A Cornucopia of Produce

Even after living here for 10 months, I still can't over how inexpensive good produce is. Today's haul was less than $7 USD. 

Today's haul: apricots, tomatoes, lemon, green onion, spinach, parsley, hot peppers, strawberries, red peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and cauliflower.

The apricots were the nicest surprise today. I have never really liked apricots, but then again, I have only ever had them dried. Fresh apricots are DE. LISH. OUS. So much so that I may have had 4 in the last 30 minutes. :)

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While walking home from the train station today, Josh and I saw this little, old Turkish man strolling down the street.

'Tis the Season

     Anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely love the time of year between Halloween and New Years. Aside from my fondness for decorating and baking special foods for each holiday, I love that all these holidays bring my family and friends together for one celebration after the next.

     I was a bit worried that this year would be difficult because we are so far away from everyone. We had done it once before when we lived in Australia, but a friend's family really took us in over the holidays there, so it wasn't quite so lonesome.
     Thankfully our little campus community is great about trying to mark each American holiday in a special way for us foreigners. Here are some photos of the numerous celebrations.

Jack-O-Lantern Carving Party

Thanksgiving

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

Caroling at the Staff Christmas Party

New Year's Eve Dinner in Istanbul

The First Two Months

I cannot believe that we are already going on our third month in Turkey. The time has flown by so quickly that I have hardly taken any time to sit down and reflect on everything. Tonight I find myself processing all the little lessons learned and discoveries made over my time here in Turkey so far. Here is some of my list:

1. The food here is delicious, but I would give my left arm and maybe even one of my dogs for some mediocre Thai food right now.
2. Turkish people will be the first ones to push you out of the way to get onto the train, but also the first ones to help you if you actually fall down.
3. I get frustrated easily when I can’t use language to communicate what I want to say.
4. I love listening to people speaking Turkish. I find it fascinating even though I can only understand about 20 words.
5. The bakery down the street will give you a free sample of something fresh out of the oven every time you stop by just to look in their case. I walk by for no reason very often.
6. Being scrubbed down by a hot, steamy, barely-clothed fat Turkish woman is not as bad as it sounds.
7. The mountains are only a one hour car ride away, and the beautiful Mediterranean is only a 30 minute train ride away. Even though I don’t make it to either of these places too often, I just like knowing it is a possibility.
8. I thank God every day for a little slice of “America” within our TAC walls. The campus community helps keep me sane on a daily basis.
9. I also thank God everyday for internet downloading. No need to live without Glee, Grey’s Anatomy, and Dexter. And Skype is a modern miracle!
10. My mantra lately has been a little song I learned as a kid in Bible school. “Have patience. Have patience. Don’t be in such a hurry...” Everything here takes at least twice as long as you would expect...from trips to the eye doctor to getting shower doors fixed to getting a stupid filing cabinet for your office.
11. I am constantly amazed at the amount of history that surrounds me. I even sometimes stop while I’m walking down the street and ponder about what could be under my feet.
12. I am a very social person, and I drive myself crazy having my own gigantic office. Sometimes I miss my cramped little closet of an office I shared with Marianna at Harding.
13. Thinking of all the awesome trips I have planned this year helps get me through the tough days.
14. I am still trying to figure out my job here. It frustrates me to no end that I don’t feel settled in it yet. I just keep reminding myself....one day at a time....

Merhaba Turkey!

I can’t believe it’s been nearly a week since we arrived in Turkey. The time has gone so fast. After an exhausting plane trip (who can sleep on a plane anyway?), we landed in Tarsus around 8:30pm. We easily got all of our luggage through customs. The only question asked to us was: What is in these bags? Our response: We’re moving to Turkey. It’s stuff we need to move here. And we were waved through.

Since we have been here, the other teachers have really taken us under their wing. We have been shown the best places around town to shop, taken to the Roman Road, brought out to various restaurants and bars, and we even visited a local mall. There have been downs: jet lag, Turkey Tummy, and the sudden arousal from deep slumber by the 2:30am Ramadan cannon, but the more we do and see and meet--the more realize we will really like living here. The people are so friendly and patient with the lack of language ability. They are ready to do anything to help you and get you anything you need.

The food is amazing! So many fresh fruits and vegetables that my fingers itch to start cooking. Fresh bread on every corner. The most amazing honey you have ever tasted. And please don’t get me started on the baklava. I think I’ll have to do a blog in the future just on the food here in Turkey. 

Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for 3 days of culture orientation in Istanbul. In the mean time, enjoy these pictures of some our first experiences here in Turkey.

Almost to Turkey

First View of Turkey from the Airplane

Shopping with Filiz for cheese

The Roman Road. This ancient road is the "Road to Damascus" from the the story of St. Paul from the Bible. I can't believe the history I am experiencing.

Roman Road

Landscape from the Road Road

Roman Road

Yes. They do have "real roads" in Turkey.

Sabanci Central Mosque in Istanbul

Women have to cover themselves to enter the mosque.
They provide skirts and scarves if you need them.

Interior of the Mosque. It is gorgeous!

Interior dome. Full of reds and blues and golds.

What a beautiful building! It is a new mosque that was completed in 1998.

Shopping in Tarsus

Shopping in Tarsus

One of the many fruit/veggie stands

Street view of Tarsus

Tarsus Waterfall--view from our restaurant table

Tava--a yummy Turkish entree comprised of chicken, tomatoes, mushroom, peppers, and cheese.

Tarsus Friends

A Little Bit on Tarsus

Tarsus, the birth place of the apostle Paul, will soon be the city that Josh and I will call home. It is located on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, just northeast of the island of Cyprus and about 20 miles from Adana, the 4th largest city in Turkey.

Some guide books only mention Tarsus in passing or even go so far as to say it's not worth making a stop, but thankfully my trusty Lonely Planet guide to Turkey has 10 whole paragraphs dedicated to the town. Here is what Tarsus has to offer according to Lonely Planet.


Population:  319,000

"In the 2000th anniversary of Tarsus' most famous former citizen - St Paul - pilgrims traveling through a sprawl of concrete apartment blocks would concede its beauty as largely historic. However this is also one of those towns that repays some perseverance, and a stroll through the Old City, or along Tarsus Nehri (Cydnus River), can be reason enough to linger.

SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES


Buses drop you off beside Cleopatra's Gate, a Roman city gate that has little to do with the famous lady, although she is thought to have met Mark Antony in Tarsus.

Walk straight ahead, and just before the government house is a sign pointing left to St Paul's Well. The ruins of Paul's house can be viewed underneath plates of glass.

At the same road junction a second sign to the left points to the Old City.

Follow it and you'll come to Cumhuriyet Alani, where excavations have uncovered a wonderful stretch of Roman road, with heavy basalt paving slabs covering a lengthy drain.

Return to the government house and continue northwards until you come to the 19th century Makam Camii on the right. Directly across the the street is Eski Cami (old Mosque), a medieval structure which may originally have been a church dedicated to St Paul.

Beside the Eski Cami you can catch a dolmus (mini-bus) to Tarsus' other main sight, the waterfall on the Tarsus Nehri (Cydnus River) which cascades over the rocks right inside the town, providing the perfect setting for teach gardens and restaurants.

To reach the 16th-century Ulu Cami (Great Mosque), which sports a curious 19th century clock tower, turn right beside the Makam Camii and continue along the side street.

Behind it and one street over on the right are the ruins of St Paul's Church."

We can't wait to actually explore the city on our own!

Celebrate Endings (a.k.a. Let the Chaos Ensue!!)

I have come to a point in my life where I really don't like going to garage sales. Don't get me wrong, I love a bargain as much as the next person, but I despise sifting through other people's over priced crap. I would rather find a good deal at a retail store or eBay or even craigslist. Well, I have now discovered something worse than going to other people's garage sales......having one myself.

I realized going into this whole moving-to-Turkey-thing that Josh and I would have to purge ourselves of nearly all our earthly belongings. At first I relished the thought of of being footloose and fancy free, but to be honest, I am having a harder time with this than I thought I would. Sure, it may sound great being able to carry everything you own with you and not having all the "worldly things" tying you down, but gosh darn it, I really loved having Trivia Pursuit Genius Edition in my game closet even though I never played it. And I really do NEED to keep all of the books I own for my big library that I will have someday. And I just can't throw away all of travel-size shampoos and conditioners that I compulsively collect as souvenirs from hotels where we have stayed.

Josh and I spent a good portion of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday going through each room of the house and deciding what we were going to keep and what we were going to sell, and then trying to decide what the garage sale price sticker should read. (On a side note, I almost think every married couple should go through this at some point in their life. If you can make it through the arguments debates of whether the frying pan is priced too high or whether or not to put the stupid hackie sack into the free box because nobody hacks anymore anyway, I think you can make it through nearly anything.) After a near mental break down on Sunday, which was only resolved by a beer and burger at Blue Door Pub and ice cream at Izzy's, I have come to the conclusion, as a famous quote says, to: "Celebrate endings--for they precede new beginnings." So I will celebrate the ending of my time in my little house in St Paul, by throwing a huge celebratory moving sale. You are all invited!

Oh My Goodness....The One Month Countdown Begins

One month from today, Josh and I will be boarding a plane and leaving for our adventure in Turkey. After a relaxing 4th of July week at my parents house, yesterday we were hit hard by all the preparations that are still left to do. Between trying to "sell" our house, getting our two dogs ready to travel with us, and preparing our entire house for a massive moving sale, we have plenty to keep us busy for the next 4 1/2 weeks. I am very excited about our move, but I wish I could just fast-forward through the next month and just be in Turkey settling into our new apartment. DEEP BREATHS......