Recollestions_nowadays

Last summer was full of its ups and downs, I lost and gained, laughed and cried in an unknown culture…
My travel prehistory started with a great opportunity to visit Greece, the county which I had dreamed about since that time when somebody asked you at first in your life “What country would you like to visit?” But this project, a kind of summer school, was cancelled. And my dream just slipped out. Last summer I went to Turkey. A bit disappointed and confused with all my friends’ prejudices about this country I started my travel story.
I went there as an intern to encourage high school students to speak English and to develop their social skills. My partners were Chinese girl Cecelia and Indonesian Sylvan. There were about 30 interns from all over the world, probably it will be the most intercultural summer for the rest of my life. Everyone stayed with a Turkish family. My family was amazing. Every morning I was waken up by smells from the kitchen where Saliha was cooking breakfast. Or by my little sister Bahar, who came into my room, babbling “Günaydin” drowsily. And after this I had to brush her hair in the same way as I wore. Then I usually had a little conversation with the head of my Turkish family Aygün during the breakfast. “A little” because he studied at school German and I studied English and French, but this fact couldn’t prevent us from chatting. And one more person, Gizem – my friend, my sister, my guide, my guardian… 16-year-old girl who explained me her culture and had to start speaking English fluently because of this.
On weekends I went to Istanbul, huge, majestic, breathtaking. I went there several times and can talk about it endlessly. I want to say that when I looked up at Aya Sophia’s ceiling and saw 4th cent. Christian icons near Muslim symbols, I realized what means the phrase “where cultures meet”.
Turkey will be always very special country for me, because I didn’t lay on one of Antalya’s beach, I lived there. Even if this life was summer-lasting. In Turkey at first I experienced coffee predictions (by the way, it’s not only a point for conversation, it can be true), which made evening atmosphere mystical and blue-eye amulets everywhere helped in it too. At first I became an older sister. At first I fell in love in Turkey. At first in my life I saw an entire town protected by UNESCO (Shafranbolu).
In the second evening in Turkey I cried because I couldn’t talk to anyone in my language and heard only incomprehensible Turkish around me, it was my first cultural shock. Later I cried more bitterly leaving this country.
I’m not disappointed now, I’m happy with my Turkish vacancies, I gained a lot of friends and even family. I've been to one of the most amazing cities in the world and became better I hope. When too shy spring is trying to change so powerful winter my sweet summer memories and a cup of Turkish coffee make me warm.