…just imagine, your friend suddenly sends you
the description of some project in Türkiye (the country, which you have liked
for a long time already) with an open call for participation. You, in turn,
decide to give it a try, still between the exams in your university. You fill
in the application form at night and in the very morning of the same day you
receive the messages from your future boss & tutor & role model &
friend at one face. Interview is completed, and a few days later, right on Christmas
Day, like a present under the tree, you got accepted. Now you are a volunteer.
And perfectly before New Year celebrations, you have to buy your tickets to so
much desired destination after almost 3 years since the last time in Anatolia,
and you do that, and you spend all your next days knowing that the coming year
is about to start with an adventure and a totally new page in your life.
You pass your last exams, finish local duties
in your city, spend last moments with your family and friends before the
departure for two months to another land far away from home (it was about to be
the longest separation ever). And Day X comes. Night again. You’re at the bus
stop waiting for the first transport connection to start the long way (not only
in terms of distance). You give hugs and say temporary byes to dear ones you
leave here, and say hello to people you see for the first time in a life, who
lately will become your new friends, “dream team”, and even family in this
project.
Next morning, altogether you take the direct flight
from the capital of a nearby country (reached from another capital) to the
capital of Turkey, and you land in Ankara, and meet way more people from
different countries entering your life to build a special story together.
Introductory days, acquaintances with the
crew, excursions around the city, visiting main sightseeing spots, first
evening in the office where we’re gonna to spend a lot of time after…
Old town, Ankara Castle, my first mosque,
fortunate going up the minaret of the biggest mosque in Ankara with the
panoramic view to the whole night city. Life in a special dormitory,
adaptation, sharing duties, integration to the local Turkish community.
Charming Turkish lessons to acquire a new language. Team-building meetings in
the office, evaluations, sharing our thoughts and impressions. Learning
responsibility, the sense of team spirit and mutual support. First common
brainstorm ideas and released projects. First challenges and conflicts. First
emotional shakes.
Visiting numerous Youth Centers and meeting
with their heads, giving me inspiration regarding entrepreneurship skills and
the direction where to strive for the future. Boosting personal leadership.
Trying the national cuisine, reaching
gastronomical heaven. Celebration of the first Birthday of one of the members
in our group, my roommate. Meeting our colleagues, Turkish volunteers, on the
same evening.
First Cultural Evening about Lithuania with my
team.
Opportunity to visit another corner of Türkiye
on the south by the Syrian border, changing own plans and accepting the offer
to go there. Volunteering at the farm in Hatay, helping to collect the
mandarins growing on infinite fields of the trees. It was exactly 1 year after
the earthquakes in that zone.
Crazy swimming in the beloved Mediterranean
Sea in Arsuz shore in the evening, catching the waves. Night volleyball. My
personal departure the very next morning. One bus, second bus... Sitting at the
random cafe of Adana, trying its kebab. Taxi, airport. And here is the ticket..
I’ve been dreaming about for years. It was the ticket to Istanbul with Turkish
Airlines… and my flight, and those long-awaited sweet words: “Welcome to
Istanbul – the meeting point of the world!” Meeting with my strongly loved
people there and so much needed hugs. Next 4 days in the city of my biggest
aşk, daily tears from happiness, blessing, delightment, continuous exploration
and admiration.
Way back to home in Ankara, more work, first
Speaking clubs and new Cultural Evenings (Georgia, Egypt and Azerbaijan so
far). Helping in Lösev (hospital complex for the children with oncology) with
humanitarian aid packages.
Playing table tennis, chess, cards, musical
instruments in studios and workplace (since we have a guitar right in our
office, which allows me to practice whenever I want) and singing, painting each
other in the art studio, board- and ice skating.
Opportunity to go norther, to Ilgaz, to ski in
the mountains. Collecting new experiences in our real snowy fairytale after the
summertime in winter just two weeks ago. Feeling the non-linearity of the
timeline, when two days feel like the whole month.
More fun and parties. Less sleep. Spontaneous
and risky decision to visit Cappadocia at the weekends just in a few days
before the expected ride. Planning our group trip only 12 hours before the
departure. Another evening of tickets purchasing. And here we go, two days in
Göreme, living in caves, walking without any routes in the middle of nowhere,
multiplying our collective excitement from every single landscape. Witnessing flying
hot air balloons at the sunrise of the next day, and understanding that my
another cherished dream just came true, way more better than I could ever draw
in my mind.
And now we are at the office. Tomorrow is the
Cultural Evening dedicated to my homeland, Ukraine. In a couple of days I
already have the trip to another corner of Turkey more than 700 km away. And
less than two weeks to stay here left…
to be continued...
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