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During my last year at the high school I moved to Turkey for a cultural exchange. I studied for sometimes in Kırşehir a city located in central Anatolia. I was matched with a girl who was studying English and her family hosted me during my stay. I was going to the high school with this girl and we were travelling together around Turkey. I was very lucky because at that time the government was progressist and I was allowed to enter all the mosques without even wearing the hijab, but of course it was necessary to pay respect dressing properly and taking off the shoes before entering the mosques. I learnt Turkish people always leave outside the door the shoes since the pavement is covered by carpets and you walk bare foot so, you can easily understand if a family is having a gathering or a party at home simply looking at the shoes outside the house. Turkish can also cook nicely and we were sitting on the sofa and we were eating the food all together from one big dish helping ourselves with a piece of bread. I also learned many nice words in this language. I have to say Turkish people are very welcoming and generous in fact I always received for free the black tea at the café even if I did not ordered anything. I also learned they really smoke a lot narghilè and sigarettes. I always felt welcomed in every family I went and I felt a sort of connection with Turkey. Ottomans created the modern identity of the country however, they respected what was left by Romans. I could still see the antient rock churches built by Cristian monks in Cappadocia or the Roman Basilica of Aya Sophia turned into a Mosque, the Basilica Cistern that coexist harmoniously with Topkapi Palace or Galata Tower built by Genoeses and the Hamam Turkish Baths in Istanbul. The admixture between Arab and Latin architecture was really astonishing
