Go Dog Go...

Today, I met with my language helper Mel. She's really sweet and doesn't speak much English...at all. But this is just perfect. I figure if we can sit in a room and drink tea and eat cookies and laugh our heads off (mostly at my expense) when we don't totally understand each other, then in a couple months when we are actually understanding most of what is being said, our friendship is in the bag! Don't you love the optimism...I'm to the point where I just have to keep encouraging myself because language is HARD and it is slow. But day by day, I press on. And if I get discouraged, all I have to do is check my e-mail...who knew my family could make such fantastic cheerleaders? I did. My mom actually sent me a cheer in her last e-mail and if you know her then you know that's just not out of the ordinary, now is it?...(smile). I'm loved.

So, back to Go Dog Go. I took some books today with pictures for us to talk about. We don't talk about what we're feeling or deep things yet. We talk about the weather, what we're doing, what we did (thanks to that past tense we learned last week!), and I can describe pictures. So, when the conversation stopped flowing freely--which I actually use that phrase very loosely--then I pulled out the good 'ole picture book to talk about. It is very humbling to talk about Go Dog Go with your new friend, let me tell you...but I did it, and maybe next week we'll move up to Dr. Seuss or something? Who knows! But I'm learning and I'm talking in Turkish. Hey, verbs are verbs. Patience and trust are a constant work in my life these days. But I know the One who holds all times and all plans in His hands, so who better to teach me patience and trust than Him.

p.s. Today I rode the bus home from Mel's house and we drove by an outdoor bazaar. This is like an open air market that all different people come together to sell fruits, vegetables, and in Turkey... slippers. But today--just had to giggle--there was a token little boy walking around the outdoor produce bazaar selling cotton candy. Next time I go to the bazaar, I might have to take some off his hands. I wonder how much he sells. Makes me miss the fair! If you know me then you know that I love me some fair fun!

Beat that Blockbuster...

So, here is the re-cap from this week. Here are a few of my Turkish helpers! This is one of our neighbors and Josh, one of the kiddos in the family I'm living with. Deniz decided she was going to help teach me Turkish and that she did! Hey, I'm willing to take all the help I can get. Josh, Deniz, and I made play dough key chains, ( that's what we're holding up for you to see). Deniz kept telling me that she loved me, and all week has been telling everyone else that she sees that I love her! Well, I do. I guess I made quite an impression, eh? Really, I'm spoiled. Josh called me his 'queen' all week. I mean, really, I'm getting the royal treatment around here!

Had quite a movie rental experience this week. C-Love and I went to the movie rental store and literally, we stayed for 2 hours! When was the last time you had tea at Blockbuster and chatted with the cashier for 2 hours. Welcome to Turkey! I was amazed by C-Love's speaking! (He's only been here 6 months). I looked like i was watching a tennis game. My head kept bobbing from the man to C-Love as I tried to understand bits and pieces of what they were saying. I think it went from Turkey...to Turkish...to English...to love...to a couple other topics and then to C-Love reading the Turkish Bible at one point...and then to movies. Covered all the basics, eh? It was so encouraging to see someone who's been here awhile longer than I have...TALKING...in complete sentences and thoughtful ones, at that! I will be able to do this! Seriously, Blockbuster's got nothing on our video rental store...

Thursday, I met my language helper. I not only have a tutor now, but a girl who I'll meet once a week to just chat with. She'll be chatting, I'll be cramming all day Monday to be able to 'chat' with her, we're meeting on Tuesday! But, I'm super excited. I think it's really going to help my language...and hopefully she'll become a friend! Let's hope for that! I'm excited about another friend!

And then, Thursday night we had dinner at Katie and Craig's. Katie cooked fajitas for Everyone! and 24 of course...Jack never lets us down!
p.s. sorry for the spelling errors in the last blog...I've really got to use that spell-check. I know you're sympathizing with my English student right now, but really, I am a good teacher!

Birthdays and Dustbusters

So Jared had a birthday today! We all celebrated with a par-tay at the Yates' apartment last night with some Turkish friends and some American friends. The pic is of us girls at the party. Today we had cake in class and then went out to lunch to celebrate. We are going to have to stretch out these overseas birthdays! All in all, I think he had a good birthday. Jayme made a homemade cake that was awesome...chocolate covered strawberries and all. (She does know the difference between baking powder and baking soda...I am slowly learning from her. She's an awesome cook.)

So lunch today...we began our meal to an array of American music including: 'I Just Called to Say, I Love You' and 'Lady in Red'. This may sound normal to you, but remember we're in Turkey! It was just too funny. The Yates have been keeping a log of all the out of place American music that we hear while we're here. I'll have to update you more often, it's really just very entertaining to be sitting in a Turkish restaurant and we hear 'Lady in Red' playing. They were just trying to make us feel at home, eh? Some of the music thus far that Jayme and Jared have noticed has been: 'Sara', 'Maniac', 'Summer of 69', 'Man in the Mirror', and the Titanic theme song!

There were no menus for lunch. They serve two things. I guess when you got it, you got it. They cook two things so well, why branch out? The food was delicious. I tried a dish I haven't had yet, and I will definitely have it again. Iskender. It's meat on top of rice with some sort of tomato based sauce. I highly recommend it next time you're in Turkey.

Okay, now for the best part of the whole meal. When we finish, they take the plates, and our waiter walks over to our table with a dustbuster. 'What is he going to do with this', I think to myself. Yes, he begins to vacuum our table crumbs up under our noses while we are all still sitting there! Am I crazy, or is that just very very funny. I got so tickled, I had to keep from laughing at the table. Who knows what he had been vacuuming up last because it smelled horrendous! What a way to end your meal.

Then on the way home, I saw sheep grazing on my street. I live in the city, mind you. But this is redefining urban here. Bet you've never had sheep grazing on your street before. That and the dustbuster, I was just done for. I laughed all the way to my door. Welcome to my world. I'm enjoying it. Glad that you can, too.

An Unusually LONG blog...

So, this is the first blog of the week. You can always tell when the font gets small that I have alot to say! I stayed with Katie all week and it was really a great week. We got to visit with some of Katie's Turk neighbors. We cooked up a storm this week and we washed more dishes than I ever thought imagineable...That Whirlpool really knows how to make a girl happy! Too bad, here we still do it the old fashioned way. A good soapy sponge and some elbow grease. So, the first cake turned out fab-u-lous. The second had less than desireable results. See the previous blog for proof that my first cake did turn out beautiful. And, well I guess I'll let you see above for the second one. I just knew I could handle doubling that recipe...turns out baking soda and baking powder have very different effects. And surely, don't put both in a cake. It will erupt. Noted,as seen above. Live and learn, Turkey style!

We had our tutor over for a Turkish cook-a-thon Tuesday night. We watched a movie in Turkish with English subtitles...she loved it. Katie and I might have had headaches and missed a good bit of the movie reading! Darling's Day was Wednesday. That's what V-Day translates to in Turkish. Katie made breakfast for us Valentine style. Pancakes! Then Katie and I were treated to a home cooked lunch by our delightful team member. We'll call him C-Love. I know inquiring minds were wondering what I did for the day o' love this year. This year was actually a fantastic Valentine's thanks to Katie, my team members, C-Love, and a few phone calls to the U.S. of A. I thought the Turkey fam deserved a picture blog moment. I really have some great friends here. This year might have been better than last year except for a trip to our local hibachi restuarant with Heather's nanny that topped last year off right. This year, C-Love cooked Katie and I lunch and showered us with cute bottle Cokes and Reese's cups! What a treat. Chris may be a bachelor, but he is not fooling us anymore...He can COOK. I think I might have to get his recipes. The heavily lacquered (Turkey style) pictured roses were for me and Katie from our C-Love. But enough blogging praises for him...

Yesterday, was the last day of Katie and Jess's great week of girl fun! Craig is back in town and I know she's excited! I think I was a good roommate all in all, but who can blame her for missing her husband! So Katie and I had lunch at McDonalds yesterday. We were not wanting Mickey D's. We were in serious need. Forgot my camera, otherwise I would include a picture of the gross day we tromped through to get to a Quarter Pounder and American ketchup! A bus and a swim later, and I told Katie...'I'm just so happy right now!' Who knew those golden arches could lift your spirits on a rainy day so much!
Things are good here. Friendships are growing stronger for all of us with nationals so that is truly an answer to prayer! Keep lifting us up with the language! My constant prayer is, 'Tanri, bana Turkce ogret!'...God, teach me Turkish! (I can't figure out how to download the Turkish letters, but it's even more difficult to read when you throw those into the mix!) Despite a few homesick moments, I had a good week all because of Him. To put it best and echo the words of a powerful praise chorus, in a time when I really needed it, He made me glad.

"He has made me glad... and I'll say of the Lord:
You are my Shield, My Strength, My Portion, Deliverer, My Shelter, Strong Tower,
My Very Present Help in Time of Need."

A Day in the Life of...

It's 11 o'clock here and guess what I'm doing? I'm still doing my HOMEWORK! How does this still fit into my life?...It does, but I'm glad to be learning. I can't wait to be able to speak this language! It's coming along. "Yavas, Yavas". (Say it like yavash, yavash). It means: slowly, slowly. Your Turkish is coming along, too!

I'm Katie's roomie this week while Craig's away on a football camp trip with our boss. The two of us had a super busy but fun day! Our friend came to church to hear me sing this morning. Yep, I'm on the rotation already again! We were so glad to see her there. After that, she took us to one of her favorite cafes in her neck of the woods and we had lunch. There we are in the pic on the left. Then we went down by the lake in our city. There's a path that winds around the lake and people take picnics to that part of town or in the summer, you can rent a bike and ride around the lake. It was so beautiful and today was a great day. It's warmed up a little from the Arctic weather we've been having. The only down side of that part of the day was that these boots that I was wearing were not made for walking and thats just what they did...all day! We kept having to take breaks for me and my shoes!

We met our friend's family and had tea at her aunt and uncle's house while a 70's Turkish movie played in the background. It was a perfect Turkish afternoon. We went to the grocery store tonight and stocked up for the week. The grocery store is a semi-hilarious experience with us. Between the two of us, our cart, and our dictionary we managed to get almost everything on our list. For the life of me and the Red house dictionary, we cannot figure out how to translate nutmeg. Any who, we're ready to do some serious hospitality baking this week. We went to our local van man for our produce needs. His "store" is the picture on the right. Then dinner was caught on fire. We Skyped a little and now we are finishing up homework. All in all, a really busy day! Oh yeah, so maybe at one point during the dinner preparations, fire was coming out of the oven. That about sums it up. Don't you like how that sentence is passive to avoid disclosing the actual burner culprit (smile). I told Katie, I could keep a secret... We're okay and so was dinner, it's all a day in the life of my Turkish self.

Wecome to Tarsus

So, welcome to Tarsus. Home of Paul, that's right...the Paul of Acts and numerous books in the Bible. Place of a famous meeting between Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Close enough to walk on the Roman Road where Paul and most likely even Caesar himself travelled on at one time or another. Tarsus has incredible history and is found right here about half an hour from my home! We visited Tarsus yesterday and it was pretty incredible. Just to hear the history pages turning in my mind as we walked through this ancient and modern city. Few places still resemble what might have been of this city long ago displaying architectural characteristics of the early Ottoman Empire. And then in many spots, modern stores and buildings have been built upon the history.
We walked under the arches seen above and onto the Roman Road. We saw what is claimed as Paul's well. We visited what used to be a Christian Armenian church. We found here much the same atmosphere as can be found in our own city. A slow pace of life. In the middle of the day, old men can be found sitting on small chairs playing their favorite game and drinking tea (cay) as they are doing above. I have to do a little research on this game and I'll let you know more and include some more pictures of the people that fill my home in a soon to be blog.
There is a rich history here in this place and it was awesome to get a chance to walk through it yesterday. My life continues to be enriched in so many ways by being in this place. He was present then, intervening in Paul from Tarsus's life and I know that He is ever present now in this place desiring to be glorified, worshipped, and intervene in the lives of those who will be open to Him.

One Month!

So, we've officially been here for one month and well...I'm slipping into the rhythm of life here. I'm also constantly slipping into a pair of slippers. That's me and our tutor/friend and us in our slippers. It's custom here to take your shoes off at the door and not wear your shoes into the house. So we wear slippers around the house. Most Turks do this here. It's just custom.

We are quickly becoming good friends and this is just a TREASURE to me! She is so great! We had lunch Monday and I found my new favorite lunch place. Doner is a ton of meat that they roast over a fire. Then they slice off thin slices and put them inside of pita bread with lettuce and tomatoes and roll it up. Kind of like a gyro. It's been good at alot of places, but this was my favorite place to have it! Or maybe the company was just my favorite! We had a great lunch talking about shopping, guys...or lack there of in our lives right now (smile), and what we believe. It was really a great lunch and I look forward to many more! I'm going to miss her this week!

We have put Turkish lessons on hold shortly. We're having an ESL mini-conference this week. A great lady came all the way from the States to help us out with some techniques and give us some teaching ideas. I think it's gonna be so helpful! I think my student will agree during our next lesson! I've got some new things up my sleeve!

We're going to Tarsus on Thursday, so that will be awesome to literally walk in some of Paul's footsteps. How awesome to live in this place where his eyes were opened, his heart changed, and he learned to live by faith in the One who loved Him and gave Himself up for him. That's the beauty of grace.

Bak Bak

I got my very first cooking "Bak Bak" tonite! That's what our Turkish tutor tells us when we get something right or impress her. It means like, "Look Look!" I made my very first scratch cake which is a totally different story over here in Turkey! Celsius, no pre-made mixes, and a few substitutions later you've got yourself a chocolate chip pound cake! And it was good, so I hear! Afiyet olsun. That means something like Bon Appetite over here! We've had a very social week. We had dinner at two of our new couple friends' houses over here this week. Let's see, Wednesday we ate with our friends who live across from a Turkish hair transplant office. Yes. That set the tone pretty much; it was a fun, encouraging, and pretty much hilareous night! They are great. Tonite we ate with some different friends and I made the dessert as seen above and we can also be seen above washing the dishes after we ate! We were glad to help, but found ourselves thinking one course less might have been okay!

I went exploring out on my own a little for the first time today and it was a total success. Got to use a good bit of Turkish. (Don't worry, I was very cautious and totally safe the whole time.) The more I get to know this city, the more endearing it is to me. Tomorrow I have my English lesson and then we're going shopping with our friend and language tutor. I'm really looking forward to that! Sunday, I'm singing at church! I know what you're thinking...it didn't take me any time to get plugged in! Our tutor might even come to hear!

Next week, we have someone coming from the States to give us more training in teaching ESL, and we might go to Tarsus one day! How great, eh? Stay tuned for stories and pics!