Today is my seventh month in Istanbul. Happy monthiversary to me!

I struggle to wrap my mind around the fact that's already 7 months from the beginning of my deployment, because the amount of life that happened in only few months made me think it was 7 years instead. I also look back at the person that took that flight to Istanbul in September 2019 and I am not sure I know her anymore.

It is not easy to write down how these few months of deployments have been, for sure they were nothing I expected, but, we all know that life always finds  unique ways to blow your mind and to go beyond expectations.

I found a family. A lovely team of people who pour their souls in what they do and in what they believe. A community of wonderful people that always welcome me with warm smiles and open arms, and the sweetest children that make my heart melt every time they say my name.

I discover new skills. I learned to use a camera and it came out I love taking pictures and work on projects that require a lot of creativity, which I never really used in the past.

I was given the chance to check my resilience, as the COVID 19 outbreak brought a lot of changes in everybody's lives.  I have been working from home for the past 2 months and being away from the community center has been the toughest part. My favorite part of the day was roaming around during the children's activities and having small talks, play a bit, dance a bit, and then going back to my desk. I hope these days will come back soon and, in the meantime, I know I lucky I am that I am able to work from home.

So, thanks to DG ECHO, MTU Mondo, Small Projects Istanbul for these great seven months and looking forward to find out what will happen in the next five. 😄