Our students' visit to Turkey September 2013

COMENIUS PROJECT: TURKEY 2013

 

    That 7th of June was a special day, three teachers and eight students got into a bus prepared to live an adventure: we were going to spend seven days in Turkey.

When we arrived to Malaga, we were more and more excited. Furthermore, for some of us, it was our first trip by plane.

    After 2 hours of laughs, we arrived to Roma airport, where we spent an afternoon impatient to get the flight to Istanbul. When we landed there, after a few unforeseen circumstances, we got into a taxi which took us towards our hotel at the city centre.

    We spent two days visiting monuments that we didn't imagine see sometime and that we have studied them at History and Art, like Topkapi Palace, Haghia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar... Next, we went for a walk by boat through the Bosphorus and we tasted exotic and spicy foods.

    Istanbul was a wonderful city and we still had so much to see...,but we had to travel to Cappadocia.

    Sleepy, we arrived to the airport at 6 a.m and we got another plane that took us to Kayseri, where we met always smiling Mustafa.

    Surprised, we found out that in Turkey latrines are more usual than toilets. Moreover, we walked through Nevşehir streets, where our hotel where located.

   The next day, we moved forward Acigöl, nervous and excited for visiting the school that participated in the project. We enjoyed talking with Turkish students, exchanging impressions and meeting the rest of teachers. We felt happy, welcome and we were flattered by seeing the attentions and the happiness we received from the school and the institutions.

    We discovered our passion for tea. We started to travel by bus visiting wonderful villages with “fairy chimneys”, we walked through the Valley (Ihlara) and even made Turkish style ceramic.  We went into the underground city of Derinkuyu and we saw ancient churches built into rocks.

    Each day, we tasted a new and different food.

    And it was time to say goodbye. We had dinner all together -teachers and students- in the knowledge that our travel finish the next morning. We say goodbye to Mustafa and the others teachers with great sadness, and we left Turkey behind.

    We would miss the deep sound of the call to prayer, the food, the people, the streets, the monuments... everything, but that trip united us; we learnt how to open our mind, observe and look beyond; and we forged great friendships.

    Turquía is a great country, welcoming and warm, different and surprising. Now, when we remember the moments lived, we often say with affection and nostalgia: “We'll always have Turquía”.

Never before we have eaten so much! One night, dinner was special and we saw a show of traditional Turkish dances and music.