Storm City...

So here you have two photos of me playing around with the candlelight as we have had a very stormy past few days and now the power has gone out yet again : ) It's been alright though since this is not a regular occurance- it's kind of fun.

A couple interesting things I've noticed here lately...

Last night I was the only female on an almost full bus... strange for me me.. but not for here.
I'm starting to love Antalya- it has so much beauty to be uncovered and it's so diverse.... not only in the people that live here but also just the traditions and landscape and food and everything! Thank you sooo much to those of you who have been praying for me to have community and friends here! Those prayers have definitely been answered and I have a wonderful church. fellowship, and girlfriends that have made my life so much fuller here! I'm off to Germany now for the next few weeks to visit some friends that I met here, to hopefully be an encourager to them, and just to take a break... I'll be saying hello soon- from Munich!

A Sight to Behold.

So goes the saying, "When it rains it pours"... they aren't kidding around here in Antalya-

Yesterday I got caught in a flash flood and it was awesome! I had finished teaching just after noon run home to grab some stuff and get ready to meet a friend in the city when all of a sudden I looked outside only to see huge drops coming down. Now being an Oregonian- i was secretly delighted and happy to brave the rain on this rare occasion (we have only gotten about a week of rain since I've been here). I grabbed my cool clear umbrella, my raincoat, and a hat and set off to catch a bus. Quickly analyzing the best route to take out of my three possible options, I settled on my least frequented route- through a back road, past an olive grove, turn left at the greenhouse, cross the canal and pop out on a main road. As soon as I set off, the heavens opened up and let loose- water pouring over my umbrella. I made my way over the dirt and rock road and ended up standing on the bridge for twenty minutes in the windy rain until the bus came. Unfortunately this one did not have heaters on the sides (most do!) but it was just nice to be out of the constant wet. When I arrived in the city the rain had reached it's height- Stepping off the bus into the street which had transformed into a small river I laughed out loud- the sight before me was ridiculous! People were scrambling through the streets to get under awnings or inside shops- out of the downpour... cars were slowly driving through the rivers of streets creating wakes behind them. At this point there was absolutely no way to prevent getting totally drenched but I didn't mind a bit- it was warm rain! It was hilarious to watch people react to the sudden flash downpour. I hurried along the twisting streets that lead to St. Paul's where I was meeting my friend Izehi. Almost there, I stopped to wait at the side of the road for a good chance to cross... there was a man there as well and just as a bus rounded the corner we both looked at each other knowing that we were about to get soaked even more- and just as we realized it the bus turned the corner and splashed us head to toe- and I just started laughing so hard because of how ridiculous this was at the end of a long week! I finally met up with Izehi and since the power was out at St. Paul's due to the storm we decided to treat ourselves to a rare cup of coffee at the warm and dry Starbucks around the corner. All in all it was a refreshing reminder to let go and look up at laugh a little. The weather was crazy but not unsafe- chock it all up to a good splashing in the puddles, or rather rivers, day.

Turkish Picnicking... a Lazy Sunday.

Daydreaming....

Today. was a good day. I worked only with the Albers kids Zach and Dani (6/7th), Lyssie (1st) and Aasia (pre). It was fun actually- The middle schoolers are focusing on writing currently so we made up a bunch of stories today to go with a certain tone- like "scary" or "hopeful" or "dreadful" or "overjoyed". Kinda like charades but for writing stories. Then Lyssie amazed me with her top notch writing for a kid who just learned how. And Aasia- well Aasia has some mad coloring skills : )

I took my afternoon off to venture into the city and people watch, eat lunch at St. Paul's cultural center (also my church), drink coffee, study some Turkish on my own and just take in more of this beautiful city that I live in (or at least close to). I rounded the bend of a busy street where they just finished some ongoing construction on a new tram line, and took in the view. Busy streets, winter haze in the air, people bundled up, the mountains capped with beautiful snow, the clock tower, the fountain, the cliffs overlooking the sea... I found myself sitting down on a bench- drinking my coffee- still in my daydream. And then, in a snap, I woke up and realized that I wasn't daydreaming like I so often do back home... that I was actually here- seeing this stuff right before my eyes- I was taking part in the busy street, and the turks out enjoying the view and afternoon. It was an incredible moment for me. And I felt a little nudge from the Lord saying- yes, you're really here and I love you! It was awesome. I mean it was a moment of pure beauty... and it's not like that all the time here : ) So here's to not daydreaming every once in awhile... but actually being in the thick of it and enjoying it while you're there.

A Night of Cookies, Crutches, Kids and Cooking.

Well, today was supposed to be my second turkish lesson but my new teacher wasn't feeling well so it was canceled- that's ok though- I've pretty much gotten over the idea now that I will be able to speak Turkish very well. It's a really challenging language with so any cultural things deeply engrained in it- I just can see that it will take a lot more time and focus than honestly I have to offer while I'm here. Instead of turkish lessons, Gail (one of the mom's) called me and asked if I would mind coming over and helping out with the kids and dinner because not only is she in her last few months of pregnancy (and really large and achy) but also she just had a pretty bad ankle sprain when coming down some stairs that were uneven in the dark yesterday. Poor Gail! She's handled it really well though- she really is a trooper and has got some supernatural joy from the Lord I think too. So, of course happily I went over to spend some time with her and just help out while Mat her husband was in the city borrowing some crutches for her. It was fun to have time to be together and chat too, life is busy!
I was handed the task of figuring out dinner. I love to cook but usually it's on my own terms when there is no pressure and I can experiment. Tonight I really wanted to make a good meal for the family- something comforting... no one else had any ideas so I picked parmesan-lemon crusted chicken, rice (pilavh) and sauteed vegetables.... and big chewy chocolate chip cookies for dessert (with leftovers for gifts to neighbors since you never go over to anyone's home here empty handed and Gail won't be able to do much baking right now). Hannah and Moriah helped me and it was so much fun to be hanging out with them outside of school where we have to be on task and fairly strict. They are a kick to be with- so funny! Hannah and Moriah are African and you sure can tell it by the way they move and and the sounds they can make- it's funny and incredible- the things they come up with... like noises that have never before been heard : ) Well, dinner turned out well, Gail got her crutches, the cookies were successful, and those girls made me laugh so hard... what a beautiful job God did on them....
I was soo glad I could be there to help and encourage tonight (and that dinner turned out). It was great.

Here are some pictures that I've promised- from the city and the village.

All the lovely things....

There have been so many unique and striking things that have come across my path every day as I live life here in Turkey... a few examples: camels crossing the street at will, flashes of lightning off in the distance that light up the entire horizon often, the rocky cliffs of coastline diving into the deep cerulean blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, blue smurfs everywhere here like on advertisements and such, public workout structures in the parks next to the sea (so strange- it's a good idea but there is no resistance to any of them so they are really just un-fun big people play structures!) I was thinking today- one of the things that I WON"T miss when I leave this country is people honking every time they drive by- I'm not exactly sure why they do it- I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they just honk to let the person on the street know that they are coming and Turkish men just trying to get a rise out of me : ) I woke up late this morning, rolled out of bed and hurried to get the bus. After getting off at my stop it is still about a 15 minute walk to the house where I teach depending on which bus I get. It's a beautiful walk and nice so early in the morning (7:30 is early for me : ) but I am usually still waking up and so it's really delightful to be honked at every time a car goes by... I usually jump halfway out of my skin : ) haha- is that a legitimate saying? I'm not so sure.

Celebrating the New Year here was awesome! Not necessarily because of Turkey- but just because I had a really great experience with the people I was around. For New Years Eve I was invited to a party at the house of the pastor of the international church that I frequent here. They are really fun people- originally from California but have lived here for like 14 years and have 3 kids all home from school for the break. They had a big party in their beautiful apt. on the 15th floor in the city and invited everyone from the church. It was a blast- lots of people came and we played games, ate a lot, danced, and shared about the year and hopes and dreams for 2009. Dinner was home made chili with rice and yogurt (you put it on everything here). I feel so blessed! I rang in the new year in Antalya, on the roof of the 15th floor with new friends, looking out over the city lights and stars beaming in the night sky, watching fireworks explode in the air and dancing around with sparklers. It was a beautiful surprise of a new years celebration. It was awesome to be with people from all around the world who in reality I barely know but laughed and celebrated with, hugged and somewhere in there became friends with.

New Years day was the best I think. I got to head out to the beach for my very first time with the same family I spent new years eve with... and it was a blast! We happened across a new go-cart race track out there so of course we thought it was the perfect time to race- so off we went screaming across the track for ten minutes which I have decided is one of my favorite things to do... ever. As we made our way down to the beach, we happened (once again- it was a day of beautiful surprises) to see a man with a stray dog who had rececntly had puppies. There were 6 little black pug nosed puppies and 6 of us so we spent about half an hour cuddling and petting and holding these adorable little pups. Then we finally went for it and ran into the Sea! It was glorious! The water was so warm compared to the Pacific- even in January! We played around and swam in the water for about 20 min and then got out and that's when the cold seeped in- even though the water is still warm the air is freezing.

After we got home we all crowded into the kitchen to drink steaming mugs of salep which is a hot, sweet, cinnamony and creamy sort of rice milk which I love- it's like it comforts your whole body as it seeps down your throat and into your belly! After that I went to the Turkish cinema to see the film "Australia" with a few friends. Although I was not crazy about the movie- I did get to eat corn in the movie theater so hey what else could you want right? Haha- that's right- corn, not popcorn. Corn is a VERY popular snack here. They serve it in cups with a spoon and dress it up with all kinds of different things like sweet chili sauce, butter and crushed red pepper, mayonnaise, and the list goes on. Yeah- so pretty much the best start to a new year that I could think of.

Still I do miss lots of the little things back home. Some days I am ready to step on a plane and fly right back and others I am so happy to be here. My job is challenging in and of itself and that is further complicated by the fact that we are in a very foreign country. Even-so I have a deep sense of residing peace in my soul in being here right now because i know that God has great purpose in this and that He loves me and the ones that I am helping deeply. So I enjoy all the lovely things and try to share them with you the best that I can. Hope you see lot's of unique and striking things that delight YOU wherever you may be today!