It all begins on the 28th of June, the day when I flew from Bologna to Bodrum, Turkey.
From the very first moment I really loved the environment and the general mood in this place, everyone was always kind, energetic and friendly.
The group of us campers was composed of 14 people: four Italians and all the others came from different countries such as Spain, Belgium, Lithuania, Hungary, Serbia etc. In addition, because of all the differences we had, we all became very good friends in the first days.
The first 3 days of the camp were organized in a Hotel right next to the shore in Bodrum; the place was amazing and we had lots of fun even in those first moments. In a normal day, we would have, at first, a swim in the pool of the Hotel, then we would go on the beach to play some sports or games out in the sea and, in the evening, the camp leaders would bring us around the city centre to enjoy the “night life” in Bodrum.
After the first few days spent in the Hotel, during the evening of the 1stof July the camp leaders brought us to the boat, where we would have spent the next week.
Every morning on the boat after having breakfast, we would have lessons in order to become “professional” sailors; we learnt about nodes, different types of sails and when to use them, emergencies at sea and other important topics about sailing.
After the theory lesson, in the afternoon, we could practise everything we studied in the morning; even if, luckily, it was not all about becoming sailors and we could still enjoy this trip on the boat by bathing in some of the most beautiful bays in Turkey.
This is why the seven days we spent on the boat were the best part of this experience, and after being all together for that week, we had created an extremely strong bond between all of us, as if we were best friends.
The camp ends with three more days at the same hotel, where we could enjoy the last few days we would have spent together.
On the 9thof July, a bus brought us to the meet-up with the families and from that day, I started getting more and more interested in the Turkish culture.
Spending ten days with my host family gave me an insight of their costumes and habits. I could taste every particular and characteristic food they had and, since I really liked how they wanted to introduce me to every aspect of their culture, I decided to show them some parts of the Italian culture as well.
Apart from this, I was lucky to find a very kind host family that would bring me around to see the best places in Turkey that were nearby, such as the pools of Pamukkale. Moreover, I was lucky because I could still enjoy my time there with my new “brother” that showed me the best places in his town where we could go to have fun.
Finally, I would like to thank the Lions association for this opportunity they gave me, as this turned out to be the best trip I have ever been to in my life.
Movie of the experience: https://drive.google.com/file/
