noeliniz kutlu olsun
That^ (according to the internet) is how Merry Christmas is said in Turkish. Well, I’m not sure how accurate it is because it’s not really said too often… since Turks don’t celebrate Christmas. New Years is on the way! Mutlu Yillar, Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun, all of that. :)
Today, is Christmas. And it doesn’t matter that it is different. Not for me. The feeling is honestly the same. Maybe even better. Christmas has made me even more happy to be here. Which is strange… considering Rotary has made a point of telling us that we’ll definitely be homesick during the holidays. I’m just not. I love my family so much and I would love to spend Christmas with them as always… but that’s just it. I mean, this is the first time I’ve ever done anything out of ordinary for Christmas. There were two traditions that I was able to keep alive over here: new pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve night and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. And that’s only because my host mom is so wonderful that she went out of her way to do this for me.
I read the Christmas story on Wednesday night. So, Christmas eve eve eve.
Yasemin had been asking me to read it to her. And that seemed like a good night. She said she had never heard the story. Isn’t that so incredible for us to think about? That someone hasn’t heard the story of Jesus’ birth? The first Christmas? But she doesn’t celebrate Christmas. So I shouldn’t expect her to know. It was really fun reading it to her. Someone who had never heard it before. She had so many questions. Lots about the angels. I guess they are pretty fascinating. :)
The opportunities I get here… just give me new perspectives. Perspectives I would have never gotten back home. Let’s be honest, if someone in Lake Jackson said they had never heard the story of the first Christmas, we’d be pretty reluctant to even believe them.
I love this time of year. I’ve been filled with Christmas cheer since Thanksgiving. Probably more so this year than any. It’s strange. All my “traditions” were broken, yet I find myself wanting to call this one of the best Christmases I’ve ever celebrated. And there wasn’t even much celebrating.
I’m full.
So incredibly satisfied.
And of course, thankful.
Let’s see. What have I been up to…
On Thursday, Christmas Eve Eve, I was with my host mom at Istinye Park (a really big nice mall on the European side). We shopped and talked, had dinner and coffee.
I honestly would not trade the conversations and time that I have with my host mom for anything. My uncle asked me tonight what my favorite thing about being in Turkey is… and I really think it’s my family.
Yesterday, Christmas Eve, I went to Laura’s to do some Christmas baking. The first batch of cookies, or whatever they were, did not turn out well sooo we gave up and watched the new Narnia movie in the living room. That’s right, they own it already. :) haha. Later that night, Pelin came home and we ate a quick dinner and had cake since it was her birthday. :) Then, it was time for her party. We squeezed in the car to Taksim and headed to “Cumba,” a club on Beyoğlu. Pelin had rented it out for the night. Laura and I just chilled and walked around a little bit. We were told that we should go check out the church before the party gets started. So Laura and I went to the big, catholic church to get a look at the beautiful mass. Unfortunately, it was pretty crowded and it was difficult to understand the sermon, so we only stayed for a little while and then headed back. On our way back, we came upon a lady playing the violin on the street. She was playing Christmas music. We stopped, sang along, and added to her earning for the night. Walking down Istiklal on Christmas Eve was strangely relaxing. The lights, the people, the music… it sounds like it’d be a headache but it was so nice. There’s so many interesting things to see and experience. A very different Christmas Eve, that’s for sure. Back at Cumba, we chilled and danced until about 2:30 am and my host parents decided it was time to go home.
When I got home, I skyped my family. Then went to sleep…
Only to wake up at 9 am on Christmas morning. It was the kind of day where you wake up and immediately smile as soon as you realize what day it is. I walked downstairs in my pjs and my host mom had cinnamon rolls for us. We ate a nice little Christmas breakfast. :) She apologized several times for not preparing anything for me… but I already felt like she did even more than enough! I’m so thankful that she was so thoughtful to celebrate Christmas for me… a holiday that she doesn’t even celebrate. I was so happy this morning. I went to the European side with my host dad, got on the metro, went to levent, got on a mini bus to besiktas, and got on a ferry boat to kadikoy. I decided floating between two continents was exactly how I wanted to spend my Christmas morning. When will I ever be able to spend Christmas like that again?
Conor and I went to Karakoy (an area in the old city), and we just walked around. Eventually we headed to Galata Tower and had some lunch around there. For a second, we thought we had found a mexican food restaurant but we were wrong. It was a very sad occasion for us.
So we just had some good old Turkish food.
We walked around a little more, and then headed to meet the others for the Rotary Christmas party that night. The party was really fun. Traditional folk dances from different regions of Turkey and some incredible belly dancers. Lots of music and fun and food. And just being with the exchange students is always fun of course. So much to be said about tonight but I’m just too sleepy to finish this.
Merry Christmas friends.
By the way, I said “Christmas,” 27 times in this post. :)
