It was a quick decision to come here to Bitola. I just packed all of my stuff, and the next thing you know, I was on the airplane without any expectations on my way to North Macedonia. Little did I know that Bitola would find a special place in my heart. I immediately fell in love with the architecture and the culture because they reminded me of home. Also, I found a few places where I could drink Turkish tea and eat lahmacun and pide (I can say it wasn’t as good as it is in Turkey, but it was the best I could find and not bad at all). The most interesting thing for me was that the locals were using so many Turkish words, such as cezve, fincan, cakmak, cam, and more.

While I was here, I had the opportunity to go to the EXIT Festival in Novi Sad, and it was such a great experience. Besides listening to my favorite DJs live, I met a lot of people from all over the world. It was crazy. Now let me tell you more about the people from Bitola. They are the loveliest people I have ever met, and I am pretty sure that I will remain friends with them when I return home. They showed me Bitola and took me to bars and places with good Macedonian food. I was also invited to dinner at my friend’s house, and it was such a fun night. The girls even tried to surprise us by making kadayif with ice cream. I was so happy. Also, I attended a Greek night, tried Greek food, and even danced to Greek music. One weekend, I went to Baba Mountain and was so thrilled by the beauty of nature itself. I wish I had stayed longer and visited more places.

My EVS here in Bitola really helped me improve my working skills and living skills as well. It taught me how to be more responsible, made me more open-minded, and made me more aware of the environment and how to protect it.

ECD Cooperation Bitola and Avrupa Gönüllü Hizmeti thank you for the grand opportunity that you have given me to come here and experience Bitola as never before.