''Güzel bir yer var mı?''

Victoria speaking...

...Neither any word nor pen is enough to tell this city .

This place is ‘Şehr-i Ayıntab-ı Cihan’, favorite city of the world with this attractive buildings, desirable objects from everywhere, many arable fields, plenty and fruitful, infinite food and drink, springs and rivers. Any ease, it is not a coincidence taking such a compiment from the famous traveler Evliya Çelebi 335 years ago.

Of course it needs to remember this fruitful lands which human lives on it since the unknown times and Zeugma that carries  the traces of 2000 years of civilization.

Gaziantep, which has monuments from the War of Independence, unique mosaics from the richly historical and cultural ancient city and region of Belkis (Zeugma), a newly opened motorway, an air port wich serves the international needs of the region, placed at the door of GAP, a train station and a special place amongst the kitchens of the world, for years has been known as one of the rich taste of traditional  and special local foods, in recent years has been known as a center enriched with handicrafts, mosques, fortresses, antique cities, ruins, caravanserais, Turkish baths, underground pools, tombs, churches, high plateaus, plains, places for hiking and picnics, active trade and other aspects of tourism.

FROM PORTUGAL TO ANTEP

Hi there!

My name is Francisco Santos da Cunha, I’m 26 years old and I come from Porto, Portugal. I love my country, it’s very beautiful and if you like history, art or nature, then you’ll love to visit it because, for such a small country, it has lots of different and interesting places. We are known for our artistic architecture, diversified gastronomy, and also our beaches and nightlife. It has, like the Turkish, an ancient culture, so it is full of history and histories to tell, with also a multicultural influence, like spanish, arabic and many others. As most people in Portugal, I like playing and watching sports, mainly tennis, football, cycling and golf. I also like music (despite I’m only good at listening to it!), reading and hanging out with my friends and close family.

I decided to participate in an EVS project because I didn’t have the chance to travel much before, I really want to meet new people from different places and cultures, focus both on our similarities and our differences in order to absorb the knowledge from that variety, develop my character and open my mind. One other reason is my love for volunteering – as a volunteer for several years now in my country, for me this is the next step in this activity.

I think I got really lucky to be selected to this project because this country always fascinated me, Gaziantep is an interesting city and everyone at the Organization is very friendly. This is a great opportunity to achieve my near future goals, so I feel very excited and I will do my best to make this project suceed. I really hope to leave my mark here!

So, let the adventure begin!  By the end of this experience I’ll tell you my thoughts about it and if my expectations were met, but meanwhile don’t miss this blog, hope you enjoy it, we’ll have so much impressions to share!

KOLAY GELSİN

Merhaba people of Gaziantep!!

Here is Victoria writing, coming from your neightbor country Hellas.

My first week in Turkey (in general) and in Gaziantep (specially), is a fact!And I am already excited because of it.

At first sight, what I can say about Gaziantep is that we are dealing with a city with a totally unique character.If there is a city with ''personality'', then for sure this city could be Gaziantep.

What we have here is a real middle east scene, combined with the strong

local turkish culture...

Its the voice of  ''imam'' that wakes you up early in the morning, giving the sign for the beggining of the day.

Crowded roads, red trafic-lights, people waiting at the bus-stops, others in a hurry, stores' assistants carrying out the stuff for sale...all these in a scene with impressive mosques, elaborate minarets covered with the sounds from the deep soul of Turkey.

Walking in Gaziantep's streets can be an experience actually.

It's like the whole city rebels against loneliness and sadness.In Gaziantep you can never be alone.If you take a short walk, from your very first steps you can notice local people's willingness to guide you and to give you a hand.

So far, I am totally content from my choice to come and spend five months of my life in Gaziantep.I am sure that in such a city, full of surprises, I' ll be able to discover many interesting things...mmm...let's see!

I think I already found where the soul of Turkey lies.....görüşürüz!