Volunteering in Bodrum

 A well packed dentist chair

Almost on the beginning of our Erasmus period we were told by the previous Erasmus that the Pedodontics department in our faculty used to do volunteer work on some weekends, helping disabled children and the ones that couldn’t afford a dental consult. Of course me and my colleague were interested in this and asked if there was the possibility of going on one of these trips. They accepted (for our delight), and it was scheduled for the 23, 24 and 25 of November.

After that, the other two Erasmus girls came to the faculty and also asked for this. Due to not having enough space for everyone, or trip was in danger - we might not go after all, the department had to choose 2 or 3 persons to go. After some weeks of hesitation, we were confirmed, it was really happening. It was a pity for our French friend though, who wasn’t included on this weekend along with me, my colleague and the other Dutch Erasmus due to lack of space. We didn’t know details of the trip until the very last minute – we only knew we were supposed to be on the faculty at 16:30, packed with some clothes for the weekend. I was prepared to sleep on a tent on the middle of nowhere, since our professor specifically told us not to expect too much several times. After a 4 hour drive we arrived to Bodrum, our destination. On the weeks before departing, when we told Turkish people we were going to this city, everyone made a furtive smile and said “Sure, volunteer work”. And I could understand why – this place has a marina, nice streets with shops, gardens along the road with palm trees and everything a rich town should have, including all the things with English translation. It must be amazing here in the summer I tell you!

Bodrum's marina

Our 'modest' hotel

We ate in a restaurant close to the sea, a famous restaurant I was told, with all the professors, assistants, students and helping staff that were in this journey – 20 in total. It was just great to see all the people talking, laughing and socializing together, professors with students, assistants and helping staff, just great really. I wished we had just a bit of this joy and friendship among all in my home faculty. After a nice meal of pasta with some glasses of wine, for free, we went back to the bus to the hotel. When we arrived there I was shocked… in a good way! We thought that this was the hotel for the professors, but it turned out to be a hotel for everyone! Each 2 persons got a room with private WC, cable TV, two beds, wireless and breakfast. I was speechless, the hotel even has a common room with a fireplace and leather sofas and even a pool decorated with many colored lights on the backside. This was when I thought if I was making volunteer work or if the faculty was making humanitarian work for me adding a touch of luxury on my Erasmus time. I slept like a rock, finally having a double size bed after two months.

The swimming pool was too cold, terrible conditions





The rehabilitation center for disabled children

The surgery room

We all woke up and has breakfast at 8 am. I ate like an hippopotamus and off we went to the Rehabilitation Center for the disabled. Once we reached there, we were greeted by the nice managers of the place and started to unpack the necessary material to do the job. Let me tell you, when I saw the conditions of the “field” work, I was speechless again. I won’t be writing here the materials they had available, but the conditions were perfect. Portable bags with engines for the rotation materials, dentist chairs and even spitters were available. All the main kinds of dental treatments could be done there. The point of coming to this place is to make the kids feel more comfortable being treated on a place they know and love – and that was visibly on many of them, they weren't so afraid of the treatments since they were in a place they knew. We treated then during the morning, has lunch there, danced with them Gangnam Style (oh God, I’m really sick of this song now) with all the professors included – I can’t stress out enough how great it is to see the professors dancing with us. 

The treatment room

The kids were happy and we were happy. The treatments continued during the afternoon, and at the evening we were free. We all went to the marina to see the boats close by, and we turned out to find a really nice café shop on the shore. This time I ate like and hippopotamus and an elephant combined, chocolate and ice cream in obscene quantities. For my defense, there were free chocolate bonbons everywhere and I was really happy, hence it was impossible to resist. Next we went to have dinner with the mayor of Bodrum in a fancy restaurant near the sea. I wasn't ready for this since I haven’t brought formal clothes, but even so it was fantastic. I had fish again, and drank lots of red wine. The mayor made a fine-looking speech, so as the directors of the rehabilitation center and also our professor. At least I think they did because I didn't understand I word. By now I was REALLY happy… with all the wine I was having. In the last part of the dinner they started to call each person’s names to be presented with a symbolic gift from the center, and this got me thinking. They brought us here, gave us an excellent room, nice food, the opportunity to work and to know a different and still they gave us a present? Come on, I felt I didn't deserve this at all, and I don’t because this experience was amazing and I should be the one giving presents. After the dinner we all went to a bar near the marina and had a good time, again, all staff included!

Receiving a gift on the dinner with the mayor

The erasmus and our amazing teachers

The Sunday morning began with a breakfast at 9 am, and straight to the center to work until lunch. At about two o’clock we packed everything (talk about stuff to pack) and went home – stopping for ice cream and an afternoon snack (again, for free!).

I can surely say this one of the best Erasmus weekends, if not the best!

Studying at EGE University as an Erasmus

There's much to say about EGE Üniversitesi - to start, it has roughly 47.500 students and the campus is one of the biggest I've ever seen. From the Students Village (the dormitory) where I live, inside the campus, takes about 15 minutes walking to reach the Dentistry Faculty. And that's only about a third of the campus! - it has about 370 hectares (3,45 square kilometers, with is bigger than Monaco!) and includes several facilities such has culture, sport and social services. There are huge empty spaces and free terrain throughout the campus, some with grass and trees, others just with dirt.

One of the many gardens at the campus - all credits to Sara Silva

The campus fountain

Ege University has eleven faculties (administrative and social sciences; agriculture; communication; dentistry; education; engineering; letters; medicine; natural sciences; pharmacology; and water products), a conservatory of Turkish music, eight vocational schools, and seven research institutes - but it keeps growing. In the dentistry faculty they are in the middle of constructing a building and started to build another one from scratch just last week - due on November 2014, seems like I won't be there to see it! It seems like everywhere I go there is a new building in construction, coffee-shops and sport fields, it's a place bubbling with life.

The rectorate building

And abandoned gas station in the campus, used as a parking space!

Unfortunately things don't work as they should - for Erasmus students of course. Several persons are complaining about classes that were said to be taught in English, but turns out they are in Turkish... because the teachers say the other students don't have enough preparation (in the Psychology and Chemical Engineering courses). In my faculty, since we are 4 erasmus, we have private lessons in English - no complaints about that, on the contrary, just has I said in my previous post. The problem is, the Erasmus students came to this faculty thinking that they had classes in a language they could understand, and that isn't happening with the vast majority of students I have spoken with. And you might understand how frustrating that can be if you came here with a purpose. Of course we are all here for different reasons, but one of them is to learn, nobody wants to go home with a list of failed subjects, having to repeat the year.

The dentistry faculty

Several situations occur, from not having classes in English, subjects present on the Learning Agreement not opening (in the Business Administration Faculty), persons that came to an Erasmus Placement, a kind of an internship, in August and only begun to work (and not much) in October (in the Agriculture Faculty), etc, etc. The teachers simply don't demand much from you, and it seems like they don't care much too.

Talking about the Diş Hekimliği Fakültesi, where I study - I can only classify the organization as mediocre. We are really well received by the professors and I'm delighted to see new procedures that I never saw before. But the problems lies here - see procedures - not doing much. This because they don't ever attribute a workstation to us - which is essential if you are studying dentistry. When we asked the Erasmus coordinator about this situation we got the response - "You cannot work! You're not a student from this faculty, there are laws that have to be followed! Besides there aren't enough dentist chairs for everyone, we're full!". Hello? Of course I have to work, and legally I AM a student of the faculty for this semester! What amazed me the most was her shocked face while saying this, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, I don't mean to offend sensibilities but if they can't handle the newcomers why receive Erasmus in the first place? In my faculty we don't accept students if we don't have the conditions - as simple as that.

Of course we work anyways - but we have to be hovering all the day around the teachers to remind them that we are there, and constantly asking for some work. And I hate having to "beg" for something that should have been given to me without asking. To get around the faculty is kind of funny, since every two weeks we have new subjects, we have to go to each department and introduce ourselves to the staff, and it's dramatically delightful to see their confused faces clearly thinking "what are we going to do with them?"

Of course I don't know if things go this way in all the faculties, I've written only about those that I know. Besides, you can always count on the lady from the international office - Şule Begüm - to help you when you need, she's really nice and a lifesaver.

To conclude, if you want to have a really good time in a good place with excellent people come to Ege, but if you want to work and actually learn something think better, because you won't be satisfied here.

Clinics - blowing off some steam

On the beginning of our third week of classes, things aren't turning up the way I expected. In our second day here, we were  told that we would only be watching the procedures - if I wanted just to watch I'd use YouTube, it´s free and I don´t need to go to  another country to use it. Right after this splash of cold water, we immediately called our home faculty´s department to  inform them about this situation. Because you know, Erasmus students back in Porto actually have to work and do things like  any other student. If I was on third year or in any other course, I might even appreciate the break, but this is my last  year of dentistry and I need to practice, a lot, and that´s why I came.

We were later told, in a private meeting, that each  department chief would 'try' to give us some patients for us to work. After two weeks in Orthodonty, in which of those I didn't do much - it was expected since regular students can´t do much in  that field - I was expecting to do real work in Pedodontics (dentistry for children). The fact of me being sited on the  library's computer making this post on 9:40 in a workday can really tell you how much work I´m really doing. The professors  are really nice, don´t get me wrong, but I´m tired of watching and having to ask to do something most of the time - we don´t  even have a dentist chair to work with, they didn't attributed one to us. And to make things even more lovely, I haven´t found a single student who speaks English in this department, so me and my mate feel like aliens wondering around.
To sum things up - loving the country and the teachers, our schoolmates (the ones we can understand) but not loving the faculty´s work-system at all, and I´m starting to question why I´m here if I can't work.