A New Adventure is About To Begin

Not sure where to start about the new adventure because we aren’t sure what it will be; however,  Jerry and I have made some major changes in our lives once again.   Those who read the blog know that we have been challenged by our school children and the idea of classroom management.  The kids are wonderful but can’t seem to stop talking.  We tried all the tricks we could think of and then made some changes in January by having the Turkish English teachers come to some of our classes with us.  That was a big help.  The kids didn’t talk nearly as much.  I even had the headmaster sit in on some of my 6th grade classes.  So looking into the next semester, we had hoped that the school would hire another Turkish/English teacher with money we agreed to give up so that the regular teachers wouldn’t have all the extra work.  Anyway, after much discussion and many meetings  we couldn’t come to an acceptable compromise.  The teachers were a little sad and we did not inform the kids before they went on their semester break.  We formed some bonds with many of the students.  We will miss them and they will miss us. So here we are jobless but much less stressed than we have been lately.  So what are our options??   Well, the first thing we are going to do is visit the US for a few weeks after our Spain trip.  We still have our apartment in Eskisehir so we are planning on coming back after our trip. We fly into Tucson from Istanbul the weekend of Feb 12th.  More on our trip later.

Right now we are sitting in a Marriott Hotel by the Istanbul airport for the night before flying to Seville Spain tomorrow.  We left this morning about 7:30 in the midst of the first major snowstorm in Eskisehir this year.  We thought it looked like an inch on the ground from our apartment window but when we got outdoors with our suitcases to walk to the train station (about 1/2 mile) we discovered it was about 3-4 inches.  As we were trying to pull our suitcases through the snow two very nice policemen stopped and gave us a ride.  There is no traffic on the street in front of our apartment because it’s a walking area but police do come down the road, thank goodness.  The snow was beautiful when you are watching it through the train window, not so much when you are trying to pull suitcases.

A Beautiful Winter Day

Ibrahim’s wife was spending the day with her girlfriends so he had some time to go on a long walk with Jerry and I on Saturday.  He took us to a huge food bazaar and a clothing bazaar that we hadn’t found as well as another lovely park.  We also experienced boza, a Turkish drink made from chickpeas, cinnamon and sugar.  It’s a thick, creamy, sweet, drink and there were dozens of people buying glasses  from a tiny little store.   Apparently this drink is only sold in the winter and you don’t drink it with a meal.  It’s very good but also filling so I can imagine why you wouldn’t drink it with a meal.

Sunday’s weather is a little colder and not nearly as sunny but I have to go to school anyway for a program about kindergarten and Jerry has to grade exams.    

We’ve decided to spend semester break in Spain.  We’re going to Seville for 8 days and the final two days in Barcelona.  We thought about some places that would be a little warmer but Spain came out at the top of our discussion.

Senseless Tragedy in Tucson One Week Ago Today

Jerry and I have both have been too shocked and saddened by the events in Tucson last Saturday to know what to say or even think, much less put something on our blog. We are praying for everyone so devastated by this horror. We pray for continued improvement and a complete recovery for Gabby, Ron and all the other wonderful people who were wounded.  Healing for the people directly effected and the community we love so much will take time.  Tucson, like Eskisehir, is a small community  and there are  many connections with close friends who have been impacted by this event. 

Because I worked in the behavioral health system for so many years I have to ask  could we have done more to prevent something like this from happening in Tucson or anyplace else in the world.  Of course, no one has the answer, however I also know that everyone in the system is committed to doing more to work to prevent these meaningless tragedies.

Politics

Because we can’t read a newspaper or listen to the news in Turkey we are pretty much out of the loop in terms of what happens on a daily basis around politics or anything else in Turkey.   We were aware that in the November elections the conservatives were voted in.   All of the people we talked to were not happy about this election, but as I have mentioned before, Eskisehir is a university town so is more liberal than other parts of Turkey.  We didn’t think much about the election until we had dinner last Monday evening with the couple (Yekta and Murat) who own the Irish Pub or as the sign over the door says, Varuna  Gezgin.  They also own some other bars in Eskisehir.  During the conversation they mentioned that the tax on alcohol has now gone up by 30%.    The increase was just one of the changes with the new conservative government.  Alcohol is already very expensive in Turkey.  (We’re lucky we don’t drink.)  Not sure how the new laws will ultimately change Turkey.   

Yekta and Murat are a very interesting couple.  They have been many more places than Jerry and I have even considered and even more places  than our friends Leslie and Sean from Tucson who travel extensively.  Their website is http://www.varunagezgin.com/ .  They love adventure and particularly love Africa.   The pictures on their website are very interesting, worth a look.  They are also very young and have many more  adventures ahead of them.  They want to do at least a 6 month trip which will include the US in the not too distant future.  Their next trip starts on Monday to a resort on an island near the Philippines for 10 days of R and R.  Yekta is a scuba diver.

No such thing as bad publicity

 

Well we finally made the front page.  This is the school paper and our interview with the student reporters.  They are both in my 8th grade class Ege and Ecem. They are both really nice kids and we had fun being interviewed . This article for the international blog is being written by Jerry.   We are off to a new year hoping for the best for all the teachers out there.  If you would like an autographed copy send a self addressed email and $25 to candjba.  Just kidding.  

Happy New Year and Catch Up Blog Information

Happy New Year and good luck with all those resolutions to all our friends and family.

I can truthfully say I have not been bored any of the time we have spent in Turkey.  I (Carol) am always busy at school planning my next lesson or getting ready for class.   During our weekends we enjoy our time with friends or walking.  So far, the weather has cooperated and made it possible for us to be outside at least part of each weekend.

Some interesting experiences during the past couple of weeks started with a walk around Eskisehir with our friend Ibrahim to visit his place of employment.  He works for the Turkish railroad as an engineer doing trainings and among other things testing engines.   He is lucky to be able to walk to work but he puts in long days and it sounds like he troubleshoots many things for his company.  On display at his business location is the Devrim car which was suppose to be a revolutionary first automobile in the early 60’s for Turkey.  The Turkish engineers designed it and when it was first used by the president of Turkey during the Republic Day celebration the people responsible for the car forgot to put gas in the tank.  Needless to say it was quite an embarrassment.  You can Google  Devrim car Turkey to read the whole story.

Next was a delightful afternoon brunch with our friends Roger and Sibel and their daughter Sedefsu at the Science  Art and Culture Park located a few miles from city center in Eskisehir.  It is the largest park in Eskisehir and has a fairy tale pirate ship and castle as attractions. There is also a very large man made lake used for water activities in the summer.  They invited their neighbors who came to Eskisehir two years ago from Canada.  She was a lawyer in Canada and is teaching English at a different private school until their baby is born in March.  He is Turkish but was in Canada for school.  He bought a business (manufacturing equipment for retreading large tires) in Eskisehir and sounds like they plan on staying for awhile.  The business employs over 100 people and he sells his equipment around the world.  It’s interesting hearing about what other people do for a living.

Tuesday night was another wonderful evening  with Ibrahim and his wife Ipek at our favorite restaurant, the Irish Pub.  It’s the only restaurant that we’ve found in Eskisehir that serves ethnic food.  They have sushi, falafel, pad thai, and several other dishes representing food from different countries.  That evening the chef fixed a vegetable plate for me that represented a flower growing in the earth.  Pretty impressive.  Jerry had the falafel which was excellent.  (We thought Turkey would have falafel when we first came but they don’t.  It is more typically a dish from Lebanon).  Ibrahim and Ipek  brought me some beautiful meerschaum earrings, a necklace and a colorful shawl.  Jerry got a meerschaum key chain and a small traveler’s pack which will come in handy on our next trip.  Meerschaum is unique to this area and is a soft mineral which is carved into pipes, jewelry etc.  It literally translates to “sea foam” and is a cream colored mineral that hardens when exposed to the sun.  If you Google meerschaum you can see some of the designs and I will be bringing some things back to Tucson when we return.

Thursday was the big New Years celebration at school.  The school held a major event with lots of entertainment from the kids as well as some professional dancers who did  RAP dancing -the stand on your head spinning and standing on one arm while keeping the beat to the music type of dancing.  All the grades were involved in the event.  The older kids sang a John Lennon song in English, then a German song and then a Turkish song.  They didn’t do too well on the English song.  They tried to memorize it but it would have been better if they had had the words in front of them.  Most of them didn’t really understand the words they were singing. The younger kids played some games and danced.  It ended with a 9th grade girl and the school guitar and drum players singing Stand By Me.

Then we took the school bus home with Sedefsu and went to a Anadolu University Communications Division party with Roger and Sibel who both teach at the University.  Roger is just finishing his third book, Green Man.  I’m pretty sure I told you about his first two books in an earlier blog.  I’m looking forward to reading the new one soon. 

We had a surprise knock on the door at 9:00 Thursday evening.  It was our 2nd floor neighbor bringing a Turkish dessert called Ashure (Noah’s pudding). It’s made with wheat, rice, beans, chickpeas, sugar, dried fruits and nuts and is a traditional Turkish dessert usually  made during a 30 day period before New Years.  She said it was a Muslim tradition to bring the dessert to family, friends and neighbors.   It was quite tasty and no, I will never make it!

New Years was celebrated with Roger, Sibel, and Sedefsu at a big party with mostly university faculty and staff.  Jerry forgot to  charge the battery in the camera so no pics sorry. What’s unique and quite wonderful is that all the children came with the parents and had their own party with the holiday (looked like Santa Claus to me) elf. The kids were going strong at midnight when many of the parents were starting to fade.  The other wonderful Turkish tradition is that everybody dances with each other for the fast Turkish dancers.  In the beginning of the evening it was most of the women who were all on the dance floor together (including me) and by the end of the evening the men were out there,  as well as many of the children dancing with their parents.  (Jerry even joined in occasionally)  The drink of choice for all the large events we have attended is Raki.  This is a clear non  sweet anise flavored alcohol drink.  Wine was served as well. 

Thanks to all our Turkish friends and American friend, Diane, who helped to make this holiday season a very memorable one.