My journal by Laura Ladan

Day 1

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 08:53:11 UTC

I was excited to meet the people from Aselsan Konya Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi,(such a long name) they were very welcoming, i was greatful it was like that because being an introvert person and getting into conversation pretty hard is always a negative trait of mine, but they made me feel like i could be myself. Beren, the first girl who spoke with such a loud and clear voice, i really admired that about her presented us few thing about the partenership and how things will take place. After that we started directly with activities through going on the scene by turn and starting to present ourselves. Finishing in a happy note with the last colleague we ve got to show them the presentation we made about our school. I was presenting the chemistry lab cuz i looove chemistry and i also did an experiment with glucose and Tolluens reagent so they can see the mirror forming on the walls of the tube. Sorry i've got a bit too excited. After this we were paired with a random boy or girl, participating to the project, mine was a boy named Akif and we were told to share more things about us with them in order to know eachother better. Later we had to pair with another pair, that souds funny, i mean we had to be 4 so after Viviana, my romanian colegue told me and Akif to be their pair we agreed. I said their because Viviana's pair was Tunahan. We had to draw the logo for our motto: We thrive together, and as i like to draw i did most of it, but they helped too so i have nothing to complain about. And that was it about the formal part. We ve got to the hotel and after we were all prepared we went to the city center to eat something and to visit Selimiye mosque.

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 08:54:58 UTC

this is also day 1

...i just love the fit 😚

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 08:55:38 UTC

this is us in the mosque 🙏🏻

Day 2

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 10:04:47 UTC

Today we did some games referring to the inclusion topic. First one seemed like the romanian "Țară,țară vrem ostași!" where we formed a circle by holding hands and some people had to try to break the hand chain in order to enter in the circle, this symbolizing how hard is for some people to be included. Then we made another circle but this time the theme was dancing. I volunteered to start it. I had to be the leader and start dancing however i want, but the others had to follow my moves. Francesca stayed in the middle of the circle and she had to guess who was the leader, meaning me. After she guessed i had to stay in the middle and someone else had to be the leader. I really hated to be in the middle because i found it very hard to figure out who was starting to move differently. This one was about trying to integrate in a group and not knowing the rules they respect and trying to integrate on your own. After school we went to Butterfly Garden, the 40 celsius degrees killed us, also the moist air, but it was worth it cuz the view was incredible. Can t wait to return there with my parents!!!!

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 10:05:23 UTC

this is in the Butterfly Garden

Day 3

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 11:25:27 UTC

This güzel -beautiful in turkish- day was about being different but still as important as the others. As a first activity we had to draw a logo with the other hand that we use regularly, me being right-handed I drew with the left hand, but it's a lot said drew, that was a doodle wanting to look like the picture. After embarassing my drawing talent by drawing w the left hand we watched a movie with a boy scared to be himself by the fear that the others won t accept him. Also the turkish colleagues organised an art exposition and I asked one of the guides named Mevlut, a very understanding boy, if he could find me any artist whose painting was in the expozition. AND HE FOUND A GIIIRL, i loved her she was very shy, we got along very quicly and we shared some other paintings we made in our free time...sadly the time was short and she still had classes so we only got few minutes to talk but it was memorable. After this we had a picnic in open air where they brought a lot of goodies that we ate like we haven t eaten in days. On a full stomach we burned some calories while dancing traditional dances from Romania first hora then brașoveanca and then we danced a turkish one. That was the end of the ''school day'', i confess that i d really like all the days to be like this, but sadly there s no way 😢...In the evening we went to Aziziye mosque and to the Bedesten Bazaar where i bought some turkish delights i loved, also i bought home some for my parents too.

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 11:36:25 UTC

a high-requested photo of some not so thrilled to take it people

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 11:41:37 UTC

us at the picnic

Day 4

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 12:09:37 UTC

Today was about leadership and being a team. We solved a puzzle on which was written stereotypes associated with the concept of leader and when finished we had to stick them together using tape. After that we had to group in 6 people each to make other puzzles with 1 leader who could only explain how the puzzle should be made but he couldn t touch anything, and other 5 people who only had to listen to the leader. We had 2 puzzles of this kind to make and i was a leader and Almina, a turkish girl was the other one. We also had to build a tower from cups and rubber bands, but we need the help of all the team soo that s why this matched the theme. After this we had to buid another tower but this time using only one cup, small marshmallows and skewer sticks, me and my team failed this one buut we also have been the best at the other challenges. At the end of the day we went to Mevlana Museum aand to the mall, the long-awaited mall 🤭, also been in Kule tower.

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 12:10:49 UTC

This is the Konya sign we always reached before going to visit and after

Day 5

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 12:36:11 UTC

The saddest day eeevveeeerrr!!!😭😭😭😭😭 This was our last day meeting with them. The whole experience was incredibly short, the time flew like crazy, idk when it passed. Today we received our diplomas and had to say goodbye to all the kind and valuable people there. In my memory will always remain Beren, girl who spoke with the loud and clear voice, she s my very friend aand Tunahan, the boy who has been the welcoming and friendly there. I' m so greatful for everything, i can t explain how much this experience means to me. After leaving the school with tears in my eyes we had to pack everything and left the same day for Cappadocia where we visited the weird shaped rocks, a pottery place where Bogdan, a colleague was able to model something, and by something i mean a plate without the bottom side, on his own, also i bought a set of 2 small plates and 2 cups designed by the people working there. We went to eat and later we also visited a museum of semi-precious stones, but the prices were too high for my budget so i had to settle-down with only looking at those treasures. In the end we ve got to the hotel and directly to sleep because the next day we had to catch the planeee 🛫.

ladanlaura10 — 2024-06-26 12:37:53 UTC

this is in airport after 12 hours of being awake :)))