When Jasmijn leaves Palestine, celebration, and tears: She has been an Arabic student for the last 2 months. She is now going back to carry on her studies in her native Holland. “I will be back very soon she says and you know I mean it!”
The EC is not just a language school where people come and go and that is it. First of all, Hebron is a city you come to if you want to get out of your comfort zone. Most certainly, you will have heard that Hebron and Palestine, in general, are dangerous, unsafe and not fit for tourism. Wrong times and times again. The most important feature of Hebron, as demonstrated in the EC center is that the people are “ktir halou” literally “very sweet” and have a very different approach to what relationships are, even in a working environment. Here and as often mentioned, the very fact of seeing foreign visitors of all nationalities (US, UK, Finland, Australia, France, Algeria, Holland etc…) is a never-ending source of delight for the locals. They really appreciate seeing foreign visitors, they never tire of welcoming them with their “Hal
There are some very special stories about the relationships that have taken place in the Excellent Centre. Yasmijn is certainly one of them. She taught herself how to write Arabic before she came to Palestine but didn´t really speak Arabic. She does admit to always having an interest in Middle-Eastern culture. In about a month, she managed to not only “speak the lingo” but also grasp some colloquial Hebron expressions to such an extent that some of the locals called her the “Hallilia” (a girl from Hebron)! She has struck a strong relationship with a lot of the locals no least because she lived in a very lively host family who “adopted her” as another member of the family!
At the end of the 2 months and with a few days left, it was clear that this was someone who had meant a lot to many people. Teachers, students, new friends, and her host family were becoming sad to see her leave. In true generous Palestinian tradition, she was showered by gifts to remind her of Palestine, diners, many hugs, tears and lovely words to express what she meant to all. She says: “My second family is here and I won´t forget her. Everybody has been so nice to me, welcoming me from the very beginning. I am now able to speak Arabic and understand, I can´t believe it myself. I still have room for improvement but that´s fine! in fact, I am coming back in a few months so it is only a goodbye.”
Her family came to Hebron to fly back with her to Holland and meet “her surrogate family”. Her dad has worked in the Middle-East and in particular Palestine in the past, so he is no stranger to this part of the world! He says: “I am so grateful to all the people who looked after my daughter so well, in particular, all the team from the EC. I had to come back and pick her up otherwise there was a chance she would stay, he said jokingly!”. Again, Palestinian hospitality was extended and they too were showered with gifts and invited to share Maklouba and other local delicacies as a token of friendship and extended family ties.
