My name is Paweł and I am from Uzbekistan. I am a scholarship recipient of the John Paul II Foundation and a second-year student of International Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin. As part of the student exchange, I participate in the Erasmus+ program in Turkey. Turkey joined this program in June 2014. Recently, the possibility of going to this country has also opened up for students of the Catholic University of Lublin. I am very happy that I can be one of the first to participate in this student exchange program in Turkey. Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the world and the only metropolis in the world, located on two continents. Locals call this city the capital of three empires. It is also home to 5 universities, the oldest of which – Istanbul University – was founded in 1863.
I am studying political science at Istanbul Kent University. Classes are held in English. I have very interesting lectures, in such subjects as e.g.: political science, microeconomics, sociology and the basics of law. There are few of us in the English-speaking group, so the classes are conducted at a high level and resemble individual teaching. Every day, after class, I visit museums, churches, mosques, castles or just walk through the charming streets of Istanbul.
Every Sunday I participate in the Holy Mass in the beautiful Gothic church of St. Anthony of Padua, which is located in the center of the old town. Most of the parishioners come from Africa and Southeast Asia, but there is also a small Polish community of the faithful served by two Franciscan Fathers from Poland. During my stay so far, I also had the opportunity to participate in a pilgrimage to the House of the Virgin Mary, as well as to the tomb of St. John in Ephesus. I am very grateful to the Foundation and its benefactors for the opportunity to deepen my knowledge and experience of living in a country with a different culture. Certainly, my stay in Istanbul will help me a lot in my further development and university education.
Pavel Zeynalov
