Life in Istanbul

Our first blogpost is by our amazing volunteer Ninon Jove, who volunteered at Qnushyo during February and March. She was a great help and her activities focused on art and crafting workshops as well as taking care of younger kids during classes for the mothers. One of her main project was organising a carnival for the kids together with our other volunteer Marie!

I lived in Istanbul during two months while I volunteered in Qnushyo. It’s a huge and beautiful city, which looks like a capital, with a lot of cats everywhere. The life in Istanbul is very easy: the public transportation network is very well developed and you can find shops for anything you need. I was living in the Beyoglu neighborhood, near Taskim square. This part of Istanbul is perfect for cultural events and nightlife, there’s always something do (openings, concerts...). But it’s also more expensive than other places because it’s very touristy - which is useful if you don’t speak turkish. Even though we can’t say that everyone speaks english, people will always try to help you and to find a solution. The Qnushyo team and the other volunteers are also very responsive if you have a problem or just a question.

For me, moving to Istanbul didn’t make a big difference. I felt that the way of life is pretty similar to the life in Europe. Of course there are cultural differences, but a day in Istanbul is kind of the same as in Paris.

Last but not least : the food in Turkey is amazing (and cheap) ! There’s so much specialities to try – it’s even difficult to try everything. As a cosmopolite city, you can also always find the same food as in France. These things together with the kindness of people in Istanbul was perhaps what I liked the most living here.

Now, all you have to do is come !