made some friends for a lifetime, including both, Palestinians and international volunteers. After my time in Palestine, I even went on holidays to Jordan with a friend I met at the center.

During my two-month stay in Palestine, I visited many different places in the country. Together with other volunteers, I went to Bethlehem, Ramallah, or Jerusalem. Luckily, traveling is easy due to taxis that one can hop on everywhere in the cities. Moreover, on our holidays, the Excellence Center and Sheik Abed, a friend of the center and best man on this planet, organized different activities. Hence, we went hiking almost every Friday, which helped us to also see more of the beautiful countryside. As a nice side effect, it contributed to great group cohesion.

In Hebron, I was living in the men’s apartment. Together with the others, I enjoyed the time and Osama, Sheik, and Marwa were always responsive in case we had questions or needed help. In the evenings, we were usually sitting with Sheik Abed in his Duwania next door; a living room-like place in which his friends and family come together to talk, play games or smoke Shisha. We had great evenings at this place and I can only recommend every volunteer in the future to go there. Moreover, all kinds of shops are in close pShisharoximity to the apartment and you can get snacks and water or soft drinks until late in the evening at a shop next door.

Before I came to Palestine, I had some doubts regarding the security in Palestine. Never been to a Middle Eastern country before, I was not sure how the situation might be. However, any concerns I might have had before I came to Hebron were unjustified in retrospection. During my whole stay, I felt very safe and never encountered a threatening situation. Crossing a checkpoint and being asked for your passport by Israeli soldiers can be a bit frightening, however, as a foreigner, there is nothing one has to be afraid of. I used to walk in the streets of Hebron even late at night and felt more comfortable and safe than I do back in Germany.

What I liked the most about Palestine were its people. Palestinians are extremely welcoming and friendly. When I arrived at Hebron on my first day, I struggled to find the Excellence Center at first. A young boy saw me wandering around in the street and offered me his help to get to the center. After all, my stay in Palestine left too many impressions as I could write them down. I started to write a diary in order to not forget half of them. The people, the food, the country … I am just happy that I could make this experience and I will come back to Palestine to visit this country and all of my friends.

During the time of the year I came to the Excellence Center (February – April), I was at times the only English teacher together with a British friend of mine. This meant that we were quite busy at times, sometimes teaching many different classes and students each day. While this was a challenge from which I learned a lot for myself, it sometimes kept me a bit from studying Arabic. Because in the evenings you will almost never find yourself sitting on your own, having a bit more time for self-studying during the day would have been good for me. In the end, however, it probably all comes down to time management and setting my priorities right.