Principio

Before arriving in Alzira, Valencia I was expecting to feel at least a little strange because after all I was a “stranger” here.

You know what? It turned out to be completely different than my expectations. There are some places on earth with some particular types of energies and feelings . The reason that I mentioned it is that this place´s energy catches you immediately. Starting from the wednesday afternoon with a warm welcome from my old friend and colleague Mert until our mentor Jose Manuel gave us a lift till the house which I would be sharing with the other volunteers through the course of 9 months.

Upon arrival the questiones in my mind vanished. Settling into a very cosy and a relaxed flat with 2 amazing flatmates gave me the clue that some nice time was ahead of me. Going out and enjoying some tapas at around midnight and watching the processions of Semana Santa raised the bar even higher for me. If you are reading these lines at the moment, brace yourselves to see hundreds of people enjoying laughing sharing out on the streets no matter what time it is. It must be one of the biggest motivations of yours regarding choosing Spain.

After visiting a couple of “doseles” we ended up in one of the halls in which the mayor of the city was helping out people who were preparing tables. It may seem like a small detail but it carries lots of messages. I could surely deduct that I was going to be living in a place whose mayor was so modest. If the citizens chose a man like him, it meant that this is the kind of personality they would like to encounter in higher positions in their bureaucracy.

With these ideas in my mind and a smile on my face we put an end to the night and went back to our house which is going to become a home in the following 9 months.

Utku Akdag