Bridge Walk

My favorite thing about the city I live in is the Bosphorus Strait. It is a strait of water that connects the Black Sea (up north) to the Marmara Sea (down south). In order to get from Asia to Europe you have to cross the Bosphorus either by boat, or by car on 1 of the 2 bridges. The main bridge is about a kilometer long and you are not allowed to walk or ride a bike across it. But every year they open up the bridge to pedestrians for a marathon. The same weekend they also allow you to participate in a fun run or a walk. Since I am not a runner and the thought of running long distance brings back painful memories of playing basketball in 9th grade with Coach Wiggans, I decided to do the leisurely walk. It was a beautiful day, especially after weeks of clouds and rain!
There were so many people that came out for the race - remember I live in a city of 17 million. At times you could feel the bridge swaying. It was a fun day, and I so enjoyed the view!

Julie :)

A few weeks ago my old roommate, Julie came to visit. The first 6 months I was in Turkey, Julie was my roommate. Together we transitioned to living overseas, cooked dinner, made friends, and fell in love with this country. Then she had to move to England. Even though I was really sad that she moved, I was also so grateful for her friendship during my first months here. We have stayed good friends, she has made a few trips back to Turkey and I was even able to make a trip out to England to see her!

Here is a picture from when we first arrived. Everything was so new and interesting and it was fun to have someone to explore the city with.

Before heading back to the states Julie came one last time to hang out. It was wonderful. The weather was gorgeous and it was so fun to be together again in this city we both love. It also caused me to reflect a lot over the last 2 years here. The Father has been so faithful and kind to me. It is been an incredible experience so far, and I am glad it is not over yet. Here we are a few days before she left for the states. I miss knowing she was on the same side of the world with me!

Domestic

We were out of school yesterday because it Turkey's Independence Day - Cumhuriyet Bayramı. I wish every weekend could be a 3 day weekend. Yesterday I was out in the city all day - Starbucks to do school work and then dinner at Chili's. Today was a very domestic day for me - I was home all day and got a lot of things done. It was so nice. I feel like so much of my life revolves around school - planning, grading, etc - that it is nice to have a day where I don't do any school work at all!

First, I used imported M&M's to make M&M cookies for House Group tomorrow. So yummy!

Then, my roommate and I cleaned out and carved a pumpkin. Some of the students at our school were selling American pumpkins to raise money for their boy scout troop. You can get pumpkins here - infact people cook with them all the time. But they are white/green and have a bunch of bumps.

After that, I switched out my summer clothes for winter clothes. I always love doing this - it's like Christmas all over again. Every year I find some shirt that I forgot I had!

Esther and Hamam

I am currently going through a study about the life of Esther with a group of ladies here. I have been so grateful for this group and the chance to study the Word with them. It has been very encouraging and edifying for me. A few weeks ago we were studying Esther chapter 2 about the ladies spending a year in beauty treatments waiting to see King Xerxes – or King Headache as Beth calls him. We thought it would be fun to visit a local hamam. A hamam is a Turkish bath, where you can go to be scrubbed and bathed. It is a very social thing; much like the Roman baths were many years ago. Now I have been several times, because I love it. It is probably in my top 5 things to do in this country. But it was so much fun to do with a group of my BS girls and to in a way identify with Esther and the other ladies. Here are a few pictures of our trip – as well as what a Hamam looks like inside. If you come visit me – a trip to the Hamam is a must! So far no one has been disappointed, and most people say we need something like this in the states. A few weeks before this my friend Su-Anne and her husband came to visit. Su-Anne and I are from the same hometown and then both moved to the same college town after High School. We have remained friends, but this was the first time in several years that we have spent decent time together. We of course went to the Hamam and she loved it. We actually went to the same one that Ally went to on the Bachelorette! Anyways as always it was a lot of fun to have visitors here. Su-Anne is an elementary teacher so she came to school with me one day and got to help out in my class. So fun!

Eczane

For about 2 years now I have lived across the street from a hospital and above an eczane (the Turkish word for pharmacy). I had never been inside this hospital, or any hospital for that matter, until a few weeks ago when I had the flu. I went to a private hospital across town that a lot of foreigners here use. It was very nice and my doctor spoke excellent English - it was comforting receiving such great medical care in this country. He fixed me up with some good medications - which caused me to have to go the pharmacy right below my apartment for the 2nd time. The first (and only other time) I went in to get cotton balls. Anyways I got some great medicine and was feeling better with several days. And even though I no longer have the flu - my allergies, or maybe even sinuses, have been acting up like crazy for the past 2 weeks. It is quite frustrating and just annoying. I am learning to really appreciate the days that I feel good and healthy, and also keep things in perspective. A little cold or allergies never killed anyone and over all I am a very healthy person. I think sometimes the Father allows us to be sick so that we don’t take our health for granted. Anyways, it is really nice living right above a pharmacy and knowing I can pop in whenever I need to and get some medicine. Prescriptions don’t exist here except for very strong medicines – like Perkoset or something. So you can easily get what you need! They know me pretty well there now. Here is a picture I took last Christmas of my apartment building. You can see the Eczane with my apartment right above it - see the Christmas tree?

Tree Houses

The week after school started we had another break - I know rough life! Honestly I would rather get into a good routine with the kids, but I won't complain about a break from school. We had a half day on Wednesday, and no school Thursday or Friday.

Before I moved here, I read different books about Turkey, and I would always see pictures like this of a beautiful place called Antalya...Antalya is located in southern Turkey on the Mediterranean Sea. Ever since moving here, I have wanted to visit Antalya, but both my summers have been filled with language or weddings, so I haven't been able to take a trip down there. A few teachers from school I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and make a trip down south. We flew out Wednesday night and spent 3 glorious nights in a tree house. Yes, a tree house. Imagine something your dad would build for you to play in - made of wood with a ladder and everything. It was rustic, but clean and very cheap - they fed us a delicious breakfast and dinner each day. All 4 of us got to stay in one room and as you can see it was a little crowded!
It was a great trip, but after 3 days of being away from the comforts of my fan, bed, and bathroom, I was ready to get back home. Highs and lows from the trip: LOW - slicing my big toe on a rock the first day (10 seconds after getting in the water). I had to go to the Emergency Room - which was a tiny white trailer!
HIGH - spending all day on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea with friends: swimming, laying out, reading, snorkling, climbing rocks, and cliff jumping!

Pictures from School

As promised, here are some pictures of my classroom! I have 15 students from America, South Korea, Turkey, and England. Only 3 native English speakers!!
Working hard...

These boys are best buds - I had to seperate them though because they don't understand what "independent work" is.