Kaş!!!!!!!!

Follow from previous blog!!!! Anyways so we got there around 7:30 and İ met my roommate. Her name is Laurie and she's from Boston!!! She's very nice and down-to-earth!! Out "neighbors" were out on their balcony and told us there was free breakfast so we went down after we got settled in a little bit. The girls who said it was free. Jaime and Min, both from California, were almost done and left when we were about half way done. We were then joined by 2 guys from California, Sam and Mike. They were both really nice and extremely funny!! As we were just finishing eating and drinking tea and talking, a man came over and said "will you pay now or later?" İt turns out the breakfast was free only the nights we stayed and since we didnt stay that night we had to pay 10 liras for the food!!!!!! After we paid and ate, Mike needed a swim suit so we walked into town and looked for a swim suit for him. İ seriously almost died laughing!!!! İ think İ might have even peed my pants a little but İ couldnt tell because İ was laughing so hard! İt goes like this, İ'm walking by Mike and Sam and theres all these guys driving around on mopeds. So İ said "Maybe if İ wink at one, they'll give me a ride!!" But since İ cant wink, Sam took over the job of winking!!! He even practiced on some guys sitting at a table and they were like "merhaba!!!" İ almost died!!! He was SOOOOOOOOO funny!!!!! So after we walked around until 9-ish we all went down to the sea and went swimming (that part wasnt so good either cuz it was realy salty and hurt my eyes and sinus's and left my skin really dry) and me and my room mate- Laurie from Boston- laid out and talked and tanned for about a half an hour and then i asked sam and another america, alex, if they wanted to go walk in town. we decided to rent mopeds... it was around noon so we had all afternoon to find somewhere if course we found somewhere right away and rented them out until 10 pm for 25 liras!!! thats really cheap (like 15-18 dollars)!!!!!! and there was so much to see! so we start driving out and right away i started to turn and the gas went faster (it was a turn gas) and i went straight into a bush!!! Well not straight into it, but it was REALLY embarrassing!!!! İ was fine and so was the moped but my pride hurt a little! Then we went to get gas for them and another corner and i skimmed along another bush. We decided to go back to the hotel and show them off and let me put on pants... when i came back out, sam and alex were gone and there was this REALLY cute guy from Finland (his name was Joonas- yo-nus) looking at my moped he asked if he could just drive it up the street and back so i let him and then he asked where he could rent one so i said "if you drive me i'll show you" turns out he was a good driver so then i told him "if you want, you can drive this one if i can ride with you" and that worked for both of us, mostly because i was too scared i'd crash again... so we had lunch and found the other people and 2 more girls-Min and Laurie (not my roommate but another America)-wanted to go and Mike rented one so we all drove aorund... We drove to this ancient theater...İt was really cool! We all went to the top and then me and Joonas went all the way to the bottom and put on a show for them!!!! Eventually Joonas and Sam sang "We all live in a yellow Submarine!" and Sam even did harmony. Once again İ couldn't stop laughing because they were both so comical!!! We went back into town and got food...and one by one, Joonas, Mike, Alex, and Sam all used to bathroom for 10 minutes each! They were all drinking pepto bismal out of their bottles and it was just funny to pick on them for it, although then they would pick on me for being a bad driver... but it was still fun! As we were walking back to the mopeds me and Sam started arguing about where happy cows came from...in the middle of it he started making fun of me for my accent so İ said "No, you Calfornians have WEİRD accents! For example, say 'Happy cows do not come from California'" everyone was listening to see if he would actually say it (Alex who was originally from Appleton was the only one on my side) and of course he did! Which made everyone mad and gave me something else to tease him about! Just goes to prove that no matter what country you're in, or waht starte you're from, girls dominate everything especially mind games :D After walking around town we decided to drive up the mountain to this ancient city. The road was super twisty and turned to gravel. We stopped and asked for directions and they told us to keep going straight but we approached a fork and went to the right and after a minute of driving, thought we'd go to the left instead which led us to a creepy woman who was yelling at us to g back and something about soldiers and just crazy things! But since the boys were driving, they decided to go on. Me and Joonas were leading and we went down a hill and İ turned around and saw Sam and Laurie fall off (they used the front brake going down) so we decided to go back to the people we asked directions from before and ask which way to go. As we were approaching them Sam slowed down going down another hill and they fell again! After that they were done adn went back to town and the people told us to go to the right so we went. İt was absoşuteşy GORGEOUS!!!!!!! Except this really big dump we passed and this creepy dungeon-type thing with bullets outside... We got to this house that let us park our bikes there and continue walking up the mountain. We reached the top, but found no city. There were some Englishmen walked down and they said that they took a fork on the hill to the right and walked for 20 minutes without seeing anything but a spectacular view. We just went straight and it was breath taking but it began getting dark while we were at the top but Joonas wanted to run and see if he could find anything on the path. He was gone for about 20 minutes and Alex walked down and got his moped because he was worried about him and drove odnw the path to find him. They both came back 10 minutes later and by the time we started driving back it was pretty dark. We went back, got dinner, and went to this beach and took pictures... after that we went back to the hotel to shower. Most everyone else was another beach getting drunk and we met them all in town later and went out dancing!!! it was THE tiniest club i've ever seen but it was fun... at about 2 me and Min went back and slept outside!!!! İt was BEAUTİFUL!!! the first stars İ've seen since İ've been here!!!!!! The next day we all went on a boat tour! We saw this really cool castle and we stopeed the boat three times to go swimming. İ was 3 floors and we all jumped off hte top into the sea! İ was really fun!!!! We also danced on the boat because at the port they sold belly dancing shimmy scarves for 5 liras!!!!! By the time we were back at port we were all tired out. We got back to the hotels around 5:30 and planned on going to eat after an hour. The poor restauraunt only had 2 cooks and all 80 of us went to one resaurant!!!! We were there for 3 hours! But we all ate plenty and all had Rakı!!!! İt actually isn't too bad. They put it in a double shot glass, give one shot of Rakı and the rest is water!!! İt tastes like water and then black licorice!!! Some people like Sam, were drinking it straight though and İ tried that and it was HORRİBLE!!!!! Despite all the talk İ didn't even get buzzed although most people were drunk from one! After that we all hung out in a room and had "dog killer" wine. At about 11 we walked into town to go dancing again. Sam had had not only 2 double shots of straight Rakı but also a nottle of Vodka so he was really drunk and he stopped and bought this postcard of famous statues here-they're very tiny wiht erections twice the size of their bodies!- and he walked around with it on his shirt then attatched to his zipper of his pants...we all teased him because it was "false advertising" haha...he lost it though at some point while we were walking. While walking around looking for a club better than the pervious, me and another Californian, Maggie, really had to go the bathroom. We stopped outside a bar with a band and they charged us to use their bathroom!!! Usually they just charge for toilet paper (İ now carry my own around) but this was .75 liras per person just for the bathroom!!! But we really had to go so we paid for it...After that we were sick of walking around so we went to the tiny club again, İ danced with my shimmy scarf and had a great time! Eventually we got kicked out (for closing) at 3 am! We walked back to the hotel and stayed out and talked and taught people how to eat sun-flower seeds, and then around 4 or 4:30 we finally went to bed...me and my roommate set the alarm wrong and it went off at 8:30 instead if 9:30 so we went down for breakfast...there were TONS of people sleeping outside! Most of them had been at the beach again drinking tequila so its easy to explain how they all had hangovers the next day...it was SOOOO funny to watch them wake up and walk into breakfast!!! the hotel people all thought we were crazy because most people slept outside!!! For that day we had a few options, the only thing was that we had to back at 7 to leave. Option 1, Go on a boat ride to the beach...2. Go scuba diving for 35 liras...3. A group was renting mopeds...4. just relax with all the hung over people...İt's not hard to see which one İ choose...staying back witht he hung over people sounded really fun!!!!! Just kidding...of course i went scuba diving!!! İt was the moped excursion people and 2 other guys. We had 3 extra hours before we left at 3 so we split up. Me, Sam, Joonas, Alex, and Laurie went to this beach restauraunt and the boys went swimming. Joonas found a pot in the water! İt was really cool! After that we ate lunch and headed back to the docks. We met the others and got onto the boat. İt was a 20 minutes boat ride there because it was so windy and hard to move ahead but it was like a roller coaster!!!! The waves were huge and we were all up pn the sun deck doing the Titanic pose :) İt was great!!! Once we got there we all had a briefing except joonas because he dives all the time... then we picked our order...it had to go boy-girl-boy ect. İ went second right after Sam. The other girls were too afraid to go!!!! lol... so they got me all suited up and 5 minutes after SAm left İ hopped in the water. İt was weird because the wet suits were only shorts so my legs were cold, but it was still amazing!!! İ couldn't breathe at first when we were just skimming hte surface. İ hated all the bubbles that came out when İ did so İ wouldn't breathe out that much...once we started going down and blowing our noses to relive the pressure, my breathing became normal and we swam on. İt was SOOOOO amazing!!!!!! We swam through tons of fish and even fed some of them by rubbing our hand on coral-like stuff... it was great!!! İt lasted about 20 minutes and during the swim we passed a bunch of other divers collected samples from the depths and İ also passed Sam so we waved and stuff, it was great!!!! After İ was done, İ got out and left on my wet suit because it was worm. Shortly after Joonas came back and asked if İ wanted to go snorkle. Of course İ did then he said, "İ'll teach you how to dive but you have to take off hte wet suit"...it seemed worth it too me and İ could dive all the way to the bottom!!!! Usually İ ran out of breath right away and forgot to blow my nose to get rid of the pressure, but otherwise it was really fun! After about 20 minutes, we both started getting numbd because the water was kinda cold so we got out. Unfortunately my towel was all the way up on the sun deck and İ had "glass cutters" so they made fun of me again...but what else is new right??? haha... On the boat ride back me and Joonas were doing this tribal dance thing that was only cool because you could barely stand because the boat was rocking so much!!! Then Joonas, me, laurie, and min all played leap frog. İt was so much fun! By the time we got back it was 6 so we quickly ate and made it back by 7. Of course we were running late so we had time to take a shower and stuff. Me and Joonas sat together on the bus which was great! He had this drum thing he was trying to play and he gave me his watch to hold onto while he tried to play it (later he forgot to get it back and he e-mailed my host mom and asked her to bring it to the school--oops!!!) and we talked for a while then decided to go sleep. He slept on the floor (most of the guys did) so İ had the seat to myself-which still wasnt very comfertable- and the first time we stopped, he forgot his shoes on hte bus and İ was standing outside so he wore my pink thongs inside to go to the bathroom. When he came out he said that all the guys in there avoided him...haha...so once we got back on the bus everyone was teaching bad turkish words and pick up lines. They taught one that was "give it to me" which isnt neccesarily bad and then Joonas was teaching it to me and a Turk in Finish. Turns out he taught us how to say "i love you, give it to me you f-ing homo!!!" since no one else knew what it meant they were tellling me to say it to peope. İ said it to Sparky first, his response was "The crayfish did it" and then İ said it to Sam who got really close to my face and said something in turkish. Joonas told me what it meant and we couldnt stop laughing because how well it fit together...hahaha... After that we were really overtired and there was this turk talking and tried to "plural" but instead said "purell" and joonas kept messing him up and after 30 minutes or so of laughing and trying to teach him it, neither could say it and we couldnt remember what we were talking about in the first place!!! it was so really funny but it was the kind of funny that you had to be there to understand!!!!! But at 5:30 we got back...İ'm not sure why it was so early but İ think it was because everyone was sleeping so we didnt stop as much... but it was great and İ hope to see them all again!!!!
Our view out the hotel window
Our hotel...by the way, did you know that they call cheap crappy hotels Hostels? Pretty creepy eh?

The boat ride on Saturday...This is about half the people
Dancing on the way back...thats me with the pink shimmy scarf on and red shorts :)
Me teaching Emile (a turk) to crump...oh and that guy sitting there is Emanule, the İtalian...
us doing a Turkish dance. Thats Joonas next to me...
Joonas learning how to play his drum from a turk, Emre

Boarding the boat was scary because you just crossed this shaky board...
breakfast
before going on the boat. thats Yasmine shes one of Anne's students
the turks just lounging
Before the boat again

Çok Güzel!!!! very beautiful!!!!
and again
and again
Waiting to go at the school
The turkish teacher was Anne's friend for the weekend!!!!

Hope you enjoyed hearing about my vacation and seeing the pictures!!!!

Scuba Diving :D

Love and miss you all!!!!

MUAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emily

Em

Emi

Er-Dogg

My busy Week...

So these past two weeks have been pretty crazy!!! İ don't mean bad crazy, İ just mean busy!!! Lets see where to begin....



Last Sunday İ went over to Tuğçe's and spent the night! İt was very nice! We went to this dog farm...it sounds weird but actually İ really liked it! Tuğçe didn't like it as much and did her nails. But there were tons of puppies and they were very cute and climbed on us and licked us and played with each other. They were just adorable!! İt made me miss Speckles, although she's not quite that nice or playful :) After we came home from there we danced a little and Tuğçe said İ'm a natural belly dancer! İ cant wait to start lessons!!!!!!! İ even started buying accessories for it! But İ'll get to that in a different blog... Anyways... So it was around 2 and we decided to go to bed. İ got my own room which was nice but it was kinda stuffy so İ went to open the door to the balcony and an alarm went off. İ shut it really fast and sat on my bed, hoping no one heard. Of course they all did and Tuğçe and her dad came running to my room to see what happened. İt was pretty embarrassing...and then once they realized nothing was wrong they wanted me to sleep with the door to the house open instead of the door to outside...either way İ was so hot all night and slept very lighty. At 9:30 we both got up because we were going to meet her friend Uce. İt's a long story but more or less he was going to meet with this girl he likes, Melissa, at 10 so she could give him back his guitar she borrowed and Tuğçe really doesn't like this girl because she said she plays around with him so she wanted to make her see that there were other girls out there for Uce. Melissa had THE MOST annoying voice İ've ever heard!!! And her hair was kinda like a mullet...but other than that she was really nice and had really pretty blue eyes. But whatever. We weren't at the bus stop where they met for very long. Maybe 10 min. so İ guess İ don't really know her but she seems nice... anyways after taht we walked like a mile to this restauraunt where Tuğçe was going to work but couldn't because school started for them on the 10th. After that we walked all the way back to Tuğçe's (about one and a half miles) and ate and watched TV. İ actually fell asleep for a while because she was checking her e-mails. İt was still a fun day though! Around 6 İ came back home and Anne and Baba went to a relatives for dinner. They still left me food here and watermelon so İ was content :D They got home around 1 am but İ really had a good night to myself...



The next day (Tuesday) Anne woke me up for breakfast. İ started getting zits on my chin so İ began sleeping with toothpaste on them (it actually works nicely!!!) but someone was in the bathroom so İ just used an achne pad to try to wash it off. İ walked into the kitchen and there was a cute guy-turns out he's my cousin (go figure)!!!!! We were all going to go to a wedding later that day. After we ate İ talked to him for a while and then since İ didn't know what time we were going, İ did my make-up and hair and read a little...Then Anne came in and said "let's go!" so i quickly pulled on my dress and heels (my high heel white ones-this is kinda important later) and we left. The wedding itself was very short...only baout 5 minutes. İ met hte whole family in 10 minutes beforehand and afterwards we took pictures for 15 minutes! İ also met my cousin Eylül (September). She's only 12 but very mature and İ like her a lot! She's like Bailey!!! Anyways...so the bride and groom left, there was no screaming out the car doors or dancing or anything. Anne's family and us all headed to this park to eat lunch together. İt turned out they had go-karts there!!! So me, Eylül, and cute cousin (cc) went to go do it... while we were walking there cc kept asking me "are you sure you can do it in a dress? Are you sure you can do it in heels? We can come back later after change...ect..." and everytime İ would say "Yes İ'm sure, İ'll beat you anyways..." so we get there and İ manage to get into it without mooning anyone...and we begin racing. For the first couple laps İ was right on cc's tail (Eylül crashed right away so she was really far behind) finally i passed him and just like İ said İ wold, İ won!!! :) They both told me later what a good driver İ was. Looks like the go-karts at Tom's paid off!!!! After that our family, Eylül and her mom, and cc came back here and ate watermelon and other fruit. Suddenly they told me that İ was going to have to go stay at my second house for a week while Anne and Baba went to İzmir for Rana's college. At first İ was really dissapointed that they wouldn't bring me too...until İ got into the car with them and they tol dme all the things that we could and probably would do over the next week!!!



My first day in their house wasn't actualy spent in their house, it was spent at the university where they both teach. İ met every foreign language teacher there! There was even a Russian one and of course İ told her about Vlad (however İ left out the part about him teaching us bad words haha) and she invited me over to her house sometime!!! She was really nice...but since İ met all of them so fast, İ don't remember any of their names!!! But if İ see them again, hopefully İ will! İ even met the foreign language director! İt was actually very nice! And İbrahim (Baba 2) brought me to the spanish part and the ladies just burst out in spanish to me!!! İ could understand what they were saying but couldn't respond since it's been so long! And they talked a mile and minute and in an accent from Spain!!! So it was really difficult and embarrassing that after 2 years of spanish, İ could barely speak to them, but right now all İ have on my mind is Turkish :) anyways...so around 2, me, zelda(anne), and 2 italian teachers went to this new mall. We didn't really shop much, we more or less just worked our way up to the food court!!!After that everyone was pretty much gone from the office and since Baba was in a meeting we had to wait for him to take us home. Anne got on the phpone quite a bit after some of her students came in for a couple minutes. Then a English teacher came in and talked to me and said that she was trying to get me to be able to go to this museum with the college foreign exchange students. İ said İ'd love to! Then she looked at the schedule and saw that they were going to this play called Kaş (kahsh) which is a beautiful resort town near a mountain and the Medditerranian Sea!!! She booked that so we would both go the next day. At 1:30 İ would go to the museum and then at 8:30 we would both go on the Kaş trip!!! İt makes me excited even just thinking about it now!!! That night İ went home and packed and slept so İ would be ready for the next day!!!



So it's Thursday now!!! At 1, baba picked me up and took me to the university for lunch and İ met the other foreigners before our trip to the musuem. On the bus İ got to sit next to this gorgeous İtalian named Emanuele (she pictures from Kaş trip) but once we got there we didn't talk anymore...İt was acutally kinda sad because they all knew eachother already and it wasn't until after the tour of the musuem while we were waiting outside that İ began to talk to them and make friends. İt seemed like they immediatly judged me because they were all about 21 or 22 so İ got an instant nick name from the group leader and jokester, Sparky...he called me J.B. a.k.a. Jail Bait...but since İ was talking to girls it didn't really matter...so İ was even more excited for the trip that night! At 8 we went to the university and they told us it would be a 12 hour bus ride!!!!!! Yes, thats right, it takes longer to get to Kaş by bus from Ankara then to get to New York by plane from Ankara!!!!!The ride was long and İ barely slept because İ shared a seat with my Anne and everytime she'd move, İ'd wake up and it would take me while to get back to sleep. İ probably slept a total of 2-3 hours but as soon as we arrived at 7:30 we began our busy weekend!!!!!



*For the rest of the Kaş Trip, look at its own blog!!!!*



After another bus ride in which İ barely slept and after the late weekend, İ slept until 2 pm after we got home on Monday!!!!!! When baba got home from work at 4, we went into town and went to this tower thing which is the Sear's Tower of Ankara...although this is open and very windy!!! We took some pictures (attatched) and went down. We were up there for maybe 5 minutes!!! But it was nice! AFter taht we went and picked up one of their family friends and went out for kebabs...İt was really fun! Although İ think the friend might be a little crazy!!!! hahaha...but you never know... Anyways so she spent the night at our house and İ showed them all my pictures... They absolutely SWOONED over them all!!!! Especially the friend! They all said that my mom was beautiful and İ looked like her. And my dad was handsome along with Aaron and that they looked alike!!!! They also loved John's picture of the smiley face on his belly and said that İ would have to teach them how to celebrate Halloween here (they actually said that after seeing Grandma Schepp in her fihs nets and pirate outfit!!!! İ also showed them pictures of new baby Jack and they said that they've never seen such a beautiful baby! They also said that they were going to move to Rhinelander because they think that it's so beautiful!!!!!! After talking about my pictures for an hour, İ went to bed because İ was still really tired from the sleep shortage.



İ woke up the next day and immediatly went out and played the piano! İt was so nice, although İ was out of practice!!! İ knew that when they got home from work we were either going bowling or to the gym (İ was scared because baba said something about 5 kilometers--İ hope it's not running!!!)...one of the italian teachers came over along with a secretary for dinner and İ showed them my pictures too!!! Everyone thinks our family is the best and it looks like we always have such a great time together!!!! They think that all my friends are beautiful and hope to come visit sometime!!! So when they do, we'll have to plan something fun right?? Afer they left around 9, we went bowling with more of their friends. The couple was very good and Baba was good! Anne didn't bowl and the first game, İ bowled a 43!!!!! İ was SOOOOOOO bad!!!!! ugh!!!!! the second game, İ won with 105 so İ was pretty happy... baba and the lady kept crossing their figures at each other and İ was like "oh how nice, they're passing out good luck!" turns out that that means bad luck here! Who knew?!?!?! İt was a very fun night though!!!



On Wednesday, İ had my first rotary meeting! They informed me that İ have to do a little speech/introduction about myself!!! İ was really worried but İ wrote it all down and went to the meeting prepared for anything. İ met Vanessa, the girl from Canada...she's really nice and very beautiful!!!!!! She looks like she's half black but she's Hungarian and Grenadian...both of which she is very proud! We swap our turkish back and forth and planned to hang out on Friday with Majo (from Mexico) and some of all our Turkish friends. İt should be a great time!!! After that İ came back to my first house! İt's still all the same here. Right after İ finished unpacking Anne said that they were going out. 15 minutes after they left she came back and said that İ needed to come with because they needed my signature! We had to go to the bank because our rotary here requires a bank card to put out monthly checks on! After signing everything we needed a tax number so we had to go to Kızılay to get it! We got it and went to the same bank there and Vanessa was there! So Anne and Vanessa's host mom talked while we talked. She reminds me a lot of Jessica so thats good!!!!



Well İ better go because İ still have another blog to write about Kaş and pictures to post!!!! By the way, the pictures on here are from the "Sear's tower" of Ankara and from me showing pictures to anne (2) and their semi-crazy friend!!!!!





Love and Miss you all dearly!!!!!!

Tons of love, hugs, and kisses from türkiye!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MUAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Em

Emily

Emi

Er-Dogg

More stories!!!

Date: Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

İt's been another couple weeks since İ've been here and so much stuff has happened that İ don't even know where to begin!!!!

İ guess İ could start off by telling you about my first week without Rana (rah-nah). İt was pretty uneventful, as you could probably tell by my long blog about culture and stuff!!! İ talked with my friend Ecem (she's in New York right now) who İ met at the rotary conference. She introduced me to 2 of her best friends, Serdar and Mert, both who were boys. Both said that they wanted to take me out to show me around the city, although neither could speak that good of English. They also promised to include a free Turkish lesson so İ began planning to meet with them. İ talked to Serdar on msn and he asked if he could bring a friend along, Miraç, another boy, because he could speak better English. Trying to tell my parents about hanging out with them was HARD!!!! we eventually went down to the neighbors ( a 90 year old woman who visits Canada and the US often) to interpret for us. We finally all understood and last Friday my Anne and baba both walked out to meet the boys who lived near by. Baba gave us a ride to this very popular street, something with a B, and we walked to a café. We drank milk shakes, talked, and played Monopoly. And, as promised, İ got a little Turkish lesson! İt was actually very fun, even though Monopoly is the most boring game ever!!! After that İ had to go get pictures taken for school so we walked down to this Kodak photography studio and İ got some taken. After that we took a cab back to my apartment. The cab ride was by far my favorite part. İt was so funny because they turned up the radio really loud with traditional Turkish music on, and they were jamming out. Like fake belly dancing and everything. İt was SOOOOOOO funny!!! After that they walked me up to the door and gave me hugs and kisses and said they'd hope they'd see me again. İt was a very fun night. İ still haven't met with Mert, although İ've been talking to him quite a bit. He's sounds a little weird to me (he likes Cameron Diaz movies, and watches Sponge Bob) but he's also very nice. So this Friday, we are going out.

Over these last couple weeks it seems that İ have been doing quite a bit of shopping and stuff. One day İ went with the neighbors, Ümüt and Ümüt-they're married- to Tunalı street. İt's very big for shopping and everything. (Ümüt means hope by the way.) They wanted to buy some DVD's so they invited me to go with them. They bought Toy Story 2, Monster's İnc, and Little Miss Sunshine. And they bought me a Turkish phrases book which is very helpful. We then went for sodas at this very cute café which is owned by a German. Ümüt (the boy) said "İ think he's an undercover CİA agent here!" They are both very funny and İ was always laughing at their stories. We also went to a "small" outlet mall (which was about the size of the Appleton mall) to buy bird food for Rana's bird (it lives in 90-year-old's house so İ didn't know about it!) The shop was very small and smelled bad (they had fish and birds and even a cute little puppy). Then we walked out and there was a big English Sheepdog wondering the mall halls. İt was very strange. But we stopped to pet it anyways. İ think overall, walking around that day, we saw 6 stray dogs lying around the street. İt was very strange. After the long, hot afternoon of walking and shopping İ went back to their apartment and watched Monster's İnc and Grey's Anatomy. İt was a fun day!

Another night, Anne came into my room and said "Let's go for a walk!" İ assumed she meant just around our apartment but we got onto a bus and began going across town. my back was facing the front and Annene was facing me with Anne beside her. There was one part where the bus slammed on it's brakes because a car began pulling out as we were just going past (in other words, it was about to hit us!!!) and everyone facing the front flew forward. One lady even fell out of her seat! Anne hit her knees hard and Annene hit me, which wasn't so hard but it still hurt! When the bus drove past the car, everyone was cursing and flipping it off. İt was kinda funny but scary at the same time! After we got off the bus we walked down a large hill which lead into an even steeper hill down into a valley. So as we're walking down into the valley, it began to rain! İt continued to rain for about the 20 minutes we were walking outside, so by the time we came to this little restaurant, we were soaked! We went in and had to take off our shoes. The tables were all sitting tables (you sat on the ground with a pillow under you). The restaurant was beautiful! İt was decorated with authentic Ottoman Empire things such as clothes, rugs, and cooking utensils. The waiters wore outfits that looked old (Aladdin style pants, and colorful belt, white shirts, and slippers) and there was a very cute one that served us our tea and some authentic food. İt was authentic because you had to use your hands!!! After we dried off for about a half an hour, we left and walked back up to the main road and took a taxi home. İt was a pretty fun night actually.

Yesterday, me and Anne had to go to the police station to get my residence visa. As soon as we started walking, it began raining again. Luckily this time we had planned for it and brought an umbrella. We joked about it as we walked. "You and me walk and it rains!" We rode a dolmush (mini-bus about the size of a large van) to the station and it was HUGE!!! Then we learned we had to walk around the building to the other side. By the time we got there we were pretty wet, despite the umbrella. There must have been a thousand people in the station!! Everyone looked at us, because, as far as İ could see, we were the only girls there, even though we looked like wet dogs. Finally we learned we had to walk outside by the cafeteria to get to where we needed to go. We got to the office and they told us we needed to get 75 liras to get the visa. İ had 25 and Anne had 20 so we had to walk all the way to this huge mall, Migros, to get it. By then it wasn't raining anymore but instead, it was hot. We didn't shop at all in the mall because we wanted to go back and get the visa done. We sat in the cafeteria and drank water while we filled our paper work, and went back to the office. Then we learned that the school had made a mistake on the letter they gave us to show them. So they sent us out. Anne was so sad she bought us ice cream in the cafeteria. Then she said "Let's go shopping!" so we went back to Migros. We looked at a lot of different things, and only bought stuff in this cute little jewelry shop. Anne bought herself a hair scrunchy and she bought me a beautiful turquoise and gold bracelet. İt's beautiful and looks very Turkish. After that we browsed through clothing stores, but it was all Turkish designer so just a tank top costed 70 liras! (About 60 dollars!) We didn't buy anything else. After that we went home for a quite night.

So that's just about all İ can think of right now! İ know we did more, but İ just can't remember because it seems like it's been so long! So for all of you Schepp's, have fun camping this weekend, for all of you Erdrich's, thank you for the pictures from grandpa's party and can't wait to hear when Jack comes, for all you Rhinelander friends, have fun at school next week, and for all you other readers, hope you enjoyed and can't wait to hear from you!

Seni Seviyorum (İ Love you!)
Öpücük Öpücük (kiss kiss!)
Em,
Emily,
Emi,
Er-Dogg


P.S. OH! İ almost forgot, İ went to my school! School here doesn't start until September 15th, but we went to go look around and get that paper (which was wrong anyways). İt's called Büyük Kolej, Big School. İt is very big! They gave me a mini tour, showed me my classroom, and this nice little hang out which overlooks the pool and has couches and a snack bar. İ also met the principle of my grade, 3rd (11th), and he seemed very nice. İ got to pick my major and İ choose English. Not the language, but English literature and creative writing and such. They told me that all math and science classes would be really hard for me and in Turkish, but these classes, some are in English (creative writing) and some are in Turkish (English literature, although you read English books). İ also get to choose one elective, İ'm debating between singing, dancing, or band (they said they needed piano players). İ also wanted to try something different here like a sport, maybe swimming, but we'll see how much time İ have because their sports go all year instead of just seasons. With all this good food, İ think İ might need to do a sport!

Pictures!

We recently recieved pictures from the orientation, İ know it's not much but this computer doesn't have a slot for my memory stick from my camera so until İ find one that does, this will have to do...

#1: Starting from the right, my second host family-Zelda, Artun, and İbrahim; My current sister and mother- Rana and Nihal; ME!!!! and another family from our rotary club (she's going to Mexico); and my counselor.

#2: My first and second host family. From left- Rana, İbrahim, me, Zelda, Artun, Nihal.

#3: The whole group from our district. Rotex in front, inbounds next, outbounds, and rebounds in back. Also, the helpers along the sides.

#4: Rana at the talent show, making fun of one of the rotex.

#5: Me and Nancy singing andplaying at the talent show.

#6: The whole group again Saturday morning (everyone looks a little tired)

#7: The inbounds, outbounds, and families.

Hope you liked seeing these! Cant wait to show you more!

Love always!

Em

Language, food, family and culture!

Another down day, and İ got a request to talk about language and culture here, so here İ go...

My language is coming along İ guess. İ bought a Turkish to English dictionary so that makes it easier. Every night İ try to study the words but its hard because İ can say them fine but when it comes time to use them, İ can't remember what they are for sure! İ remember most of the ones İ learned from the tapes, but from the Internet and language lesson, İ have a hard time remembering anything! İ did ask Rana and Tuğçe for help though! They both told me phrases İ might here, or use a lot.

Thanks for everything- Her şey için teşekkürler.
(Her-Shay- Eecheen- tesh-ech-uu-ler)
İ understand- Anliyorum
(Ahn-lee-o-rum)
How much?- Ne kadar
(Neh-kah-dahr)
What time is it?- Saat kaç?
(Saaht-kah-ch)
I'm 16- 16 yaşındayım
( Ohn-all-tuh- yah-sh-uin-dah-yuim)
I'm from America- Ben America'den geldim
(Ben- America-den-gel-deem)
Your eyes are beautiful- Gözleriniz çok güzel
(Gou-zler-een-eez-choke-guu-zehl)
Would you like to dance?- Dans etmek ister misniz?
(Dahns-et-meck-easter-mees-nees)
May İ kiss you?- Seni öpebilir miyim?
(Sen-ee-oup-eb-ee-leer-mee-yeem)

Don't worry mom, İ wont use the last 3 that often! Ha ha! There's many more but İ don't think you want to read all the words İ know now! İt's funny though because my mom is trying to learn English while İ'm trying to learn Turkish. We often will ask each other "What's this?" and then we'll answer in the language we're learning! İt's comical when you think about it!

One of the most different (and best) parts about here is, the food! Oh my gosh! İf you could taste it, you would want to live here forever, trust me! İt's so good! For example, their ice cream, they use really berry juices in it so it tastes like it's topped with real berries. Another good thing hear is the tea, yes, İ'm now a tea drinker! Every morning for breakfast everyone has a glass of tea. Sometimes two. Later in the afternoon we have another glass. İt tastes so much different than American tea, it's hard to explain why, but it's so much fresher! Another surprising thing is that İ drink coffee! Turkish coffee! İt's so thick at the bottom that once you're done drinking it, you put the saucer on the top of the cup, circle it around your head, and place it face down on the table with a coin on top of the cup. Then if you're at a café, a fortune teller will come to your table and once the cup is cooled, they'll look at the patterns in your cup from the coffee grinds running down, and they'll tell you either about your past or your future. İ guess they're pretty accurate most of the time, which is weird. There's so much good food here and İ eat everything including tomatoes, olives, onions, and peppers! Their fruit is so fresh, especially the watermelon! İt's so dark and very juicy! And the grapes are amazing!İ have also tried figs, which are also very different yet good! With everything, they cover it with " yogurt", which isn't like what you think. İt's kinda like sour cream and cream cheese. Surprisingly, it's pretty good.Even though there are so many delicious, there are also some things that İ don't like. One of the worst things İ tried here was yesterday at lunch. İt looked liked a normal meal except we were drinking milk (their milk is like baby milk, or soy milk). İ sat down and İ took a drink of the milk because İ was so thirsty. İ almost spit it back out because it wasn't milk. İ'd heard about it at a rotary conference... it was the yogurt mixed with water and salt. İmagine watered down sour cream and lots of salt...yuck! İt was the first thing here İ couldn't finish! Another one of the worst things İ tried was cold red peppers stuffed with rice and onions and lemon juice. İt sounds good, but it wasn't İ can't explain why İ didn't like it but it was like cold baby food. Ugh!!! Oh and one more, this morning for breakfast my dad gave me a "Turkish egg". Which he had hard boiled. Then he cracked open the top for me and gave me a piece of the white layer then pushed the egg towards me. İ looked in and it was raw on the inside. İ ate it anyways but my stomach feels funny now. Aside from raw eggs, yogurt drinks, and cold leftovers, İ love the food!

My family is pretty cool! My Anne (mom) is very pretty. She's skinny and she doesn't work anywhere except she cleans the neighbor's apartment. She's a very good cook though! My baba (dad) is very nice. He used to know very good English but over the years, it faded. He can still talk to me but it's very broken. Either way, we understand each other. He has a disease though. Rana couldn't remember what it was called for sure but it's not a big deal. He still drives and works as an engineer. (To see an exaggerated version of the disease, watch "A Beautiful Mind") My annene (grandma) is also here. İ don't she lives here all the time, but she is seeing a doctor about her neck and back so she's here for a while. She's very nice and says İ'm "Çok güzel" (very beautiful). She is also a great cook! İ love this family, but they're not quite ass good as my real family! They don't really pick on me at all (no snipe hunting, fake lotto cards, or picking on me). They just try to feed me more and more and more! For example, for breakfast Anne will give me more food than anyone else, then try to give me more. Same with Annene. İ figured out how to get around it though. Take very small portions of the food İ can, then when they say "have more!" just take a little of that too! We also eat at weird times. Breakfast around 11, lunch around 2, and dinner around 8. Very different.

The culture hear is very strange too! For example, in the orientation, they told me İ would have to wear slippers around the house. İn my first and third house, that's not true but in my second home, İ will have to. (İ know since İ already visited there!) But in my house now, when you come into the house for the night, you must wash your hands, face, and feet. İt's very different but sanitary. Another very different thing is the praying. My baba and annene do it a couple times a day (when the guy calls them...*Ahhhhh-AHHHH-ahhhhAhhh ect.*) Then my Annene puts on a head scarf they both take out a mat and pray to the right side of the apartment. They close their eyes and mutter words while moving from their feet to their knees. Annene also used beads when she prays. Then they read the Koran for a while, then go back to praying. The other night, my aunt and uncle were over and İ had to grab something, I turned the corner to my room and Annene was standing in the door way facing me with her white head scarf on praying. Needless to say, it scared me and İ think İ jumped about ten feet and gasped. I felt bad, although, she never stopped praying or opened her eyes.

That's about all İ know so far! So İ'm gonna go drink some water because once again, it's very hot out! Hope to hear some news from back home soon!

Love and hugs!
*Muah muah!* (another culture thing to kiss on both cheeks upon arrival and departure)
Emily, Em, Emi, Er-Dogg

P.S. They told me at first that we would have water for two days, then one day without...but since İ've been here, İ haven't been without water for one day. Although we have water every day, taking a shower every day is unheard of! So now İ have to take one every other day! İt's kinda gross to me, but totally natural to them! And İ don't feel so bad about greasy hair because everyone has it! Ha ha ha! Anyways...can't wait to hear from you!

My first week...

İt's amazing that it's already been exactly a week since İ got in my new home! Already so much stuff has happened it's felt like İ've been here for a month! My first night here was spent unpacking and talking with Rana about home and everything. İ don't really have any rules except that İ have to be home to eat with my anne(mom) and baba(dad). And of course the rules of rotary (there's more here)... the 5 D's and 1 S... No drugs, driving, drinking, dating, dialing internationally, and smoking.

The next day (Sunday) Rana took me downtown to meet up with Artun so they could show me around a little. We met at a café where İ happily drank water while Rana and Artun both smoked about a pack of cigarettes and smoked a hookah (nargile). İ didn't because İ have a terrible cough ( İ think from the humid city air). Anyways, then they wanted to go to Harry Potter so we walked to the cinema and bought 4 seats (one of Rana's friends was coming) and then walked to meet their friend. Tuğçe (Two-chay) (their friend) is a very small girl with long hair. She went to İowa last year and she was very interested in talking to me. Then we went to the movie. İt was in English with Turkish subtitles so İ enjoyed it very much. İn the middle of the movie, there's a 10 minute break and Rana and Artun went to go get popcorn so me and Tuğçe talked some more. She's very nice. So we finished the movie then went to the pub. We had one beer (rotary said it's a social thing in Europe). İt tasted SOOOOOOO bad! lol...i don't like beer at home and it was nasty here! it was really sweet and tasted yeasty then like ear wax! ugh! Anyways...İ didn't even finish it! So there was a table of boys playing cards next to us and Artun and Rana knew them so they came and sat with us. They were nice. Then we went home and ate and went to bed.

The next day was another busy one! Rana and Artun had to go to a bad part of town to get cheap beads for pins and they said that İ could go there, just not right away because people are "disturbing". So İ went over to Tuğçe's and we were going to go swimming. So we ate breakfast and Rana took me to her house. Tuğçe was eating breakfast too and she gave me a glass of cherry juice, which is now my favorite thing here! Then we went swimming. İt was very hot out so we went to a private spa pool. They also had a room called a steam room where it was very hot and well... steamy. İt was hard to breath in there so we went back into the pool and talked for about an hour and a half. Tuğçe said her mom and her want to be my third family! İ hope it works out because they're very nice! She also told me she wanted to do some things with me... she gives belly dance lessons so she wants to teach me how to do that. She wants to take me to a Turksh bath...yay! And she wants to get me a boyfriend! Ha! But she's going to Germany for 2 weeks so I'll have to wait until she gets back! After swimming we went to the huge mall. İt was about 5 stories and very beautiful! İ bought a dictionary and got 100 Turkish liras so İ could go to the bazar (market) where everything is cheap! Tuğçe's mom met us there too and she bought us matching shirts! They're very cute! After shopping, they took me home and İ ate and Rana and I watched "Made". İt was a very fun day!

The next day we didn't really do much but Anne told me that my dad (baba) and grandma (annenın) would be coming home the next day. Finally İ would get to meet my baba! That day, Anne did house work, Rana did her PowerPoint and İ began reading "The Catcher in the Rye". Rana said it was one of her favorite books and told me to read it. That night we ate and left to go walk downtown. We walked and walked and walked until we got to the Puzzle Café where we went in to rest. Anne bought us nargıle (hookah!) and water and she got herself Turkish coffee. Then we played scrabble as we smoked the hookah. İt's a traditional family thing here. İ actually won Turkish scrabble! (Anne helped me by spelling voltaj...voltage which was worth 42 points!) Then we walked to a taxi (taksi) and we came home and slept.

The next two days were spent with Artun and his rock band friends. They were all very nice and since Artun is leaving, want me to play piano for them! I'm so excited! And the drummer is very cute! They had a radio interview and we went to another pub so they could talk about it and we met up with another girl-a photographer and also chain smoker- Zeynep (Zay-nep). She was very nice and we hit it off right away. İ had so much fun with her because this boy a few tables over kept looking at me so she would tell me to stare him down and we would both burst out laughing. Then he winked at me and we had to go to the bathroom so we wouldn't seem so crazy while we were laughing that hard. Then İ found out she's only 15! Like just turned 15! Crazy! Hmmmm...Over these two days I also met one of my cousins, Ali (ah-lee)-a almost professional clarinet player who is also a chain smoker (out of all the people İ've met so far that are teenagers, me and Tuğçe are the only ones that don't smoke)- and very very cute! And Zelda-my second host mom and Artun's mom- showed me how to make Turkısh coffee and she gave me beautiful jewelry. That day was the day they found out their collages (Rana will go to İzmir, Artun will stay here in Ankara. One of the band member's Effe is going to physics school!) so we had a big dinner with Our family, Ali and his brother, my aunt, my grandma, and Artun. İt was a lot of fun. Then the teens brought out wine which they call dog-killer. Needless to say, it was repulsive. İt was a very fun night and İ learned that Desperate Housewives is the same here as in America, except İ'll see the episodes before you since we're ahead in time! Ha!

That brings me to yesterday, which İ also spent with Tuğçe because Rana went somewhere (İ think to spend the day with Artun because he left today) and İ helped her pack and she showed me a traditional belly dance outfit and let me try a couple things. Then we watched Turkish soap operas and a old Turkish movie together! İt was actually really fun! Then when her mom got home, she showed me how to cook a little bit of Turkish food! Can't wait to show you when İ get home! That night they had their friends over for dinner and İ stayed until the Turkish coffee, which İ began to drink but Anne and Baba came and picked me up, so İ couldn't finish! They were all very nice and İ hope İ go to live there! After that İ came home and began to draw ( that's a flash from the past) and finished reading my book and went to bed.

So that was mostly my first week! İ know that there's more but it's so hard to fit it all in! And İ must go because the neighbors are over!

Sending much love and hugs and kisses from Türkiye!
Emily, Em, Emi, Er-Dogg...*Muah!*

P.S. While we were down town that night with Anne and Rana, Rana bought a scream mask and walked down the street and people were looking at her and saying "Ugly!" and "Scary!". İt was very amusing to watch. People here are actually afraid of that movie! lol... OH! And speaking of movies, despite Harry Potter, they're very far behind in movies. Disturbia just came to the theaters here and Dream Girls is being advertised to come in late August with Evan Almighty! Wow! That means soon İ'll get to watch Hairspray again! Yes!

İ'm finally here!

Hey

! İ'm finally in Ankara! İts been a long week!

First my flights...oh boy... the first one from Green bay to Detroit was delayed about an hour and a half because a air conditioning truck had hit the plane. They rescheduled all the rest of my flights in case i missed the next one. The only problem was that my next flights were with Nancy, who was attending the orientation with me...on the 45 minute flight, İ sat next to a "bigger" man who smelled very bad. needless to say, İ couldn't wait to get off. So İ was in my blazer and on the way to my next flight, running- no, no, no-sprinting so İ cold hopefully make it. Luckily, I did...barely. So İ walk onto the plane, very sweaty because İ was in my blazer, and just a total mess. I walk back about 3 normal plane lengths (the jet is HUGE!!!!) and find my seat. 24 C...next to Nancy- wait that's definitely not Nancy. It's a very cute boy. "Hey" he says as I sit down. I'm winded but İ say hey back. We're just sitting there and he's listening to his iPod and his head begins to bob as he falls asleep before the plane even takes off. So I start looking around for Nancy, but I can't even see the whole plane so its useless. "Please fasten your seat belts". Cute boy is still asleep and I wasn't about to wake him. Then he jolted up, took off his head phones and began talking to me. His name is Wesley and he's from Holland. He was in California because his family lives there while he goes to school in Holland. And...he's 23...ugh! So we end up talking, playing games (the have really cool TV things) and watching movies together. We didn't sleep the whole 7 hours but it was very fun! At the airport in Amsterdam, we swapped e-mails and he showed me where to go, after a long hug and kiss on the cheek. Then I found Nancy and we sat together on the next flight, next to a man from Turkey, who told us İstanbul was the best. Then I fell asleep, out of pure exhaustion. The next flight I also fell asleep. Ha HaHa... So we get to Ankara where we're greeted by my counselor, Nancy's mom and sister, and two rotex boys. They grab our luggage and we walk out to the car where the club president is standing. He gives me flowers and we take lotsa pictures together (after a day of not showering, brushing my teeth, or putting on make up-ugh!) Then we go to the college...wow...

Nancy goes with her family and I have to go with the rotex boys. It was one of the scariest moments driving in my life! It was even scarier than riding with Jess! lol...There are stop lights and everything but very few. There's also no speed limit and no "non-passing zones". OH! And my personal favorite, a constant sound of horns!So we're on a one-way street and Nancy's car (whose following us) is no where behind us. so we just stop, right in the middle. Then, after a couple minutes, we just begin backing up... cars, taxıs, buses, and trucks all swerve around and beep and flip us off but we just keep on backing and backing until we see them at a water stand getting water for Nancy. Finally after that scary experience, we arrive at the collage. Orientation was nothing special but the people were very nice. And I met Rana! Rana is my first host sister who is leaving for Muskegon Michigan on the 19th of August. She blonde with blue eyes and pale skin. Very fun and outgoing and nice. I also met Artun, my second host brother (he's going to Minnesota) and he's Rana's boyfriend! lol...strange. But he plays the piano so he's gonna leave me music and there's a piano in my second house! Yes!

In one of the meetings, we had to talk about ourselves for 5 minutes so I said I like to sing and dance and ride horses, blah blah blah...then one of the main men of rotary asked me to sing phantom of the Opera...oh boy! so i did...Think of Me...ugh! they all loved it though and insisted that İ sang in the talent show that night...which was supposed to be only outbounds (there's 28 of them!) so then they decided to make the 6 inbounds perform also. Nancy and I decide she will play the violin while İ sing Amazing Grace. So that night we did it and it was really good. Then they gave us a mini- belly dance lesson. When I say we, I mean all the inbounds, boys and girls. Let's just say, I'm going to get lessons here! The rest of the conference was blah blah blah- except the part about trips...theres a like 4 or 5 but I only want to go on 2 or 3...the one to Kapedokia which is a major Christian town. Of course the big trip to Izmir Istanbul and such. and then possibly the one the Dyarbıkür, which is as far east as we can go...but we'll see.

So then I meet both my first and second host families because they are here for a class too! Both are very nice and we go out to eat at a very popular Turkish restaurant after the orientation camp. Of course İbraham (Artun's dad) pays for everything and İ eat so much İ'm gonna burst so I know I'll gain at least 20 pounds here! lol... but ıt was very nice and very fun!

Unfortunately, ıts very late (1:30 am) and ı have to get up early tomorrow so I can go meet some of Artun's rock band frıends so I have to go! I miss you all very much and wıll let you know more about my tıme here sometime this week!

Lots of Love from Türkiye!
Em,
Emmy,
Er-Dogg,
Emily



P.S. The toilets here are SOOOOOOOO weird.
1. They don't swirl either clockwise or counter clockwise...İt just sucks it down ( like a camper toilet)
2. The büdays are so weird and I didn't know how to turn it on until yesterday! lol...
3. Yes, they use toilet paper, not just the büdays!
4. The don't have normal flushing spots...like ours you pull down on this thing and on other ones you push in the middle of the back rest...different...
5.I saw the squatting toilets...gross!

Oh and one more strange thing...the light switch for their bath rooms are on the wall outside the bathroom... the first time i went in the dark! everyone thought ıt was pretty funny!