We never really know what adaptation is. Every time we think we’ve finally got the key, we’re faced with new challenges that sometimes require us to overcome our own thought patterns and habits. But I love challenges!
That’s what this period reflects for me, whether in terms of adapting to Turkish life, living in a group or even the professional world here.
For example, it’s with relative flexibility that I’m trying to cope as best I can with the temporary changes in my assignments. Juggling between coordinating the activities of the volunteers and the activity and social mentors, while also running a few workshops, means reshaping a number of elements. Energy, concentration, communication, thinking: everything is different, and it’s enough to make you a real chameleon, or almost.I inevitably learn a bit about other people and about myself through this: culture shock hangs over our heads. However, rather than fighting against it, I try to welcome it with open arms, which is what we all try to do in our own way. In fact, it’s one of the best things that can happen to us, if we rely on each other to move forward; and I’m grateful that our little group is united in this way. Everyone has their part to play, and brings what they need to the group to help warm our hearts and find the energy we need to carry on.
So, yes, at the moment I’m doing fewer workshops than the other volunteers, but the ones I do regularly at Foça Sosyal Merkezi and Sakin Mekan Agora, as well as the new ones at Kiz Lisesi and Bornova Asik Veysel, where I’ve been able to go temporarily, are helping me to improve my creativity in the activities, and to keep improving my English (learning Turkish is something else again!!).
It’s also an opportunity to meet new people and develop certain contacts, while encouraging teamwork whenever possible. I appreciate, for example, the fact that I regularly get to work with Lorenzo, who has a real ability to make children feel at ease with him, to keep them occupied in the simplest way possible while still teaching them things. As for Ida, I admire her determination to always do things right and to ensure that the workshops are well received by the participants, not to mention Laura who, despite her wet clothes and the cold, always keeps a smile on her face to bring warmth to the workshop.
One of the other highlights was our trip to south-east Turkey for the Mid-Term Training organised by the Turkish National Agency. Being welcomed by volunteers from another organisation in Gaziantep, then walking alone in the streets of Sanliurfa and finally seeing the other volunteers from the old October training course, was one of the most memorable experiences for me over the last few weeks (not to mention discovering a new part of Turkish culture, very different from the one we knew in Izmir).
Bir diğer öne çıkan etkinlik ise Türkiye Ulusal Ajansı tarafından düzenlenen Ara Dönem Eğitimi için güneydoğu Türkiye’ye yaptığımız geziydi. Gaziantep’te başka bir organizasyondan gönüllüler tarafından karşılanmak, ardından Şanlıurfa sokaklarında yalnız başına dolaşmak ve son olarak eski Ekim eğitimi grubundan diğer gönüllülerle yeniden bir araya gelmek, son birkaç hafta içinde yaşadığım en unutulmaz deneyimlerden biriydi (İzmir’de tanıdığımız kültürden çok farklı, Türk kültürünün yeni bir yönünü keşfetmekten bahsetmiyorum bile).
Grateful and full of love are the best words to describe the time I spent there because of what I said in the beginning of this blogpost : Turkish life, our amazing group, the professional world here and all the people we met.Now it’s time for a few days’ rest in France, so we can come back ready for new challenges!
