Something for the cowgirl in me...

or something to destroy the cowgirl in me... time will tell.
so there i am riding off into the sunset on my Turkish horse (within the limits of the riding rink, of course). Okay, now I have done alot of things since I have been in Turkey, but it's always interesting. You may not be able to totally comprehend it, but ordinary life is just way more interesting in a second culture, I highly recommend it. I have not ridden a horse since childhood. I never disliked it, but Camp Sycamore as a Girl Scout was quite a few years ago. Now a horse is a horse, of course, of course...(anyone remember where that's from? Penny for your thoughts.) But, its still bigger than me and higher off the ground than I am, (which isn't saying much, granted).
So, one of my friends called me and told me she wanted to take me to look at the horses. She has joined the riding club at the university. She picks me up and immediately as I get into the car in my skirt, I realize that I am improperly dressed. We are not actually going to look at the horses, of course we're going to ride them. Why had this thought not crossed my mind. My covered friend has joined the riding club and she wants to take me to ride horses. It's just all a bit interesting to picture in my mind, but nonetheless, that is what it is and I go and change my clothes to something more appropriate. You see, I do all the things that I did in my former life, they just all seem to have a new twist to them over here. Variety is the spice of life, my 9th grade history teacher used to tell me.
This is one thing that I have to admit, he was right about. It sure has been.
There are absolutely no flattering pictures of me riding the 'Typhoon'. It was awkward. I mount the horse and am instantly reminded that my instructions are all in Turkish. The man telling me how to get on the horse, how to sit, how to hold the reigns, and how to make him go and stop properly--all very necessary things to learn, mind you--are coming to me in Turkish. I am not a totally easily scared person, but I'm sufficient to say a bit nervous at this point. Several loops around the fence and many many 'I don't understand you's later, I am ready to call it a day and gaze at the lovely horses from afar. He proceeds to make the ride a bit longer than I thought it was going to be and then I have to show him, yes I do know how to politely tell you to 'get me off the horse now', in Turkish. I did manage to last my '8 seconds' of fame though. I managed to ride longer than one of the girls I went with, who actually happened to be in the riding club. Nicely done, eh? Sufficed to say, next time I get on a horse, it will be one that speaks English.

Something uncooked

Okay, So i have this friend. My sweet perfume D.V.D. friend. I invited said friend over to cook today. (I know, you are thinking, how in the world do you get the courage to invite a friend over to cook in your non-air conditioned kitchen in 100 degree heat in June?) But, I did. So, we planned it all out. I was going to have her over and teach her how to make this one Turkish food that I know how to make and she doesn't. She is always laughing because she says that I'm like a Turk because me and my roommate are forever getting our language helper to teach us to cook Turkish things. We were both really excited. She's really sweet and we've been planning to cook together, but putting it off for months now. She asked off work for the afternoon. I went to the store this morning and got all the ingredients we needed. I had a recipe on hand from my other Turkish friend, who actually taught me to make the aforementioned food. I've made it before. It's my favorite. Delicious. I'm sure I'll make it for some of you when I get home. My mouth is watering thinking about it.
Where is this all leading, you ask? Well, my friend came over today and I whipped out my recipe card--which I painstakingly collected the last time I had made the food, because usually they don't measure when they cook. The recipe card, I will give you that it was a bit odd for my friend. I lost her vote of confident right then and there. (Mistake #1 on my part--but I didn't have time to memorize it!) They don't use recipes. They use generalizations. A water glass of this, several spoons of this spice, some oil, etc. I happened to need the card. I wanted it to be exactly like my friend and I made it.) So, I got this one ingredient (we'll call it Ingredient A--I'm not sure what it is in English) out of the fridge and get our bowls and pots ready. My friend looks at me and conversation goes something like the followings:

her: Are we going to use Ingredient A?
me: Yes, my friends' recipe calls for it.
her: No, there is no Ingredient A in the food we're making...
me: Okay, but I've made it before and eaten it several times made by my friend who gave me the recipe with Ingredient A in it. It's delicious and tastes like ever other time I've had the dish. I think we should just try the recipe with Ingredient A. I have bought everything for it.
her: No, she firmly says, let's not make it. We can't make it. My mother can make it better than us. Should I call her and get her to verify your recipe for us? We should have invited her over to make it for us.
me: Well, come on, let 's just try it. I think it'll be great with the recipe I have, surely there is more than one way to make the dish--(especially the way they throw ingredients in without measuring, I'm thinking.)
her: No, we don't know how to make it. We can't make it. Let's make something else. My mother will make that other food for us some other time.
me: I don't have all the ingredients for this new food (that we hadn't planned on making)
her: Doesn't matter, what do you have? What you don't have enough of, go ask the neighbors for some...

So, one trip to the neighbors later, I realized my afternoon activity and dinner party were not going to go quite like I had planned. I didn't totally love what she cooked for us (she would not let me help, even though she confessed that she never cooks at home and wasn't sure it would be good!!!). Maybe I was just looking forward to what I thought was going to be on the menu. I was a bit offended at first, but then I just laughed and thought, welcome to my life here. Obviously, I can't be the expert on Turkish food and my recipe cannot be trusted for I am not a Turk. Welcome to flexibility and humility.
But, p.s. if you're ever invited over to dinner to my house...for future reference, eat what I cook for you and pretend to like it. (smile). I'm okay with this being the cultural norm where I'm from.

Something overdue

Back in time. I never posted this...but it is so worthy of being posted. Especially for the MS family who has since left me. I always chickened out on adventure that included heights and claustraphobic spaces with you guys, but not this time!!! I did it! Read on. So, after we left Konya (several posts back...remember the oldest salt shaker in the world?), we headed back to Kapadokya to let the visitors see one last sight before they left us and headed to Ephesus. I told you, so much cool stuff in Turkey. Kapadokya is such a neat place. (Cappadocia is the English spelling--1 Peter 1:1). It is the neatest place. There are all these land formations of rock that people at one point in history had built their houses into. We toured a bit, shopped a bit. The tourist areas are full of shopping, and of course since I have a problem...I had to stop in and do a bit of shopping. All gifts,... of course. We had the food that they're known for. Chicken in a pot basically. But, they bake the chicken in the clay pot and then you get to break it open to get your food out! I don't think everybody gets to open it or maybe even wants to, but of course we did! It's all part of the experience! I opened one, even though I wasn't eating it! I hope my pot's owner didn't get to much grit in their chicken! I might have whacked the pot a little bit too hard!

So, while we were in Kapadokya, we did some exploring. You know, last time I went on the near death (maybe small exaggeration...maybe not!) four-wheeler experience. This time, I faced my fear of heights and claustrophobia! So, the picture below may not look as grandiose to you as it does to me, but give me a little credit here! If you look very very closely, there is a window near the top... I'm in the window. I climbed and crawled through the rock to reach the window! Aren't you so proud! Doesn't matter. It was big to me!

Something fatherly

Tomorrow is Father's Day and I have the absolute best dad in the world. I am a total daddy's girl and he's totally wrapped around my little finger and he knows it and I know it, and we just like it that way! And lest you think that I am only a total clone of my mother, so much of who I am is from him, too. I am not one of those people who could say that their father wasn't a good example of how we are to think of our Heavenly Father. I've never met a man who has been a more godly example to me more than my dad. That's not every one's story, but it's mine and it's blessed. So, tomorrow I'll tell him 'Happy Father's Day' and how much I love him just like every other day. But, this year is a sad Father's Day for all of us. I've experienced another new milestone of being overseas for some amount of time. I have had a loved one to die. My papaw died Friday, and I wasn't there. His mind hadn't belonged to his body in some time and his body had been slowing down and slowly starting not to work for awhile. But, he was my papaw and as far as he was concerned, I hung the moon. I think he may have been as smitten with me as my dad is. They're totally biased (don't you know!). And, he was like no other in my book, too. But, I wasn't there to kiss his cheek like I loved to do and tell him that I loved him and that, ...that is hard. I'm at such a good place with being overseas right now. I love where God has me at this moment, but I am ready to be home. I want to be home this weekend. It's just his body in a box. It's not the papaw that I used to take long walks with, look at lots of Pearl Harbor pictures (that I wasn't always as interested in as I should have been) with, or wake up early and drink coffee milk with just for the company, when I could have slept in. He's not here anymore. Going home wouldn't bring that back. But, it's the goodbye. It's the knowing, I wasn't there and I'm not there. And that is a whole other set of emotions that I am learning how to deal with today. It's the having the greatest dad in the world and knowing that this Father's Day, he's missing his dad...and I'm not there.
But, then there is the weight lifted, the sweet peace, the comfort in knowing that always God is Sovereign and He is good. And, this Father's Day, He was kind to my old dying papaw. He hadn't been himself in sometime and my mamaw couldn't take care of him anymore and neither really could my parents. His poor body was hurting, but in that sad and somehow kind moment, he was no longer hurting and he was at that instant and until forever more in such a better place. And that, in spite of the sadness this Father's Day is the gift that we will be taking with us from our Heavenly Father who is preparing a place for us and knew it was papaw's time to be with Him there.

"Amazing Grace"
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;’
Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.
--John New­ton

Something new

Words are not enough. I won't even try to do justice to what these pictures mean to me.

Something old

Today, I find myself travelling with some visitors from America to a new part of Turkey for me. I've never been to Konya before, which is known as Iconium in the Bible. Konya is known for the whirling dervishes. But, on the way today we stopped by and visited supposedly the oldest discovered/uncovered civilization in the world. I'm telling you, there is tons and tons of cool stuff in Turkey. I'm sure you could pick up a shovel and dig just about anywhere and find something old and historical. And, an interesting addition to the museum (my personal favorite) was the display of quite possibly the oldest discovered...

...salt shaker in the world! I'm not much of a history buff, but surely that was worth the drive, right? It was interesting. The settlement was interesting to see. But, you couldn't quite distinguish what was what in the dirt so I didn't post a picture. Thought you'd enjoy the oldest discovered salt shaker in the world, just as well. I'm enriching your lives aren't I? (smile).
So, we past tons of squatter villages on the way from this settlement to Konya--our final destination for the next few days. We're looking around here and doing alot of lifting up the people around us in this city that is known for being very nationalistic and religious (Islamic). So, when we past one of these squatter villages on the way, they waved at us and we waved back and took that as a sign that we'd found us some people of peace! We pulled over and immediately were ushered into their tent and offered tea! Turns out they are actually from my city and they are only here for 2-3 months out of the year to harvest sugar beets that grow in this particular area. We had fun conversation as our fearless tour guide and my boss carried on conversation and we loosely translated for our visitors. One of our visitors joked with us--a little too seriously-- that he's pretty sure he can learn Turkish enough to communicate in about 6 weeks roughly... I thought about referring him to the blog to read about all the blogs I have written in my year and a half devoted solely to the lovely blessings of learning a second language. But, I didn't. We all smiled and kept on translating! It was really fun, though. I mean, I am so going to miss that about Turkish people. They are just so hospitable. We pull over on the side of the road into their village and are instantly sitting chatting with the whole village and drinking tea as if they don't have a care in the world--when really probably they had much work to do. These people are so warm. I love that they drop anything they're doing to have conversation over a cup of tea. Conversation ended with the migrant workers (but not before they offered to give us one of their sons, marry off one of our volunteers, and after the main head old guy asked to show us some pictures. Apparently, he moonlights performing circumcisions. He says up to age 12,... yes it can be very different here. The boys get a big party and become prince for a day and then the bad part comes. He apparently does this as a side job and showed us all his medical case and some pictures... Awkward. Conversations can just about always head just about any direction! Pretty much after that, we left. But,as we were leaving and saying goodbyes to the instant friends we'd just made, we did have a chance to give them a gift-- none other than our favorite Book. It was such a neat morning and who knows how He will use it. His Word does not return empty without fulfilling the purpose for which it was sent out.

Something child-ish

I am updating this blog from the perfect spot. I'm at the beach, sitting on my balcony looking at the Mediterranean after a fabulous day lounging in the sun, reading a good book by the ocean and ordering Turkish room service poolside! Pictures to come in the next blog. It's blog worthy. Bea-u-tiful. It's a tough life I live, I know. A girl needs a vacation every now and then...and I definitely needed one after this weekend! So, I had a fabulous birthday. I spent most of my birth 'day' (Friday) on a bus travelling to a Turkish women's conference, that many of the women in our church attended, where Melissa and I provided childcare for the weekend. But, prior to the day of bus travel and lots of Turkish children, I got another, yes another fabulous package from America from sweet friends in MS (thankyou!) and had a party with my discipleship girls Thursday night! And, if that was not enough, Melissa has showered me with gifts and surprised me with a cake tonight at dinner tonight here at the beach! We deemed today my replacement birthday since the actual day was spent in travel and babysitting. I know. Who does that? ...I do.
So, we kept children for this conference last weekend. It was a good thing. I'm really glad that the mothers were able to come and were able to fellowship with fellow sisters in the faith...child-free. I may have had to remind myself of that just a time or two. Really, though, the kids were great, just very energetic. (they're kids). There were some Bible stories, something similar to dodge ball that seemed to be played endlessly, a few games of Twister, and half a movie in there somewhere. It didn't take a ton of Turkish. They totally speak my level (smile). I used the sentence: 'Don't do that', pretty repeatedly. I'm not sure that the lady in charge of childcare could tell I've lived here for a year and a half until I broke out an 'if' clause and said, 'If you weren't doing that, then she wouldn't want to do it'. That's a bit more complicated grammar in Turkish! But, despite the many 'don't do that's, it was a neat weekend. Kind of like VBS. Never really thought I'd do anything like that here. It was a privileged to be able to see these kids that are growing up in the faith. It's more than a rare thing to meet a child who has grown up on Bible stories and is being taught Truth here, so that was really sweet to see. And, of course, kids will be kids, will be kids. Children are so alike. I think my favorite moment of the weekend is a borrowed moment of Melissa's. She's 'reading' a story with this one little girl and the child is 'reading' the story to Melissa. Obviously this child cannot read, we're pretending here. So, the pictures are a sea creature themed story and then she gets to the end of the story and the last pages read something like...'And Jesus told them not to smoke, it's bad for them. And drink lots of water.' No matter where you are, kids just say the funniest things! It was a tiring weekend, but I'm so glad we got to serve those ladies in a small way. And, don't worry, we did have a few free moments. At meal times when we could sneak away for a few minutes, there is one place that makes a rolled up sandwich type food that I have mentioned before on the blog. (the 'doner'). The restaurant is called Liverburger. Supposedly, it will change your life. We've had it before. It never changed our lives, but it was pretty stinking good. Thus, we ate it once a day every day while we were in Antioch! The last day, they gave us balloons and said, 'see you soon'. I had to let them down gently and tell them that they'd have to find new Customers of the Week, we were heading back home!