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!
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