pinot noir or chardonnWay: The first few days

Well, I've been in Turkey for just over a week now so It's time to catch up on the details for who would like to know. There are so many things to say already.

I arrived last Wednesday night so when Cindy and Jim picked me up at the airport we quickly said hello and they showed me around their apartment and to my room and I went straight to bed. I hadn't slept for over 24 hours at that point so I was exhausted. I decided to just start right away and break myself in to the new time zone by getting up the next morning and going to school for the whole day. Adana is 7 hours ahead of my home. I think I was one of the lucky ones because I didn't have hardly any jet-lag or at least I didn't notice.

I shadowed Cindy in the classrooms all day last Thursday, & Friday. Then Saturday I took on a couple classes of my own. Monday I had all my own classes and Tuesday I helped Cindy. Wednesday through today (Friday) we had off, so that was nice to relax and do a little shopping and visit some of Cindy's friends.

Cindy and Jim are avid bike riders and they want to get me into shape so that I can ride to work instead of having to pay to ride the bus. We went riding for a little bit on Sunday and then yesterday we went on a 20 Kilometer ride out to the country. I like riding because I get to really see the land and I can stop whenever I want to take pictures. (I stopped writing and started again on Sunday)

The culture is quite different than I'm used to. Here are some examples that I've noticed so far.

Families - They are very close and the children are extremely important. I've met a lot of divorced people which very sad. The children don't seem to be expected to do much in the home. A lot of the children (boys especially) that I've talked to in the classrooms have never made their beds or cleaned their rooms. Guess who does it?............ Their mothers! And their mothers do their homework for them too! It blows my mind.

Men - Where do I start? I think I was asked out approximately 10 times in 5 days being in the classroom. No joke! Men are definitly not that bold in America. But I'm not sure that any of them here would make the cut because they are pretty rude and I've not heard very many good things. Sorry to the people who thought I would find my Turkish prince here, not sure if that'll happen. lol I even had one guy lie about his age because I am quite a bit older than him. Another guy pouted because he was heartbroken that I kind of turned him down in the class a few days earlier (he refused to even look at me for a while lol).

Food - It is pretty yummy! I've only had a couple of things I don't really care for but those are drinks not food. I've had the official Adana Kebab, which is meat and lots of spices grilled on a stick. I've had a few other things too. There is usually a lot of bread in different forms with ever meal, so I'm trying to stay away from that as much as I can. I will say I do miss American food sometimes but I've made any friends to take me to find some yet. :(

City life - It is VERY busy on the streets. The cars park on the sidewalks and the people walk in the road where the cars drive. It's kind of like Price Hill (Cincinnati). Except that there's hardly anywhere to go when a car is coming. It's like dodge ball except your jumping out of the way of cars and trying not to get clipped by mirrors (same thing right?)

The best part is that Turks are extremely hospitable! From the time you meet them they are going to take care of you. They aren't afraid to love on you like a long lost friend. When you meet there's a kiss one both cheeks and sometimes a nice embrace. You are offered tea or coffee right away. They love to chat. I'm trying to learn Turkish now but It's nice because a lot of the people I'm around are from the school so they know some or a lot of English.

Over all the last 11 days I've had a wonderful time and I've loved it. 184 days to go.