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My 2 months EVS in Ankara, Turkey

My name is Eftychia Stamouli. I am 25 years old and I was a volunteer at System and Generation Organization in Ankara. System and Generation is a kind of organization which tries to update the young people about the European programs by organized meetings or when somebody comes to office to ask something about all those programs. Sometimes they organized some events about all those programs. In the same time, they have lessons of different languages ( ex. Russian, Spanish, English etc.) for the local young people.

These 2 months, I was working in the office and my everyday mission was to translate all the documents of different programs from English to Turkish. I also, participated in the meeting for the English language or in some events. I was going to the office from 9 am till 15.00 pm and after that I had free time.

Ankara is an interesting city. There isn't sea and that was a problem for me but it is an organised city and the people are friendly. It is a big city, so you can do many different things. I met new friends there and I liked so much to go out with them in the center of Ankara (Kizilay, Selanik sokak, Tunali) or in another places (Besevler, Maltepe, etc). I have also to comment that everybody has to taste a waffle in Turkey because it is extremely tasty and it is different from any other waffle.

In my opinion, EVS is a lifetime experience because with that way you take some responsibilities in a foreign country and you realize that when you are in a another country you have to respect their culture and try to know them better. EVS gives you the opportunity to change the way that you are thinking and to think more mature for many subjects. I believe that it is very useful when you meet new friends from another countries because with that way you have the chance to learn about new cultures. In addition, I believe that the European Volunteer Service helps to dicrease the fight against racism because when you participate in that program, you have many different people around you.