Hafta dört

Merhaba! Günaydin! [Hello! Good morning!]

Waffles & Beer:

I just celebrated my 21st birthday in Turkey and although that has absolutely no significance in Europe, it still held meaning for me! Some of us went out and I could legally buy alcohol! We went to this restaurant that advertised "Waffle and Beer"...it was a hole-in-the-wall place, ran by a mother and son. 

I drank my first beer (fact: I honestly had never drank an entire beer before..) and then I had a shot of Russian Vodka and Tequila. OK...so it was a Monday night and being who I am...I woke up for my 9:30 class and didn't skip a beat! But it was a great birthday. We did Karaoke to Britney Spears, Nsync, Michael Jackson, and the Spice Girls. It was a chill night but awesome and one I will remember!

 

Random:

Bir- They don't have ovens...and I am really craving a warm chocolate chip cookie.

İki- There are 29 letters in the Turkish Alphabet... there is an i with a dot and an ı without a dot...that is also the case for capital letters so there is I and an İ ..(I guess there is a reason behind elementary teachers saying "remember to dot your i's and cross your t's)

Oh an x and w do not exist, which makes my last name sort of non-existent.

Üç- Toilet paper is not provided in the bathroom of the dorm...I'm trying to make 8 roles last me all semester..ha

Dört- Trash is everywhere...I went on the most glorious Bosphorus tour but the water is littered with debris and trash (pink garden glove, green soccer ball, blue bucket), tarnishing the beautiful view but making for a great game of "I Spy"

Beş- It rains almost every single day....and by rain, I really don't mean to exaggerate but I mean TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR. Yeah. 

Koç Universitesi VERSUS Berea College:

Really I don't know where to begin. I could say Polar Opposites and that would indeed begin to explain the differences.... In short, it can be summed up by this: Berea College is for "poor" Appalachian students and Koç is for the "richest of rich" Turkish students. Once you get into Koç, academics do not matter, reflected in the average 1.2 GPA. WOW

Students arrive late to class...by 15-30 minutes.

Regarding appearance, many people dress up, wear designer clothes, pack on the make-up, and spend hours fixing their hair. People even look nice when at the gym...I am very confused by how that is possibly! If I were to wear sweatpants to class, I think I would be shunned!

[I  have 9:30 classes, I roll out of bed, find something to wear, throw my hair up in a pony-tail and roll into class usually ON TIME. At home, I have so many cute clothes but when I packed for this Turkish adventure, I choose the more modest, comfy, plain wardrobe. Lets just say, when I try to "dress up" it doesn't compare... oh well. Comfort over fashion, hands down!]

Dolmuş:

A Dolmuş is the most common type of transportation when going to and from Koç. Koç resides on top of a high mountain/hill, winding through little villages, taking about 15 minutes to get to the nearest town of Sariyer which is only 3miles away. If you've been to WV the hills are comparable. Riding in a Dolmuş, you do not have personal space and usually you don't have a seat, but are holding on to a bar while standing. I am trying to set the stage because here is the craziest part. The Dolmuş is STICK SHIFT! Not only are there hills, but the driver stops nearly 20 times before arriving at the final destination...and he exchanges money for each passenger while driving. [I learned how to drive stick shift this summer..perhaps that is why I am so amazed, but I am impressed!]

English-Sitting: 

It's not exactly babysitting, but it is a 4 hours commitment per week. I have a job that lets me go to a wonderful family's house and play with their 3 year old son, Karem. He speaks Turkish. I speak English. My job is to speak English around him, because its not with him..as he doesn't know what I am saying! It can be frustrating because I do not know when he is upset and he does not listen that well...but thankfully his mother is always there (although she does not speak great English, she can help!). His father speaks nearly perfect English...I have only been working one week, but I think I would love it. I stay there for dinner (which is Turkish home-cookin') and hang out with the little boy. He is super cute. Yesterday, the father said he learned how to cook stove popcorn and I said that my mom always cooked popcorn on Sundays and the family had a movie night....well he went out, bought some popcorn and we had a family movie night. It was so sweet. It's like a host family. So far it is wonderful!

I am off to the Euphrates River today for a weekend trip with the CIEE group--Gaziantep, Antakya, and Hatay.

... I will put up pictures & blog!