Istanbul! (and a few other adventures from a week of bayram) (part 2)

So we seem to be staying about one significant event behind with the blog. We had a really good time this weekend celebrating Thanksgiving here. We hope that you did as well. There will be pictures and more coming shortly.

To finish up our week of Bayram we wanted to share some of the pictures we took from Istanbul. We had such a good time. 6 days was not enough to even scratch the surface of all the things there are to see in the city. Over and over we were amazed with just how large the city is. Many people don't realize that Istanbul is the largest city in Europe with a population of at least 15 million, and when you include the unofficial residents maybe closer to 20 million. The city sprawls on and on. It really is amazing. There is also an amazing amount of beautiful and historic places scattered all throughout the city.

Our visit to Istanbul was a really refreshing time for us. It was great to get away from work and school for a few days. We also got to spend some really good time with friends from the states who are living and working in Istanbul. It was really encouraging to hear and see what is going on in their lives. We are really grateful for the hospitality that they showed to us while we were there.

I could try to describe all the things we saw but instead just look at the pictures! You can see the whole album here (including captions) http://on.fb.me/hMGo5Y .

Istanbul! (and a few other adventures from a week of bayram) (part 1)

This past week was a weeklong holiday as the country celebrated Kurban Bayram. This is one of the biggest religious festivals of the year throughout the Muslim world. It is also known as Eid al-Adha in Arabic is the festival of the sacrifice. Leading up to this week we asked some of our friends what this holiday meant for them. The answers varied widely from something that almost resembles Thanksgiving and an emphasis on spending time together as a family to an opportunity to remember the poor and also a significant religious act. If nothing else, it leads to a number of interesting conversations as we try to learn more about the country and the people here.

Because of this holiday we had had 9 days off of work (from last Saturday through today). We were quite excited for the time away and so had made plans to go and visit Istanbul and some of the friends we have living there. It was fun to get away as tourists and get to explore all of the sites of the city. We felt like we saw a lot, but a week was not nearly enough, more about that later.

On Saturday morning, we spent some time around the house getting things somewhat straightened up before we left. We also had to get two boxes ready to ship back to the States with presents for Christmas. We spent most of the morning try to find suitable packing materials and boxes to ship everything in. We were able to get the last box we needed from our friend Seljuk who works in the little bufe (shop) in the apartment complex. Kylie spent a long time getting things neatly packaged and ready to go and then we headed downtown to find the post office. We took the bus towards the area where we knew there was one and a little ways before our stop we spotted a post office. So we jumped off and backtracked the few blocks only to find that branch was closed. So then we walked up into the main part of town hoping to find another one, but not knowing really where it was. We were starting to wonder about what to do when I looked down at the two guys standing in front of me and realized that they were carrying messenger bags full of letters. Perfect! Ask the postal carriers where the post office was. The guy was even nice enough to walk us back to where we could see it before sending us on our way. We got to the post office and eventually found the right counter and explained what we needed to do. We were a little surprised with how simply it was going. But then the guy started asking us what was in the boxes and pulling out each of the items that had been neatly wrapped, labeled, and arranged (albeit in newspaper but better than any wrapping job I've ever done) and opening them up. Thankfully after the first three or four (out of a lot) he decided that there was nothing too harmful and stopped unwrapping the presents. So now we just have to hope that they arrive within the 10-14 days they told us (but we are banking more on 20 or 25).

After getting the boxes shipped we went to find a place to get baklava to take with us to our friends in Istanbul. Since Gaziantep is famous for its baklava this is the expected gift anytime we leave the city. As we walked into the baklava shop we were greeted with "welcome on board" by a guy in a Turkish Football Federation warm-up suit (we assume he learns most of his English by traveling). As we ordered our baklava we found out that he and the other two guys in there were referees who had flown in to Gaziantep to referee the Gaziantepspor-Fenerbache match later that night. So with that piece of information, and since it was bayram, we decided we should go try to get tickets and go to the game. We walked the few minutes to the stadium and found the place already pretty busy with fans decked out in the teams colors. We got ushered into what we think was the fan club office, we aren't really sure, but they sold us two tickets for the game that night and even included jerseys in the deal as well. We were pretty excited. We went home and did a few other things to get ready for our trip before heading back to the stadium that night.

The game was quite the experience. It was a little bit different than the Colorado Rapids games I've been too (the Rapids who, by the way, I'm really expecting to win the MLS Cup tonight!). When we found the gate we were supposed to go in at we had to make our way past the 10 and 12 year old kids who were being dragged away for trying to sneak in, or something. Then we went through a series of floor to ceiling turnstiles that felt a lot like cows being herded through the stockyards. Then at the end we were met by security guards who frisked us, took away our water bottles and almost took away our camera too. Finally, we went up the ramp into the stadium.

The whole arena had an ominous feeling with a heavy mist hanging over the field. There were police officers encircling the field spaced about 5 yards apart with their backs to the game just watching the stands. Our tickets sort of told us that we were supposed to be in the fan section with all of the jumping, dancing, singing crowd that watched like none of the game. We stood with the group for about the first 30 minutes of the game. We met a few college aged guys who were really nice. We got asked about 200 times where we were from. After a while one of the guys we met took a scarf from a younger kid and gave it to me. I tried a bunch of times to give it back but he wouldn't let me. So I at least got a picture with him (and we got to celebrate later!). We were enjoying the game, although it was hard to really watch because of all the fans. Then about 30 minutes in one of the police officers pointed to me and called me down to say something through the fence. I didn't really understand what he was saying, other than that since Kylie was a girl we should leave the fan section and go sit down. So we decided we should obey. It was hard to tell if we were getting the celebrity or the six-year old scolded child treatment.

At half-time many of the fans made their way to the only concession stand on our half of the stadium. It was just a table right behind the goal with a couple of guys selling chai and simit (the two turkish staple foods). This meant though that all of the fan section had to walk past where Kylie and I were now sitting to get to the food. This turned into a lot of just stopping and staring (again back to the celebrity or six-year old question). Pretty soon there was a huge crowd circled around us and only like five feet back. It was really odd, but there wasn't anything to do or anywhere to go. After a minute or two of this awkwardness some of our friends from the first few minutes came by and started yelling at people to move and leave us alone. For the rest of the game if anyone really even stopped and stared within a few seconds someone would walk by and just smack them and tell them to keep walking. It was kind of funny to watch.

During the second half we were able to watch more of the game. Sometime during the half someone else came down and gave Kylie a scarf. So we were both fully decked out in jersey's and scarves. Gaziantepspor came back from down 1-0 to tie the game with maybe 20-25 minutes to go. Then not too much later they got a second goal to pull ahead 2-1. It was awesome. The stadium went nuts. My friend who gave me his scarf jumped over a couple rows of seats before I picked him up and we yelled to celebrate. It was great. The game ended 2-1. A really good win for Gaziantepspor over one of the "big three" teams from Istanbul. It was a great first Turkish football game to watch.

After the game, we went up to one of our new favorite places in the city. It is one of the only places we know to find really good coffee. It is a third-floor cafe that overlooks one of the main streets into the downtown section of the city. We went up there to get some coffee and warm-up after the game. As we were sitting there drinking our coffee we heard a huge commotion down in the street. We looked off the patio to see a whole parade of fans still celebrating the victory.

The whole experience was a great start to our weeklong holiday. It was all rather spontaneous, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Well, the first day of vacation has already taken too much space. So we will do another post with stories from our week in Istanbul.

Here are a few of the pictures from the game:

    The boy who gave me his scarf! :-)

You can also find more pics here: http://on.fb.me/9fw0NH

November!!

It's already November! Time goes so fast! A lot has happened in the last few weeks, and together we have realized that we haven't written for a while! Well . . . we'll try to hit the highlights.
School has been going well. Our students are a lot of fun. We have been learning a lot from them, and hoping that they are learning lots from us. Sometimes I'm not sure though. There are days when the students seem determined to not put forth any effort in our classes, and those are the days I give them the lecture about being stuck in level A for the rest of their lives. It at least makes them think!

Last weekend we had a day and a half off for Cumhuriyet Bayram (Joom-hurry-yet Bye-rum). That is the celebration of the day that Turkey became a country. So, we enjoyed the time off to start getting in the Christmas mood, buy Jeremy some new pants, and go visit Rum Kale with some of our fellow teachers. That was AMAZING.

Rum Kale is an ancient castle built into the existing stone of a rock cliff along the Euphrates river. It was absolutely beautiful. To top it off, the day was gorgeous - bright sun with some awesome clouds. I was astounded by the beauty. One of the teachers at Zirve had decided to rent a car to go and visit Rum Kale, and was determined to drive in Turkey despite the hesitancy of the rental agency. But, our only incident the entire day was swiping a guys side mirror about 10 minutes into our trip. Other than that and having to back out of the toll booth lanes about 4 times, we were fine. When we got to Halfeti (where we got the boat to go to Rum Kale) a man offered us a ride to Rum Kale on his boat right away. So, we took it and got on. We were thrilled, and snapped pictures all the way up the river. We passed Rum Kale, and kept going to the sunken city - a city that the government inundated when they built a new dam. But, they relocated the people to a city higher up. It is interesting though, because you pull up in the boat, and dock almost right on top of an old mosque. The minaret rises up out of the water right next to you. So, that was pretty cool. Then, we were heading back to Halfeti when we asked about getting out a Rum Kale. The boy who was driving the boat told us that we could not go there because of excavations or something. So we went back to Halfeti. We were pretty bummed about not getting to explore Rum Kale, and as we were trying to decide what to do instead, a man came up and asked us what we were doing. We told him our dilemma, and he said, "What? You can go up to Rum Kale, I'll take you." So, after waiting a little while to see if another group would show up, he sent us to Rum Kale on one of his boats. We got to explore and climb around the ruins of the ancient castle. It was pretty amazing. While we were waiting for the boat, however, we got to explore an old mosque that had been flooded recently. They are working on renovations, but for now it is just open. So, we went inside and looked around and climbed all the way to the top of the minaret. And . . . here is the secret, the steps in a minaret just circle all the way to a point! There are openings where the muezzin stands of course, but the top of the steps is just a point, it doesn't go anywhere! That made me laugh. When we were coming back from the ruins, Jer and I were lying on the front of the boat looking at the stars when we saw the most amazing shooting star we have ever seen in our lives. It was beautiful. Oh, and lest I forget - we also got to see one of the funniest things ever. We drove around a bend on the mountain going down into Halfeti, when we saw a little boy riding a donkey down the mountain - backwards. It was hilarious!

Other than Rum Kale, life has been going well - rather busy, but very good. Jeremy has started taking some classes downtown in the International Relations masters' program from Zirve. He is also part of the Zirve Prep School soccer team. So far they are 1-0-1. On Thursday he left me in Gaziantep to go to Cyprus and get his work visa. Everything went smoothly with that, and now he is back! (I am very glad.) I have been busy with lesson planning, and starting guitar lessons, and this week hopefully I will be able to start my ebru lessons (it is a type of painting that is famous in Turkey.) On Friday night I went to a birthday party for some of my friends. That was fun. Oh, and this week we have had some spontaneous power outages which have been fun. That has been life recently! But, before I finish, one more adventure . . .
Last week we started our Christmas shopping, and we found this one shop of copper and silver things. The man who works there is super nice - we call him Friday. His name is Cuma (Joom-a) which is the Turkish word for Friday. He invited us in for çay as soon as he saw us, so we sat for a while. We ended up buying a few things from him, and then returning even later for a few more things. Then, yesterday we decided to finish up our shopping, and without realizing it, we ended up at his shop again. He wanted us to stay and go to kahve with him, but we didn't yesterday (we had a date planned.) So, we went back tonight to see him. He is super nice. We just sat with him for about an hour at his shop. He bought fıstıklar (pistachios - G. Antep is famous for them) and Turka Cola and we sat on stools by the road for an hour or so eating pistachios and watching traffic, which in reality is very amusing. His shop is on a corner of a street where three different directions are merging onto a one-way. And between the people who decide the one way is not for them, the mopeds on the sidewalks, and the car that died in the middle of it all, we had some good laughs. When the one car died, Jeremy was about to jump up and help, but Friday told him to sit down and watch, keep eating pistachios. It was about 10 minutes of pushing the car the wrong way down one of the one-way streets, trying to get it going, bringing it back up the hill, turning it around . . . I'm not sure what he actually did, but eventually he got going and left. Then, Friday walked all around Çarşı with us. He bought us corn on the cob (a very nice gesture, but don't be fooled - the corn on the cob is put in hot water, I think, but it isn't actually cooked . . . so, it is a little rough to get down.) Then he took us to a little kahve house and bought us coffee. Before we left, he gave us his number and told us if we ever have a problem to just call "Allo, Cuma!" So, we are thankful for the friendship.
Well, for those of you still reading, thanks again for your thoughts and love. We miss you all, but we are thankful for how our Father is taking care of us and working in us. He is good!

İyi akşamlar!