iyi paskalyalar
^Turkish for Happy Easter. :)
This is has been a great couple of days, I must say. Thursday, I finally met the Australian exchange students at my school. We went on a trip sponsored by Rotary to a museum in Emirgan, which is an area north of the second bridge on the European side. Then, we went to the pretty tulip gardens.
And then, Miniaturk.
Miniaturk is basically a miniature version of Turkey. Every major Turkish landmark is put on display in its miniature form. That was pretty cool.
We had a lot of fun that day and we were pretty disappointed that we had JUST met when they were set to leave on Saturday. Ya, I was bummed… When we drove over the Bosphorus bridge on the way back to the school, I looked over at Ortaköy and asked the girls if they had been. They said no, and we decided to make a trip the next day. So, we asked the school and we were all set. We left from the school the next morning. It was such a nice break from the library for me, and we all had fun together. I really regret not meeting them sooner. I guess I’ll just have to swing by Australia sometime soon. :) Sophie, Paige, Serena… you guys are cool and are allowed to make fun of my accent all you want. Because yours beats mine for sure. ;)
We were supposed to give two separate presentations to the school that day. One about Australia and one about Texas and the US. But, the girls went first and it took a little longer than expected so I’ll be presenting on another day.
After school, my plan was to head to Taksim to go to an 8:00 Easter mass, but I got the times confused so I didn’t get to go. Turns out it meant 8:00 am.
Then, Deniz and I had talked about seeing a movie later, but she wasn’t feeling well. :( So, I found myself in my normal spot. Starbucks near my host mom’s preschool in Etiler. I had eaten lunch around 10:30 earlier that day so I figured a 5:30 dinner was appropriate. I had a sebzeli sanviç (vegetable sandwich) and green tea. My favorite Starbucks meal. I texted people, trying to find out what the rest of my friends were up to seeing as all my plans kinda went down the drain. Everyone seemed to be busy or just too far away to meet up. I admitted defeat and decided to text my host mom. She had plans for that night, but I wanted to see what time she would be ready to go. Instead, I got a text saying that Yasemin was on her way to meet me at Starbucks. Yay. :) I thought they were out at my host mom’s other school in Kemerburgaz.
We had our sandwiches together and then walked back to my host mom’s school. It’s a preschool called Koza, which is Turkish for cocoon. I think that’s super cute.
We said hi to all the teachers and ate one of the desserts on the table. The teachers had thrown a little surprise party for my host mom’s birthday which was the next day. Then, Yasemin and I walked to Metro City in search of a gift Yasemin could buy for her mother. :) Luckily, I had some time to introduce Yasemin to an American delicacy… French fries dipped in a milkshake. Hello, Burger King. I’m glad I got to share some my culture with her. ;)
My host mom picked us up shortly after and we headed home. At home, I finally got to skype with my sweet best friends, Emily, Micaela, and Lauren. We needed to talk about some important stuff which we did, for about 20 minutes and then got sidetracked. Eh, what can ya do? We’re best friends. I do not want to leave Istanbul any time soon, but man I wish I could have those girls here, too. Even just for a little bit. Love them and miss them to death.
Yasemin slept in my room with me and we fell asleep talking as usual. I had another dream about going home. It’s always the same. I’m suddenly back home. I didn’t even get to say bye. And I cry blah blah blah. filan filan.
Saturday, my host mom’s birthday, we originally planned on going to the gym for yoga class, but I think we woke up late or something? So we didn’t go. Instead, we just had a nice breakfast at home, did some cleaning, and when everyone left, Yasemin and I attempted to make a cake. It ended up being a mess, but it tasted oh so good.
Before we knew it, people started showing up to the house and we had to get dressed! Lal, Naz, Pelin, and Hakan arrived first. I missed them! It was great to see everyone. The party basically consisted of the adults hanging out, snacking, talking, drinking, laughing, pictures, Galatasaray futbal match, and the kids running around upstairs, joking, laughing, watching funny videos, doing flips on the bed (Naz), and much much more. Nancy arrived a little later and I went to meet her outside. Then, all the kids went downstairs and watched Charlie St. Cloud. Nancy fell asleep upstairs after an exhausting week of traveling around with her dad. I stayed up only because I was waiting to give my host mom her birthday gift. She asked me to wait until the party was over and everyone left. I think she knew she was going to cry. She cried over Yasemin’s card when she read it earlier that day.
I loved the hug I got from my host mom after she read my card. I wrote that from the bottom of my heart. I meant every word and more. So I was glad she was touched by it. I cried, too.
The next day, Easter Sunday, I woke up early so I could beat my host mom to the cleaning. I was hoping I could keep her from being stressed while 12 teenagers cooked in her kitchen. Haha. Yes, today was our Easter brunch. Everyone arrived around 12:00 or so, and Conor began to work his magic with the pancake batter from America. We also had bacon Nancy’s dad brought with him when he came to visit her. And of course maple syrup. So, it was an all out American breakfast. Except, my host mom would not let us skimp on the variety of Turkish cheese and simit. Plus, we had Poutine, a Canadian dish with french fries, gravy, and cheese, and Brazilian candy and cookies. So it was a fusion of all our cultures for Easter brunch. And it was a great time. Everyone just spent the day at our house chillin’ and talking. And eating tons of left-over cake.
After everyone went home, we all settled in for the night. My host mom handed Yasemin and me some plates of cake and sent us to the guards across the street. They thanked us for the delicious cake. Afiyet olsun. (Enjoy or bon appetite)
Time for bed. The kids headed up stairs, including me. I opened a Francis Chan podcast from one of the Easter services at his church and listened, prayed, praised. Then, I fell asleep.
Tomorrow is my 8th month. I’ll celebrate by skipping school and enjoying the beautiful weather from Kız Kulesi. Then I get to have a lovely dinner with my family. Every Tuesday. I’m going to miss all of this so much. 2 months.
