Bethany goes to Turkey

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Updates, logs, and reflections

April 22

Met at Bethany at around 11:30 and drove to O’Hare. From there we traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to Amsterdam. Stephen tried to give ten dollars for 7.50 euros worth of items. (He needed another dollar more). There we traveled to Istanbul where we met Jennifer’s husband. We then traveled down to Antalya. Now I am having a serious case of culture shock. Shot some good footage for the documentary.

April 23

Today I think I am over my culture shock. It’s strange. Every time I heard someone in chapel who had been in another country talk in chapel about how much we have compared to how little they have I would roll my eyes. Now that I am in a developing country, I realize just how right all those people are. However, instead of making the same mistake that those people tried to do by telling you about it, I have decided to show it through the documentary. Even though it will still be about the trip, I will not "pretty up" Turkey. I will not show only the tourist attractions or the best streets. Instead I shall show it how it is. Even with this, Turkey is a beautiful country and I would love to come back again later on. I also participated in a Tae-kwon-do class. I really loved it and I participated to my fullest capacity while still recoveringering from jetlag.

April 26

Yesterday we traveled to Kumluca. We were there to see an organic farm. We met the people who run it and got to taste some tomatoes and cucumbers (yes I ate them). We also were invited by the mayor to participate in a parade for an agricultural festival. It was a rather big event because we were on national television! Then we ate at Toros school and then traveled to Istanbul.
Today in Istanbul we traveled to the Grand Bazaar. I didn’t think that I would buy a lot of stuff on this trip; however, I have indeed bought a lot of things. One thing is a coin belt for my mother who does belly dancing. It was a fun experience and I got a good deal for it. Jennifer also showed us a small shop off of the beaten path. The owner was very kind and I am really happy to have met him.

April 27

Today we visited several tourist sites. First we went to the Blue Mosque. This was the first mosque I've seen and I was pretty impressed with it. Just the size of the marble pillars inside...It's mind blowing to know that building was built without any heavy load lifting machines, amazing! We also traveled to Hagia Sofia, I'm pretty proud of myself for climbing to the second floor since I suffer from an irrational fear of heights. We also traveled to TEGV, a volunteer education foundation. We gave them the children's books that we all collected together and spent some time talking and reading books with the chldren. One kid asked me which soccer team I liked, when I said Brazil (for lack of another team) he really didn't enjoy that.Tonight we went to a restaurant called Oriental House. It is a dinner theater that is reservation only. It was a great way to spend the evening. There was traditional Turkish folk dancing and also some belly dancing. I probably would have been a little embarased by that part of the show if my mother didn't belly dance, so I knew that it is not what American movies have made it out to be.

April 28

Today we traveled to Rumeli Hisari. This was an old fort that was built to withstand a certain invasion (I don't remember which one). I once again am proud of reaching the top of the wall since the stairs are rather narrow and there is no guard railing. There we talked with the Katies, who are two daughters of missionaries. It was nice to hear from them about their lives. We also had another burst of shopping at Akmerkez. We were going to go on a boat ride after that so we had to leave by a certain time and Stephen was almost too late to be able to go on the boat ride. We also went back to the Grand Bazaar and I got a Turkish tea set. Celil is going to buy us some Turkish tea for when we go back to the United States and I figured... You can't drink Turkish tea without Turkish tea cups.

April 29

It's rather nice to be back home after the trip. I really enjoyed myself and I look forward to the next time I get to go. Today was just traveling back. The flights were uneventful and I am really suffering from jet lag and I have school tomorrow. So good night.

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