So I am seating now in the living room of Sam my new host. I am in Nablus the city lots of Israelis told me not to come to if i were to return alive. So far things could not have been better. I took a communal taxi from Ramallah to Nablus. I drove through beautiful hills. To my left sat next to me an older man/ As soon as I sat down he started a conversation. It turned out  that he did his studies in England, and his PhD at the LSE in the 80s.  So we drove having a lovely conversation. On my right was a young boy. He worked in Jerusalem in the Christian quarter even though he was Muslim. He did not immediately speak to me, but instead spoke to the old man about me. I could tell, so i asked if he could speak english. ” Of course he said” He was a student of Economics in the University of Nablus where all to  my surprise was taught in English.

Zuhair, the older man, told me about the koran, about his experiences in England and told me I was divinely protected. Once I arrived in Nablus he did not leave until talking to my host, putting me in a cab, paying for it and insisting for me to visit him Hebron. I thanked him, and said I would definitely come. I was already planning to come to Hebron, and now having someone to show it to me, a fellow student from the LSE made it all even easier.

The cab left me where Sam had told Zuhair to take me to, and as soon as I came out of the cab a cute young Palestinian boy came to me and said. ” Are we looking for you? Are you here for Sam?” I agreed so they walked me here. As I arrived I met another couchsurfer, a lovely English girl, Lorna,  who studies at UEL in London. I was immediately offered coffee, and then food, a computer, showed around. It felt great. The hospitality in this side of the world is just breathtaking.

We talked about politics, and psychology. Sam asked me about Lula, and Chavez. I spoke a lot as I usually do.  He explained the people here jews, and arabs are all the same. Delicious food was brought over and I decided to stop for a second just to write this message. I thanked Sam for hosting me. He said he likes having people coming to see how really this side of the world is. What else could I ask for? I feel so happy that I do get this chance to see once more how similar we are all over the world.