Testing :-)

After my last trip I let my blog go dormant because of safety concerns. It has now been a couple years and I feel free to once again start posting freely on this sight.

VBS

This week we had VBS. The first night we had about 15 kids, we fluctuated a little on who was there but the numbers always stayed between 15 and 20.

Our theme was Adventures with Paul from Acts. I taught the 4 - 6 year olds, a couple of the guys from the y team were my helpers. It was so much fun! I love teaching little kids, I averaged around 10 kids each night. They varied in their English knowledge but most of them could at least understand English even if they could not speak it.

We had a lot of little girls and a few boys. It was really precious to see how well they were remembering the stories and how excited they were to come to class each night.

There is more I would like to share but this is to public a place...

Oh a random piece of information from this week. So I have been in Turkey since May 22nd and it was 2 days before I left the country. The whole time I had managed to get away without having to wear a head scarf. Well the more traditional beliefs affiliate wet hair with marital relations, so in conservative areas ladies aren't allowed to go out with wet hair. I had checked when I arrived in Antalya and was told it was okay to walk around with wet hair here. Well us ladies went swimming and then after changing at the Bultema's we were heading out to get lunch and do VBS, when the lady who cleans for the Bultema's saw that we had wet hair. She lives in a conservative village, Duden, so she told us we could not leave with wet hair. The other girls all tied there hair up and it was fine, but I had to borrow a scarf to cover my head. So with two days left I ended up having to cover my head...

Duden

Duden

The Whole Gang

Charades (translating the word to Turkish)

This little girl would randomly bite and hit us teachers...

Handing out certificates at the end

We kissed their cheeks as we handed it to them (the custom here)

Tyler giving the boys their certificates

English Conversation

English Conversation

Tressa Teaching

Some of the children

July 24th ~ Sunday

So today was my last Sunday in Turkey… we went to service like normal it was a good service and I enjoyed it. Afterwards we had a pool party with other water related activities :-). It was good a lot of larger parties in a row but it was still really good.

When we arrived home Tressa and I went to the produce pazzar to get produce for this week. We then came home and slept.

July 23rd ~ Saturday

We slept in a little bit this morning and then headed to the clothing pazzar. I have been hearing about this pazzar ever sense I came to Turkey, so sense it was my last Saturday to be here we all went. We arrived a little after ten and started walking around. At first it seemed like there was just one smaller street, with a little side street going off. Well when you took the side street it just kept going and there were many other streets that branched off of it. There was a TON of people and stuff being sold. The vendors were yelling at everyone trying to get them to buy from them and everyone was trying to find the best deal. The clothing was usually just in one big heap on a large square table and everything on the table was one price. You just had to dig to find something you liked… but there were tons of ladies all trying to dig and find that one special item, it was like combat shopping. We all had a great time and found gifts to take back as well as a few things for ourselves. The prices were really good I can’t tell you what I got because most of it is gifts but trust me the pricing was good.

We all made are way home and changed into dry clothes, yes it was really hot, to head to Perge. Perge is mentioned in Paul’s first journey. We had a lot of fun and explored the ruins. We were allowed to climb on things at this site so, of course, I did :-). Most of it was very similar to the sites I have already described but this one under the bath houses where they would have the tunnels that they piped steam through you could actually see and climb down into. I climbed all through the under flooring of the bath houses. I have to say that I truly do enjoy dark closed in tunnels, they feel so close which just makes me feel secure. I really wished I had a flashlight because I was not able to climb all the way under it all. While there we were also able to talk with a lady and that was very good.

After this adventure we came home and changed into swimming suits. We had a party with the Y team and some other short termers in this area and another Y team that is in another area. I was really tired and really did not want to go and hang out with all of these people but sometimes you just have to do it. The party was actually pretty good and I did enjoy it.

July 22nd ~ Friday

We had scheduled at the beginning of the week to go to the beach this morning so that is what we did. It was also decided to go to a different beach than we normally go to. It took us about an hour but we made it. We also were able to ride the tram for the first time which was kind of fun.
The water was amazing just the right temperature, not to salty, and not very rough. We all had a good time talking and reading on the beach. We decided to head back into town to get lunch and so Meg could make her 3 o clock VBS meeting, also the rest of us girls had stuff to finish for Duden.
We got on the tram and the bus drivers decided to take a smoke break so we all sat on the really hot bus for ten minutes as they smoked. This is actually rather common here. We eventually made it to Old Town and had a Doner and Ayran. Ayran is starting to slowly grow on me but I don’t think I will ever drink it as a pleasure item. After lunch we headed to our respected areas.
Tressa printed certificates for tonight to give to the children, I designed them before the beach but Tressa did not go to the beach because she was feeling ill. Yuxiang and Tressa finished putting together the kids craft booklets that they had been working on and put a group picture on the front for all of them. We grabbed all the needed supplies for this evening and Tressa, Elizabeth, and I headed out. We stopped at this dish store to pick up a gift for the lady that is letting us use her house in Duden. WE found a bread basket and then filled it with yummies from the grocery store, mom you would be proud it looked quite nice.
When we all arrived in Duden the kids were once again waiting the girls with their completed homework. We picked up another teenage guy tonight and another couple of younger kids. Tonight for the lesson we reviewed what we had learned and then had conversations with the teachers where the kids got to show off what they had learned in front of the rest of the class. After this was finished we call them up one at a time and gave them their certificates and booklets. We would hand them their stuff and then kiss their cheeks, guys with guys and girls with girls, they all really liked this. We then broke out the special dessert that Tressa had made, it was a huge success they all loved it.
We then played a few organized games and then broke into a respected groups for free hang out times. The guys had quite the game of football going. I was playing with four 11 year old girls and they kept changing the game and then trying to explain the rules to me. I felt like a small child that could not catch on. They were trying so hard to communicate but it was just not making since, Renata jumped in and helped a bit.
It was such a great week and I really think we made a lasting impression on the children. They did not want us to leave at all and were asking if we will come back next year. As we were leaving though they were all asking for our Facebook info LoL.

July 21st ~ Thursday

I started the day with an amazing two hour phone conversation with Bre. It was the first time we were able to talk since I have been gone. Well the rest of my day was full of praying and seeking answers to questions and talk to people to make sure expectations were correct. Hmm after all that Renata and I met Meg at the cultural center and Renata gave us a tour of what it is going to look like. The work is moving along really fast and the place should be back on its feet in September. Tressa showed up halfway through the tour.

Tressa and I then went to buy post cards and we stopped and chatted with the guy selling them and had tea. We then rushed over to the Froggies where Renata picked us up to head to Duden.

It was amazing to see all the kids so excited for us to return. The girls and one of the boys had once again finished their homework. Yuxiuang had corrected and put stickers on all the homework from the day before and they were pleased to get that back. We once again played games and hung out before hand. I taught tonight, I taught them some basic verbs and body parts. It was a lot of fun actually.

We then played more game and eventually we were all forced to leave because it was late. One of the little girls brought a little camera toy that she insisted on giving to me. It was really sweet of her, I have been really enjoying getting to know the kids. They are all so sweet, Renata has also been building relationships with the mothers as we play with the children.

We all headed home and once again crashed.

July 20th ~ Wednesday

I helped Lea and some of the other ladies prepare crafts for next week’s VBS today. I made bag puppets and then put together all the kits so that the kids can just grab a bag and put it together. I then helped the rest of the girls sort all the beads by colors. We then put together kits to make the silent book bracelets. I then made a friendship bracelet as an example.

We had a VBS meeting at the cultural center from 4 – 5:30. I will be teaching the 4-6 year olds. The VBS is based on stories from Acts. We will be having about six classes going on at the same time. We all then headed off to the Froggies, a bunch of statues of frogs, and met Renata who drove us to Duden.

At Duden we had even more children, including girls and another teenage boy. We had all the kids from the first day return. All the girls were waiting for us with their completed homework in hand. We played games with them for a half hour and then Meg taught the lesson. She did Animals and Family Relations. When all the lesson related stuff was completed we played games some more. The day before the kids learned we were doing Animals and so some of the girls brought stuffed animals and one brought a live turtle.

It was so much fun to be able to hangout and played with the children. The guys got a good game of Futball going and us ladies had fun with the Frisbee, chalk, bubbles, and other balls. We were able to communicate at least a little with the children through gestures and the little English they new and the little Turkish we have picked up.

We had to ride the bus home tonight because Renata had to leave early to help get Talya ready to fly to America in the morning. But before she left she and Katie, another long term person who was with us for this night, were invited to tea with some of the mothers. They both speak great Turkish so they were actually able to have a good talk with the mothers.

Andrew, Katie’s husband, then rode the bus with us back into town to make sure we did not get lost. He dropped us off at Burger King in Old Town because we were all hungry.

We eventually made it home and collapsed into bed.

July 19th ~ Tuesday

I spent the first half of the day finishing up some stuff for Duden and backing up the information from one of the Bultema’s computers.

We then all loaded into Renata’s van and headed to Duden.

So tonight we had some girls show up which was a lot of fun. Apparently the guys checked it out the first day and then gave approval for the girls to show up. Tressa taught tonight on colors and numbers. The kids actually had a pretty good grasp of these words. It went really well and I had a great time hanging out with the children.

I played keep away with one of the little girls. She was really sweet and we had a great time. After the end of the lesson we all played games. The older boys played, well I don’t know what it is called but they stood in a circle and used their heads and feet to keep it up. Us girls volleyed a ball or threw the Frisbee.