Gorkem, Cats, and a Fortune Teller

I went with my mother and host sister to a death anniversary. In Turkey they honour the death of a loved one by getting together on the anniversary of their death to pray and eat that person's favorite foods.

We went to Gorkem's aunt's house. They have a cat named Kopuk (which means bubble!). Gorkem does not like cats. This meant that the cat loved her. Hilarity ensued.
In attendance to this gathering was a woman who knew how to read fortunes in coffee grounds. I won't tell you everything, but mine included a dark-haired boy, an ill grandparent, a definite marriage in the family (now I'm excited! She was very sure of this one..), a trip, and getting closer to a friend. It was really, really cool. And much as I am somewhat skeptical, this woman was very impressive. I would recommend having your fortune read if you come to Turkey. It's quite fun!

Love,
Maeghan

Anzac Day at Gallipoli

Shall I start with the facts? I'll start with the facts.

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The ANZACs had set out to conquer Gallipoli Peninsula and then capture Istanbul, thus allowing them access to the Black Sea. What was supposed to be an easy attack became a stale-mate and the two groups (Turks and Anzacs) fought for months before the Anzacs eventually evacuated. The death tolls were horrific. Over 8000 Australians and 2700 New Zealanders were killed. Over 86ooo Turks were killed.

Yet one of the amazing stories about this battle is how the opposing troops became friends of sorts while not engaged in battle. There are stories of them throwing tins of food across the field to each other. One story is about a wounded Anzac who none of his mates went to retrieve for fear of their own lives. During a cease-fire, a Turkish soldier got up, crossed the field, brought this man to his side's trench, then returned to the Turkish side to continue the war.

They fought side by side, and they died side by side. Now they remember, side by side, at dawn on the 25th of April every year.

*****

We got on the bus at 7 pm Friday night and arrived at Gallipoli at 2:30 am. We had to walk 600m to where the ceremony would take place at 5:30 am.

Many people had been there for hours (we were vehicle 219, if that gives you a hint) and there were sections of grass where you could spread out in a sleeping bag to wait for dawn. It was overwhelming the number of people, and everyone speaking english! Every little thing I heard was intriguing. What's that about a pant leg? You got your sleeping bag wet? He said what? It makes imagining coming home a little more amusing. Unfortunately, you all don't have nearly as amazing accents.

The ceremony included a call to commemoration, a quote from Ataturk*, psalm 23 (which we were all invited to sing along to... led to a lot of mumbling since no one seemed to know the tune (Amazing Grace did a little better)), a prayer, a poem, wreath laying, and two minutes of silence.
After the ceremony (which took place as the sun rose), we walked back to our tour bus to start the lovely 5 hour drive back home. We slept.

Love,
A Very Tired Maeghan

-
*Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets where they lie side by side here in this country of ours… You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
—Atatürk 1934

Jandarma

Yesterday I went to see Hannah's art exhibition.
Hannah is from Maine (which Canada will be taking over... some day... when I'm queen...) and has spent her year at school working on this set and her portfolio. Her school is now proudly displaying her pieces, which are intended to (and do!) capture the contrasts in this city. Everything from the old mosques and new skyscrapers to the wealthy shoppers and poor street vendors to the fashionistas and the women in burkas.

So a bunch of us took a bus out to the middle of nowhere, where Hannah lives and goes to school. Actually, it isn't that far (like 45 minutes) but it is "past the forest!"

On our way back into the city, the jandarma (military police) stopped our bus. This is not unusual for the area. Her little suburb/town/whatever is out of Istanbul and thus does not have city police. They have the army. And apparently the army base in this area is very cautious. They had us all get ID out. Hooray for residency permits!

Carly says that when she lived in that suburb/town/whatever the jandarma would come around every so often and ask all the foreigners living there to present themselves with valid identification. How different is that from at home?!

-Maeghan

Picnic in the Park

Amanda (California) had a birthday party today! But let me start at the beginning.

I got up to find crepes! Delicious, wonderful crepes. So I ate breakfast with my host family. Then Carly came over to hang out while I made (she helped, of course!) cinnamon buns for Amanda's potluck picnic. THEN Blase (Michigan) and Garet (Illinois) came over. Blase is "partitioning" his portable hard drive, so he needed a place to store information for a while. That would be my computer. So while Blase did that Carly, Garet, and I laid around being lazy.

Carly just moved families so she went home when we headed to Amanda's party. Which was fabulous! We went to this long seaside park and just hung out all evening. Amanda brought a safety blanket from her first aid kit for us to use as the blanket...
That didn't attract attention... But anyway, we hung out throwing a football, listening to music, and eating cake/cookies/cinnamon buns. It was great. I met a bunch of Amanda's friends and we all had a fabulous time. We stayed past sunset (gosh, isn't it amazing?) and all the lights came on so we continued to play, this time Monkey in the Middle. Then everyone else headed to a club in Taksim and I returned home to watch a movie. The picnic part, said Amanda, was because she knew I wouldn't come later. How sweet. Heh. And I'm probably the only exchange student in the world known for not partying. It was a perfect day.

-Maeghan

PS. Except for the part where I think I did something to my left thumb and I don't have a mother who would fix it for me at the dinner table.

Wikipode

I'm sitting in the English wing. We were having a conversation about a section of Turkish history that none of us really knew anything about.
Someone suggested we "wikipedia it".
"Wikipedia isn't a verb!"
"But we use Google as a verb."
"What about just 'wiki'? You could wiki it."
"What would be the past tense of it? Wikipediad?"
"Sounds like a dinosaur..."
"Wikipode?"
"YEAH! Who said it had to be normal anyway? It could be an irregular verb!"
"Wikipedia, will wiki, wikipode"

By now our original topic of conversation was completely forgotten.

Fish Eyes

We had fish for supper tonight. The kind they just buy from a bucket and stick in a frying pan, still in tact. Needless to say, my vegetarian roots showed through when I could barely look at the poor thing on my plate. My host mom tried to give me more than one but I managed to stop her saying the best thing I could think of- "I'm scared!"

Yes, the fish, in all it's former glory was staring at me with glazed over eyes. I tried to eat the fish, I really did. But there are bones! Thousands of them! Millions, even! And I don't like it when I can still recognize my food.

Note- This paragraph is not for the weak of stomach.
I sort of made it through enough of the fish to make my family happy. That's when I noticed that the eyelid had slid up. So I decided to examine the eyeball. The fish who moments before I had been afraid to touch with the thought of eating, suddenly became the most exciting scientific exploration. I managed to pop the eye out to examine it further. Later I got the socket out and tried to get to the brain, but alas! The skull was too small, and I feared that I would crush it all trying to break in. Darn utensils.

So having removed the eye from my fish, I realized that it looked like a white airsoft pellet. As I was examining it with both disgust and fascination, my host dad made an offer.

"I'll eat it if you do something for me!"

And so, my father made a grand show of eating not one, but two fish eyes in front of me and my younger sister. She has to do 20 math problems that he will write for her tomorrow, and I have to speak to my younger sister in English. Now conversations sound like this:

Me- "Dus alacagam!" I will take a shower.
Dad- "Tamam canim" Okay, sweetie.
Me- "Buket, I'm going to take a shower. Tamam mi?" Okay?
Buket- "Dus aliyorsun" You're taking a shower.
Me- "Evet."

More exciting conversations end up with her and I correcting each other. Hooray for learning!
-Maeghan

Happy Easter Everyone!

A little fact blog for you today.

Tulips are originally from the area of the world I'm currently in. The flowers are indigenous to Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, and other parts of Central Asia. I know what you're thinking: Well then how did they end up in Western Europe?

The most widely accepted story is that the bulbs were given to the Ambassador for Ferdinand I as a gift from Suleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire (that's Turkey, people!) in 1554. Then a botanist named Carolus Clusius met the Ambassador in Vienna (which is not where the ambassador's from.. go figure!) and upon seeing the beautiful flowers decided to take them and make them ridiculously popular (see TULIPMANIA). Thus, Holland has tulips. Tonnes of 'em.

You can all sleep safe now knowing the true origin of the mighty tulip!
-Maeghan

Mama Mia!

Watching Mama Mia with my host family after trying to teach my younger host sister to cartwheel. Anyway. This movie is ridiculous. But I love it. Spontaneous singing and dancing. So my style. Meanwhile my host family is watching the screen with guarded expressions kind of like "What is happening..."
Heh.
-Maeghan

PS. I gave a small speech in front of my whole school today half in Turkish half in English. I got laughed at. Fun stuff.

PPS. I mentioned this film is ridiculous, right?

I Win

Today Carly and I went to pay for our second trip. After that we went to Eminönü where I bought a pair of flats (black and white, though not as cool as my old ones) for 15 TL. Yes! I won the bet with my host family. Haha!

Also, I splurged (oh jeez..) and got myself a Besiktas jersey! I'd show you a photo of me in it, but Carly has my camera. Minor mix-up there, but I'll see her Saturday so it's no big deal.
Yeah, so I have this jersey. It's black and white vertical stripes, it has a "3" on the back, as well as "CANADIA" which is my nickname here. All in all, I adore it. My host family? Not so much. They're Fenerbahçe. Which is my other team. I support two (I know, scandalous!) but Fenerbahçe's colours aren't as nice on me. Navy blue and yellow stripes. I though about buying one of those since the colours of my soccer jerseys, in order of years are: Yellow, blue, yellow, blue, yellow. But I can't afford both and I have this one now.

So! It was a good day. Sunny. Hot. Uncomfortably hot, considdering I couldn't wear shorts and a tank top like I wanted (it's spring to these people, and I hate walking around in clothes that scream TOURIST!) so I was boiling. Carly (Kansas) was making fun of me. I suppose it's fair since I spent all winter making fun of everyone else. But oh goodness! This summer is going to kiiiiiiiilll me. Suddenly I'm not as excited for July.

-Maeghan

The Last Week

I feel bad for abandoning you all for a week, but I don't have much to say. School is fine. It's a pain in the butt to get to everyday but I knew that when I moved.

This weekend was pretty good, Saturday night we slept over at Juliana's house. Her mom was out of town and told her she could have all the girls over if she wanted. So we made pasta (I was a taste-tester), watched tv, played truth or dare, and eventually slept. On Sunday Carly and I explored Çengelköy, which really doesn't have anything. Except a view of the Bosphorus Bridge and AMAZING icecream.

Did I mention it was warm and sunny this weekend?

We wouldn't have stayed long, except that one of the other student's host mothers called Carly. This woman's son is on exchange to Kansas and just spent a weekend at Carly's real family's home. I feel a bit more confident in my Turkish now, since Carly ended up shoving the phone at me to figure out what she wanted. I think that being in my new house has really helped my understanding. My new family talks to each other all the time, so I hear how the language should sound all the time now. Anyways, this lady met us in Çengelköy to say hello (I suppose while you're on the other continent you may as well see someone, right?). Then she invited us to stay with them some weekend. They apparently have a guest house we're welcome to use.

It's moments like these that remind you about why the travel guides call Turks so hospitable and kind. Here we are, two girls she's never met before, and she already wants to have us over and cook us supper.

As an apology for keeping you in the blue..



Love,
Maeghan

PS. I have a bet with my host family. My old flats are more than dead, nothing short of duct tape could save them now. I've yet to find duct tape here, so I'm forced to the alternative option- buy new shoes. Unfortunately for me, I'm cheap. BUT I'm determined to find a pair for 15 TL or less. My host family claims this is impossible. I'm out to prove them wrong.
If I succeed by the end of the week, my sister said she'd buy me a second pair. If I can't, I have to dance for all of them. Failure is obviously not an option. Wish me luck!

PPS. To everyone on the New York trip- Have a GREATAMAZINGWONDERFULAWESOMEWICKED time.
To everyone everywhere else- Enjoy your Easter break and make millions of painted eggs and eat lots of chocolate for me. Especially the Cadbury cream eggs.. Mmm.