On Arrival Training in İstanbul

As part of the duties (but also pleasures) of an EVS volunteer there are some training courses, in particular the pre-departure, the on-arrival and the mid-term trainings. At the end of January 2016, I had the possibility to take part to the on-arrival one which took place in the biggest city of Turkey, of course it’s Istanbul. Basically, all the volunteers who are doing a long term EVS in the country were invited by mail to join the training; I was surprised to get to know we are about 45 volunteers. I was very excited at the idea to meet others EVS volunteers living in Turkey and I was looking forward to having an interesting exchange of experiences.

EVS'e Kısacık Bir Ara, PORTEKİZ

Eylül’ün 27'sinden beri istediğim tek şey 20 Aralık'ın gelmesiydi. Ve o gün geldi. I’m going to Turkey gençler :) Portekiz’e geleli 3 ay olmuştu. Ailemi, arkadaşlarımı, İzmir Kordon'daki o muhteşem deniz kokusunu ilk defa bu kadar çok özlediğimi hissettim. Az önce Eylül’ün 27'si dedim. Bunun sebebi ise uçak biletlerimizi o gün almış olmamızdı. Biletler alındıktan sonra daha bir heyecan bastı beni. Off nasıl geçer bu zaman diye düşünüp dururken hooop 20 Aralık oldu bile.

The “WROCLAW”

Time passes so fast, it’s already been two months here. Honestly, it is hard to write below each memories and the facts I had but summarize will be better. I met with good friends and was witness of Polish hospitality, kindness and happiness. Thus, I did not have any problem, luckily :)

Wroclaw is the city which fulfilled with historical churches, catedrals and amazing buildings. I really fall in love with that. City has own beauty, characteristic. That makes me think to stay forever. For the ones, who have the possibility to come here with EVS or Erasmus+ I advice you to participate those programmes in winter season. It might be quite cold (such as east part of Turkey) but really worth that.

WROCLAW'da HAYAT DEVAM EDİYOR

Merhabalar arkadaşlar,

Uzunca bir süre sunumlar ve konferansların ardından okulların ara tatile girmesiyle iş tempomuzu biraz düşürdük. Ama kısa zaman sonra yeniden çeşitli aktiviteler düzenlenecek. Bu konuda şanslıyız çünkü bu yıl Wroclaw, 2016 Kültür Başkenti seçildi. Bu sebeple bizim de dahil olacağımız epeyce atölye çalışmaları olacak. Bunlar hem öğrenciler hem de yerel halk için gerçekleştirilecek. Fakat soğuklar dolayısıyla biraz beklememiz gerekebilir.

ALİ DAĞI - DISCOVER KAYSERİ

If you are from Kayseri, you've most certainly heared about Ali Dağı, but probably never visited it - for some reason, it seems like the nice people of this city, especially the youngsters, prefer to hang out in commercial centers, rather than to explore nature (but maybe that's about to change ;)).

Since i got here, I kept asking "Where are the trees and the birds and the bees?" - there were no bees, I can tell you that much (it's winter, after all) and, as far as I can remember, there was only one pigeon surveiling the airspace, and even that one seemed to be lost, whereas for trees... no secular woods here; still, I promise you, it is well worth climbing to the top, the good, old Ali will reward its hikers with a bewildering view of Mount Erciyes and of the surrounding hills.

A LEAP in TIME

It’s a beautiful December morning, the air is filled with possibility, one of those rare days in which you feel glad to be alive; it’s actually the 25th but, as Christmas is not celebrated here, I’m off to visit the Museum of Seljuk Civilization. The museum is located in the city center, in the Mimar Sinan Park, making it very easy to spot.
I find myself in front of an un-impressive, grey building, a complex dating from the 13th century, comprising of two attached buildings: a hospital and a medical school (medrese), named after the princess of the Sultanate of Rum, Gevher Nesibe. What stands out are probably the two portals that facilitate the entrance to the two adjoining buildings, constructed in granite stone, typical for Seljuk architecture.

My first impressions of Kayseri...

I got here five days ago, but somehow it seems longer, and I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just that so many things have happened these past few days that time seems to have expanded (contrary to the scientific allegations) - visits to authorities, awesome meals, a paper plane contest, sight seeing through the city... so much to learn, so much to discover!
OK, so maybe this is not the most "exotic" place to be, but for me, having met so many wonderful people has got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, 6 months (the period that I'm supposed to spend here) it's not such a long time after all. You don't need me to tell you about traditions, weather, geography, food, religion, touristic attractions, the fact that you won't be able to have a beer in town (except for some hotels, maybe) or get along with locals because of the language barrier, as only a handful of them speak, let's say, English, nor about the huge smog that has come to be an inherent part of the scenery, you can google it yourself.

Wroclaw Part 2, Polonya

Merhabalar, 

Daha önce Wroclaw’daki ilk günlerimi sizlerle paylaşmıştım. Şimdi kaldığım yerden devam etmek isterim. 

Buradaki 2.ayım, görev ve sorumluluklarımız daha da arttı. Ofis çalışanları sürekli olarak bir koşturmaca içerisinde. Bu sıralar ağırlıklı olarak İnsan Hakları üzerinde çalışıyoruz. Farklı yaş gruplarına yönelik workshoplar (atölye çalışmaları) düzenliyoruz ve aynı zamanda konferanslarımız oluyor.

Do you like Turkish foods?, EVS in KAYSERİ

Do you like Turkish foods?
Since I’m in Turkey, one of the most common questions that people ask me is: “do you like Turkish foods?”. Well, I have to say that it’s really a different foods from that one that I’m used to eat in Italy but I always accepted to try everything and then judge it. Now I’m going to tell about the food I tasted.
Let’s start from the best one! My favourite Turkish food is “Iskender”, a kind of doner kebab made of cut grilled lamb basted over pita bread with the adding tomato sauce, butter and yogurt. Still I don't understand why they put yogurt everywhere, but this is another question hahhahha. Anyway it's really delicious and full of calories!

BİRAZ DA GEZELİM - RUSYA

AGH (Evs) projem tüm hızıyla devam ederken izin günlerimde havalar henüz çok soğumadan fırsat buldukça gezmeye çalışıyorum.
Bir hafta sonu hosting (ev sahipliği yapan) ailem ile birlikte bir Rus köyüne ve kolektif bahçe adında köye benzeyen bir yerleşim yerine ziyarette bulunduk. Daça adı verilen evlerde kaldık , orada yaşayan insanlarla tarlaları gezdik, birlikte çalıştık, seralardaki sebzeleri toplamalarına yardım ettim. Bir yabancının onları ziyaret etmesi onları çok mutlu etti ve bir anda ilgi odağı oldum köyde. Herkes benim tatmam için bazı yöresel yemekler hazırladı. Hepsi çok lezzetliydi. Bütün gün gezdik, çalıştık, sohbet ettik ama yorucu olmanın aksine dinlendiriciydi. Şehrin gürültüsünden, kalabalığından uzakta doğanın içinde bu samimi ve misafirperver insanlarla zaman geçirmek huzur doluydu.