Hi! My name is Lucia, I am from Italy and I am an EU AIDVolunteer.

A visual aid of how it feels to start
 a new adventure
(or colorful stairs in Istanbul)

I have been in Istanbul for almost a month and I finally feel like I can take a break, relax and process what has been going on so far.

Moving to a new country for me always feels like jumping into a tornado, you are hit by so many information at the same time and you brain is just not able to process them right away, so it just goes into survival mode. And, even if I describe it in such a catastrophic way, it is an exhilarating feeling and I love every bit of it.

But now that some time passed, places and people feel more familiar and I feel more at home, I think I can finally look back and review what made be reach this point.

I have been in Turkey for a month, deployed as a EU AID Volunteer with Small Projects Istanbul, a grassroot organization working to support displaced families from the MENA region rebuild their lives. They have a Community center filled with activities designed especially for refugee women and children of the community.

Before Turkey, though, many other journeys were required for me to be here.

A trip to the Netherland to attend the pre departure training organized by DG ECHO. Tough, useful, enjoyable, interesting, stressful and necessary.  15 days filled with new knowledge, a ton of information, new friendships and a deep sense of anticipation for the beginning of this new experience.

Then a trip to Estonia, to meet the team from MTU Mondo, my sending organization and a huge support during the whole process.

And now here I am, in Istanbul, that will be my home for the next 12 months. 

I am really curious to see what this adventure has in store for me, but I am so looking forward to it :)