Holiday celebrations

Don't worry, living overseas we still keep our American traditions alive as much as possible. I celebrated Thanksgiving with my young American friends. We had turkey and all the fixings (including some cranberry sauce mailed from America!). I baked my first apple pie from scratch for the occasion, and everyone said it turned out pretty good. Our friend lent us an artificial tree, and we bought lights and garland for it, as well as splurging on a few Christmas decorations from expensive home stores here. My roommate brought 2 stockings from America, as well. Our neighbors think we're a little weird (we even have a wreath on our door), but what else is new?

A trip to the ancient world

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Antioch. Besides being a beautiful city, it was also like a trip back in time in places. It has quite a lot of history! I took over a hundred pictures, but I'll try to keep it to only the best pictures for you ;)

Antioch sits just off the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, surrounded by mountains.


Our first stop was Titus and Vespavius Tunnel, built by the Roman emporers of those names to protect the town from flooding from the mountain. Now there's not much of a river, and we hiked through the tunnel. The hike also included aqueducts, ancient tombs of Lycian kings, olive and orange groves, and valleys full of bay trees and wildflowers. We met some gardeners who made shampoo from the berries of the bay tree.






After our hike we went into town for lunch and stopped by the Orthodox church. It has been there since the 13th century, and Arab Orthodox worship there. The inscription over the gate was particularly interesting.



Then we headed back outside the city again to see the Cave-Church of St. Peter. This cave is thought to be where the church in Antioch originally met in the first century(you can read about them in Acts), and then walls and an altar were added in the 11th century, as well as other architectural details. Being on a mountain, it also had an excellent view of the city. Like the tunnel, the cave-church wasn't the only attraction. A hike on the mountain also brought us to a large well-worn Mary carved out of the hillside. Interestingly enough, supposedly once a carving of Jesus was on her right, and a carving of Charon (Hades' ferry driver in Greek mythology) was on her left. Then, with the help of a local guide waiting to assist the brave, we ventured into a small tunnel built by the Romans for defense. We walked and crawled our way through until we came to a 20-foot shaft with an old-fashioned "ladder," that is, hand-holds and foot-holds carved into the opposite walls to assist your shimmying. Fortunately, I had a little experience on climbing walls, and 2 friends that had done it previously to coach me through.









All in all, it was quite a trip. I would love to go back and do it all again, and there is even more that we didn't have time to see! It certainly gives you perspective to visit something that old--tombs of kings whose names no one knows except a handful of historians, a tunnel that still stands even though the town it served is all but gone, statues barely recognizable, and more tunnels built for troops of an empire that's already been replaced by other governments twice over. It's interesting to climb and hike for recreation where people once did so for work or survival. I'm thankful for all the technological progress we've made, but even those things will, too, pass away. One day all our gadgets will be nothing but a poor substitute for compost, and our names will be mostly forgotten. But when I'm in heaven, I won't care. I'll be more than happy with what I have.

Bravo!

I have been here over 6 months now. I just came back from the corner store. I have been going to the corner store once every one or 2 weeks for about the past 3 or 4 months. Today, as usual, I asked how much my item cost. They prefer exact change, so I repeated back to myself what she said, looked at all my coins, and gave the woman 2.75. When she took it, she said, "Bravo! You learned!" Yes, it only took me 4 months, but I finally am able to comprehend her and give her what she wants in return to her satisfaction. At least they're encouraging...

A Tour of Adana

Recently I went on a tour of Adana. Some of the sights were familiar, but some were new. Here are some pictures from the tour.


First stop was "Ataturk's House." It's a museum where this city proudly displays a house where Ataturk, the founder of this country, stayed a few times in his visits here.

Next to Ataturk's house was a home which wasn't so blessed by his presence and has been left to disrepair.


They call this the "Big Clock." It's old, but I don't know the details.


Then we went to the ethnographic museum where they had an example of a tent used by nomads 2 centuries ago. Reportedly, when you rolled down the walls and door of the goat-hair tent, it had special properties that kept out snakes and scorpions. Since goats quickly destroy vegetation, the main animal that they keep later became sheep instead of goats. I'm rather glad of this fact because reportedly lamb tastes much better than goat meat.


This picture doesn't do justice to its size, but this an entrance to the largest mosque in all of Turkey. You can see it from almost any point in the city.


The interior greatly resembled the famous Blue Mosque, with the main difference being a lack of mobs of tourists. Who needs to go to Istanbul to see 500-year-old mosques when you can come here and see one only 30 years old, and wander around as much as you want?

Pizza! Pizza!

The taste of America has arrived just 3 blocks from my house! And yes, even though they don't eat pig products in this country, there is pepperoni on that pizza I'm holding. It may be made of turkey (the animal, not the country), but it still tasted like pepperoni, which is all that matters. Hooray for globalization.

Kitten (Cat) Caboodle

Well, I thought it was time for some more cat pictures. I think our cats have reached their full size. They're certainly not kittens anymore.

They've become very studious as they get older.
Pamuk is still very much the dominant cat. She'll even guard the sink to keep the faucet away from her sister.

Today we bought a very large can of green beans because we're having lots of company. Pamuk was kind enough to pose for a size comparison.

Happy Ramadan Holiday

Or, Ramazan Bayraminiz kutlu olsun! (as they say here). Ramadan officially ended last night, and today was the first of the 3 day holiday celebrated after Ramadan ends. You heard about my iftar experience during Ramadan. Well, I wanted to include a brief picture of another way to do iftar:
That's right, our neighbors had their friends and family over for an iftar in honor of our neighbor who passed away a month or so ago. They couldn't all fit in their apartment, so the caterer came to our parking lot and they set up a sort of backyard barbecue-style iftar. The pictures were taken from our usual "spying location," our balcony.

Anyways, back to today's holiday. It's kinda like a cross between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Halloween. The other name for the holiday is Sugar Holiday. People visit family, friends, and neighbors for 3 days. Guests are served coffee, candy, and dessert. Children stop at your door, and wish you "Bayraminiz kutlu olsun," and in return you give them a piece of candy (I love trick-or-treaters!) Today is the biggest day. Ninety percent of the shops are closed. We went out today, and everyone we saw was dressed up. If they can afford it, they usually buy a new outfit just for today. Today is primarily for spending time with family, and then the next 2 days you see friends and neighbors. So, it's been a quiet day for us, but the next 2 days should be busy.

A Little Taste of America

I guess it's kind of strange to say I went to a Mexican restaurant to get a taste of America. But it's owned by 2 Americans, the menu's entirely in English, and the waiters spoke English. The food was more of an approximation of what you get at Mexican restaurants at home, and to be honest, I can make better Mexican rice (then again, I don't like my rice spicy). Although the chips and salsa were great (you can't buy salsa here). Plus, they even had MTV on a big screen on the wall. Not that I love MTV. And our Turkish teacher was kind enough to speak entirely in English with us during dinner. I guess the plethora of English was enough to make a Mexican restaurant feel like America. I'll take what I can get occasionally.

Sahur

A couple weekends ago, we went to my Turkish teacher's house for a quick overnight trip. We were going to have dinner with her Fri night, and while we were making our plans late that afternoon, her family kept calling. Her aunt from out of town begged her to bring the foreigners so she could meet us, since she had never met a foreigner before. Finally, our teacher said to us "why don't we surprise my family and go to my house tonight, and you can have sahur tomorrow." Now, her family lives 2 hours away by public transportation, and none of us had a car, and my roommate had to be back by lunch time the next day. But we didn't want to pass up an opportunity to meet her family and have sahur (the before-dark breakfast they eat during Ramadan). So we through our things together and headed out the door at about 6:30 pm. On the way to the train, we stopped at a bakery and grabbed a large cheese-filled roll-type-thing for a snack. When we got to her house at 8:30, her family had leftovers waiting for us--beans, rice, bread, and salad. Then all the ladies gathered to watch a Turkish soap opera (which my roommate is now hooked on). After more chit chat (and lots of questions from her curious family), we headed to bed at the reasonable hour of 11. At 3:30 am, we woke up for sahur. All us ladies (our teacher, her mother, aunt, grandmother, older sister, my roommate and I) crowded around a kitchen table for breakfast. It was mostly quiet, since none of us were fully awake, except perhaps the mother who had prepared everything. Here's a picture we took of the leftovers at our second breakfast that day:


As with every meal, we drank tea with breakfast. I think I only had 1 glass, maybe 2 (they're small glasses). At 4:30, as with everyone else, I tried to go back to bed. It was futile. I didn't sleep again until we got on the train at 9 am. I enjoyed the morning immensely though. As the like slowly increased, I could hear the sounds of roosters crowing, then dogs barking, and later birds joined in chirping. When I went to the window, I could smell sheep. To the right were mountains, to the left was the Mediterranean. Finally, I saw the sheep. Not too long after, I heard their shepherd. Now, coming from suburban America, my images of sheep always came from these peaceful paintings in books. The shepherd I saw that morning was anything from peaceful. He was a cranky old man who spent most of his time yelling at his sheep and throwing rocks at them to get them to move! I almost laughed aloud, but I didn't want him to hear me. I didn't understand any words he was saying, but from the context it sounded like "Hey you stupid sheep, get away from that! No, no, stop that, go over there! Why do you keep walking over to that &%$! patch of dirt!" In the light of dawn, I couldn't get a good picture of the shepherd, but here's his sheep:


I couldn't help but think of the Good Shepherd that morning. As a pet owner, I always imagined that shepherds have this sweet natural loving bond with their sheep. In reality, shepherds are humans who get really fed up with having to lead such stupid animals to make a living. There is nothing naturally lovable about sheep (they're not cute and fluffy usually, either). The Good Shepherd doesn't care for us because we're lovable. But we can give thanks that He's a lot nicer to us than we deserve, and a lot nicer than human shepherds usually are.

Iftar

Last week one of our friends invited us to her home (she lives with her parents) for iftar. During the month of Ramadan, people fast during the day, but every night after dark they eat a big dinner called iftar. Fortunately, her mother is a wonderful cook. I came an hour or so before dinner to spend time with my friend while she helped her mother cook dinner. Above is the picture of the table. When I took the picture, they still weren't done putting all the food out! The round things in a bowl in the middle that look like rolls are called ichli kofte. The outside is a bulgur mixture to form the shell, and the inside is usually ground lamb with parsley and onions. This time it was made with ground chicken--delicious! We also had salad, bread, soup, dates, manti (like ravioli w/ lamb inside), chicken, rice, and an eggplant-lamb stew. Wanting to get into my Turkish experience, I also opted to drink ayran with dinner. Ayran is a drink made by mixing yogurt and water until you get a milk-like consistency. I actually like it in small quantities, since my mom taught me to eat plain yogurt as a child. It's very filling, though. Dinner was followed by tea, and then later baklava and chocolate cake. They know how to eat!

After dinner, my roommate and I went with our friend, her parents, and her little brother to a sort of ramazan festival they were having at the big park nearby. We enjoyed shopping at some of the booths, but the main attraction we were there to see was the Turkish folk dancing. Each region of Turkey has its own traditional dance with traditional costumes, and several of them were showcased that night. For your viewing pleasure, I've added a video! Don't forget to turn your sound on. To finish up the night, just in case we were still hungry, they took us to get ice cream.

A Photo-Walk to the Lake

I saw a different side of my neighborhood the other day. I had often driven by the lake when riding in the car with other people, but I never realized just how close it was to my house. I started walking towards it one day, and I got there in about 15 min. On the way, I walked through an area that looked like I had left the city. From my limited experiences here, I felt like I had left the country, as well.
There were lots of animals in the neighborhood, especially chickens wandering around. This woman appeared to be feeding the family goat, with her son to keep her company.The lakeside is a popular center of recreation. One man was selling fresh nuts from a cart to a girl while 2 others (friends or family members?) had a picnic in the median. There were also several people enjoying a stroll along the lake.
Finally I reached what I had been walking for, an unspoiled view of the lake with the hills behind it.
As I walked along the lake, there was a lady picking raspberries. Mmmm...summer.... I could only imagine what kind of delicious foods she might make for her family with those raspberries. From her appearance, she looked like she lived in the neighborhood that I had just come through.
The lake is also an important source of food for some of the poor people that live by it. There was a man teaching his son to fish, and a few fishing boats.

Strangely enough, I also passed this house on my way home.
This place is always full of surprises. All I have to do is walk out the door, look, and listen.

Glitter and gold and getting home again

Just when you think you have nothing to blog about, you get invited to a wedding! My roommate's friend's sister got married last night, and I got invited to go along as the roommate. This was my first experience attending a Turkish wedding, and it seemed to live up to all the stories I had heard. In case you're wondering why I went to a wedding on a Wednesday, Ramadan started today, and people don't have weddings during Ramadan. So all the brides-to-be rush to get in a wedding date before they have to wait another month.

To be more accurate, I didn't see the actual wedding ceremony. The actual wedding is a civil ceremony at a government building. Everyone attends the reception, which has its own set of customs. My roommate and I got all dressed up and rode the bus to a wedding hall downtown. The wedding started at 8, and we got there a little late. In typical Turkish fashion, people were strolling in until 8:45 or so. Our friend greeted us, dressed like it was prom as is appropriate for the immediate family of the bride. She was a great hostess and looked after us all night.

At around 9, the bride and groom entered with great fanfare. About a dozen people stood on either side w/ sparklers and threw confetti. Our friend included us in this part, of course :)

After that, the bride and groom had a requisite slow dance. Then other couples joined the floor for slow dancing. After that, the music picked up and the party really started. The dancing resembles vaguely what you see at parties and clubs in America, except with that belly-dancing flair. And of course, no boys and girls dancing together for this one. The bride and groom danced in the middle, with a crowd around them clapping. Ladies from the crowd would move into the center, dance with the bride, get their picture taken, and then move out. Of course, my friend made me get in the middle. I enjoyed it, and hoped I wasn't embarrassing myself.

After a while, they cleared the floor, brought out the cake, and let the bride and groom feed each other. They cleared out the cake, and the couple did some belly-dancing in the middle, while people threw money on them.

The children cleared out the money, and the floor was full of dancing again. Finally, at 9:45, our roommate and I asked special permission to give our wedding gift early so we go home before it was too late. Instead of the wedding gifts you give in America, people here give gold and pin it on red ribbons on the bride and groom. My roommate and I bought a gold coin together and pinned it on the bride.

When we went to leave, our friend escorted us to the bus stop to wait for the bus with us. There was some disagreement on where we should catch our bus, and then our bus drove by without stopping! Our friend flagged down another bus, talked to the bus driver, told him to take us to a park where we could catch our bus home. The bus driver didn't ask for our money. We rode the bus for a while until we came to the bus station, the end of the line. The remaining passengers got off, so we started to. My roommate asked the bus driver about our bus, and he said it wasn't here. He said he was taking us to the park. She said "but we're lost." And he said "don't be lost, go sit down." Sure enough, they took us to the park, and the bus driver waited for us until we caught our bus home. God provides. We got home at 11, tired and relieved, but glad to share that experience with our friend, even if getting around isn't always simple.