ÇOCUK BAYRAMI

Last Thursday, April 23rd was International Children's Day in Turkey. It is a day dedicated to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation. Our school celebrated by hosting a Pinewood Derby and Carnival. Even though it rained off and on most the day, there was still a good turn out!

Kids in grades 3-5 could participate in the Pinewood Derby. For about 3 weeks now the kids have been cutting, painting, and weighing their cars for the race. It was all very new and exciting, especially for my 3rd graders. Even though I remember my brother making cars and racing them when he was in boy scouts, I have never been to a Pinewood Derby! So it was a 1st for me as well. It was really a neat thing to watch...the different car designs, the eager kids, the hopeful parents, and the close races! One of the teachers had this awesome ramp made here!

Not only was the Pinewood Derby going on, but downstairs and outside was the Carnival! Face painting, balloon animals, pie throwing, bean bag toss, and a concession stand complete with hotdogs, popcorn, and crepes! YUMMY. But the best part of the Carnival was the dunking booth, well that's what they called it anyways. As you can see from the picture it was comprised of a sink, PVC pipe and duck tape! On the wall was a target that kids could throw balls at. If they hit the bulls eye, someone upstairs would dump a bucket of water into the sink, it would run down the pipe and soak the person sitting in the chair. Did I mention that it was in the low 50's on Thursday! Happy Childrens' Day :)

just a day in the park

.

.

.

I live in the city of tulips! Well for the month of April anyways. They really are the most beautiful things ever, and I think my new favorite flower! They are everywhere here...lining the highways, in parks, being sold on the street, and anywhere else you could imagine. Now that the weather is starting to be nice and warm, Julie and I decided it was time to make a trip to the park. After language on Saturday we headed to a tulip park over on the Europe side. After 2 hours on a mini bus, ferry, and bus we finally arrived! It was totally worth the treck over. What a wonderful Saturday afternoon we had in a park filled with bright, lovely tulips; ice cream; and sunshine. After walking around a while, we found a nice spot to sit and read...something I rarely get to do, but SO enjoy! We decided to try a different route back, and so glad we did....it took us less than an hour, but took our friends almost 4 hours!! Oh the joys of living in city with 17 million people.

My 3rd Graders :)

I was back at school this week, after a wonderful and relaxing Spring Break. It felt great to be back, I had really missed the kids and was glad to see them!! My class was scheduled to perform at assembly on Monday...and I was nervous that over break that would forget the songs and skits. But they didnt!! They did a great job presenting on the life of Moses, and I was so very proud of them. Seriously, they just did such a wonderful job acting, singing, and memorizing lines...they all worked so hard. Many parents came out, and I think they (as well as other teachers and students) were quite amazed with the performance! It reminded me of being at HCA and performing a play on the life of Moses in 2nd grade! I still remember my lines at Miriam. Here is a picture of my kids before the play in their costumes.

This past week my students took the Standford Achievement Tests. It was their very first exposure to standardized testing, and they did a great job. Towards the end of the week, the kids were all "mouthing" along with me..."You may check your work on these pages only, but do not go to any other part of the test....any questions? you may begin working." They couldn't really understand WHY they needed to fill in the bubbles completely or WHY they couldn't write in their test booklet. After about the 7th explanation I just started saying, "because." It was 10 hours of testing total (2 hours each day) and that is a lot for anybody, especially 8-9 year olds.

I really love my job. And love that I get to do something I really enjoy! These kids teach me so much everyday, and I take great pleasure in being their teacher. They have shown me so much grace and love, as I have attempted to teach them. They are patient with me when I totally blow a lesson or am not as organized as I should be. I will forever be grateful to them for the kindness that have shown me, as a 1st year teacher in a foreign country. Sometimes I even forget I am teaching in a foreign country...until yesterday! My kids were taking the Social Studies part of the SAT, and most of the questions were about American history, government, etc. Only about a fourth of my class knew answers to questions about Martin Luther King, what a mayor was, where the president lived, etc. I just told them it was okay if they didnt know the answers and to do the best they could!

Spring Break

One of the benefits of being is teacher is the breaks from school! Last week I was on Spring Break and it was amazing. I really enjoyed my time away from the normal routine of school, language, and waking up early! I welcomed the much needed break. Monday and Tuesday were cold and rainy, so I decided to spend those 2 days doing school work - grading papers, planning for the 4th quarter, working on report cards, etc AND watching movies. It was great.

The rest of the week was beautiful weather and I enjoyed being out and about in the city. Wednesday I went with my friend Selma to pick up my residence visa...I am officially a resident of Turkey now. Then we got lunch and I enjoyed my afternoon down by the water...reading! (something I rarely get to do!) Thursday I went with another teacher and friend, Bess, to these islands that are just out from the city....only a 30 minute boat ride away. It was amazing and so refreshing to be out of the city and away from all the honking and pollution and concrete!! We took a carriage ride, ate lunch at the top of the island, and laid on a blanket is a park. It was a beautiful and warm day; I cant wait to go back and visit one of the beaches there this summer. I also got to hang out with some of my Turkish friends which was also really fun. They are so kind and helpful and I love spending time with them. I have posted some pictures of us at a cafe down by the water.

Eating in a Foreign Country

People back home ask me ALL the time, "What is the food like?" Well that depends on what exactly you are asking. Are you asking what is Turkish food like? Or are you asking what is the food that I eat like? The answers to these questions are very different. Turkish food is good, but I cannot and do not eat it every day. It consists of a lot of bread and cheese and meat! I like all this but do get tired of it. I havent discovered a lot of variety, but some of my favorites are lahmacun, tavuk sis durum, tavuk doner, iskender, and borek. I normally eat Turkish about 3-4 times weekly. The rest of the time I eat American food :) whether I go out to eat or cook it in my apartment. This past week I have done a lot of both. On Monday, school was cancelled due to local elections so a few teachers went out to Chili's for dinner. It just opened here like a month ago and so it is still very American and very good. Drinks with ice, bottomless chips and salsa, quesadilla explosion salad, and free refills on the drinks. It was AMAZING. On Wednesday, I had to go to the Emniyet to apply for my visa. I had gotten a sub for the whole day, because normally it is an all day process. BUT I was out of there by 10am, so I spent the rest of the day playing around the city. Another teacher and I went to the mall that had an Arby's in it. Now I love Arby's...even in the states it is one of my favorite fast food restaurants. So that was a very special treat, and once again very good! mmmm yummy curly fries! Friday night, Julie and I decided we wanted to go to the movies, so we headed to a mall near school after work. Before the movie (we saw Marley and Me and it was a wonderful movie) we ate dinner at a burger place called Num Num's. Nothing like a good cheeseburger and fries.

Cooking a very American dinner. Chicken Chimichangas (made with Yufka - a turkish pastry like thing). And the best part was THE CHEESE DIP. They dont have tortilla chips here or velvetta, or rotel tomatoes. So when Julie's parents came to visit they brought us some...along with many other goodies. This morning for breakfast we had bacon and bisquick biscuits!

The joys of American food....it makes me happy :)