Turkey Retrospective

My stay in Turkey has come to an end, what a crazy journey! Two months have passed in the blink of an eye and I am now already back in the comfort of my house, remembering all that happened during these past 60 days. Despite the pandemic situation, I was still able to meet new people both in the office and in the apartment I shared with others. As always in life, many contrasting things happened: we laughed and argued, we worked and relaxed, we travelled and quarantine, but what’s important is that we shared all these memories together. I will cherish this experience as an important life lesson, even if it was a short stay I have learnt a lot about myself and what I cherish and expect in life.
Since Turkey is a majority Muslim country, I was not looking forward Christmas 2020; as expected there were no Christmas decorations hanging around the city and life was going on like any other time of the year. On the 25^th of December, me and my roommate took a flight to Antalya and the same day we met an old friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in a while. It was a strange Christmas day, yet one of the happiest I had since many years. I finally understood that what makes it so special is not the snow, the decorations, the lights or the trees but the people you decide to spend time with.
Escaping for some days to the warmth of the south was a great way to spend the last few days I had left in Turkey. The weather in Antalya was not so nice but even walking near the sea and through the rain felt special. There are always pros and cons in every situation, the weekend lockdown we had to endure and the impossibility to sit at a restaurant were surely not enjoyable; nevertheless, we had the opportunity to go around and enjoy a city that otherwise would have been packed with noisy tourists: a once in a lifetime opportunity! I will surely go back to fully experience the city at its best, in summer, also to visit all the ruins around, along with a stopover to Mt. Olympos.
Since the last two days were also going to be rainy and gloomy, we decided to move to Fethiye, a close-by city. We were blessed with shiny sun and warm temperatures that made the trip even more enjoyable. I saw one of the most beautiful beaches, Oludeniz, and felt like I was in an idyllic movie set! I will cherish the memories of that trip forever, the adventurous time I spent with my lovely roommate and the kg I gained because of all the baklava we ate together!
All things must come to an end and now that I can finally close this short but intense chapter, I know that I will miss people, places and (mostly) food! I am grateful that this program exists and that the European Union is investing into making us citizens of the world, I can finally say I am proud to be European!
See you again,
Alessia 

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!