Waiting for the Storm to Pass

          Despite February being the shortest month of the year, it has felt ridiculously long for me. To be honest, it was a very tough month for me. I was homesick a lot and spent a lot of time wondering just why I was here. But I am determined to make it through this and to make the best of this time, even when it is hard, because I have a limited time here, and I know it's not going to be hard forever, but my time here is going to run out all too soon. 

          When I first found out I was coming here, I started a Pinterest board where I put pictures of all the places I wanted to visit while I was here. But since I've been here, I've been pinning different quotes to it, and when things are hard, I look at those to give myself some inspiration. One of my favorite quotes, and one that I've loved since long before I came here but that took on new meaning during this year, is one I'm sure you have all heard somewhere. "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." And that's what I've been working on doing this month. I'm working on dancing even when things are hard. 

          So here are the things I've been doing while I push my way through this storm. I was able to attend the camel fights with my host dad and two of his friends. Camel fights are held every year around the Aegean region. The camels are all dressed up in fancy saddled with bells on them and they fight in rounds until one camel wins. A match is won either when one camel falls down or runs away from the match. I found the matches interesting and enjoyed getting to see something that is such an important part of the culture in this region. 

This is what every fight looked like. They plan against each other and try and push the other one down. 

All of the camels had fancy colorful saddles like this. 

A vast majority of the people had scarves like these that they were wearing. They come with the names of different camels and where they are from. Mine was supporting the camel of one of my host dad's friends. 

          I now volunteer every Monday afternoon for a few hours at a huzur evi, which is a place where older people can spend the day so they don't have to be alone. They talk, do crafts, read, eat, and when it's warmer, work in the garden behind the building. When we volunteer, we help serve coffee, tea, and snacks, and we mostly sit and chat with the people there. Everyone there is so nice and welcoming and I truly enjoy my time there each time I go. They are always genuinely interested to hear about us and our time here and they have fascinating stories about how Aydin has changed over the years. 

        

          I went to Izmir with my sisters to celebrate my host cousin's 18th birthday. It was a lot of fun surprising everyone who I hadn't spoken with in a while with how much Turkish I know now. Most of them hadn't seen me since October or November and I have improved exponentially since then, and I loved realizing just how much better I've gotten. 

          For Valentine's Day, I went shopping and bought myself some very cheap clothes and got to hang out with Leah. We also had guests that weekend, so we had a big dinner that was delicious and full of laughter and smiles. 

          And this afternoon, most of the NSLI-Y and YES kids are heading to Uludağ for a ski weekend. I am so very excited to get to ski again and to see the beauty of Uludağ again. It's going to be a tiring weekend, but I am so excited. 

          So, even though February was a hard month for me, there was a lot of joy in it too. Another quote I love says, "Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day." Some days it's hard to find those things that were good, but I always can, whether it was one little conversation or a special dinner that made me feel at home. No matter how hard it gets, I can always find a little bit of joy, a little something that makes it worth continuing. After a not too great month, I am determined to make March better. 

            As always, thank you for reading! Have a great week! 

School

           Now that I'm into my second semester of school, I feel that I am pretty used to the way of Turkish school life and thought it was time to tell you all a little about where I spend most of my time here. 

          While education is the same everywhere, there are many differences between schooling here and in the US. For me, the biggest difference is the schedule of classes. My school in the US has a rotating schedule so that the same teachers don't always get stuck with us when we are half asleep in the morning or distracted because we are hungry for lunch. Here, I have the same schedule every Monday, every Tuesday, etc. We have 8 classes a day here for 40 minutes each with a 10 minute break in between each and an hour break for lunch. The school day goes from 8-3:20 everyday. 

          Different classrooms have different emphasises that determine which subjects they take and with which frequency during the week. There are science and math, social studies, and maybe one other focused classrooms. 

          I am in a science and math focused class and I have 16 subjects total. They are math, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, literature, philosophy, religion, history, PE, English, German, art, Turkish (grammar and writing), Entrepreneurship, and guidance. We have all of the sciences and Maths 4 times a week each as well as English 4 times. We then have other classes anywhere from 3 times a week to just once a week. Some other classes have geography, astronomy, and maybe a few other classes. 

          Other differences in my new school include uniforms, just one classroom all day, and the teaching styles. 

          For the girls, our uniforms consist of a white polo and a plaid skirt in the school colors, although we can wear black pants if we want. We also have a long sleeved red shirt for when it's cold. The guys wear the same shirts and gray slacks. My school is not super strict about the uniform though, so often you see people in regular shirts with their skirts or jeans. We are also technically not allowed to wear jewelry or make up but that is very much not enforced. 

This is from my first day of school. The super cute uniform on full display. 

          At my school, there are 6 classrooms per a grade and you generally stay in the same class and with the same people for all 4 years of high school. I am in 11-A this year and the kids in my class are basically family to each other after 2.5 years together. We also stay in our same classroom all day with the teachers switching rooms. There are three rows of desks in the classroom and we each share a desk with one other person. It can get kind of boring staying in the same classroom all day, but I've gotten used to it and I look forward to going to my little classroom every day. 

The front of our classroom. 

Our desks. These are not overly comfortable to sit in for long periods of time so we all take advantage of the breaks to stand up for a bit. 

          The teaching style here is also  very different from what I am used to in the US. Class tends to consist of our teacher reading from the textbook for 40 minutes. Homework is not overly common and projects and writing papers is pretty much unheard of. Grades are made up almost entirely of grades from the exams they take twice a semester. It tends to be extremely boring for me to sit and listen to a teacher lecture in Turkish for 40 minutes straight, but I have also gotten used to that. 

The school building. There is also a courtyard and garden with basketball courts that we can hang out in during the breaks. 

          School here is much different than what I was used to, but I enjoy going most of the time, especially because it is always great language practice. Seeing the ways that school looks different here has been very interesting for me and has certainly made me appreciate the system in the US, even if it isn't always perfect. 

          As always, thanks for reading. Have a good week! 

The Middle

          Even when I knew I was now half way done with my year here (the calendar does not lie), I was having a very hard time truly wrapping my mind around it. Realizing my first semester of school was over helped a little bit, but it still hadn't sunk in. But having my mid stay orientation finally made me understand. 

          Starting last Thursday and ending yesterday, we had our mid stay camp with the other YES students and the NSLI-Y students in Antalya. I always look forward to getting to spend time with the other exchange students, so I was very excited for the camp to start. Of course, we also had to do activities and talk about our exchanges (that is the purpose of orientations after all) but we were given a lot of time to just talk and enjoy each others company. 

          Our sessions for the orientation ranged from discussing our relationships with our families to answering a series of questions about every part of our exchange to making collages. Most of the activities were good to do and I appreciated the insights they brought me, but they weren't always the most interesting, as orientations tend to be.     

A collage I made showing some of my experiences. 

 

          One of my favorite activities was getting to read a letter we wrote ourselves and writing another one to read in a few months. When we were at our 6 week camp in Cappadocia, we each wrote a letter to ourselves in which we were supposed to write some goals that we wanted to have accomplished by the time we read the letter and just wrote about our thoughts. Reading that letter that I wrote after just a few weeks here, barely two weeks of school finished was an eye opener for me to realize just how much I've grown up here and how much I've experienced since then. While I hadn't accomplished every goal, I had written down, I realized I had done what I thought was my most important goal.  I had written down, "Most of all, I hope you are happy." When I read that, I became so overwhelmed with emotion because I realized that I truly am and that is the most important thing. I have found my place here and I am happy here. Being reminded of where I was helped me so much to realize how far I've come and that I have accomplished so much, even if I still have a lot that I hope to do still. 

          In between our sessions, we drank lots of tea and coffee, did various "energizers", spent some time walking and playing outside, and just spent time together. 

Me and Leah playing on the seesaw at our hotel during one of our breaks. 

          The volunteers running the orientation also gave us an activity that we all had to do together (none of us are really sure why we had to do it) that ended up being extremely fun. There is a very popular TV show here called Bu Tarz Benim, which means this is my style, which is basically a fashion show where the other contestants pick each other apart and there are usually tears. So we were told to create our own version of Bu Tarz Benim. We weren't very excited at first so we put off any type of planning until about an hour before we were supposed to present, but we somehow pulled off an absolutely hilarious and pretty impressive little show. Everyone dressed up as something different and everyone judged and yelled and laughed. I had so much fun doing it and I'm actually so glad they asked us to. 

I was headed to my mom's birthday party and was rocking a sport chic look. 

          We also got to spend a day sightseeing around Antalya, which was incredible. We visited the ancient city of Perge first. It was built many thousands of years ago, but is amazingly well preserved and is under constant restoration to have even more places available for the public to visit. We toured through the baths, the agora, the main gates of the city, and went around the Main Street of the whole city. It was so easy for me to imagine it as it was back when it was a bustling city and I loved getting to see it all. Our tour guide was very informative and told us a lot about why things were designed they way they were and how the various places used to be, which was absolutely fascinating. 

A good view of a large part of the city. You can see where they are restoring one of the towers at the city gates. 

Part of the baths and the training grounds. 

The Main Street of the city. 

I'm so lucky to be here with these girls and I don't know what I would do without them. 

The stadium from the city. 

The Aydin girls doing our "gang sign". It was supposed to be an A. 

          Next, we visited a rather oddly constructed (it zigzagged in the middle) but beautiful bridge. 

           We then headed to a Roman theater built 2000 years ago in Aspendos. The theater was used for both plays and gladiator matches and could seat up to 15000. It was incredibly well preserved and sitting at the top, I could imagine being there to watch the entertainment, crowded in with thousands of other people. It was amazing and probably my favorite stop of the day. 

The front of the theater. All of the carving a were so beautiful and still almost perfect. 

The whole stadium. 

All of the YES kids at the top of the theater. 

          Next, we headed to a beautiful waterfall. We had a lot of fun climbing over the rocks and feeling the splash of the waterfall. 

                    Me and Jake. 

          We then headed to Antalya's city center for a little bit of exploring. The seaside and docks were absolutely beautiful and wandering around with my friends was lots of fun. 

          All in all, I had a fantastic time in Antalya and at our camp. I wish we could all spend more time together because we always have so much fun when we do, but since we don't see each other much, it makes that much more fun when we are together. I was glad for the oppurtunity to reflect on what I've done so far and think about what I want to accomplish in my remaining months here. And I think having a little break away from the routine of my life here was a good thing and I will be refreshed and ready to get back into it now.  

          As always, thank you for reading my ramblings and thoughts. Here's to 5 more months of them! Have a good week! Hoşçakal!

I'm Halfway There

          I've always been a counter. I would drive my friends crazy at sports practices because I would be the one saying, "Well, we are 20% done but after we do 2 more we will be 40% done, etc.". They would beg me to please keep my numbers to myself because they did not want to hear my extremely precise breakdown. But that has always been my way. As I swim down the pool, I consider the percentage and the fraction of the workout we have done, how much we have left.

          I hate to count out my exchange year this way, but it's so much a part of who I am, that I do anyway. And counting gives me perspective on how far I've come and how much I've accomplished. 

          Today is my exact halfway point. 152 days already lived here, 152 left to live. Tomorrow is 5 months since my plane landed here and 5 months from Friday, I will be on a plane once again, this time headed in the opposite direction, with 10 months of memories instead of 10 months of dreams. 

          When I flew back from Istanbul with my family yesterday, I found myself back in the Istanbul airport, where I had not been since the morning I first flew to Aydin to meet my host family. It was a huge sense of déjà vu, checking our bags and going through security, and weirdly enough, ending up flying out of the exact same gate we did almost 5 months ago. As I sat at the gate, this time with my host family instead of the other exchange students, I couldn't help but think of how much has changed. 

          These first 5 months have been some of the hardest of my life but they have also been incredibly worth it. I've learned a lot and I've changed a lot and I really like the person I've become. The little things don't get me down anymore, laughing at myself is a lot easier, and I no longer doubt my abilities in whatever I'm doing. 

           I know that the second half of my year is going to bring its fair share of amazing times and terrible times, but I'm ready to face it. I'm ready and excited to continue the life I've started here. And I know that on July 6th, when that plane takes off, I will be ready to go home, but a large part of my heart is always going to remain here. Turkey has captured my heart and my love and part of me will always stay here. 

          I can't wait to see what the next 5 months have in store for me. My life here is just getting started. 

I will never get tired of the beauty here. There is just something about the sunsets. 

Foreigners Everywhere: AKA My Trip to Istanbul

          I was lucky enough to get to spend my first week of school break in Istanbul visiting my host mother's side of the family. Because we did and saw a lot and because it would be very boring if I described exactly what we did every day, I will just hit the highlights. 

          We visited the neighborhood of Bebek, which was very fancy and had some beautiful architecture and is apparently home to lots of the famous singers and actors of Turkey. We had a waffle, apparently the waffles from that area are famous, which was delicious and then walked to a different neighborhood, Ortaköy. We walked along the Bosphorus all the way and it was very beautiful. In Ortaköy, we wandered and did a little shopping while I enjoyed the views and tried to stay warm. 

You can see that the weather wasn't great but walking by the water was still so pretty and I liked looking at all the different boats anchored on the shore. 

The cute (and very colorful) houses of Bebek. 

With the Bosphorus Brodge behind me. I am standing in Europe and you can see Asia on the other side of the bridge. Pretty cool!

There was a store in Bebek selling all kinds of American foods. There were Pop Tarts and Fruit Loops in the window, so naturally I had to take a photo. 

          We visited the Grand Bazaar and the smaller but equally as crowded Egyptian Bazaar. The inside of the bazaar was so beautiful and there were signs along the roof telling different pieces of history about the building. It looked exactly like all the pictures and I loved walking around, although we didn't stay long because of how crowded it was, the danger of pickpockets, and the fact that it was physically impossible for me to walk two steps without having multiple shop owners yelling, "Hey lady! How are you?" Which leads to a note for anyone who plans to visit Istanbul and especially any of the bazaars. I highly suggest going because it was very cool, but be aware it is not going to be a peaceful shopping experience. It is the way of Turkish shopkeepers to follow you around and yell at you to come in their shop, and if you look at all foreign, they will be especially aggressive. My advice is don't make eye contact and if you don't want to look at their stuff, keep moving. After the bazaars, we went down to the water and enjoyed a fish sandwich while watching the birds fly around and boats go by. 

Not a good picture because I was trying to keep moving while taking it, but you can see how pretty the building of the Grand Bazaar is. 

More from walking through the Grand Bazaar. 

Down by the water. There were seagulls everywhere!

Me and my host sister. 

          We visited the Galata Kulesi, one of the oldest towers in the world and one of the highest points in Istanbul, providing a wonderful view of the city. I read some history there, but I forgot most of it. I know that it was built in 1348 and was used by the various groups (Romans, Ottomans, etc.) through the years. It has been restored and parts have been fixed numerous times throughout history, but much of it is still the original. The view from the top was amazing and because we went at night, the city lights provided a different kind of beauty. 

From the base of the tower while we waited in line to go up. 

The view from the top. 

          We visited Boğaziçi University, which is one of the best universities in Turkey and also has exchange programs with many of the universities in the US, so who knows, maybe I will end up back here again and to study there for a bit. The campus was gorgeous and looked a lot like most U.S. campuses and it was nice to walk around. 

Some of the buildings at the university. 

A view from campus. That's Asia on the other side. 

Another view. 

          We visited Taksim Square two different times. It was so interesting to walk around a place that held so much history, especially more recent history with all the protests that have taken place there recently. We walked around and shopped some, taking in the architecture and all the beauty. Every few minutes, the famous red trolley would go through the square, ringing it's bell to get everyone off the tracks. 

Please ignore the random man in this photo but it was very crowded, so this was bound to happen.

The Main Street of Taksim. Lots of pretty, very old buildings. 

A very bad picture but it was raining so we were kind of in a rush. This is the main square where many protests have taken place over the years. 

          We went across the Bosphorus to visit the Asian side of Istanbul for awhile. It honestly didn't even feel like we were in Istanbul anymore once we reached the other side, because it was much calmer. Walking along by the water of the Marmaris sea was very calming and I enjoyed it a lot. We took the ferry across the first time which provided some very beautiful views and then took the bus over the Bosphorus bridge on the way back, so I've now travelled from Europe to Asia and Asia to Europe in two different ways.

Dolmabahçe Castle where Atatürk lived up until his death. 

Another view from the ferry. 

          I saw my first movie since August which was very fun. My host sister and I got Krispy Kreme doughnuts before, I felt so very american again, which were delicious. The movie theater was very small and all the chairs were extremely comfortable. There was also a little intermission in the middle of the movie for people to go to the bathroom, etc. We saw Johnny Depp's new movie Mortdecia which I really enjoyed and thought was very funny. I think I mostly enjoyed it being in English so I could actually understand it all. 

Our doughnuts. They were delicious!

          As the title of the post suggests, there were a lot of foreigners there, which I loved because I wasn't the only one who didn't belong for once. It was fun to be sitting on a bus, hearing 3 or 4 different languages around you. I was also very proud whenever I could figure out that people weren't speaking Turkish. I searched for Americans the whole trip, but never found any, although I did meet a very nice Canadian couple. 

          In between all the going out, we hung out with my host grandmother and my host mom's brother and his family. I played Monopoly (in Turkish). I was proud. I really loved getting to know my host mom's side of the family more and spend some time with them. 

          I had so much fun on my first time in Istanbul and I can't wait until I go back on a trip with my school in May. I would encourage everyone to visit Istanbul if they have the chance because it was a truly amazing place!