The Island

I got to head over to the island of Cyprus this past week to visit Katie and Craig and it was an awesome time. I do have to give them credit where credit is due because they have definitely adjusted to some cold showers over there! I couldn't do it! But, it was a great visit, I went over with the Pinelakers and I just was so encouraged by them and Katie and Craig. I think that it was a much needed visit. I even got to go to Katie's first tea party and to her Turkish lesson...I felt like I was just at home getting to meet all the girls that she's making friends with over there. I didn't know much about Cypriot history, but I learned a good bit. Did you know that the island was a British colony until around 1960...no wonder there are so many British accents and people drinking milk with their tea! It was such a great week to get to see their life and plug into their lives for a bit. These pictures are from the old city of Magusa, the ruins at Salamis (this is actually the first place that Saul (still Saul at that time, but a short few verses later will be referred to as Paul throughout the rest of the New Testament) and Barnabas went on their first journey from Antioch to proclaim the Word...Acts 13:5) and from a port city called Girne. In Girne, we explored a castle that King Richard the Lionheart of England actually visited. Isn't the history in this part of the world just incredible. As incredible as it always is to see the things and walk in the footsteps of those who did what they did here so long ago, the fellowship and encouragement in Katie and Craig and friends from home was definitely the highlight of my trip.

A Low Point...

This is a picture from our sightseeing adventures today around our area. I am doing some serious rock climbing can't you tell in my Converses? I mean, really, I haven't changed that much in a year...maybe my other foot is resting on a rock or...maybe it's just not and I am rock climber extraordinaire now. We have visitors here from home and I'm so excited. We have a packed week showing them around and getting them into the culture (not hard given the state of things right now to experience some new culture). They brought a few goodies (clothes, lotion, medicine, books, food, candy, yada yada yada) from my mom (thanks momma) and a friend from home (Thank you Terry!) (and I might have gone on a shopping spree and had it delivered to well...heather, you deserve to be named, you were my liaison and now we will forever receive joint shopping catalogs delivered to your house... sorry about that). Our friends were so great to bring these things that we needed/wanted/craved from home! including a d.v.d. from a Christmas program from 2 years ago at my church that I'll just have to go on and confess to you that I watched the night the group arrived after they were jet-lagged and tucked into bed (I know it's October) before my head even hit the pillow. But, I got to see so many faces of people that I love and haven't seen in awhile via video and I can't wait this Christmas to share it with my friends here. 'Best Gift' is going international. It was just what I needed, but no that was not the low point...I'm due a bit of missing home by this point. But, I'm so excited about spending this week with some new and old faces. They have brought a ton of encouragement just by coming all the way over here to show they care. They are a high point in my YEAR!

No, the low point was--I hesitate even to confess this on blogging, but here I am bearing my soul--that I know I have lived here a long time, because the other day I noticed something, (a small spot mind you), white on my pants...and the thought crossed my mind, maybe this is bird poo from hanging my laundry outside. That's how we do it here. Let that thought go, rinsed it off and headed out the door, bird poo and all! Who am I? Who does that? I might need an intervention. I was running so late, though... What does that say about how this place is just breaking me down??? I've got to get a hold of myself! I may be becoming a bit lower maintenance, but that is just unacceptable!

Will not have much time to post this week as I'll be hanging out with my friends from home and introducing them to friends here, and Wednesday I am heading to the island to visit Katie and Craig. I am so excited...all that to say, may not be much blogging for awhile, but you can look forward to seeing what Cyprus is like on the blog when I get back next week if I don't post before then. You are just becoming quite a traveller through me, aren't you?

In case, you have been watching the news (and I have had a few calls to check in), we are doing fine over here and being careful. People are getting excited and people have begun to assemble the past few nights to basically start a parade sort of mass that marches through the city like the biggest unorganized caravan I've ever seen LATE into the night doing things like waving flags standing on car tops with flashers blinking and honking, making more noise than I've ever heard in my life, blocking traffic, and stopping every few blocks to sing the national anthem by the multitude. Thank goodness, they are sticking to the main boulevard and we are several blocks away for sleep's sake. It's new and quite exciting, but things are okay and we are okay. Just in case you try to call and I'm away this week, I'm just out of town for a bit. I'll be back in touch via blog and e-mail as soon as possible...Thanks for understanding given the state of things right now...What this will be the beginning of, I'm not sure, but I'll do my very best to keep in contact.

The 142...

Today after church, we went to the mall to eat lunch and look for a birthday present. Chris's birthday present to be exact. So, Melissa, Chris (he accompanied us for lunch not to buy his own present), and I headed towards the Real. Don't say it like, 'just keeping it real'...say it like, 'ray-all'...i tend to say it like, 'ray-al (as in meet my friend al--i don't actually have any friends named al...just an example). Any who, you can tell I digress. So, we had to catch a bus and not just any bus, to be specific...we had to catch the 142. If you're gonna head anywhere with the 142, then you should know to get to the mall or the big grocery store from our house takes 45 minutes. It's a scenic route, which honestly I don't mind anymore...but you need to know the background. And they are supposed to run every 15 minutes, this is a lie. Maybe they run every half hour on a good day.(p.s. As I write this, I am eating leftover dolma from our visit yesterday. See the blog from this summer where we stuffed the peppers. That's dolma. Anyways, I throw that in to say, look how Turkish we are!)
So, on these three blessed days of the holiday season, our fair city has bestowed upon it's fine citizens endless free bus rides on city buses. The 142, she is a city bus. I've decided that if the 142 had a gender, (for example if I were learning a language like French, instead of Turkish) it would be feminine because the other day the bus changed route entirely--which general is unheard of despite that fact that, well, this is Turkey--and skipped an entire part of the route...thankfully not mine. She's got a mind of her own. So, today, the whole city, plus those who had come from the village making the most of their last no work holiday day to visit the big city (f.y.i. people in Istanbul call my city a village) decided to go to the mall today and of course everyone rides the bus. I promise you that I think some of the people at the mall today had waited the whole year for free bus day to go because it was SO crowded. But, let me tell you about crowded. I have never in my almost 10 months here been on a bus as crowded as the two I rode today. I was able to sit on one leg of the journey, not so lucky on the second leg home. Everyone is touching and everyone is hot and everyone is sweating and everyone is stinky. It's one of those days, when you just have to embrace the culture and remind yourself that you love living here. But, really, it was hilarious. Every time we'd come to the next bus stop, you just can't imagine how these people just kept packing in. A can of sardines comes to mind. And everyone kept laughing and talking about how crowded it was every time we passed a bursting bus or made a stop when, really, how were those people gonna get on? People sitting on people's laps in the seats. The aisles just bursting with faces and hands reaching out the windows or doors every time they opened just for fresh air. Literally, I thought the bus was going to tip multiple times on the way round hills and curves that normally she handles just fine even with standing room only. Today was different.
We all loaded on at the mall to go home and just as we were leaving, one man who hadn't been able to fit on our bus had realized that another 142 had pulled up right after ours left the station. As we drove by him busting at the seams getting on to his empty 142, he raised his fists triumphantly and actually laughed in our (the bus's) direction. He was a grown man. You have no idea what free bus day does to people around here. I'm laughing now thinking about it. We passed his bus about a half hour later and he was still on it and it was crowded. Tomorrow, I'll actually appreciate paying as I get on the bus.

And So It Ends.

Today is the first day of the Ramazan holiday which follows the month of fasting. The fast lasted for about the past month and today the world I live in is resuming it's normalcy (even though, really, it changed this past month alot less than I thought it would). My teacher I think probably fasted as many days as I can count on my hands. Many are strict, but many fall at various levels in between. The next three days are called Ramazan Holiday and the Sugar Holiday. They prefer you to say the prior name. We have bought sugar candy and cologne in hopes that our neighbors will come over. Neighbors visit and you offer them sugar candy and cologne as they eat it and then a sweet something with more sustenance and Turkish coffee. We have not yet learned to make Turkish coffee, so we will be serving Coke. I've heard that children will ring our door and extend their hands waiting for us to fill them with candy. Only one had done so thus far, but we gave him two pieces of candy, so maybe he'll spread the word for the other children to come to our door. Lots of people have left to go spend the weekend with their families. Melissa and I are heading out to explore our fine city on this day and see how much it is changed on this holiday. We may be returning very shortly if nothing is open...but I have a sneaking suspicion that Burger King will be open and I'm very persuasive, so maybe we'll make a stop. (smile)....Okay,
well I have let this post sit all day and now it's time for bed. But, we did make it to Burger King and it was open, but that was about it! Today was kind of a bizarre day. It was a major holiday that I didn't really participate in. It really was like Christmas or Thanksgiving Day in the States. There were fewer buses running (which calls for a bit more planning b/c we travel everywhere by public transportation), the people riding them were all families and they were all dressed up. We felt very under-dressed and un-holiday'ish in our jeans and shirts. Tomorrow we're going to visit a friends' family and we're going to dress accordingly. I am glad for the normalcy to return to every day life, but there has been a sense of more spiritual awareness this past month that I will be sad to see go, as I know it will. Maybe the conversations that I have begun with friends will linger. It's been nice to go deeper with friends and talk of things of the heart. As this holiday season ends, I never posted this video. So, this is a bit of dancing video from the Ramazan festival that Melissa and I went to with our friend. It's only a taste of what the night was like. There were so many dances and it was just so fun! I wish it could be longer, but it gives you a little glimpse of some traditional Turkish dance, from which part, I'm just not sure! But you can imagine what the night was like from this little window. Before you play it, scroll down to my music player on the right side of the blog and pause the song so you can get the full effect. It may take a few minutes to download, but it's only 15 seconds long--it's 15 seconds worth watching. And i guarantee that it will take you less time to download this video than it has taken me to download 18 emails in 7 hours today. I'm having Internet issues. But thanks to the world of technology, you too can visit the Ramazan festival, so I'll not complain further. Enjoy...and Bayraminiz kutlu olsun. Happy holidays.

Did Somebody Call for a Nurse?

I thought I'd include this picture so that all of you who are thinking, was she ever a nurse...why is she not using her nursing now??? can see that I have been called to a different place for now, but I've just taken some of my skills with me! (some of them). I will definitely have to take a BIG refresher course upon returning to America next year, but I did get to hang my shingle at our hotel in August, when we met at the conference for people in our country who do what I do. I had a friend who needed some stitches removed from his ear and I was able to help. The stitches were no problem to take out. As for what lies ahead for him now...I can't speak for that. Really, J.M., you went to a free medical clinic in Turkey. Chris is assisting me in the pic. We had the operating room all set up. That's my serious 'this is life and death here people' face. Maybe this particular incident didn't quite call for it, but you know...It's been awhile, I had to get into character! Anyways, it was fun to be reminded that I am a nurse!
I was able to talk to some of the gals at my old clinic in Jackson this week and it made me miss them even more! We had some good times up at the Lakeland Surgical Clinic...
Speaking of good times, Melissa and I had a good time last night. We went to our neighbors house to watch my new addiction...Have I told you that I'm addicted to a Turkish soap opera? I think I have. It takes place in the east of our country and is very melodramatic. But, it's all in Turkish...so like I said before, good language practice, eh? Too bad, we could barely hear the t.v. over the sound of our neighbor's whole family in the mini-salon. Don't get me wrong. I love all of our neighbors. Especially these upstairs neighbors. They've kind of adopted us and the mother always treats us well, a bit motherly and I like that. But we'd already visited this week, and we talked during the 15 minute commercial breaks, and really, I wanted to know whether Sila was going to be rescued from her kidnappers (who were actually her in-laws who felt she needed to be punished) and go back to her husband who was just released from jail (whom she didn't love when their marriage was first arranged, but now does truly love...obviously unbeknownst to her in-laws) and her newborn son... I told you it was a bit melo-dramatic.
Our neighbor kept bragging on us being like, of course they understand everything that's going on...and Melissa and I are thinking, we can barely hear the t.v., much less understand it over the dull roar of every member of your family speaking in Turkish to us at the same time! But, one thing I did understand. We took some brownies up with us. The show is 2 hours, so we were settling in for a lengthy visit, (and of course we had to debrief after the show). But, they made sure to tell us that the brownies were good, but they would be better with something. They would be better with a big glass of olive oil. Everything's better here with olive oil...no precise measuring necessary, just about a big drinking glass of it. Add that to your recipe card, eh.

Another Iftar View

I took this picture from our balcony. It's Iftar to go... Last week there was a huge Iftar gathering in the parking lot outside our apartment building. We watched as they served all the places and then everyone waited until the countdown was over at approximately 6:37 p.m. and then they began to eat.
We also had the chance to eat Iftar with our across the hall university girl neighbors this weekend. Well...actually they wanted us to eat dinner with them on Saturday night, but they didn't catch us in time. Our doorbell rang at about... yeah, it was about 11:30p.m. I answered the wooden door knowing they could not see me in my p.j.'s while brushing my teeth. I had already dragged Melissa out of bed because I was a bit nervous about who it could be. They were persistent door ringers. When I heard the voices of our across the hall neighbors, I opened our outside door to find them all standing there. They invited us over to eat dinner, right then. As we're both standing there in our p.j.'s, I thought about it and then just answered for the both of us and said, 'no, tonight, we really just can't'. (I am still brushing my teeth, at the door, at this point.) They weren't too disappointed. They invited us over for the next night. Perfect. Well, they said 7 o'clock. You already read above that Iftar was at 6:37 last Friday night and it only gets earlier as the sun sets earlier. I lapsed into a moment of definitely culturally insensitivity when they rang our doorbell the next night at 6:30p.m. (I thought a bit early which is very much unlike Turks) (they appeared very hungry--one can learn to discern these things after a few weeks living in the middle of Ramazan) to tell us they were waiting for us. Well, I of course told her that they had told us 7:00 and we'd be there at 7:00 because we had a cake in the oven. Still hungry, she looked at me a bit confused. Did I know where I was living? You can set your watch by Iftar here. I told her again, we would be there very very shortly...the cake was not finished. Why did we have to bake a cake she asked. Well, we were only trying to be hospitable, I thought...not realizing our only duty was to be on time and we were about to not fulfill that duty. Then, Melissa remembered that it was Iftar time and I embarrassedly scrambled to get my shoes on, shouting to Melissa to turn the oven off (unbaked cake still inside, mind you) and we ran across the hall to see that the meal was laid out and we'd almost missed our window to do the most respectful thing you can do at an Iftar meal...show up on time so your hosts can eat! We had a good meal which we ate on the floor on newspaper. What do you expect? They're college girls...they don't have much furniture!
Afterwards, we had a unique opportunity to peer into the culture that we're living in a bit further, that I don't think I'll ever forget. They all laid their prayer rugs down with their backs facing us. Then they each began to do their evening prayers separately. They had all washed before they began and then began the routine of the movements that are involved in the bowing. After that, one of them led the prayers in what I assume was Arabic. It wasn't Turkish. It sounded something like a chant. You can only imagine that I did quite a bit of my own praying during this time. They gave us an English Koran before we left which led to some good discussion. Very eager to share with us, they are. It's going to be an interesting development of friendships, but I know they've been put in our path for a reason.