Aysegul adventures in Ravenna, first episode:
Hello, I don’t know where to start, but I would by introducing myself. Then I will explain why I wanted to participate in volunteer projects. I would like to share with you my adventure that extended to Ravenna. Maybe there will be a helpful way for me to include you in my journey.
I am Aysegul Cayan and I am 22 years old. I was born in Izmir, Turkey. Until this age, I was a hyperactive person who could easily communicate with outsiders. I am a person who can jump into new adventures without fear. .Maybe I was going to be unemployed for the rest of my life, but I realized my dream. I did an internship in a criminal laboratory for about 1 year, after my graduation as forensic scientist in Istanbul. Then I realized that I was too young for this job. . I needed something else, another adventure. Like meeting new people, new countries, new tastes and environments. The thing I hate most in life is monotony. I’ve never been a routine person. I can say I’m a bit of a crazy person.
While browsing Instagram, I was seeing international volunteering projects. But I did not want to apply and try. Because a lot of people apply, they thought why should they choose me. And I had read many comments about these projects. It was difficult to choose. It was almost impossible for me to choose. There was a youth exchange project on disability in Romania. At that moment, I had a feeling and told me to apply. I wanted to try my luck. About an hour later, I received an e-mail and saw that I was accepted. It was the first time in my life that I went abroad and it was a challenge for me. Because my English was almost zero and someone asks me a question and the fear of how to answer it made me a little nervous. But I like this kind of tensions. Being in such situations has always improved me. My first youth exchange project was a one-week project. I still have friends I see even though it is finished long time ago. I joined another short term project in Greece for 1 month after the short term project in Romania. Volunteering was really great for me. I felt extremely happy and excited to be involved in something like this. It was too early for my adventure to end now and I started my long term search in January. At that time, I found a training course. and I went to Czech Republic for a week. When I was in Czechia, I saw that there was a long-term ESC project in Ravenna and it would start in a month. The subject of the project intrigued me. Working with young people, making podcasts, office work, etc. And I applied that day and had a meeting with the coordinator Meho. I was accepted to the project on the same day. And i arrived in Ravenna the 1st of March The day came I was visiting Italy for the first time in my life.
This city, which is 1 hour away from Bologna, is a city with historical monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage List. You can find everything you are looking for in this city, which has the most important port on the Adriatic Sea. maybe that’s the reason. In this city, almost everyone rides a bicycle, everyone greets and smiles at each other. I always heard that they are warm people, but experiencing it with my eyes made me really happy. Ravenna is a city by the sea with its location. They are lucky they have the lagoon and the view at night is superb. I can’t wait to go for a picnic there. It has both quiet, peaceful and fresh air. The city is famous for its mosaics, with clean air and safe streets and easy to live in. It is unavoidable to see graphite on most street walls. This is a city where you can feel the art all around. You can see sculptures and mosaics even in its buildings. It is unavoidable to see mosaics on every street. I see this city as a small Izmir. I can say that is like Izmir but in more European (Italian) way. There is no understanding of breakfast. It is a small meal. Their breakfast is only a cup of coffee. But I enjoy working here because the team is really fun. I am very happy to be here. Their energy passes to me. This environment is not easy to find. Let’s see what adventures await me in the future.
Turkish Version
Oncelikle merhaba.nereden baslayacagimi bilmiyorum ama ilk once kendimi tanitarak baslamak istiyorum.Daha sonra neden gonulluluk projelerine katilmak istedigimi anlatacagim. Ravennaya kadar uzayan seruvenimi sizlerle paylasmak istiyorum.Sizin icin belki bir yardimci yol ve kendinizi benim gibi bu yolculuga dahil etmek isteyeceginiz bir blog olur.
Ben Aysegul Cayan ve 22 yasindayim Turkiyenin Izmir sehrinde dunyaya geldim Bu yasima kadar hep disa donuk insanlarla rahat iletisim kurabilen ve hiperaktif bir insandim.Yeni maceralara korkusuzca atlayabilecek ve gozu kara biriyimdir.18 yasindayken buyuk bir karar verip Turkiyede yeni bolum olan hayalimdeki meslek Adli bilimleri sectim.Belki hayatim boyunca issiz kalacaktim ama hayalimi gerceklestirdim.1 yil kadar kriminal laboratuarinda staj yaptim.O zaman anladim ki bu is icin daha cok gencim.Kendime yeni birseyler katmaliyim Ve biraz arastirmaya basladim oncelikle online kurs alip kendimi farkli alanlarda gelistirmeyi denedim ama gene yeterli olmadi. Baska bir seye ihtiyacim vardi baska bir maceraya.Yeni insanlar yeni ulkeler,yeni lezzetler ve ortamlar tatmak gibi.Hayatta en nefret ettigim sey monotonluk.Hicbir zaman rutin insani olmadim.Biraz cilgin bir insanim diyebilirim.
Instagramda gezinirken yurtdisi gonulluluk projeleri goruyordum.Ama basvurup denemek istemedim.Cunku bircok insan basvuruyor neden beni secsinler dusuncesi vardi.Ve bu projeler hakkinda bircok yorum okumustum.Secilmenin zor oldugu neredeyse imkansiz gibi cumleler.. Birgun stajdan donuyorum ve cok yorgunum elime telefonu aldim metrodayken karsima Romanyada engelli konulu youth exchange projesi cikti.O an icimde bir his vardi ve bavurmami soyledi.Bende sansimi denemek istedim.Yaklasik bir saat sonra mail geldi ve kabul aldigimi gordum. Hayatimda ilk defa yurtdisina cikmistim ve benim icin bir meydan okumaydi.Cunku ingilizcem nerdeyse sifir ve birisi bana bir soru sorar nasil cevaplar korkusu beni biraz geriyordu.Ama bu tarz gerginliklerden asiri hoslaniyorum.Boyle durumlarda olmak beni hep gelistirdi..Ilk genclik degisimi projem bir haftalik olmasina ragmen hala gorustugum arkadaslara sahibim.Benim ilk deneyimim olan bu degisim projesi sonrasi bunun benim icin yeni baslayan bir seruvendi.Doner donmez sudan cikmis balik gibi oldum.Yeniden bu tarz projelere katilmak ve kendime deneyim katmak istiyordum.Daha sonra Romanya basta olmak uzere 2 ay short term proje ardindan 1 ay Yunanistanda short term projeye katildim.Benim icin gonulluluk gercekten muazzam bir seydi.Boyle birseyin icinde olmaktan son derece mutlu ve heyecanli hissediyordum.Bu seruvenimin bitmesi suanlik cok erkendi ve Ocak ayinda uzun donem arayisina baslamistim.o esnada training course buldum ve bir hafta Cekyaya gittim.Cekyadayken Ravennada uzun donemli esc projesi oldugunu ve bir ay sonra baslayacagini gordum.Proje konusu ilgimi cekmisti.Genclerle calisma,podcast yapma,ofis isleri vs.Ve o gun basvurdum ve koordinator Meho ile gorusme sagladik.Ayni gun projeye kabul aldim..Ravennaya 1 Mart gunu geldim.Italyaya hayatimda ilk defa geliyordum.Bolognaya 1 saat uzaklikta olan bu sehirde Unescoya ait dunya miraslar listesinde tarihi anitlara sahip bir sehir.Adriyetik denizinde en onemli limana sahip olan bu sehirde aradiginiz herseyi bulabilirsiniz.Genc populasyonun yuksek oldugu bu sehirde Bologna universitenin kampusunun bulunmasi belki bunun sebebidir. Bu sehirde hemen hemen herkes bisiklet kullaniyor,herkes birbirine selam veriyor ve gulumsuyor.Sicakkanli insanlar olduklarini hep duyuyordum ama gozlerimle deneyimlemek gercekten beni mutlu etmisti.Ravenna konumu ile denize kiyisi olan bir sehir.Ve egeli olmam sebebiyle denize asik olan biri olarak burada bulunmak buyuk bir sans.Ustelik lagunaya sahipler ve aksam uzeri manzarasi super oluyor.Oraya piknik yapmaya gitmek icin sabirsizlaniyorum.Hem sessiz huzurlu ve temiz havaya sahip.Havasi temiz sokaklari guvenli ve yasamasi kolay olan bu sehir mozaik ile unlu.Cogu sokak duvarlarinda graphiti gormek kacinilmaz.Kultur ve sanati buram buram hissedeceginiz bir sehir burasi.Binalarinda bile heykel mozaik gorebilirsiniz.Her sokakta mozaik gormek kacinilmaz.Ben bu sehri kucuk izmir olarak goruyorum.Izmirin avrupa ve kucuk hali diyebilirim.Yeme icme eglence anlayislari zevkleri bizimkine benziyor.Tabiki bazi farkliliklarimiz var.Mesela onlarin kahvalti anlayisi yok.Bizde kahvalti olmazsa olmaz bir ogundur.Kahve ve bir buskuviyle kahvalti ogunleri bitiyor.Turkler gibi cok cesitli kahvalti anlayislari yok. Ama Burda calismaktan zevk aliyorum cunku gercekten ekip cok eglenceli.Burda olmaktan cok mutluyum.Onlarin enerjisi bana geciyor.Bu ortam kolay kolay bulunabilcek gibi degil.Bakalim ileride beni ne seruvenler bekliyor gorecegiz..