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!
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