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Updates, logs, and reflections
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Jennifer |
Simone |
Collette |
Sierra |
Jay |
Kelly |
Stephen |
Luke |
Chi-su
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April 22
I haven’t been in Turkey in April since I was seven. It’s weird because some of the things I associate with Turkey aren’t here right now. But still, it’s Turkey, so I’m happy. Our trip from America went fine, and I WASN’T late to Bethany, I was on time, everyone else just got there early... Collette, Kelly, and I stuck our feet in the pool a little bit ago and it was freezing cold! Now we’re all sitting in my and Simone’s room because it’s the biggest and best room, eating pistachio nuts and chocolate and talking. It’s pretty fun. La Paloma is so gorgeous, I haven’t been here before and I love it! I’m not very jetlagged, but I’m kind of out of it, so I think I’m going to stop talking...
April 23
Today was really fun! I’d been to Perge before, but not since I was little so it was still really interesting. My mom broke our camera because she was trying to be cool jumping around on rocks and she fell. It didn’t make me so happy. I loved the beach. It was so gorgeous. You could see mountains with snow on them, the city, and the beach all at the same time, which was cool. The water was really freezing, and unfortunately I don’t have a tan yet, but it was still really great! I’m definitely enjoying the Turkish food!
April 24
Today we went to a big public high school in Antalya. When we got there, a bunch of the students had lined up in the windows and cheered when we waved at them. We went into a couple English classrooms and talked to the kids, then went outside, where we listened to three students playing guitar, flute, and singing. We talked to more students, and later we played soccer and volleyball with them. Even though the language barrier made it hard to keep conversations going, they were all ready friendly, and wanted our email addresses so that they could keep in touch with us. After lunch, we went down to the harbor for a two-hour boat ride on the Mediterranean. We saw a huge waterfall, which was cool, and I got ever so slightly tan, which was even cooler! Later we went to a traditional Turkish home for dinner. The family only had a two hour warning that all of us would be coming, and they still managed to make loads of amazing food! Turkish people are really hospitable.
April 26
Yesterday was our last day in Antalya. We went to a public high school, a private K-12 school, were in a parade and on TV, visited organic greenhouses, and flew to Istanbul. I really enjoyed going to the public high school. The people there were really friendly. This one guy tried to teach Turkish to Simone, Chi-Su and I. They got very excited when I already knew some! The girls at the school thought that the American boys were handsome (they were very misled... :P) so I told the guys (in Turkish!) that Turkish boys are very handsome. They liked that too! The agricultural parade was a very interesting experience. There were camels, donkeys, puppets, tae-kwon do people, people in traditional Turkish outfits, the mayor of Kumluca (which is where the parade was), and lots of other things in the parade. I wonder what all the Turks thought of the crazy Americans waving Turkish flags being in their parade!
Today we went to Topkapi Palace and Kapali Çarsi (Grand Bazaar). I loved looking at all the jewels in Topkapi… I wanted to steal them (just kidding!). I didn’t buy much in Kapali Çarsi, probably because I’ve been there way too many times, but it was still fun. I like making the people in the stores think that I’m fluent in Turkish, it makes me feel really smart! I was going to see friends of mine from Istanbul tonight, but it didn’t work out, so that made me sad. But it was a pretty good day!
April 27
Today we started out by going to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Yerebatan Saray Sarnici (the Basilica Cistern). I'd been to all of them before, but they're always fun to see. The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia are so huge and gorgeous. The architecture is amazing. There's a wishing pool at the Cistern where you're supposed to throw a coin in and make a wish. I threw in an American, Turkish, and Canadian coin, so my wish had better come true! After lunch, we went to a Turkish educational foundation called TEGV, where there are after-school activities and English lessons for children who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to do those sorts of things. We toured their facilities and talked to some of the kids there for a while. They were really cute, and very excited about talking to us. A few of them were calling Collette and I their big sisters in Turkish, which was adorable! Next we went to Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrian walkway with all sorts of shops and restaurants along it. It's a very popular place for Turks to go to. I met up with one of my friends from Istanbul there for a while, which was really fun! In the evening, we went out to dinner at a restaurant which is a huge tourist attraction because it has this really awesome show with folk dancers and bellydancers and singers. The show was awesome.
April 28
This was our last day in Turkey. In the morning, we went to Rumeli Hisari, which is this really huge old fort. A couple of my friends from Istanbul met us there to talk to us about what it's like to be an American living in Turkey. It was good to see them. After we had explored Rumeli Hisari, we went to Akmerkez, a popular mall in Istanbul. We ate at various restaurants in the food courts (I got Arby's, my first American food all week!) and then split up to shop. Another friend of mine came there to see me. We went back to Kapali Carsi after we finished at Akmerkez. I had lots of fun bargaining! We had gozleme for dinner. It's one of my favorite Turkish foods! Since we had to leave the hotel at 2:30 in the morning on April 29 for the airport, we all stayed up really late, but most people ended up going to bed around one. But Kelly, Simone, my sister Chelsea and I stayed up all the way until we had to leave. We had a good talk, mostly about boys!
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