Saturday 19 December 2020

I just love this country!

Herkese merhaba! To participate in the European Youth Voice project in Turkey was a very spontaneous decision for me. In the middle of October, I decided to try and apply for this program and in two weeks I flew to Ankara. I didn’t even have much time to process this step, I just had a strong feeling that I should be there. Of course, I had doubts about leaving Europe in these difficult times, but I thought that this opportunity is worth taking risks. Now I think that this was one of the best things I’ve ever done.

At the end of 2020, when the whole life has been frozen for a long time due to pandemic, it was such a relief to come back to Turkey. I visited Turkey before and every time I’m falling in love with this country and culture again and again. Trust me, this place has countless things to see and to discover. Even if you spend your whole life here, you won’t be able to see everything.

This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited so far. I don’t know whether you’ll ever decide to stay in Turkey for a long time or not, but at least add it to your destination goals. The majestic immense Ottoman Empire in the past nowadays transformed into a modern developed country where traditional is mixed with contemporary. 

Now, thanks to ESC and the organization I work for – IYACA, I have the opportunity to work with youth, help people, study Turkish language and learn new things about the rich Turkish culture. Of course, I cannot skip mentioning the beautiful city I live in. Ankara welcomed me with sunny days in November. At the south Autumn comes a bit later comparing to Europe, which gave me the possibility to walk a lot around the city and explore it while it was still warm. If you ever visit Ankara, take a walk to green Gençlik Parkı or see the famous black swans in Kuğulu Park, stop at a cafe and drink a traditional Turkish coffee, see the whole city from the Ankara castle, explore the amazing historical monument - Anıtkabir.

During this project I met a lot of new amazing people and even managed to travel a bit before the new restrictions were imposed. Together we visited the historical places of Ankara, spent some lovely days in Istanbul, tried plenty of delicious Turkish dishes.

Despite all the difficulties this year, we still have many interesting and useful activities. We study Turkish, help local people to learn English, work with refugees, learn about project management and non-formal education, work with social media, where we can develop our creativity.

This program gave me a great opportunity to meet new people and become a part of international community, get to know a new culture and do something useful for the society. I am very thankful for this project and looking forward to my next adventures here. See you later!




Wednesday 16 December 2020

An unexpected adventure

Hello guys! I am Alessia from Italy, the last entry to the IYACA volunteers’ family! It’s
already been a month since, all of a sudden, I left Italy to take part in this new adventure in
Ankara and let me say it…it was worth it! Despite the global pandemic that has greatly affected everybody’s life I made the choice to give it a try and run towards the path that I intend to follow in life. The European Solidarity Corps programs gives us, the youth, the
amazing opportunity to travel abroad, meet new people and learn all things related to the international context. I came here not expecting much since most activities had to be suspended for safety reasons; still, I found a dynamic and challenging environment at the office, with many great opportunities to catch! At IYACA, we have many tasks to fulfill, from social media management to content creation, food delivery and project planning...we are never bored! Here, I found myself involved in all the stages of an NGO’s work schedule, we have duties and responsibilities that help us greatly in providing us some valuable work experience in the field of international cooperation.
The Covid situation here is not at its best, but I still, I had the chance to go around a bit and
explore some interesting places here in Turkey. Right before the weekend-lockdown, me and two other volunteers, Xenia and Ieva, had a trip to Istanbul, one of the most breathtaking cities I ever visited! As you may know, it is definitely a must see when visiting Turkey; there is so much history, culture and mystery when walking down the streets of this city. I enjoyed its scenery; its antique shops; sitting by the sea while drinking a coffee but mostly, here I ate the best baklava ever! After that trip, travelling has become quite difficult even for tourists: at the moment there are almost no trains and the curfew and semi-lockdown restrictions make the planning process a bit complicate. Nevertheless, it just a matter of searching for the right place, and what best than a place where you can go hiking surrounded by nature, with no people around? That’s why we decided to take a day trip to Soğuksu National Park, a park located about 80 km from Ankara and easily reachable by city bus. The park allows you to breath some quality air, hike (easily accessible even for those not so athletic!) and enjoy a wonderful sight. The most notable animals that live in park are vultures, wolves and bears, I am quite confident in saying I am happy we didn’t encounter any of them, especially the last one! One suggestion if you want to visit it? Make sure you have money in your Ankara card because you won’t be able to charge it there and you will end up asking help to the police! (As we promised to say: Turkey has some of the nicest and most considerate police around!) Hopefully, before these amazing 2 months adventure ends, I will get the chance to visit some more, especially Antalya. In the meantime, I am happy to share great memories with the people I met and work along such a prolific and honest organization. If you are here because you are still not sure if you want to come here and work together with IYACA, search no more! You found the right place to start building your globalized future, don’t miss this opportunity!



  

Wednesday 9 December 2020

Tekrar görüşmek üzere Tunus

Tunus’ta 2. ayımı da tamamladım ve gerçekten çok güzel zamanlar geçirdim. Bu yazım da yaptığınız projelerden ve Tunus’tan ve kurduğum dostluklardan söz edeceğim. 

İlk olarak beni en çok şaştıran olaylardan biri; Tunusluların tatlıya daha doğrusu şekere olan düşkünlüğü. Kahvaltı tarzlarından tutun içtikleri çaya kadar çoğu yiyecek ve içecekleri bizim damak tadınıza oranla çok şekerli. Birde bunun yanına yemeklerine harisa adı verilen acı sos eklenince ortaya farklı mutfak kültürü çıkıyor. Tatlı ve acı ağırlıklı. Yine de zeytin, ton balığı ve yumurta üçlüsünü çok tüketmeleri mutfaklarını sevmemi sağladı J . Ülkenin kuzey kısımları Akdeniz iklimini yaşasa da güneye yani sahra çölüne doğru gittiğinizde bitki örtüsünden tutun insanların yaşam tarzına kadar her şey değişiyor. Sahra çölüne yakın bölgelerde insanlar zorunluluktan öğlen vakitleri siesta yapıyor. Ayrıca Tunus gezilebilecek yerleri çok olan bir ülke. Sahra çölünden, Gladyatör filminin çekildiği Roma kolezyumuna, Kuzey Afrikada inşa edilen ilk camii olan Sidi Ukba Ulu Camiinden, Başkent Tunus ve orada bulunan düzinelerce mekâna kadar bir sürü seçenek var. 

Son olarak Tunuslu insanlardan bahsetmek gerekirse genel olarak sıcakkanlı ve yardımsever insanlar özellikle Türklere bakış açıları olumlu ve pozitif tabii ki arada istenmeyen tipler karşımıza çıksa da genel itibariyle sıkıntı yaşamadık.

Gelelim proje kapsamında yaptıklarımıza, bildiğiniz gibi korona Tunus’ta da etkiliydi ve daha önceki bloğumda belirttiğim gibi sokağa çıkma yasakları gibi düzenlemeler projelerimizi etkiledi. Fakat buna rağmen haftalarımızı dolu geçirmeye çalışıyorduk. Neler yaptık derseniz; çiçek bahçesinde gül budamayı ve ot yolmayı, Arapça derslerinde Arapça öğrenmeyi ve Tunus kültüründen konuşmayı, sahilde çöp toplamayı, meditasyon yapmayı, spor yapmayı ve tabii ki yüzmeyi, okul boyamayı ve Tunus sınıflarını görmeyi tecrübe ettik. Ayrıca boş zamanlarımızda şehrimizdeki yerleri ve yakınlardaki şehirleri gidip gezdik ve Polonyalı gönüllülerle birlikte başkent Tunus’u keşfettik. Ve olmazsa olmaz olan Sahra çölünü ve çevresini. Yani anlayacağınız korona da olsa günlerimizi dolu geçirmeye gayret ettik. 

Bu proje bana çok şey kattı diyebilirim. Kendimi daha iyi tanımama yardım etti ve gerçekten ufkumu genişletti. Ama en önemlisi hem Türkiye’den hem Tunus’tan hem de Polonya’dan çok güzel insanlar tanımama ve dostluklar kazanmama vesile oldu. Başta İyaca’dan Serdar abi ve Ayhan, benimle beraber projede yer alan Yunus, Zeliha, Abdullah, Dilara, Ayşe ve mentörümüz olan sevgili Mounir abiye bir kez daha teşekkür etmek isterim.

Başlıkta da belirttiğim gibi tekrar görüşmek üzere Tunus!