Thursday, January 29, 2009

Numbers Rhumba All Day Long

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."

No comments:

Post a Comment