Hello everyone,
Before I start to tell you how my 9 months EVS Eramus+ journey was, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Alp, I’m from Turkey and I’m 23 years old. I was 22 years old when I volunteered, I had my 23rd birthday in Barcelona with all FCV members 😊
I have to say that was my first experience abroad, my first time in a totally different culture, with a different language, traditions, religion, etc. and, to be honest, I was not a real traveler, adventurous guy.
Even in my city, I did not travel to historical places or go out to explore nature. I was not really interested in them because I was living inside of them, but when I heard that I would have an opportunity like this, being in Barcelona and discovering a totally new world, I just said yes. I still remember my last day before flying to BCN, in my head I was saying: “OK, that was a wrong decision. Should I just turn off all my devices and disappear from reality?!” 😀 but of course I didn’t, and I’m really glad I made that decision. Words are not enough to explain my feelings, because it is something you need to experience and live by yourself, with your own rules. I met a lot of people from all around the world (actually, from near to 30 countries). I learned so much about the world: how they lived, cool histories behind their counties, etc. This will always be the best part, because it really made me willing to discover and travel, which I didn’t feel before. And I realized how little I knew about things I thought I had all the information about.
It was a great chance to improve my English, my editing skills (I’m a photography student in Antalya and I came here as a videographer), self-improvement, and I met very nice people. I’m so happy to have met many beautiful kind souls, and I will always remember this special journey.
As I said, I met many people from all around the world, I need to visit them ^^
‘Till next time! Have a nice day, you all!
Alp Karabulut
FCV Volunteer