Oh the Joys of Being Confused

Did I mention that now when I try to speak in spanish it comes out turkish? So when I think "Okay, today I will just practice saying my name and age in spanish" it comes out "Merhaba! Benim adım... wait! NO. Merhaba..NOOOO. Hola. *phew* Hola, benim..hayir..no! Hola yo me llamo Maeghan. Tengo on altı.. I MEAN diez y... uno dos tres quatro cinco sies... dies y sies anos. *sigh of relief* Tamam. NO! Aaarrrrggh!"

İdil has decided that I can speak spanglurkish from now on. English, Spanish, and Turkish. Senorita? You are going to have a heck of a time with me in your 30 class. Maybe I should take 10 again...

-M

Mr. Blue Sky Please Tell Us Why You Had to Hide Away for Soooo Long!

The sun was visible today! And although I still really miss Beautiful Big Blue Albertan skies, this was nice. Sooo! Before I was going to write to you about what it's like at private school in Turkey but now I'm going to share pictures!

YES. Maeghan took a walk. In the sun! <3

First we have this video! You get to hear me laugh partway through because as I was filming it, a guy walking by me in the other direction taked to me and thought that it was hillarious that I was filming a building.. (although I was actually doing it for the call to prayer). Anyways as I just said, this is the call to prayer that happens multiple times a day. When I leave my window open it wakes me up because all the camılar (pronounced jamilar, sort of.. means mosques) have towers with speakers that basically announce to the entire city through song that it's time for worship. It was really cool for about the first week. Then it got annoying (at like.. 5 am in the summer? not what I want to hear). Now I don't even notice it. During Şeker Bayram they showed the guy singing it (at the Topkapi Palace) every night on TV, announcing that the hours of fasting were officially over.

So this one is where I currently live. The balcony to the immediate left of the door is off of our kitchen. First floor love! Less stairs (although that means less exercise..)

Ever wonder what it means to be a hero? Here's Atatürk, known and loved by EVERY Turk in existence. This is the statue in the park closest to my house. Basically (if I haven't filled you in already) he took this country and created what it is today. I have yet to be in a public building without a photo or a statue of him in there somewhere.

Okay.. what have we here? A streetside COVERED in rows of billboards. Tonnes of billboards. Also, you can see the sidewalk. I don't know if I've said, but sidewalks here are mostly bricks. And people have laid these bricks. Hundreds and hundreds all over the city. Makes me appreciate having somewhere to walk just a little more.

Here is the mosque from a little further away. Look at how pretty it is! And it is one of the newest mosques I've seen. It's a big one, too. I know that you've probably seen photos or postcards of the Blue Mosque or the Ayı Sophia but not all mosques are actually that large. Most are smaller than this with only one dome and one tower. The towers have a special name I think.. I just don't know it. You also get a view of our green grass.


My walk is ending, because the sun is going down. = (
But! Where did all the traffic go? I thought this was İstanbul!? You also get a hint of a sunset against the apartments . And you can see the sidewalk again.





Lastly, my old apartment. After carelessly ignoring a sign I couldn't read that probably said something along the lines of "Please keep off of the grass" I snuck up to the side of the building ninja style and snapped some shots before I realized a kid was staring at me from a first floor window.. so I casually walked back to the path and then not so stealthily got stuck trying to open a gate... Rofl. I am so me.

So there you have it folks! A mini-adventure in the setting sun around a pretty boring İstanbul neighbourhood. This walk made my week. <3

-Maeghan

PS? Some of my friends came randomly to the FLD during one of the breaks to talk to me and ask me if I was coming to class. Aw! So I went and was extremely bored (sıkıcı hehe!) as they studied for exams. "Always this ridiculous obsession with love!" I was going to say studying rather than love but then it reminded me of Moulin Rogue and plus, it's not ridiculous. Their exams are intense.

Gaah.

Today has been increadibly boring. I am sitting in the Foreign Lanugages Department in 8th period and WHEN CAN TODAY BE OVER?!?!?! I just want to do something. This morning was good because I was working on tests.. proofreading, stapling, and recording marks. Yes, a monkey could do it (well maybe not the proofreading) but it was something at least. Then, after lunch, I went to my class to see my friends who were not very friendly. This was disheartening and since I am pretty much the most boring person in Turkey (language barrier kind of takes away your personality) I had nothing to say. So I slunk back to the FLD and wrote a grade 12 exam. Not as in took the exam, I made it. Hooray for fast typing skills. Now I have nothing to do and it is STILL cloudy and rainy and unpleasant. If it would just snow already I could get a day off of school. Or better yet, the sun could come out!

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun
Please shine down on me.
Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun
Hiding behind a tree.
This little yabancı is asking you
To please come out so I can play with you
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun
Please shine down on me!

-Maeghan

The Sun Didn't Come Out...

But I had a good day anyways!

Yesterday I made a sim version of my family (we look nothing like us) and a sim version of my house (because I was worried I had forgotten it) and was generally lazy. Hoorah.

Today I started off the morning ranting to Emily about how people don't move out of the way. I'm walking with my shoulder practically pressed against the wall and the group of three people don't shift to let me through, so I end up basically shoulder-checked into a door. Sweet. Thank you. I like you too. But really? It's like that all the time. People here don't move like we do. Walking on the sidewalk? Short of stepping onto the street and getting run over by a taxi I CANNOT MOVE FURTHER OVER so let go of your girlfriend's hand and walk behind her for two paces! Jeez. Life in the fast lane. From now on I'm going to be agressive with my inevitable walking-into-people. Like, instead of just brushing shoulders, pushing back with that shoulder. Grr! Attack of the angry Canadian! Hehe. Or not...

Anyways! Once this very serious rant was out of the way, we had a great time doing nothing. Well.. Emily did stuff. All day. I had to sit and stare at the wall. Why? Because whenever Arzu gives us a one-person job Emily jumps on it before I can blink. I mean, I'm happy that she's so keen to do stuff, but I'd like to have something to do too. Then at the end of days like these she gives me a minilecture about being productive and asking if there are things that can be done, etc. Um.. thanks, tips. You could maybe not insist on doing EVERYTHING, even if it's handed to me.

Like we helped (well, actually, Emily did. I just sat there for moral support through most of it *rolls eyes*) a girl who applying for an exchange to the USA through YES fill out her application. Originally Arzu hands it to me and we sit down, Emily slides the papers over to look at them and before I know it she's taken the pen out of my hands and starts writing what the girl is saying. Sweet nectar! Arrg! This was going to be a positive entry. Right.

So there's one part where a teacher who knows the student well is supposed to answer questions about stuff. How they know the student, some of their strengths and weaknesses, etc. And Arzu calls Sean over "Are you doing anything? Great. I need you to do this letter of recomendation thing for Selin. I've gotta run, my Preps are writing an exam."

Sean being Sean, he is sarcastic and pretends to be annoyed to have to do this. We all sit down to write this recomendation letter all about a girl we've known for ten minutes. We ended up writing it as Arzu, since she actually knows the girl (putting I've known this student for ten minutes because she needs a teacher to fill this out! isn't exactly complimentary) and just made up stuff based on what the girl told us. Heh. It was so funny. BSing in the English department. Probably the best part of my day.

Lastly, sitting in my bus, waiting for it to leave, I look out my window and see a kid in the other bus (he's about 5, and in kindergarten) with his face pressed up against the glass making faces. He sees me and stops, his nose squished, mouth a big O and tongue mid-lick. I broke down in laughter, very akward in a bus full of people who don't know why you're laughing.

Oh! And I received my birthday package from my family.

-Maeghan xxoo

Bowling, Birthdays, and Byes

Mattie and Me Bowling... Got Some Odd Looks!

Do you feel like you were there now?

Today was hard. We had to say goodbye to Eve, since most of us won't see her during the week (darn Rotary and their YOU MUST GO TO SCHOOL OR ELSE policy). She's going home this week. Those Australians. Seeing her finish her year reminded me that my time here will end too, and reminded me that at some point we will all be doing that. Saying goodbye.

But to say goodbye proper, we all got together and went bowling! It was wonderfully wonderful. Originally we planned to go to Miniaturk but since the weather was gross we decided that an indoor activity would be more fun. So bowling! It was overpriced (like everything) but well worth it. First we exchanged secret santa gifts and then Eve dumped a bunch of stuff on us that she didn't want to take home. We danced and laughed and hung out and everyone sang happy birthday to Juliana and me. Mattie and I bought Juliana a minicake before we all got together, and she was very happy.

After that we all got jumbled and lost and sort of broke into two groups. The group I was with (and Eve!) went to a small restaurant-like thing and ate cheap food (woot!). Then Carly, Mattie, and I decided we wanted to see Australia (since Carly is buying me popcorn at the movies for a Christmas present) and headed to the theater.. to find the times not compatible with my "Little Apartment In The Suburbs" (I was ripping off Little House on the Prairie but it really doesn't sound the same...). So we headed to a different mall (how Turks need as many malls as they build I have no idea!) where it was playing even later. Defeated, wet, and missing Eve already, we headed our seperate ways. What a sad way to end what had been a good day.

It gets hard here. I don't really write about it (if you were talking to people you never got to saw would you complain or would you fill them in on everything that excites you?) but sometimes I just want to be somewhere else. İstanbul is a hard city to live in, especially if you live in an area like mine. The fact that a four 'o clock movie is too late really demonstrates how much time I have to put into travel. Calculating when to take busses gets really confusing. I took a 7 am bus this morning and got to Taksim by 8. The 7:20 bus usually gets me there closer to 9:15. All because of traffic. A twenty minute difference in leaving times but over an hour in arriving times! It boggles my mind. So going home I pretty much have to go at 4:30 because any later and traffic makes the trip waaay longer. When visiting friends for the day can involve up to 4 hours travel time you suddenly become more reluctant to go out.

I want to end this on a happy note, but I'm kind of sad today. Tomorrow will be better, though. I will make sure of it!

-Maeghan

Nothing Much

Just a short hello!
School is school. Life is life. Eve is leaving! = '( This weekend we are saying goodbye... I am going to cry.
However on a happier note, New Year's Eve was like.. "Make Fun Of Canada" Day in the English department. That's right. All those American teachers (okay.. three) picking on an innocent Canadian exchange student's country. Where was Janice (the Calgarian) when I needed her?
Today I was complaining about Hatchet, a book I really disliked. The excerpt I was reading (Emily and I made quizzes today) was about him deciding to eat berries. Idiot. Those are bird berries. We all know he's going to get sick. I said this. Emily replies that she wouldn't know which berries were good to eat and which weren't if she was stranded in the wilderness. Not everyone is Canadian. Rofl. These are honestly the comments that fill my days as an exchange student. We always tease each other about our countries and our cultures, regardless of truth. It can get pretty hilarious. Us Canadians and our wild berries!

-Maeghan

I Was In 2009 Before You!

Yes, I'm immature. Yes, it doesn't matter. But I will fully brag about it anyways. I was in 2009 how many hours earlier? 9. I get nine more hours in 2009 than you do. Bet you're jealous.

Anyways.. on to the festivities. Like I promised you all before I left... I ate turkey in Turkey on New Years which is like Christmas. Anyone remember me telling you I'd do it? Ta-da!!

School was one long party, as we didn't have any classes nor did we have to wear uniforms. We hung out and danced and ate food. It was good. Then, after school we headed over to Asia to my host uncle and aunt's house where we ate a nice dinner and watched tv until midnight. Oh! And we played bingo! Not only did I manage to lose every single round, but I also got to call out the numbers once! This was very exciting because I knew all of them. Except that my host grandmother needed them repeated to her every single time. This made everyone really annoyed by the end of that round. I would announce something like "kirk iki" (42) and she would say what and everyone would say "kirk iki anne! Dinle!" (42 mom, listen!). So I only ended up calling for one round.

We also exchanged gifts, and I gave everyone a card on which I attempted to write messages in Turkish. No one asked what I meant, so I think they were all correct. About 15 minutes after midnight I went to bed, because I'm getting another cold. Jeez!

Happy New Year everyone, Hoş Geldiniz 2009!

-Maeghan