Informations and tips

Really common way of spending holiday is exchange homes. People from absolutely contrasting countries and habits, are meeting at Internet and decide to live for couple of weeks in each other apartments. Usually, they don’t know destinate city at all, they don’t know the language, but sometimes friends of host are helping with adaptation. This kind of holiday is mainly famous in Esperanto circles, then speaking barrier is not a problem. Two teachers of this language, Paweł from Szczecin and Salman from Istanbul switch their houses. Let’s see what each one has to say about living for 2 weeks in totally different country.

Salman’s story

My name is Salman, I am 34 years old, and I live in Istanbul, Turkey. I was living at Pawel’s flat for 2 weeks, and it was my first visit to Poland. First, when I came, I was surprised about the temperature, it was really hot night in July, and I was ready to wear sweater. I arrived at Gdansk’s airfield and then I take a train to Szczecin. I was a little afraid about reaction on my skin color, I was hearing few worrisome stories about intolerance of Polish citizens, but it was alright. Two colleagues of Pawel pick me up from main railway stop , and they assured me to take care of me during my stay. They also spoke Esperanto, and very good English, so chats were nice. Next day, at the morning, I ate some polish breakfast, cooked for my by Pawel’s flatmate. It was delicious but very greasy – big pieceof scrambled eggs with ham and plenty of onion, served with white bread with butter. Later, I went to old district to see some of heritages (click there). I like European art, it so disparate then Arabic one. Szczecin has a lot of building constructed in nineteenth century, few Medieval and Gothic cathedrals and charming parks and squares. The most I loved post office edifice, it looks the same like one of Harry Potter movie. Rest of my holiday I spend traveling along seacoast, tasting regional food, meeting new, generally friendly people. I very enjoy my visit in Poland.

Pawel’s story

Hi, my name is Pawel, I’m from Szczecin, I am 30 years old. I was staying for two weeks in Istanbul, in apartment of my friend, which I met at Esperanto convention. I was really exited about my trip, I heard that Turkey is really fascinating place. I was living in big, snugapartment in the middle of old town. I was observing morning crowd, while eating brunch at balcony. I was bewitched by Istanbul. It is really adorable place, with fascinating history, and very friendly people . First week I was discovering the city, not just old town with heritages, and spectacular Arabic buildings, but also new town with tallest skyscrapers I have ever seen.

I stayed 2 days at some of city beaches, and it was to much crowd, but the weather was gorgeous. Second week I was driving with my backpack trough few small towns, learning culture, customs and language of citizens. It was really important experience for me.

Switching houses during vacations is a great deal, but only for courages people. Some tourists could be worried about strange person staying in their house, but if you find your host on dedicated website, you are saved. So select your host smart, and have fun during your vacations.