What you don´t expect to find when you come to Palestine: It is merely stating a fact, that most westerners have a preconceived idea about what Palestine is all about. When mentioning the possibility of a trip to Hebron, Jericho, Ramallah, Nablus or any other Palestinian cities, you will probably be considered a kamikaze. To a great extent, this is due to the fact that the media mostly shows pictures of Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on earth. There is general perception that Gaza means Palestine. But beware, this is not at all what you will encounter in Palestine. They say “People adapt when they can´t change the way things are”. Well this is pretty much the case here.

Throughout the 70 years since the Palestinians saw their way of life change dramatically, they have gone through various stages no doubt. Despair, hope, resignation perhaps? Nowadays, one gets the sense that they seek to lead as normal a life as possible.

Let´s take Hebron, at first sight, the small city of around 300,000 inhabitants seems to be a busy rural town with its many houses under construction. One quickly learns that wifi is available pretty much everywhere, homes, cafés, restaurants etc… Sorry you have said wifi in Palestine?

Then you start thinking that it would be nice to exercise but the streets seem too busy for your usual morning job, not a problem, there are around 10 gyms with the modern facilities you would expect anywhere in Europe or the US. Although, men and women have separate timetables but this is no different to some western gyms where there is a dedicated women exercise room.

What gets even more interesting, is walking in the streets amongst the locals going about their business like anywhere else in the world. School children talking about their homework eating a snack, office workers having lunch together, University students preparing for their graduation day in the 4 Hebron universities etc…Here amongst some of the beaten-up cars, you will spot the latest BMW 4×4, Mercedes and Range Rovers. Expect also to see all those elegant hijab-wearing women driving those cars. The latest Iphone that you haven´t yet acquired, well you will see it here whilst regretting not getting it yourself J In the meantime and because it is a Muslim country, you will hear the Muezzins´ 5 regular calls to prayers and slowly you will identify it as a calming and reassuring sound.

One thing you shouldn´t expect, is that the local will be going on about the conflict with Israel. And this is yet another misconception…Whilst the Palestinians are proud people who have a strong sense of belonging and love of their land, they do not spend a lot of time dwelling on what could or should have been. They are definitely more focused on moving forward with their lives and ensuring their children have a future, an education. They spend a great deal of time with their family which is seen as a support network . Surprisingly still and with the emergence of a Middle Class in their society, a fair number of Palestinians have travelled the world although not always an easy task for them to acquire a tourist visa to some destinations. They love to meet visitors from those countries they aspire to to go and visit.

So to summarize, expect the unexpectable, be prepared to be very pleasantly surprised. You are warned, once you catch the “Palestinian fever”, it is hard to shake it off, you will most probably return for more!