By Geraldine Farei

I arrived in Palestine on August 28th 2016. It was a warm evening and I immediately felt upon arriving in ‘The Park’ to meet everyone, there was sense of home. I met all the local and international volunteers that evening. It was quite like I had met them all before. We ate together and were brought to our accommodation, which we settled into straight away.

The following morning we went to the new University Campus. An immense set of ultra-modern buildings, with multiple faculties and associated amenities. A very impressive site and sight! We had lunch back at the old campus followed by our first work shop. My area is Public Speaking and or the fear of it. I was looking forward to this very much. I then had the pleasure of meeting my new students, whom I may add were one of the nicest bunch of people I have ever met. They all exuded a happiness, a contentment and or a lovely peace. I came to be in awe of their beautiful smiling faces, without exception. I have to remark, having travelled the world over many years, I can say, without exception, Palestinians are the best looking race on earth. Life continued and we got into the stride of our workshops and our daily routine.

I happened to be in the unusual situation of being the eldest by far within my group of International Volunteers, but never the less that never was an issue. I blended in despite being 40 years older than some. We were a very chilled out bunch.

The days were flying by due to the attention to detail that Zajel Program had put into the planning of each day. Each day was a surprise, an attention grabber, a multitude of fascinating facts, a history lesson, a current affairs lesson, a chance to be within the sanctum of a family, a wedding, a chance to explain our cultures, a chance for openness, a chance for transparency, an exchange of thoughts and ideas and above all, a chance for meeting wonderful people. We all were entranced and enthralled by what we were experiencing. The visual impact of every single visit and the people we had the opportunity to meet when visiting both in social and other settings. Each day, made for a truly memorable experience.

My stay in Nablus would not be possible without the continued, consistent and unrelenting dedication of the local students of the university. These people are without exception passionate, dedicated and patriotic to mention just a few of their personal qualities. Meeting the local students was a humbling experience. These people made our visit more personable and enjoyable than I could ever have wished. They ironed out any unforeseen problems and were there at all times. I have to say, I was only really settling in, when it was time to say good bye. I really wish it all could have lasted much longer. The time flew bye, I now miss Palestine and its beautiful people, for now!