Alıçatı With Detours

One of the days during my vacation was spent visiting Alıçatı. It is a small town that reminds me a little of Carmel (by the sea, picturesque, and mostly for the rich ;). As we were on our way, we happened to pass by these small castle ruins. We pulled over and got out to take pictures. While we were doing our thing, the owner of the place came over and said we could go inside to take photos. We were very grateful to him for his generosity. He said he purchased the ruins many years ago and now has a restaurant (open during the tourist season) and does weddings there. We went through the charming blue gate and started to explore......

photo by Kadir
The very different sign for the restrooms :)

After saying our thank you's and good bye we got back on the road towards our destination. We found ourselves in the midst of a giant area of windmills. I was very happy to see that Turkey was taking advantage of this high wind area and harnessing it for energy. Way to go!

Shortly after our second detour we made it to Alıçatı. The streets we lined with boutique shops selling handmade clothing, jewelery, soaps, and more. There were small art studios set up as well as cafes and restaurants with prices much higher than in touristy Istanbul. It was still a lovely place to walk around and enjoy the day....

photo by Kadir

A cute map of the town.

Izmir and Urla

Murat, Mehmet, Kadir, and I arrived, after an exhausting and uncomfortable 8 hour bus journey, in Izmir at 8 AM. We then took a shuttle bus to an area called Narlidere where their cousin Çağla (pronounced Chah-lah) met us, and took us directly to Urla. Urla is a small town about 30 km outside of Izmir on the Aegean Sea. Çağla's family has a house there and Murat's parents have been living there for the past four months or so. It is a huge house with many rooms.
This was good because there were going to be a ton of people staying there. I got to meet Murat's aunts, uncles, grandmother, granfather, cousins, and more cousins. I got to know his mom much better, but unfortunately his father was called to Adana for a family emergency. Everything ended up OK, but for a couple days everyone was worried. I learned how to play a really fun game called OK. It is my new favorite, but you need 4 people to play it (instead of the 2 needed for backgammon). Murat and I went for a drive and to take a few pictures. The area is so quite after Istanbul. It is very lovely as well.

Fisherman! We could understand how they got all the way out there at first.

After a day we met up with Serdar and I went with him to stay with his family for a couple days. I got to see his grandfather, who I love so much. He always tells me stories in German with a Turkish word here and there. I heard about the wars he fought in, the bear he killed in Eastern Europe, and about how big the world is :).
We went to visit the family in Turgutlu as well. Everyone looks great and it was a complete surprise that I was coming. Everyone was so happy to see me and I was happy to see them as well. Serdar and I hung out in the evenings with our friend Levent, who I have know for sometime as well. We watched the very depressing FB match, hung out at the wedding salon (owned by the Bakkalci's), and went to internet cafes ;).

Me and Levent
Me and Serdar

After two days, Murat and everyone picked me up and we went to hangout on the Kordon in Izmir.
It is the main place to hangout and go to cafe's and restaurants. We drank some hot chocolate, laughed, walked and watched the sunset.

Mehmet and Murat (by Kadir)
Us being silly (also by Kadir)

We went back to Urla where we made Gozleme (Turkish crepes). I helped make the filling and even turned them on the grill for a bit. They boys played with a home made slingshot and we even played some Dodgeball :0).

Murat's mom making Gozleme and his aunt cooking
Me cooking ;o)

The next say we made our way to Narlidere to spend that last two day before we left. I had to spend a lot of the time working on my aromatherapy class so I could complete my module. Finally we had our 2 bus ride home. It was much shorter and more comfortable than the previous one. I had a wonderful holiday!

Birthdays and Being "Under the Weather"

I have not been able to write so much because I have been ill. Not so bad but my cold mutated into a sinus infection which became a cough that is really sticking around. I went to the doctor today (finally) and got some meds and a note to stay home from work and recover for the next 2 days. I feel like health might be just around the corner. Yipee!!!
School is going well, but it is tiring. I spend half the day with Kezban in one class and the other half with Ela in the other class. I do pretty much the same thing two times a day but it is tough. When I was with Kezban the full day last year there were many opportunities for breaks. Now I only get 15 minutes if I am lucky. The kids are great though. They can never compare to my class last year, but I love them all too.
This has been a week of birthdays. Kezban had hers on Friday and Kadir on Saturday. After school on Friday we went to Mado for cake and tea/coffee. It was very nice and low key with me and 6 of the Turkish teachers from school. Afterwards I went to dinner with some other friends for delicious Adana kebap. It was a great day.

Me and Kezban
Me, Necla, and Nuray

Kadir's birthday was a larger event. He is Murat's cousin and I have gotten to know him very well over the last year. We all (about 20 of us) met at a restaurant in Nevizade (the area of Taksim with the best nightlife scene). We ate fish, drank Rakı, and took many photos. I was coughing a lot though so I made it an early night.

The Birthday Boy, Kadir

That pretty much catches us up to today. I am going to immediately post two blogs about my trip to Urla and Izmir to tell you a little about both of those. Please feel free to comment, but make sure to tell me who you are if you do not have an account ;).

Going on an adventure

So we leave for Izmir in about an hour. The bus trip takes 8 hours. I am hoping to sleep as much as possible to make the time pass. I have been battling a cold, but started coughing a little tonight. I am praying it does not get worse. I have been using my aromatherapy to keep it at bay. So far so good ;o). There is no internet where I will be staying, but I will have my phone. Call me if you need to get a hold of me. Take care everyone and much love!

Şeker Bayramı!!!!!!

So today is the first day of my blog dedicated to all things Turkish in my life, but it is not quite the first day Şeker Bayramı or "Sugar Holiday". This is the three day holiday following the end of Ramadan, which begins on Tuesday. However we did celebrate it at school today. My two classes of 4+ children visited the other classes and collected candy. It is a lot like trick-or-treating but you wear your Sunday best (not a costume). You are also supposed to kiss the older peoples hands and touch them to your forehead. This is what my kids are doing in the pics below. The couple work for the school and posed as "grandparents" to teach the children about this tradition. Also, I am told kids get money from their parents and relatives, and candy from everyone else.
I asked my teaching partner, Kezban, what the significance of this holiday is. In the US, we have reasons for holidays like Jesus was born, Jesus rose from the dead, America became independent, a president was born, and so on. She told me that it is a time to celebrate family and just be with them. If during the year there have been disagreements or quarrels with family or friends, this is the time you are supposed to make things right with them and start over.
This sounds like a very nice idea for a holiday. I will get to witness it first hand since I am going to Izmir with Murat tomorrow night. We are going to visit his family there, and his parents in Urla. I will also get to see Serdar (one of my best friends from Germany) and his family. We might even throw in a trip to Pamukkale and Aphrodisias at the end. We will see what we can see ;). Anywho...this is my blog about life in Turkey. I may write a little or I may write a lot. It may not have as many pictures, but it is more for finding out about my daily life here. Adventures, rants, raves, ponderings, and general info will all be found here. For blogs about my other travels outside of Turkey head to charbar137.blogspot.com . More to come whenever I feel like it.......hehehe.

I made the cool sign that is behind our faux grandparents.
Getting candy from our principal, Aylin.
Me passing out candy to a visiting class =).

Ela and Sudenaz