I only had two months when I completed my previous blog. Now I can say, “The mission is now complete.” The 6-month journey has been done.

During these last two months, I traveled to Turkey, Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro besides doing what I was doing for my project.

I needed to go to Istanbul for something that was required there. In addition to doing my work, I visited my family for the first time in a long time. I stayed in Istanbul for a week, and on the day I came to Bitola, I set out on a journey again! To Belgrade. We—Turkish volunteer Furkan and Portuguese volunteers Pedro and Mariana—went to Serbia and spent three incredible days there. One week after our return to Bitola from Serbia we went to Kosovo by a jumping bus from Skopje. It was the best part of travel for me. I am not exaggerating! The bus was jumping with the people inside. We (Pedro, me, and Mariana) were watching people to see if their heads would touch the bus top. These people were so brave. One passenger even had coffee on that jumping bus. We could not even sit properly because of the jumping, and this person was drinking coffee. Waaw.  We spent two unplanned days in Kosovo because of the difficulty of transportation. Nobody was sure about the timetable. But it was unquestionably worthwhile. We stayed in an incredible hostel with nice people.

After Kosovo, we traveled to Montenegro; it was a bit challenging, but we reached Kotor anyway. Kotor might be my first crush at first sight! I fell in love with the old town. I fell in love with the view that the city had. I loved that place so much. It is too early to say that since I know that in the world, there are other amazing places. After staying there for three days, we visited Podgorica and Budva for a few hours as they were on their way back.

After these journeys, we (Pedro, me, and Mariana) went to Krusevo; we visited the Tose memorial and the Ilinden (Makedonium). I did my travels in my last two months because I had pleasant weather to travel. And we visited the KRKLINO museum in Bitola. We saw old cars and motorcycles, besides traditional clothes and sample religious rooms.

The last days came, and it was time to say goodbye. I went to the rehabilitation center for the last time. It was an emotional moment for me to say goodbye to them. I hugged each kid and left, saying goodbye. I ate my last lunch with my friends. I thanked them for being there for me. I ate my last dinner with SFERA Macedonia staff and volunteers. I was given my YouthPass certificate by the president of the NGO.

I am done with the EVS. Now, I have experiences and memories in my luggage. I will miss playing with the kids from the rehabilitation center. I will miss teaching the Turkish language. I will miss the people that I have known in North Macedonia. I met people whom I will never forget and always keep in touch with.

Thank you, Bitola!

It’s nice to meet you.