By: Esther, Spain

Visiting Palestine was a mission impossible to me five years ago because media in the West describes Palestine as a dangerous place to visit. Fortunately, after travelling to many places around the world I understood that what we hear is very different of what we see in reality. Therefore, I decided to join the Internatioanl Youth Exchange Program (Zajel) of An-Najah National University in Nablus, Palestine.

Few hours after arriving in Nablus, all the worries and negative thoughts disappeared. During the orientation night, I felt at home already, and this comfort remained and increased in the following two weeks.

During the workshops at the University, I was really impressed by the Palestinian students. Their ambitious expectations for their future and their eagerness to become entrepreneurs gave me hope that they will be the main actors in the construction of a better future in the region, despite the many disadvantages and struggles they are facing.

In our trips, we could see the evidence of those stories that we have heard before. Balata camp, the Apartheid Wall, the ghost city of Hebron, travelling difficulties and the short distances that took too long, have shown me that freedom is not something that we should take for granted. And despite the fact that I always felt secure and never had any problems, I got to understand the instability that the locals face.

Overall, Zajel program has given me the opportunity to meet wonderful people, to understand a different culture to mine and to explore many new aspects of the difficulties that the region is facing while I had a wonderful time every single day.

But what will remain with me forever from this experience will be the feeling of being at home, while I found myself walking with the local volunteers, eating at home with their families, discovering the old towns of various cities, and mostly, the resilience shown by all the Palestinian people, who despite being surrounded by many challenges, have welcomed me with kindness and hospitality that I will always carry with me.

Many thanks to all the Zajel team for making this possible.