Friday, 6 October 2017

Arrival


Travelling as Palestinians is never a piece of cake. After two days in Jordan and delays because to the inability to travel due to Jewish holidays, arriving in France proved to be a breath of fresh air. Stepping out of the airport, some of the Palestinians were confused. ‘Are we still in Palestine?!’ they were asking. With the sound of so many Arabic conversations and the faces of other Arabs walking past, it seemed that transitioning to European culture suddenly didn’t feel so overwhelming. This instant diversity that our Palestinian friends were met with made France feel to Mounia ‘like a home away from home’. With such a long journey under their belts, it was a relief to have only a short trip from the airport to the hotel.
The group then relaxed for a little while before we all ventured out together with our French hosts to eat and get to know each other better.  Planning a trip of this scale with so many people and components is always challenging for both the participants and the organizations involved. However, when you’re involved in an exchange with the theme of Discrimination- a subject that affects everybody on such different yet such collectively personal levels- it’s near impossible to approach the trip with anything other than optimism and excitement. There is a mutual sense of determination amongst everyone involved as we prepare for ten days of sharing experiences and learning from one another about life on opposite sides of the world.

No comments:

Post a Comment