April!!!!

           I would first like to apologize for my somewhat extended absence from posting. I got somewhat busy these last weeks and never could quite find the time or motivation to write one. I hope to start posting regularly again from now on. This post will be an update on this past month for me. 

         In early April, my oldest host sister returned from Istanbul to spend a weekend here. I always love getting to have my whole family here and it's wonderful to see her. While she was here, we spent a lot of time around my city with her and her friends and I got to meet many new people. We also went to a nearby village and enjoyed an amazing dinner in a historical restaurant built in the 1900s. 

          We were given the opportunity to meet and ask questions to one of the head members of one of the political parties here who also runs a program giving grants to people invlages to build their businesses. It was very interesting to hear about the program she implements and all the wonderful effects it has had for people in the villages. 

Visiting the woman in charge of a program to give grants to village people. 

          I got to tour around my school's science fair and learn about everyone's projects. I was so impressed with all of my classmates and how well done their projects were. I even got to try the traditional water art called Ebru!

          I started volunteering at a preschool and have enjoyed making friends with and getting to know all the little kids there. I have also continued to volunteer at a nursing home, which always brings me so much joy and teaches me so much. 

          I also got the opportunity to visit the other YES Abroad students in their host city of Samsun. The city was absolutely beautiful and I loved traveling around it, getting to know a new host family for the weekend, and getting to spend time with my amazing friends, as well as meet some new ones. I will make a longer post about my trip soon, but for now, I am waiting for some picture on my friend's camera. 

 

          I had a lovely past month here and I can't wait to see all that May will bring. As always thanks for reading!

Turkish Time

          Sometimes when I'm talking with my friends here, I'll mention something about how busy I always was in the U.S. and I'll end up describing a normal day in the life of an average American teenager, or something like it. And as I go through my list -school, sports, dinner, homework, sleep- I realize just how structured my time always was and how little variety there was in my life. Monday through Friday, my days looked exactly the same and every weekend, I did basically the same thing. 

          But that is just how American culture is. So much emphasis is placed on doing tons of activities and always keeping busy, that my repetitive life suited me just fine. And I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I was perfectly content with my schedule, with always being able to count on what was going to happen and when. 

          But when I came to Turkey, my whole scheduled life went up in flames. Suddenly I was faced with days and days of free, empty space for me to do whatever I wanted with. I could go home after school and sleep. I could go to a cafe and spend a few hours there. I could go walk around my neighborhood for a few hours and take in the sunshine. I was given all this time to do whatever I wanted with. And sometimes I miss my schedules so much, because I had structure whereas now I often find myself just floating with no real purpose. 

          But I also think that's really beautiful. That I can go out and wander with no destination or time frame in mind. That I can sit a cafe for hours talking and not have to rush out to make it to the next place I need to be. I can just relax. And that's how Turkish time works. It says you don't need to plan out every minute of your day. You can just let life take you where it will with no time limits and no stress. 

          And my favorite part of Turkish time is the spontaneity in it. My plans were made days and weeks in advance at home but here they are made twenty minutes ahead and that's totally normal. My family can say, "Do you want to go the beach for the day?" and we will be on the road within minutes. It feels so nice to just go and do something without planning out every little detail. 

          While Turkish time can be a bit stressful as plans are made ten minutes ahead of time and I am left to fill hours of my time every day, it also gives me the ability to relax so much more than when I was in the U.S. And I truly love it. I wish we could be a little more spontaneous and a little less stressed in our daily lives at home. 

          Who knows if I will be able to retain some of my carefree attitude surrounding time after my return, but I hope it doesn't disappear completely. I have been able to relax so much because of this and I have figured out some of the things that make me truly happy when I was able to slow down and just look around. 

           I think we could all use a little more Turkish time in our lives. Try it sometime. I bet you will enjoy it. 

          

My New Normal

          I came to Turkey 7 months ago today. I have been living in this amazing place for 212 days. And at some point in these past 7 months, "life in Turkey" became "life", plain and simple. The things that made me feel like I was impossibly far from home when I first got here are now just the everyday occurrences of life in my new home. And that makes me wonder, when and how did it all become normal? 

          I got to skype with my family earlier this week. While we were talking, the call to prayer started in the background. The call to prayer has become the soundtrack to my life here and I barely even register it anymore. But that wasn't something my family was used to hearing and they asked me about it. And I realized that I hadn't even registered that it had started until it was pointed out to me. My first morning with my host family, I literally jumped out of my bed when the call to prayer went off at 5:45 in the morning. And so I began to wonder, When did I get so used to that part of life?

          I was talking to a friend recently and she asked me what are some different things in the culture here. And I spent all day thinking about it before I replied, "If you came here, I'm sure you would think everything was so different but it's all so normal to me now." And I started to wonder, when did that happen?

          When did the houses I see everyday go from being run down and dirty to absolutely beautiful to me? When did the public buses go from being death traps on wheels to my favorite form of transportation? When did Turkish food go from being something I ate when it was put in front of me to something I crave? When did I start being able to sing the Turkish pop music and having favorite Turkish TV shows? When did speaking Turkish go from being a chore to being something I love to do?

          I guess I can't really say exactly when this all became normal to me. There wasn't one day when I woke up and suddenly everything was normal and I never got the "What the heck!" look on my face anymore. I still get that sometimes; I didn't suddenly become Turkish and completely understand their culture. But at some point in these last months, this life became my new normal. 

          I have 3 more months here. Less than half of the time I have already spent here until I go home. And that's really not very long. I've begun to realize just how much I will miss it here. Everytime I think of leaving, I start to get a little emotional because this country has claimed my heart. 

          But for now, I plan to thoroughly enjoy the time I have left here. I can't wait to enjoy the next 3 months of my new normal and my new life. Happy Easter everyone!