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Fun fact: The Turkish invented yogurt. They eat it with literally everything.
So, update on school #2- thumbs down. I cannot figure out why it's in this AIESEC program. Not a single person speaks English- the kids, the teacher, the principal (ok, she can say some introductory stuff). This wouldn't be a problem, except that I am bored out of my mind. For 6 hours, I sit down and try to play with kids who don't understand anything I'm saying, nor can I talk to the teachers to pass the time. They occasionally just walk out of the room to talk to each other, leaving me with kids who have no intention of listening to me, or talk on the phone. Don't get me wrong- they're nice, and if we could communicate I would probably like them, but as I am there to teach my culture and language, that's impossible to do when no one would understand me.
Rant over.
I have yet to go a day without some Turkish person talking to me in Turkish, thinking that I am Turkish. Today it was an old man. He wanted to know if I lived in Bornova and to tell me I was beautiful. It was really awkward, since when I told him I didn't know Turkish, he continued talking to me, then enlisted a translator. Apparently the words, "Turce bilmiyorum (I don't know Turkish)" don't mean anything. Like people think I'm lying. Because they keep talking. It's only when I stare at them blankly that they realize I really don't know Turkish. Anyway, all the women around me showed me sympathy with small smiles and a shake of the head. Clearly, glaring at people when I catch them staring at me and staring intently out the window isn't enough to say, "Don't talk to me."
Fun fact: Turkey calls itself Little America. And their President, Little Bush. They are wishing for a little Obama.
I saw a "Turkish" movie today- Despero. Yes, it's American. But it was completely dubbed in Turkish, without subtitles, so I didn't understand a word. My review? It looked cute. Either way, I got to spend some time wit
h my host mom and host little sister (Tugce was at the AIESEC office). We're slowly learning to communicate with each other.
With my mind already tired from trying to make sense of the movie, we rode the minibus home. During this, the bus driver suddenly yelled something in Turkish. Everyone around me who was also standing suddenly ducked down and kneeled on the floor. A few seconds later, I followed suit. There had been a little road rage incident immediately preceding this, so I was confused and a little nervous. I knew neither Beste (little sister) nor my host mom could explain what happened, so I remained confused. It turns out (another fun fact), minibuses aren't allowed to carry standing riders, so whenever they pass a police car, everyone standing has to duck. Apparently the Turkish aren't very keen on following laws.
Since I spent most of my day at home, I thought it fitting to post a picture of the view from this wonderful place. =)
Fun fact: The burkha has been banned from government places in Turkey for over 100 years.
Yesterday I fell down in the streets of Izmir.
Other fun things I did this weekend:
- Finished work at school #1. Still waiting to see what, if any, school I will be going to next.
- Accepted a car ride from Tugce's neighbors whom I hadn't met. It was pouring rain, and they saw me walking off to the bus stop. They didn't speak English, and I don't speak Turkish, but somehow we arranged for them to take me to the center of town to catch the bus. It was nice.
- Hung out with AIESEC people and attended my first meeting in a foreign country. Both fun. Except I didn't understand a single thing in the meeting.
- Went to a beautiful seaside resort area of Izmir, Ces
me. Izmir is huge. I keep forgetting that. Cesme was beautiful. I won't forget that.
- Met my host grandparents. They were cute. =)
Overall it was a good weekend, except for the fall and the fact that my stomach has been really uneasy. I really don't feel very good. I'm supposed to start work at my new school tomorrow, but I will stay home and rest instead.
Fun fact: There were at least 21 earthquakes in Turkey today.Of course, the day isn't over yet. But only 2 of them rated over a 3.0 on the Richter scale. Still, that's a lot of moving Earth. (Don't believe me? http://www.koeri.boun.edu.tr/scripts/lst9.asp It's in Turkish, but you'll get the gist.)
In other news, tomorrow is my last day at this particular school. I really like the school and the teacher, but I'll be glad to not have to travel an hour and a half back and forth everyday. If they find the ingredients, we'll be making Rice Krispie Treats for my "traditional" American food. If not, it'll be more singing and yelling.
One of the other trainees that got here a couple days before me has already been sick twice. I haven't gotten sick at all. That makes me feel proud of myself for some reason.
Tomorrow I will attend my first AIESEC meeting in a country other than the U.S. Already AIESEC U.S. is a sad, sad attempt at what AIESEC should be. I'm sure tomorrow will confirm that. Meetings are always followed with an activity of some sort, i.e. dinner, bar, movie, etc. I'm excited to see everyone I just met again.
Turkish words I learned today: bebeğim- baby/babe, türkçe bilmiyorum- i don't know Turkish, şerefe- cheers!, and hacı - kind of like "brother" but not in the sibling sense.
I have had nursery songs stuck in my head all day.
Tomorrow is my third day working with the kindergarten kids. I'm working at Mavi Kuere, a kindergarten that just opened two years ago. I'm not really teaching so much as singing along with whatever video/cd we are playing and letting all the little girls play with my hair while the little boys stare shyly at me. In all honesty, the kids are adorable. Except the 6 year olds. They're annoying little things. Well, the boys anyway. All they do is find new ways to torture each other. The 6 year old girls, on the other hand, find new ways to cuddle with me. They save me a seat and try really hard to get me to pronounce their names correctly.
Overall though, my workday seems short. I leave the house at about 9:30 and arrive at the first school. Mavi Kuere has two schools though, so at about 11:00am, the English teacher and I get shuttled to the lunch pick-up place and transfer shuttles to the other school. This school is about 1 1/2 hours away from my house. I'm supposed to be "teaching" until 4, but since it takes me so long to get home, they let me out at 2pm. Can't say I mind it. =)
In other news, I met some of Tugce's friends. We went to a street behind the university that is just entirely cafes. You can get Turkish coffee (which is delicious!), food, hookah, or any other number of drinks. So far it seems that hookah is more American-Turkish than Turkish-Turkish. They have it, but I didn't notice many people smoking it. It's probably different in other hookah-smoking countries, though (P.S. Can anyone explain how and when we use the word "though" at the end of a sentence? Like a rule? I can't for the life of me think of an easy way to explain it to Turkish people.)
Lastly, I got mistaken for a Turkish girl today. Some little old lady on the bus insisted on speaking to me in Turkish for quite a while, before I enlisted another Turkish girl to translate for me that I do not, in fact, speak Turkish. The lady wanted to know how I got around then, as she had been asking me the direction of the bus. She then proceeded to tell us her life story about her family in America, and ended with a warm invitation to her home, if we had time. =) Another show of Turkish hospitality. And another country in which I apparently fit in. It seems my undefinable-color hair and changing eyes work pretty well for me. Good to know. =)
Haven't taken any new pictures, so I'll just post another one that I like. =)
It seems I have some
catching up to do.
Welcome to my blog. Although I have a travbuddy.com blog, I decided to get one that you don't have to create an account to see. So, here it is. This is where I will be writing about my 6 months abroad. I'm currently in Izmir, Turkey. I will be here until February 7, when I arrive in Vienna for my studies. I can't guarantee that I will be writing here everyday, but I can guarantee that I will try to not make it boring. =D So without further ado.....
I've been in Izmir for 3 days now. My trip was....long. I left Brownsville Tuesday but didn't arrive in Turkey until Friday. So, what happened in between, say you? Well, here's my condensed version-
What went right:
- I had an entire row to myself on an overnight international flight. Oh yes, it was wonderful.
- British Airways gives you free wine. It was tasty.
- The hotel was surprisingly OK. The reviews I'd read led me to believe otherwise.
- People kept getting my heavy luggage down from the overhead compartment for me.
- I watched 2 movies and one Flight of the Conchords episode. So I wasn't bored.
- Employees everywhere were just really nice to me.
What went wrong:
- My DVD drive on my computer broke. So I brought Lost Season 1 and can now do nothing with it.
- I forgot my watch.
- I lost about 28 British pounds somewhere between the airport and hotel. Yes, GBP. Do the math. It sucks.
- My toothpaste exploded in my luggage.
- I watched 2 movies and one Flight of the Conchords episode. So I didn't sleep.
So there you go. My trip. One final good thing was that Tuğçe, my host sister,
instantly recognized me at the airport. Also, she was genuinely as excited to see me as her emails implied, and the rest of the night her neighbors, friends, and family were calling to see if I'd arrived. I felt like a celebrity. =)
After eating dinner for about 3 hours, we went to sleep and prepared for the next couple days. Those days entailed a visit to Ephesus, the Virgin Mary's house and Kuşadası
on Saturday and wandering around Izmir on Sunday. What I learned is this: Turkey is beautiful. And Turkish people are some of the nicest, sweetest people I've ever met. I felt like family the first night I was there. They bought me new bed cover
s, bought me slippers, and made me a scarf. They compete with their friends, who have a Canadian trainee in their home as well, over whose trainee learns Turkish quicker (I win. For now. =) ). They make me try every single thing in the table. Her dad took half a day from work to pick me up from the airport, and her mom took a half day to cook dinner for me. They told me they would throw a party for me when I leave. It's easy to love them, and so, I do. =) (Don't worry, mom, they aren't replacing you. =D My heart is just getting bigger.)
Anyway, I'm not sure yet what I'm doing about pictures. I'm still figuring this blog out, but I think posting 50 pictures everytime I do something would be overkill. So we'll see. In the meantime, I've posted a few of my favorites. =)
