14 Lessons I Learned in 2014

          Today is the last day of 2014. And I can not believe that. Because I can remember exactly what I was doing on December 31, 2013 and it seems like it was yesterday. I was dreaming about being in a foreign country living my dream of studying abroad one year from then. And now, here I am. I am living that dream. A year ago, I hadn't even submitted my YES Abroad application and when I thought of my year abroad, I imagined it would be in Morocco or India, but never did I think I would be here. But I am so glad that I am. 

          2014 was an incredibly difficult year, but every single part of it was worth it. It was the year that I got to meet some of the coolest people ever at IPSE and PDO. It was the year I got to realize how much I love my home, my school, my family, and my friends in the US when I left them. It was the year I stepped on the plane that brought me to a new life that I never could have imagined. It was the year that I gained two new families: my host family and the family I've found in other exchange students and especially the exchange students here with me. It was the year that I started on the craziest adventure of my life. 

           And throughout this adventure, I've learned so much about myself. I have learned so many lessons this year and I am so glad to have been able to learn them through such an amazing experience. So, here are 14 lessons that I learned in 2014!

1. No matter how unlikely you think something is, there is no harm in trying. I never thought I would get the YES scholarship but I figured I would give it a try and now look where I am.

2. When you are sad or upset about something, telling someone can help so much. Sometimes having someone tell you that it is ok and offer words of encouragement can make you feel a 100x better. 

3. In the same way, if you are happy, share that too. You might cheer someone else up with your energy and at least you will have someone else to celebrate with. 

4. Gaining a few pounds is not the end of the world. I'm not thrilled about the weight I have gained here, but I've realized that it isn't permanent and if it means I get to enjoy the delicious Turkish food more than it is 100% worth it. 

5. Not being perfect does not make you a failure, and as long as you are trying, that is all that is important. I am so far from perfect and I spend all day every day making mistakes, in the language and the culture of this new place, but I've realized that that does not mean that I am not succeeding at what I am doing. I am trying every single day and that is what matters. 

6. It is possible to feel completely at home and incredibly awkward all at once. I so often find myself feeling comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time here. It's a very strange feeling but one I have gotten used to. 

7. No matter what, try your hardest to not make a big deal out of other people's differences, whether it be a disability, race, etc. Being constantly stared at here wears on me overtime and it has made me realize how terrible it is to have people stare at you just because you look different. 

8. Fake it until you make it can sometimes be a good plan of attack. When I'm confused here, I just pretend that I know what's happening until I figure it out. When I feel like crying, I paste a smile on my face until I feel better. And eventually, things work themselves out. 

9. It's your life, so live it the way that you want to. If that means leaving everything and moving to a foreign country, do it. If it means quitting the job you were miserable at, going to a new school, whatever, just do it. You will be so much happier that you did. And don't ever let anyone make you feel bad for living how you want. It is your choice and your life. Do what is best for you.

10. Appreciate what you have. Being away from everything that was once important to me for almost 4 months now has given me so much appreciation for everything that I had. While I am still living in a place where I have most of the "American necessities" (real shower, etc.), even just being away from your family can make you want to appreciate them so much more once you are back with them. 

11. Make every effort you can to travel. Where you live is such a tiny piece of everything that is out in the world, and you will never know what anything else is like if you don't travel. Seeing how other people's lives are different and the same as mine was in the US has opened my eyes so much, and now I can't wait until I can travel even more. 

12. Laugh! Laugh about anything and everything. Laugh everywhere. Laugh when you are happy and when you are sad. Laugh at yourself. Laughter is the best medicine and it always makes me feel better. 

13. Try and live in the present. I am as guilty of not doing this as the next person, but since I've been in Turkey, I've realized that I can't spend all my time remembering the past or dreaming about the future. But I've realized if you are always living in the future, there isn't going to be anything to remember later. You only get one chance to live the moments you are in right now, so try to really live in them. 

14. Every once in a while, stop and look at how great your life really is. This experience has been anything but easy, and when I start to get really done, I take a minute and look around and realize how amazing this life I'm living really is. I'm getting to live in a gorgeous country, with some of the friendliest people I've ever met, and the best food I've ever heard the pleasure of eating when I'm only 16. Many people will never get to have an experience like this and I get to do it when I am so young (not to mention it's free). No matter what, life can be pretty beautiful when you really look around. 

         2014 has been a pretty amazing year for me. I wouldn't trade the adventures and lessons, the memories and the laughs from this year for the world. 2014 will always hold a special place in my heart, for being the year I found a new place for myself, over 6000 miles from the only place I ever thought I would have a home. I will always remember this year, for every single part of it. It hasn't always been good and it hasn't always been easy, but it has always been worth it. 

          I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for me. I know that it will only bring more adventures and more wonderful memories and I can't wait to face it all. To everyone who made 2014 what it was, thank you so much! Here's to what I know will be another wonderful year! Happy New Year! Mutlu yıllar!

A Very Merry Christmas!

          Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays to celebrate, so as it drew closer and closer this year, I became sadder and sadder at the thought of missing it. Because for me, the best part of the holiday isn't the gifts (though those are always nice and appreciated), but all the traditions my family has for the holiday. And since I knew that those traditions were not going to happen this year, I was understandably sad. Christmas isn't really celebrated here, because of the almost entirely Muslim population, so I was expecting it to be just a regular day. 

         Gone were the luminarias and Christmas caroling in the park, the cinnamon roll breakfast, the presents under the tree, and the tamales for dinner. They were the things that I most missed this year, but I am glad I experienced a different kind of Christmas this year. 

          The biggest difference between this Christmas and Christmases past was that I went to school. Yes, you read that right. School on Christmas. And while I could have skipped on the basis of it being an American holiday, I decided that I can always say that I didn't go to school on Christmas, but this may be the only time that I can say that I went to school on Christmas. School was school and it was actually a little sad just because I felt like everyone needed to be celebrating but no one even realized it was Christmas unless I told them. So after being a little sad all day because of that, I went to hang out with the other exchange students for a bit and then headed home.

The cute little wreath on the door to our apartment. 

A very sweet text from my Turkish teacher wishing me a Merry Christmas. 

          But that was when my day turned completely around.  First, a package from one of my friends in the US arrived, bringing with it a beautiful bracelet, a very sweet letter, and lots of Reese's. I had been waiting for this package for a very long time so I was incredibly excited that it finally arrived. During dinner, my host family played Christmas music and afterwards, I gave them each chocolate and tried to explain how it was like what we give in stockings in the US. 

The contents of the package from my friend. Love you Megan!

The chocolate for my family. I had no way to wrap them, so I tied them together with strips of plastic bag. Sometimes you just have to get creative!

          After dinner, I was supposed to call my family but I could not get FaceTime to work. During the great FaceTime battle, my host family came in decked out in party hats and sparkly scarves, that they promptly stuck on my head as well. As we attempted to sort out the technology problems, they gave me two gifts, a sweater and a very pretty cardigan, and watched as I opened them. My host family had been wanting to meet my natural family for a very long time, so when I was finally able to get a call through, they stuck around for awhile to talk to my family and let them join us in a little celebrating. Watching my two families meet each other and how excited they all were brought me so much happiness and I am so glad I got to see it. My host family had even made a cake and brought it to show my real family before they left me to talk with my family for awhile. I loved talking with them again and I think my family loved seeing my host family and everything that they had done for me. 

The presents from my host family. 

Me and my host sister in our sparkly holiday gear. 

The cake my host family made. It was delicious!

          And this weekend, Priya and I got together and attempted to make Christmas cookies. They didn't turn out the best ever, but they taste decent and we had fun making them. 

Me and Priya with our Christmas cookies.

And this adorable picture that sums up mine and Priya's relationship in one photo. 

            I can not fully describe how special this Christmas was for me. There are not words to sum up how much it meant to me that my family went to the effort to make this holiday special for me even when it's not something they celebrate here. And getting to have my natural family celebrate with me (even if just virtually) made it that much more special. 

          While it wasn't the tradition filled Christmases of my past, this was a Christmas that I will never forget and that I will always love to remember. I am so glad that I got to celebrate with both of my families and that this holiday wasn't as hard as I had expected it to be. I hope that everyone had a very happy holidays! Görüşürüz!

Updates from My Last Month-ish!

          I haven't made a post about just daily life here in awhile, so in this post, I am going to talk about some of the more exciting things I've done in the last month (ish). 

          I have attended two of my school's basketball games in the last couple of weeks which have been very fun experiences. They remind me a lot of school sports games back in the States, with lots of cheering and everyone getting in to it. Here, like in the US, each school has a side of the gym that everyone sits on. There are seats, but most of the students from both schools choose to join what I have dubbed the mob. There is always a massive group of students cheering, yelling, dancing, and singing throughout the whole game, and the group is usually led in the cheers by some of the older boys. Both games I went to, the mobs got pretty heated and were sounding pretty angry yelling at each other across the gym. It is such a fun atmosphere and I have really enjoyed going to the games, especially since my school won both of them. Hopefully, I will be able to attend more games during the rest of the season. 

At the game. My school is in white. 

The other school's mob during one of the games. 

          One afternoon a few weeks ago, there was a random student concert performed in the school garden. Apparently this is a yearly tradition during which the music club performs. They were pretty good and it was fun, although I was a bit confused at first. 

The crowd in the school garden watching the performance. 

           Last Friday was my host parent's anniversary so we went out to a restaurant for dinner to celebrate. I didn't know that it was their anniversary until I got home from my Turkish class and there was a giant vase of beautiful roses and my host sister told me it was for my host mother from my host dad. I had köfte (meatballs) for dinner and they were insanely good so I was content. There was a woman singing for part of the time there and everyone in the restaurant was up dancing and singing, and I had a "Yep, I'm in Turkey." moment watching it. 

The flowers my host dad got for my host mom. 

           Last Saturday, I went with my family to a presentation at the university here in Aydin. I didn't understand it because it was in Turkish, but apparently the presenter is on TV here so that's pretty cool. 

          Last Sunday, I went to the Forum, basically a shopping center here in Aydin, with my family. It was all decorated for Christmas with little Christmas trees in the shops and garland and lights hung all around. It made me so happy to see, since it really doesn't seem like Christmas here and I've missed it. 

          Yesterday, Leah and I went to hang out in the city center. We explored the little bazaar we have here and found some beautiful traditional dresses that we want to buy before we leave. We also went sweater shopping and I was able to buy 2 pretty sweaters for 20 lira which is a little more than $8.5. A pretty good deal I would say! I also tried doner for the first time. Doner comes in many different forms but the most popular is chicken or beef in delicious juices of some kind wrapped in lavaş, which is basically a tortilla, so it's like a burrito essentially. It is a very traditional food and my friends here were horrified that I had been here for over 3 months without trying it, so Leah took me to her favorite doner restaurant and I got to try it. I had the chicken kind and it was absolutely amazing. I will have to make sure to eat more soon because it was delicious. 

          Other than that, my life here has pretty much settled into a routine. I go to school, have my Turkish classes, and hang out with my family at home. I'm pretty content here, although I am trying to find a few more things to get involved in, so that I have more to do after school. Here are a few more random pictures from the last little while. 

The pretty lights over all the streets in the city center that are lit up every night. 

My host dad made us Çiğ köfte for dinner last night. It was a much longer process than I realized and I enjoyed watching it. 

My clothes have taken over my host family's house it seems. These are all pieces of my clothing drying on the heater today.

          That's all for now. I hope that everyone has a very happy holiday season. Enjoying being with your family or friends because being away from them this holiday season has made me realize how lucky I have been to get to spend previous holidays with them. Happy Holidays!

100 Days!

Before I begin, I want to mention that I got the idea for this post from the blogs of two previous YES Abroad students: one who was in Malaysia 2012-2013 and one who was in Indonesia 2013-2014. Their blogs are super great and you can check them out at withlovefrommalaysia.blogspot.com and carlyoverthehillsandfaraway.blogspot.com. 

          Today is my 100th day living in Turkey. It blows my mind how fast these days have gone and that this means that my year is now 1/3 of the way done. 

          I remember that on my 100th day of kindergarten every kid brought in a bag with 100 somethings (Cheerios, beads, Legos, etc.) We all had to sort our 100 things into piles of 10 and we switched with people until we had 10 piles of 10 different things. In something similar to that, here are 10 lists of 10 things each about various different things from my time here. 

Top 10 Things I Love About Turkey:

1. The Food

2. How inexpensive clothes and food are here (perfect for exchange students who don't have much money)

3. How welcoming people are

4. How incredibly beautiful it is 

5. My host family

6. How fresh all the food is 

7. How much fun the other exchange students here are

8. The weather (this is mostly just where I am because it gets cold in the East, but I'm very down with 60 degree weather in December)

9. Good public transportation

10. The fun and upbeat music 

An example of the incredible beauty here. 

Top 10 Favorite Turkish Foods:

1. Simit - I love Simit with all of my heart. It is like a bagel except it is entirely covered in sesame seeds and is a little bit denser than a bagel. There are Simit sellers everywhere on the streets and they are the cheapest and best place to buy your Simit (in my opinion). 

2. Pide - Meat, cheese, vegetables, or some combination of the three baked onto dough. So incredibly delicious and I always look forward to eating it. 

3. Kebab - The kebabs here are so delicious. I've only had it once but everyone raves about them and I can attest to how good they are. (Fun fact: Kebap is the Turkish word that was adapted into English and turned to kebab.)

4. Kumpir: Essentially a baked potatoe except with tons of different options for topping. I like mine with black olives and corn. 

5. Börek: Thin layers of pastry dough with meat or spinach in between the layers. 

6. Lahmacun: What people call Turkish Pizza. This is meat and some other stuff baked onto lavaş which are basically Turkish tortillas. 

7. Dolma: An extremely common food. This is usually peppers stuffed with meat and rice but can also be stuffed eggplant or other vegetables. 

8. Turkish Rice - Sounds boring but the rice here has butter on it and is just totally delicious. 

9. Köfte - Specifically Çine Köfte. These are meatballs and come in tons of different varieties depending on the region but Çine Köfte were the first ones I had here and I think they are the best. 

10. The Bread - This is pretty broad but the bread here is amazing and fresh and you can usually get a loaf for 50 Kuruş (less than 25 cents). 

   

                            Pide

Top 10 Things I Miss:

1. My family and friends

2. Cross Country and sports in general

3. Prep and having responsibilities in school (I am aware how strange that sounds but it gets boring when you don't have anything like your schoolwork to do)

4. Being independent (I am constantly relying on other people for everything because of the language barrier and I miss being able to do everything for myself)

5. Driving

6. Pre-made foods (I am also aware how strange that sounds but I want to make all these foods for my family here but I can't because I can't just whip out a can of black beans to make quesadillas like I can at home)

7. American and Mexican food

8. My clothes (you can only wear the same 5ish outfits so many times before you get tired of them and start missing your closet with lots of options)

9. Skiing with my dad

10. Chai and cards with my mom

Top 10 Things I Don't Love About Turkey:

1. Fearing for my life every time I cross the street 

2. How much students don't care about most of their classes at school

3. Constantly getting stared at and yelled at for being blonde

4. All the stray animals (it just makes me sad)

5. Ayran (all Turks love this drink but I personally think it tastes like death. It is yogurt thinned with water mixed with salt. I am not a fan of milk anyways so salty milk really does not work for me. It gets me a lot of wierd looks when I tell people because everyone loves it so much. 

6. Apartments everywhere so there are no long uninterrupted views in the city like at home

7. Constant car horns honking

8. The sketchy sausage (it is a very disturbing color of pink and I avoid it at all costs)

9. Yogurt on everything (I don't particularly want yogurt on my pasta but that's totally normal here)

10. No ice in any drinks here and no free water at restaurants 

The sketchy sausage. It's such a wierd color. 

Top 10 Most Interesting/Common/My Favorite Questions I've Been Asked:

1. How is _____ celebrated in the US? (Weddings, birthday parties, etc.)

2. Are you bored? (I am asked this at least once everyday at school)

3. Do you have a boyfriend? (This was especially common when I first got here. When I would tell them no, they would always say "Don't worry. We will find you one." To which I just had to say OK and continue on. 

4. Do you miss your family/the US? (Asked this on a nearly daily basis too)

5. Do you want more? (Every single meal I eat people are constantly trying to give me more food)

6. What's your favorite kind of music?

7. Do you like Turkish food?

8. Why did you choose Turkey?

9. Have you tried _______ food? (Once my classmates were asking if I had tried some kind of soup made of stomach or something like that and they just said "You should try it. It's disgusting but you should try it." Way to sell it guys!)

10. Have you ever been drunk? (This one just made me laugh because she looked so disappointed when I said I hadn't. People here get all their ideas of American life from movies and TV shows so I think they all assumed that I would have partied as much as the people in those.)

Top 10 Favorite Desserts/Drinks:

1. Turkish Coffee

2. Baklava

3. Mozaik Pasta - this is chocolate cake with tons of cookies in it and it is amazing

4. Künefe - this is a little wierd tasting but I like it. It is shredded wheat with a layer of cheese in the middle soaked in a sugary syrup with some type of nut on top. 

5. Güllaç - thin layers of dough folded and piled on top of each other soaked in milk and rose water with walnuts and pomegranates on top

6. Boza - this drink is apparently only served in winter so I just recently tried it but it is made from fermented wheat and is served with cinnamon and chickpeas on top. Sounds wierd but it's actually really good. 

7. Turkish tea - I don't think I have gone a single day since coming here that I haven't had at least one cup of tea

8. Aşüre - tastes kind of like oatmeal although it very much is not and has pomegranates and cinnamon on top

9. Tulumba - kind of like a churro, these are bite sized pieces of fried dough that are soaked in a sugary syrup

10. Cevizli sucuk - various nuts strung on a string and then dipped in thickened grape juice until it drys in the shape of a sausage. Just be careful when you eat this; it's very hard. 

                     Mozaik Pasta

Top 10 Most Used Turkish Words For Me:

1. Evet - yes

2. Hayır - no

3. Anlamadım - I don't understand 

4. Bilmiyorum - I don't know 

5. Çok güzel - translates as very beautiful but is used in tons of situations as very nice or very good

6. Seviyorum - I like it

7. Yorgunum - I'm tired

8. Tekrar - Repeat (I have to ask for people to repeat them selves constantly because I won't understand it the first time)

9. Nasılsın - How are you?

10. Günaydın - Good morning

10 Things You Might Not Know About Turkey:

1. Like Russia, Turkey is also partially in Europe and partially in Asia

2. Istanbul is the only city in the world to be in 2 continents. The Bosphorus Strait divides the city between Asia and Europe

3. It is believed that Noah's Ark landed on Mt. Ararat in Eastern Turkey

4. St. Nicholas was born in Turkey

5. Turkey's real name is The Republic of Turkey

6. Despite a 98% Muslim population in Turkey, Atatürk banned the wearing of hijab in the country. This isn't enforced but I've heard that you are still not allowed to wear them if you work in the government. 

7. The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters. It is missing x, q, and w from the English alphabet but has six accented letters: ü, ö, ı, ğ, ş, and ç. 

8. Turkey shares borders with 8 countries: Greece, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Armenia, and Georgia. 

9. The currency in Turkey is the Turkish Lira. Currently, one Lira is equal to 2.3 dollars. 

10. The ancient city of Troy was located in modern day Turkey. 

10 Things That I Am Looking Forward To in My Next 200ish Days:

1. Visiting Antalya with the other YES and NSLIY kids for our Mid-Stay Orientation in February

2. Going to Istanbul with my school in May

3. Getting better at Turkish to a point where I am hopefully somewhat fluent

4. Eating more delicious Turkish food!

5. Getting to start volunteering regularly

6. Exploring my city even more

7. Sharing my American culture with more people

8. Learning to cook some of my favorite foods so I can make them for my friends and family once I'm home

9. Hopefully visiting Ephesus and Pamukkale

10. Getting to celebrate my birthday here 

10 of My Favorite Memories From My First 100 Days:

1. Looking out over Istanbul as my plane came into land and the moment that I stepped out of the airport into what was my new home. 

2. Swimming in the Meditteranean Sea with my host sisters 

3. Visiting Cappadocia and getting to see things in person that I had only seen pictures of before

4. All the dance parties I have had with Leah and Priya in our liason's car on the way to various activities

5. Making Thanksgiving dinner with Leah while we danced and sung to my music

6. Every time that I have been able to accomplish something, no matter how small, using Turkish

7. Attending a Turkish wedding and dancing with my family

8. The day my class threw a party for me and everyone brought different foods

9. Going olive picking and getting to talk with the other exchange students during that 

10. Going to dinner with my host parents for their wedding anniversary and watching everyone dance to the music

          100 things for 100 days here. It's so hard to wrap my mind around how quickly these days have gone and that about 200 days from now, I will be back in the States. These first 100 days have been the craziest adventure of my life. I've laughed more than I ever thought was possible, I've cried, I've smiled even when it's the last thing I wanted to do, and I've been so happy I couldn't wipe the smile off my face if I tried. I have grown so much since I arrived here and I wouldn't change this experience for the world. Things haven't always been easy and sometimes I've wanted nothing more than to go home. But when I really think about it, this has been the most amazing experience for me and I am so glad that I've gotten to experience so many amazing things. 

          Thank you so much for following my crazy adventures and endless ramblings these last 100 days and I hope you will continue to follow them for my next 200. Have a wonderful week wherever you are and if you are taking finals this week, good luck! Hoşçakal!

My Thanksgiving!

          For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving always pretty much went the same way. I would always sleep in as late as I could (so like 8:30. Sleeping in is not my specialty) and once I got up, my dad and I would make some special breakfast for our family. I would iron the tablecloths and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I would peel ridiculous amounts of potatoes and try to help with the other food. I would set the table and wait for our guests to arrive. 

          Our Thanksgiving has always consisted of the same two families coming to our house. Occasionally, a foreign friend of my dad's or a cross country coach joined us, and recently, we had been missing one of my sisters, but I could always count on those same families joining us for our special meal. I could always count on the same foods being there, even our wierd tradition of having jello. I didn't expect those things to ever change, but I knew that if I went abroad this year, my Thanksgiving would obviously be a little different. 

          I have never spent a holiday away from my family before, so I was expecting it to be a little hard. Knowing that my whole family was together enjoying their holiday while I just went about my daily business here was very rough for me and I was pretty homesick because of it. But I tried my best to combat the homesickness by doing "Thanksgiving things". I made a hand turkey Wednesday night and I told my friends at school about the holiday on Thursday. But nothing was really making me feel better. Until Leah, one of the other exchange students here, texted me on Saturday and asked if I wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner with her family on Sunday night. I happily agreed and the madness of trying to prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal began. 

          I baked an apple pie for the occasion and then went to Leah's house to help cook the rest of the meal. We proceeded to spend the next 5 hours creating many different dishes and just generally making a mess. We made turkey (so yes, I have now eaten turkey in Turkey), mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, and gravy, as well as banana bread pudding for dessert. We played music and sang and laughed and just had a generally wonderful time. We had a few issues throughout the day (namely the bowl we were reheating the gravy in exploding and spilling everywhere) but all things considered, we thought it turned out pretty well. 

          The other two exchange students here came over and we all sat down to eat. Before we started, we went around the table and said what we were thankful for this year and then we dug in. Everything was delicious, especially the stuffing and the desserts. We had such a wonderful time making our meal and Leah's family seemed to enjoy it. It was exactly the thing I needed to take my mind off being homesick and I was so happy to get to celebrate such an Anerican holiday when I am 6,000 miles away from America. 

Our stuffing baking. We had to get a little creative with ingredients and Leah decided we would use pomegranate seeds instead of cranberries. It actually tastes really good like that. 

Leah straining our gravy after too much flour was added and it got a little chunky. 

Our gravy post reheating explosion. 

All of our food on the table ready for eating. 

Me and Leah with our feast in our super cute aprons. 

The desserts. My apple pie is on the right. 

And now, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a list of a few things I am thankful for this year:

- I am thankful for my family, and especially my parents, at home in the US for supporting me throughout this entire journey and for allowing me to go on this life changing adventure

- I am thankful for my host family here who allowed me to come into their home when I was a complete stranger and for putting up with my lack of Turkish and my general awkwardness here

- I am thankful to all of the people I've met here who have taken me in and helped me through these last few months

- I am thankful for my friends at home who have kept in touch and who have cheered me up whenever I've been sad 

- I am thankful for all of the incredible oppurtunities I have had and for all the ones I will have in the rest of my time here 

- I am thankful for the other exchange students here with me, who listen when I'm sad, who can always make me laugh, and who truly understand what I am going through 

- And I am incredibly thankful for YES Abroad and AFS because without them, I wouldn't be in this amazing country having my crazy adventures and meeting these incredible people

          This Thanksgiving was pretty different than the ones of my past, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I will be able to tell the story of my Turkish Thanksgiving for the rest of my life, and I really love that. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading! Hoşçakal!

Lots of Rain, A Few Trips to Izmir, and a Turkey!

          In the weeks since I last posted about my day to day life, a lot has gone on, so I will try and hit the highlights in this post. 

          From October 30th-November 14th, my classmates had an exam everyday. I did not have to take any of these exams except for English, so me and the other exchange student at my school would usually hang out in the cafeteria and talk or I would study Turkish when she took her exam. My English exam was very easy for me, but as I kept reminding my classmates, "Ingilizce konuşuyorum" ( I speak English). I got a 96 on it although the questions I got wrong were technically right as well, so I should have gotten a 100, but I really didn't care enough to bring it up to my teacher. Some things that I've found that are very different about exams here compared to in the US is that the exams are very short ( just one page front and back. My classmates were horrified when I told them my biology exam last year was 26 pages.) and grades are not at all private here. In the US, usually people share their grades but if you don't want to, you don't have to. Here, the teachers read out what everyone got on their test to the entire class so no matter how you did, everyone will know about it, which was very surprising for me. 

          I've been told that winters here are mild but rainy and I am beginning to see the truth to that. It has rained several times in the last couple of weeks. Being from New Mexico, I was overjoyed at getting to watch and walk through lots of rain. That is, until I stepped in a giant puddle and soaked my shoes completely. But I still love the rain. I've finally been given a reason to break out my super cute umbrella and I am loving it. It was raining so hard on Thursday, that we could not cross the street on our way to school because the water was too deep, so we had to call my host father to come pick us up and drive us to school. The entrance to the school garden also had about a foot of water in it that many students had to wade through to get into school. 

          Last Friday, the 14th, my class had a little Welcome/yay, you are still here party for me. Everyone brought food and we just ate and hung out which was lots of fun. Most people ended up bringing cake, but it was really delicious, so I was ok with it. I also just felt very happy and content that day and I am so grateful to my class for taking me into their little family.  

My classmates enjoying the food at the party. 

          Last Saturday, the 15th, I went up to Izmir where we met up with the AFS kids in Izmir and many of their families. We had brunch and then we had more orientation, which none of us were aware was going to happen. We also celebrated various people's birthdays and I got to talk to some people I haven't seen since Istanbul which was great fun. 

The sunset from our brunch/orientation site in Izmir. 

Brenna and Leah with their birthday cakes. 

          Yesterday, we again went to Izmir, this time to go olive picking. The group from Aydin ended up being a bit late because of some transportation issues, but we were there in time to help with all the picking and get some really delicious food. We all went around picking the olives up off the ground first and then setting up tarps under them and shaking/pulling/using comb-like things to get the other olives off. Between all of us there, we cleared nearly all the trees and filled up many large bags full of olives. I worked with one of the exchange students from Belgium and had a wonderful time talking with her about exchange and lots of other things. I also learned how to count in Flemish, although I only remember 1, 7, and 10 now. After we finished picking, some of the people were spending the night in Izmir, so I ended up taking the train home by myself. I was very proud of myself for figuring out which ones to take and which stops to get off at, so that I got home with no problem. I also had a realization while on my way home of how much being here has already changed me. I just realized that I was alone navigating the train and bus system in a language I don't really know, when last year, I probably wouldn't have even been comfortable taking the train to Santa Fe by myself. Being here has made me so much more confident and independent, and I really love that.

Me under my first olive tree getting the olives off the ground. 

All of the olives we combed off a tree before we put them in one of the big bags. 

All of us there for olive picking. 

          I also started Turkish lessons which are desperately needed and therefore greatly appreciated. Things here are slowly becoming normal. Now that I know when our Turkish classes are, I am going to try to set up volunteering for myself twice a week so that I will no longer just be sitting at home after school.

My birthday present for Leah. Due to my lack of any way to wrap it, I tried to tie a bow in the top and called it a win. 

I made friends with a dog. You can see the love in our expressions. 

I found a turkey in Turkey. 

A pretty sunset one night this week. 

          As always, thanks for reading. Have a great wherever you may be. Hoşçakal!

 

What Goes Up Must Come Down

In honor of my third month here, which passed last Friday, here is the story of something that has been a driving force for me for years now. I accidentally published this a few weeks ago before it was finished, but it is now better and has some pictures. Please enjoy!

          I still have vivid memories of my mom telling me and my sisters that what goes up must come down when we were first learning to ride our bikes. We would get to the top of hills, but then decide we were too scared to go down it, but mom would always remind us that there was no other option. Whether we continued forward or turned around, we were still going to have to go down the hill. And after many bike rides of hearing this, I wasn't scared of the hills anymore. 

          When I joined the cross country team my freshman year, I had no clue what I was getting into. After the great puking incident of my first ever race (on a flat golf course no less), I found myself scared of the hills again, but for a new reason. I thought that there was no way I could run a course with hills if I couldn't even run a flat course. I quickly found myself in the opposite position of when I was a little girl, scared of going up the hill instead of down, but in the same situation. Now, there is a particularly notorious course in New Mexico that I had heard story after story about, all of them somewhere along the lines of, "This course is the hardest thing I've ever done and I thought I was going to die the whole time". For the already terrified of racing freshman Kathryn, these stories were not helping to ease my fears. I knew of the 3 enormous hills that would soon be coming my way and I was absolutely horrified at the thought of having to run them. But as we stood on the starting line, my sister and the other junior just kept reminding us freshman that what goes up must come down. If we could make it up those giant hills, we would be rewarded with a downhill. And as I faced those hills, I repeated that to myself over and over. What goes up most come down. I just had to get up, and then I could go down again. And it was horrible and painful and everything that I had imagined it would be. But I survived it. Everytime I made it to the top of a new hill, I was always gifted a downhill. And I made it through the race. 

          Since that day, this has become a rallying phrase for me. Whenever things got hard, I just reminded myself that if it was hard now, I would undoubtedly be rewarded with an easy time soon. It kept me sane knowing that things wouldn't be hard forever. And it has been no different for my time here in Turkey. Whenever things are really hard, whether it's my endless struggle with the language, homesickness, or just feeling uncomfortable all the time, I remind myself that I'm fighting my way up the hill right now, but soon, I'm going to get that downhill. While I can barely speak right now, soon I will be rewarded with being able to comfortably have conversations with anyone and everyone. When I'm homesick, I remind myself that in a few months, the thought of leaving here will make me unspeakably sad. When I feel incredibly awkward and like I am just taking up space here, I tell myself that before long, I will have a place in this community and will no longer feel like this. What goes up must come down. Things are going to get easier. 

          The night before I left Albuquerque, my best friend Keely handed me an envelope and told me to read it on the plane. But I couldn't bring myself to read it on the flight for fear of getting too emotional and I didn't end up reading it until I got to Aydin. The last line in that letter says simply, "Kathryn, just remember that what goes up must come down." And when I read that letter the first time, I needed that reminder. And throughout the time I have been here, I have needed to remind myself of that over and over again. And when I do, things always look a little better to me. So for everyone, whether you are at home or are a fellow exchange student, if you are reading this, just remember that your downhill is coming. You just need to fight to the top of this hill. What goes up must come down. 

For the Love of Atatürk

          Before I came to Turkey, I was told that Turkish people really love Atatürk and that I should be careful what I say about him. But nothing anyone told me can compare to how it actually is. In my experience, Turks all but worship Atatürk. The love that they have for him is impossible to be described and really has to be seen to be understood, but I will try my best. 

          In the front of every classroom, a framed photo of Atatürk hangs on the wall. A picture of him and a quote graces the front of every school textbook. In the courtyard of every school, there is a statue of him next to the flag. About half the Turkish flags I see hanging on buildings around town have his face on them as well (and some of them are just his face). His signature, in bumper sticker form, is on the vast majority of cars I see driving around and a disturbing number of Turkish youth have it tattooed somewhere on their body. People are horrified when I tell them that we don't learn about Atatürk in our history classes in the US and that I had never heard of him before I started researching Turkey. 

          Since I'm guessing most of you have no idea who Atatürk is, I will tell you what I know. Atatürk is considered by the Turks to be the founder of modern Turkey (Atatürk literally translates to father of the Turks). He was an officer in the Turkish army during World War I and the Turkish Independence wars and was instrumental in the Turks gaining their independence. After establishing their independence, Atatürk began to make reforms to the country in an effort to make it into a modern country. He switched the alphabet from Arabic script to the Latin alphabet, declared Turkey a secular country, and changed the system of government. His belief was that in order for Turkey to become a modern country, they needed to become more Western, both politically and culturally. Atatürk was the first president and prime minister of Turkey and eventually passed away on November 10, 1938. 

          This past Monday was November 10, so I figured there would be some mention of his death but I was not expecting what actually went on. Starting Sunday night, there were commercials of his picture and dates of his life with various quotes and sad music. On Monday, I arrived at school at the same time as one of the school buses and I couldn't figure out why everyone getting off the bus was carrying flowers. I wondered what memo I had missed this time but quickly figured out when everyone put the flowers on his statue/shrine in the courtyard at school. Then, after our first class, we all went back to the courtyard and got to stand in lines for over an hour while a ceremony commemorating his death ensued. For the American who doesn't understand Turkish, this was a little bit boring because most of it was speeches about everything he did and his life. The few things I was able to pick out made me want to laugh (like one kids impassioned "Ben Mustafa Kemal Atatürk" meaning "I am Mustafa Kemal Atatürk) but that would have gotten me a lot of dirty looks. There was also the singing of many songs about Atatürk and a very strange experience when everyone started simultaneously yelling things about Atatürk after the national anthem and I was left awkwardly standing there very confused. It was a very interesting experience to see just how much these people love Atatürk and my classmates were happy because they had their history exam that day and were saying how listening to the speeches was just like studying. 

          Even though it has been more than 75 years since he died, I still hear his name nearly every day (granted my history class is just the history of Atatürk, but still). People here love him for all the things he did for their country and I don't think that they will ever stop loving him the way they do now. 

A terrible photo, but this is what all the flags with Atatürk's face on them look like. You can see these all over the place. 

The shrine thing in my school courtyard decorated with all the flowers people brought. 

The flags hanging on my school for November 10. 

I hope this gave you a little insight into the intense love of Atatürk in Turkey, whether or not you wanted it. As always thanks for reading! I hope you have a good week wherever you are! Hoşçakal!

 

Two Months!

          As of last Wednesday, I have now been in this country for two months. I don't really know how to describe how that realization makes me feel. In so many ways, it feels like yesterday that I got on that plane in Albuquerque and began the long journey to my new life. But in so many other ways, it feels like I have been here so much longer. And realizing that 20% of my exchange year is gone is strange and saddening. 

          In some ways, I thought that I would have it all figured out by now. I figured I would have friends who I felt really comfortable with by now. I thought I would be confident finding my way all around this city and that I would go out all the time. I thought I would be able to communicate easily in Turkish. I thought I would have run out of "firsts" by now. But none of that is true. Although I have friends, I'm not super close with any of them and I'm not entirely comfortable when I'm with them. I've gone out some, but I still haven't seen very much of the lovely city I now call home. Far from being confident in my Turkish abilities, I usually don't even feel comfortable in simple conversations. 

          But in many ways, I'm glad that the things I thought would have happened by now, haven't happened. I've realized that I never want to run it of firsts this year. I've already had so many firsts. The first time I heard the call to prayer in my new city, the first time I walked into my class, the first time I took a Turkish bus, the first time I went out by myself. And I know that all of those things that I haven't done yet are going to lead to many more firsts in the next couple of months. The first time I feel completely comfortable with my new friends, the first time I go to a new place I found somewhere in the city, the first time I have a conversation in Turkish where I don't have to think ridiculously hard to be able to come up with responses. I can't wait for these firsts and the many more that I'm sure I will have in the next 8 months that I am here. 

          And though I haven't done many of the things I thought I would have by now, I have gotten to do and see some truly amazing things. I've swum in the Meditteranean and the Aegean seas, I've gotten to experience a traditional Kurban Bayramı, I've gotten to visit Cappadocia and see some insanely beautiful things, I've gotten to see how another family lives, I've gotten to find a new family in the other exchange students here with me. I've seen and done so many things that I never dreamed I would ever do in just two months here and I can't wait to see all the amazing things that the rest of this year will bring.

          I've loved the sunset for as long as I can remember. Although I love the sunsets I see every time my family is in Florida, the sunsets in Albuquerque, with their vivid colors and beautiful clouds, will always be my favorites. Often, I look at the sunsets here and they remind me so much of the ones at home. If I look just at  the sunset, it's almost like I'm home again. And while sometimes a sunset can be sad, marking the end of another day and the steady passing of time, I love them for making the ending of the day just as beautiful as the rest of the day. 

          As always, thank you so much for reading my random thoughts and ramblings. I hope everyone has a good week this week. Hoşçakal!

"You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be."

          I'm just going to use this blog post as an update of what I've been up to for the last 2 weeks, since I haven't actually posted about regular life in awhile now. 

          The week of October 19th-26th, the week after I returned from my week of orientation, was a really, really tough time for me. It was definetely the worst week I've had since I've been here for a lot of different reasons. It was just a regular week of school, although it was actually my first full week of school since I started school over a month ago. That Wednesday, we went to the university here in Aydin to visit with some professors who our liason is friends with. We met several different professors and got to see a lot of the campus while we were there, and we also got to meet with the staff in the international office there which was very nice. That weekend, I attended a wedding which was very fun and you can read all about that in my last post. As far as why it was a bad week, there were just a lot of things that piled up and made things less than great. Between feeling really sick the entire week, missing the other exchange students and the easiness of our orientation week, being very frustrated with my language skills, and just plain missing my friends and family, it was a rough week. It was the first time that I have seriously wanted to go home since I arrived here. But this week has been much better and all thoughts of going home and of homesickness have disappeared. 

A really beautiful sunset one night. I've always loved sunsets and the ones I've seen here have not disappointed with their beauty. 

          This week was much better than last week. On Monday, the other exchange students in Aydin and I visited a private school just outside of Aydin and a new school having its opening on the outskirts of Aydin after school. I really enjoyed talking to various people at both schools and getting to tell them a little bit about my experience so far and exchange programs in general. After both visits, we went out to dinner and discussed how things have been so far and any issues we have had. Tuesday was only a half day of school because Wednesday was Republic Day, so I spent the afternoon relaxing and napping. Wednesday was Republic Day so we didn't have school at all so I mostly spent the day around the house although I did go to a cafe for a bit with my sisters. Republic Day is basically the Turkish version of 4th of July, except it is much more focused on Atatürk and the fact that he made Turkey a republic than 4th of July is. I plan to write a more detailed post about Atatürk and Republic Day soon but I will say that there were Turkish flags everywhere. Giant flags hung over almost every street and on every government buildings, including every school. Nearly every person had a flag hanging off their balcony and they hung outside almost every store as well. Thursday and Friday were just regular school days, although exams have started for all my classmates so I now get one class free every day while they take those. One great thing this week was I felt as if I had finally made a small breakthrough with the language. I still can't handle group situations with more than one person talking at a time, but if it is a one-on-one conversation, I can usually get the drift of what they are saying and respond well enough that they can understand me. Even though I am far from being comfortable speaking or even somewhat proficient in this language, even a small improvement like this is a cause for celebration for me. And my small progress in the language is where the quote from the title comes into play. Even though I am still far from being where I want to be, I have come so far since I arrived in this country. I have to remind myself of this sometimes to keep from getting too down on myself. I'm proud of the progress I have made in the short time I've been here, and I hope that by the time I leave this country, I will be where I want to be, but for now, I'm just happy not being where I was when I arrived. 

           Not being in the US for Halloween was stranger than I thought it would be purely because I knew it was Halloween but I certainly wouldn't know looking around. In the US, I can always know that I will see people dressed up everywhere and that there will be no shortage of candy. But Halloween isn't really celebrated here, so I didn't see any of that like normal. I did go to Leah's (one of the other exchange students here) house on Friday afternoon to try and fix my computer and Priya (another exchange student here) came over also , so we had a Halloween "party" together. And by that I mean we ate bread with peanut butter and chocolate, listened to music, and talked, but I still had a great time and enjoyed my Halloween. However, Halloween kicked off the holiday season, which almost every exchange student says is the hardest part of the year. I know that I will make it through it, but I have no doubt that it won't be easy. 

There were giant flags like this over most streets and on most big buildings. 

One of the apartment buildings across the street from mine, covered with Turkish flags for Republic Day. 

A dessert that one of our neighbors brought to us this morning. Apparently it is a small Muslim holiday today during which you make this dessert and take it to all your neighbors. It was delicious, so I have no complaints. 

The Cokes here also have different names on them, but all the names are in Turkish, which I love. This was my Coke from lunch one day this week. 

I found tortillas at the store today. They look a little wierd, but I might just have to pick some up and make my family quesadillas sometime. 

A brief list of other things that have happened that I didn't already mention:

- I've realized that not being very good at the language can come in handy in awkward situations. We had the election for school president last week and when the girl I didn't vote for asked if I voted for her, I didn't want to hurt her feelings, so I just said I didn't understand what she had asked, even though I did. 

- Being an exchange student, you get asked some pretty strange questions. This week, one of my classmates came over and asked, "Have you done squats?" And that was it. I couldn't figure out whether she meant recently or ever or what, so I just said yes. 

- At the cafe I went to on Republic Day, there was a Tex Mex section of the menus that had enchiladas and quesadillas. I didn't try it because I figured Mexican food in Turkey probably is pretty sketchy, but I was just excited to find some. Plus, hearing my sister say, "Tex Mex ne demek?" (What does Tex Mex mean?) and having to try and explain it was pretty funny. 

- People here are hilarious about the cold. Despite the fact that it still gets into the 70s almost every afternoon, people have started wearing full on parkas with gloves and boots. I thought New Mexicans were wimps about the weather, but we are nothing compared to this. 

- My blog went over 1,000 views this week. It still amazes me that anyone wants to read my rambling and I want to thank everyone who does. I love that people at home are getting to hear about my crazy adventure through this blog. 

That's all I can think of for now! As always, thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week wherever you are! Hoşçakal!