The sunny morning started with the arrival of all of the students and teachers to the host school in Manavgat. After the welcoming programme, students introduced their schools, as well as their school’s system. Also, through presentations and videos they showed us all the beauties of their countries and culture. An interesting ice-breaking game helped us to get know each other better. Even though it was the first day of the programme and the day after a long trip, one could see how full of energy the young people who danced in the morning were. After that, we all went to visit an organic village bazaar where we didn’t just try delicious fruits and vegetables, but also saw unpacked food and products sold by villagers. Then we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant - the meal etliekmek was served, but also other Turkish traditional food. We visited Manavgat waterfall, which took our breaths away. The Kulliye Mosque is the only one in the city with four towers and we were lucky enough to get a look both inside and outside. At the end of the day, the students went back to their host families.

The second day of activities in the Turkish LTT began with the teachers meeting their students in the school's conference room. A teacher from Turkey showed the students how to craft a non-plastic keyring, an activity which stirred a lot of interest amongst both students and teachers. It was a fun and educational workshop that bonded the participants even more. Then, the students from each country presented materials about what they have done so far against plastic pollution. There were some useful points we can learn from and which surely will help us in reducing, reusing and recycling: Croatia - plastic free week; Odda - wrote letters to companies asking why they use plastic and whether they reuse, recycle or find products that use less plastic; Bergen - remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to film the bottom of Vågen, a Norwegian fjord, looking for and picking up pieces of plastic; Romania - placed recycling bins on each floor in the school, the students participated in green activities, such as "Let's do it, Romania", cleaning the park near school regularly and testing the water in Ciuperca lake regularly. After having lunch in the school's canteen, we met the governor of Manavgat. The meeting was focused on discussions about environmental issues. The governor was supportive and answered some questions about plastic pollution in town and what people are doing to solve this problem. Afterwards, we visited the wastewater treatment plant in a village near Manavgat. This gave us knowledge of the problem of the plastic pollution from the hotels in the nearby area. The plant was especially worried about wet tissues disposed in toilets, which many people don't know that contain plastic. At the end of the day, the students went back to their host families.

The third day of the activities in the Turkish LTT began with the students coming to a hotel where we used a conference room for the day's activities. The teachers from Norway started the day with having a presentation about a project the students are supposed to do before the LTT in Norway, Bergen and Odda. The project is about writing short stories/twitter-novellas about plastic and the environment. As an excercise, the students had a brain-storming activity before they created their own stories and performed them in front of everybody. There were multiple stories, forcing the pupils to make interpretations about the messages of the stories. We continued the day with an illuminating Kahoot about plastic, plastic in nature and how it affects our environment. The students were excited and engaged in the contest which in addition to being fun, also gave the students a shocking insight into the problems pollution by plastic give us. The last activity before lunch, was a presentation from some of the Turkish students, involving facts about the challenges related to plastic we are facing, as well as some interesting videos about the topic. After lunch, the trip went to the beautiful place, Side, and the archeological museum where we got to experience the Apollo temple and the amazing Amphitheater. The visit gave us knowledge of the Turkish history and a great view of a national treasure which surely made the students bond even tighter. As a last activity, we went on a boat-trip where we got the chance to see the area of Side by sea. Dancing in the sunset to Turkish music, while learning traditional Turkish dance moves, was without any doubt the perfect end to a perfect day.

The day started in the conference room at the Hotel Linda Resort with a session utilising microscopes. We looked at water samples that the different partners had brought with them to Turkey. Some of the students had not used a microscope before, so this session became interesting, although it is difficult to make out whether what we are seeing is microplastic or some other form of microscopic object, like organic matter of some sort. Afterwards, the Turkish students had prepared a presentation about how to make a successful campaign. Following the presentation, everybody were divided into mixed groups, in which they made posters with drawings and catchy slogans about plastic pollution. After lunch we marched from the hotel to the beach with our newly-made posters, trying to enlighten and influence people on the way. When arriving at the beach we started cleaning it. After cleaning for about two hours, we had filled a lot of bags with litter, almost exclusively plastic, like bottles, bottle caps, cigarette butts, straws and so on. Afterwards we marched back to the hotel, and on the way we stopped by a lake, where everybody were handed their certificate of attendance. A nice cermony in lovely circumstances, and a good way to end a day where young people started making this world a better place because every change need to start within ourselves. As Helen Keller said, "I am only one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and just because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

The last working day of the LTT in Manavgat started with a trip to the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast, with over one million people in its metropolitan area - Antalya. On the way there we talked about all the impressions the students had from the previous activities and things they have learned in Turkey. Our first activity was visiting Kaleiçi/Antalya Old Town. A charming, picturesque, colorful town was the perfect place to take a lot of photos. In the Mevlana Museum we learned that the origin of the spinning ritual (also called sema) is attributed to a widely revered holy man called Rumi, more popularly known as Mevlana, meaning Our Guide or Sainted One. A devoted Rumi preached inclusivity, tolerance, love and respect for all, regardless of their religion. Of course, students had some free time to walk through the town, freshen up and buy some souvenirs. Afterwards, it was magical to see the end of Düden Falls which drops off a rocky cliff directly into the Mediterranean Sea. Astonished by what we saw today, in the late afternoon we headed back to Manavgat. The day ended with the students comepeting in bowling and afterwards the students went to their host families to sleep before tomorrow’s long trip to their home countries.