Istanbul 10K run

In November, a group of teachers from TAC/SEV participated in some races in Istanbul.  This was my first race ever and what a place to do it.  My journey with running began last spring in Tarsus.  Just wanting to get in some more cardio, but not having the options of different elliptical machines like I was used to at my other gym, the only option I had was the treadmill.  It was nice to have support from other people I work with who are also runners, both beginning and hardcore.  I started off speed walking at an incline before working my way up to all out jogging and running.  Week by week, I found that I could run a little farther and a little faster.  In no way am I the greatest runner you'll ever know, but for me to be able to run a 10K in a race was a huge deal for me.  I never thought I would be able to say that I could do something like that, and certainly never imagined that it would be in Turkey.  To be able to travel with a group of five women who were all doing the race (either 10K, 15K, or the full marathon), was an honor and the perfect way to do my first race. 

Up bright and early to get the bus to the starting line, from SultanAhmet square

My friend Donna and I getting pumped on the bus ride to the starting line

Cluster of people getting ready to go!

Getting ready at the starting line

Running on the Bosphorus bridge that connects the Asian and European sides of Istanbul

Made it over the windy bridge!

Nearing the end of the race, and getting ready to cross the Golden Horn bridge

Overall, this was a really fun experience in Istanbul.  To be able to run through this city past historical landmarks and across those bridges, with thousands of other people, was a very memorable experience here in Turkey.  Now looking forward to my second 10K race here in Antalya in just a few weeks.

October break in Rhodes

For the second part of the October break, Natalie and I took a ferry from Marmaris, Turkey to the Greek island, Rhodes.  While it is only about an hour long boat ride to get to the island, in total it ends up taking several more hours to go through customs, passport control, security, etc.  And to get through a completely chaotic line in Rhodes.

Rhodes is known for it's preserved old town with walls and buildings from medieval times.  Coming in on the ferry, there were some pretty amazing views of the walls and towers...

Perfect sunny day to be in Greece!

Getting from the ferry to our hotel turned out to be another problem...the cobblestone, windy streets of old town Rhodes don't really allow for taxis to get around.  So we took our own little walking tour of the old town, with our massive suitcases in tow and eventually found our hotel thanks to some very nice Greek people.  This proved to be a great opportunity to check out all the shops and restaurants to come back to when we didn't have a bunch of luggage.

Charming streets in the old town, with many opportunities to shop

Photo opportunity with a knight

Remains of an old Byzantine church, where we enjoyed some fantastic Greek fro-yo

Side street by our hotel

Maria, the very nice woman who ran the hotel we stayed in, was able to recommend a tour guide for us to show us around Rhodes and give us some information.  Katerina ended up being a really wonderful guide, as well as a Jane of all trades.  In addition to being a guide, she also owns property that she rents out, does cooking courses, writes apps, and is also a former principal of a school in Athens.  I could be forgetting a few of her jobs in there as well.  She took us to the Knights of St. John castle, which was renovated to become Mussolini's summer home later on during the Italian occupation.  While the castle has changed a lot since it belonged to the knights, it was still an interesting place to visit with many mosaics brought in from other Greek islands.

Natalie and I inside the Romantic room at the palace

Outside of the Palace of the Knights

One of the mosaics, of the 9 muses

From the palace, we took a walk down the Street of the Knights, where original buildings that were inns for the knights used to be.  The buildings are still intact and are used as consulates for some of the nations that sent knights to Rhodes.

Hanging out in an old medieval street

Later that day we checked out the Archaeology museum, which used to be a hospital.  We used the app that our guide created to have a handy little guide as we checked out the museum.

Main courtyard of the hospital/museum

A statue of Athena, washing her hair

The next day, we planned on meeting up with trusty Katerina again to visit the Lindos acropolis and village.  That night there were torrential rains and still looked cloudy the next morning, which didn't look promising for a day outside.  But the gods looked down on us with favor, and by noon the sun was shining and we were off to Lindos.  We were rewarded with an absolutely charming little village on the sea.  We hiked up to the acropolis, as the ancient Greeks did to worship every day.  Rumor has it that there are donkeys you can ride up there (unlike the ancient Greeks), but we were told they were sleeping so it didn't work out.

Picturesque first glance of Lindos

Natalie and I hiking up to the acropolis

Stairs up to the third level

The third level of the acropolis, where ancient Greeks left gifts for the gods

Made it up to the top, hiking just like the ancient Greeks did!

St. Paul's bay, on the other side of the acropolis.  A place where the apostle visited during his travels

The acropolis was a very beautiful ancient sight to visit.  Once we were up there, it became obvious why the ancient Greeks chose this spot to build a temple for their religious ceremonies.  We made our way back to our hotel, where Katerina had to drop us off outside the ancient walls (and then without her we immediately started taking wrong turns and getting lost!)

Natalie and I at the gate closest to our hotel

For our last dinner in Rhodes, we went to a Greek restaurant that was recommended to us by several people.  It was a very charming taverna that served traditional Greek food with really adorable Greek old man as waiters.  We learned that some of those servers used to own their own restaurants, but lost it during the economic crisis.  Even in a touristic place like Rhodes, it was evident that everyone had been affected by the crisis in some way.  

Completely overdid it on a big crazy cream puff dessert, but it was delicious!

Before taking our ferry back the next day, we paid a few euros and took a walk along the walls of the city.  Being from such a young country, it is always fascinating to see how history has unfolded in some of the early civilizations, like Greece.  Walking along the walls, you can see evidence from medieval times, the Ottoman occupation, the Italian occupation, and of course modern day Rhodes. All of it blends together to make a truly unique place.

Rhodes as seen from the walls

October break....a few months later

During the October break, my newly engaged pal Natalie came to visit and travel around Turkey and part of Greece together.  We had an awesome time traveling (and shopping!) together.  Turns out we are excellent travel partners and hopefully we will have more trips together in the future :) 

We started out in Istanbul, where I met Natalie at our hotel in Sultanahmet, the ancient city center.  Right away I knew Natalie was going to love Turkey when she immediately began checking out the wares in the shops and getting top-notch treatment and hospitality from the Turkish shop owners.  I really loved it when she asked if it was normal for the shop owners to offer you tea when you enter their shops....you don't have to be in Turkey very long to catch on to the fact that these people love their tea!

We spent our first day in Istanbul at Topkapi Palace (the first Ottoman royal compound) and at the Grand Bazaar.  This is my third time at the Palace, but it never gets boring to visit and see all of the Ottoman treasures on display.  This was the first time I had ever checked out the Harem section, where the Sultan, his mother, many wives, and children lived.  

Must be where the Sultan checked out his outfits before leaving the harem...?

Plaza in the harem, with the living units facing the center

Natalie in the Sultan's bedroom

Ornate mosaics and sinks in the harem

Next up was the Grand Bazaar.  Many gifts and Turkish handicrafts were purchased here, as well as teas and Turkish coffees consumed.

Shopping with snacks and a place to sit?  Yes please!

The next day we checked out one of the oldest hamams, or Turkish baths, in Istanbul.  We also went to the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.  That evening we relaxed on a Bosphorus dinner cruise with a friend from Tarsus, Donna.  What began as a nice evening on the Bosphorus quickly escalated into an all out dance party with everyone on the boat.  When in Turkey, I guess... :)

Cool views of the bridge lit up on the upper deck of the boat..

Dancing machines down below!

The next morning we left Istanbul and flew down to the southwestern coastal town of Marmaris.  Within twenty minutes of checking into our hotel, we parked ourselves immediately on the beach and enjoyed the Mediterranean sun and landscape....

View from our hotel window

There's not really that much to say about our time in Marmaris, except we loved the beach and we were completely bombarded by all of the Turkish men trying to get us to eat in their restaurants.  We were only there for a night before we caught the ferry to Rhodes, Greece.  Pictures and recap from Rhodes will be in the next post!

Funny student stories

I really have become a blog failure this year.  I keep procrastinating on writing about the October break trip....and now it is December.  Maybe it's because Facebook provides a more instantaneous way to update and share pictures and stories.  But I personally like to have a record of my life here in Turkey (and so does my mom!), so I WILL update about the following things soon:  October trip with Natalie, Istanbul marathon, and the Christmas markets in Cologne, Germany (actually this upcoming weekend, but I think I need to think ahead now).  For this post, I want to share some funny student stories that I have encountered/been a part of over the past year and a half here.  I should make this a segment on my blog (although I need more updates to have a segment), because these are the kinds of memories I really want to hold on to.  Here are a few of my favorites (**no real student names will ever be used!):

1.  This one comes from last year, when I was teaching third grade (I am teaching the same group of students as fourth graders now).  A little background--the students' schedule goes as follows: 40 minute lesson, 10 minute break, 40 minute lesson, ten minute break...for 8 periods.  During one of the last breaks of the day, the school provides a snack for the students.  So one day, the snack was mini bananas.  I was really excited about this and made sure I got my own mini banana for an afternoon snack.  One of the third grade boys, Billy Bob (clearly made up, as there is nobody named Billy Bob in Turkey!), is trying to get the adult passing out the bananas to give him another one.  I discover that he already ate three, so I said no more bananas for you.  After a few minutes, the bell rings, and I go to get ready to go teach Billy Bob's class.  Billy Bob walks in a few minutes late (typical), and clutching his stomach.  I ask him what's wrong, and he replies, "Ten bananas," in Turkish.  Turns out he convinced SEVEN of his friends to let him eat their banana snack and therefore, ate ten mini bananas in ten minutes.  Needless to say, Billy Bob spent the rest of that lesson in the nurse's office.

2.  Another boy in Billy Bob's class (there's a handful of characters in that section), let's call him Frank, called me "Ms. Dimbert" for the first semester in third grade.  Frank is more on the chubby side but has the highest pitched voice out of all the boys.  So "Ms. Dimbert" coming from him always gave me a little chuckle.

3.  Last year, the third graders brought in breakfast foods to share with their classmates to eat during first hour.  These included standard breakfast foods like cereal and fruit, as well as Turkish breakfast staples such as olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese.  I loved walking in and seeing them eating breakfast at their desks and sharing their breakfast stash with their friends.  The best image is of one of the more mild boys drinking tea with his friends....Turkish men love to drink their tea so it was hilarious to me to see them starting out so young.  And I wish they would do those breakfasts in fourth grade.

4.  Pencil cases are a really big deal for the students (because let's face it, they try to get away with putting more than just pencils in there).  The best pencil case I saw last year was shaped like a tube of toothpaste.  When I asked the student where he got the toothpaste pencil case, he said both of his parents were dentists and got it for him on a trip.  So perfect!

5.  There are many mature and responsible students in fourth grade, but one girl in particular, Lucy, is a cut above the rest.  Lucy wore a skirt, tights, flats, and her hair in a beautiful bun the other day...just like a teacher would.  It was classic.  I also am starting to realize that Lucy knows more about what's going on in the school than I do, so she's a good go-to person to ask questions about.  For example, today she rattled off the entire testing schedule for fourth grade (I was not aware of this).  She also knows about field trips, assemblies, and even stuff like whose parents own which businesses.  She is one of those students who could probably teach the English class for me, if I were ever absent.

That's all for now.  I think I will start to keep a list of funny stories from fourth grade and share the best here.  For anyone who is interested!

Weekend in Izmir

It is hard to believe that it in November already.  I have only updated once about my trip to Bodrum. The beginning of the school year was really hectic.  A brand new elementary school campus opened, and it unfortunately wasn't ready at the beginning of the year.  By October, everyone was more settled in at the new building with their schedules.  But October ended up being an incredibly busy month.  It started off great with a weekend in Izmir, the second largest city in Turkey on the west coast.  A group of foreign teachers flew to Izmir on a Friday night.  Anissa and I decided not to go to Ephesus or Pamukkale and stayed in Izmir to explore the city.  That Saturday turned out to be an epic day of walking!  Our first stop was the ruins from the ancient Roman agora, back when Izmir was part of the Roman empire and known as Smyrna.  The agora was the central marketplace in the city.  This open air museum was only a few lira to enter, and turned out to be a pretty awesome spot to walk around and take some photos.  

Archaeologists really had to dig to uncover these ruins

Photos from down inside the agora

Each section of the marketplace was reserved for selling different goods

After walking around the ancient agora, Anissa and I strolled through the Izmir bazaar.  We saw people selling fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices, then onto clothes and shoes....it went on and on and on.

I thought this fish was some kind of shark at first

Many nuts and dried fruits for sale at the market

We walked through the windy streets of the bazaar, stopping to buy some scarves and other knick knacks.  Eventually we found our way out down by the water and walked along the promenade.

The Izmir clocktower, a symbol of the city

The waterside is filled with many restaurants, bars, and tons of shops.  We found our way to Alsancak and enjoyed a fabulous dinner there.  This meal is one of the best seafood dinners I have had in Turkey.  Skewered, seasoned sea bass with lots of peppers and tomatoes...delicious.

The next day, we continued our walk through the city, this time past the seaside and up the hill to a few of the museums.  The Archaeology museum in Izmir was small, but had some great pieces to it.  There were many Roman statues and marble engravings from excavations in the area, as well as pottery and sarcophogi.

These stone carvings were just hanging out outside the museum

Painted sarcophogi, a rare find

Very elaborate marble sarcophogus

I continued walking up the hill and was rewarded with some pretty awesome panoramic views of Izmir.

I caught up with Anissa again at this shiny blue mosque up on top of the hill.

Finally we walked back down to the seaside again and enjoyed one last meal before heading back.  Izmir was a really fun city to visit, so very different from Tarsus or Istanbul.  It had more of a cosmopolitan feel to it than Mersin and was a really nice city to walk around and take in all of the sights.

Down by the seaside walkway

One last photo...a shot of Ataturk carved into the rock, as taken from a moving taxi