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Out to lunch
With the physiotherapists from Can Akdeniz (Rehab center #1) Some of you may be wondering about my safety over here in Turkey, due to the recent shootings in Istanbul at the US consulate, and the kidnappings of Germans in the far eastern Turkey. I'm sure it's made the US papers. This update is to assure you that we are taking extra safety precautions here in Antalya, (such as not hanging out at American type places like Starbucks for long periods of time, avoiding large tourist crowds, etc). Verna is not too concerned. 3 years ago when there were bombings in Antalya that injured some people, we were made to stay home for several days. If the concern is great for us being here as Americans, I can assure you she will take the appropriate precautions!
On another note, things are going well. Except for I stayed home sick yesterday with a head cold and aches, and have been fighting some sort of illness since Sunday. But I'm getting better. I've been spending several hours a day at the rehab centers, and occasionally get the opportunity to help a child, a parent or a therapist or teacher with a problem by demonstrating a technique that is not used yet in
View of sunset from Linda and Phil's apartment
We had a fun gathering there on July 3rd, with a little 4th of July celebration as well. They have an amazing view from their flat. Here is the sunset captured in a photo. Turkey. The parent exercise classes are going well too. Today I bought some belly dancing music because Verna suggested I have the parents teach me some Turkish dancing moves. Belly dancing is very popular in Turkey, and even the small children by age 3 are taught belly dancing moves. So next week, I'll tell the women how to work out their abs and hips and they can teach me belly dancing! The student gymnastics groups have turned into Brain Dance/aerobics/games/group ball toss. They absolutely love the ball toss and even the people who are unwilling to engage at all in the aerobic type moves or other games will open up enough to give the giant therapy ball a push or a throw. There are pictures of the student classes, but not the parent classes yet. I'm waiting for the right time to start taking pictures for both classes- I'm afraid of making the people feel uncomfortable, especially the parents who may be sensitive to my motive for photo taking.
It has been absolutely wonderful leading the deputation team and hanging out with them some. Last weekend we visited Olympos, a little tourist hippie village at the site of some
Walking to the fires at midnight
Caitlin and Caitlin assisting each other up the hill old ruins near a beautiful beach. I went there last time so I knew the trip would be worth taking. It takes about an hour and a half to get there from here, and we were planning to take a bus, but some other americans that go to the church here gave us the idea to rent a car. "Just Rent A Car" they said- and then I realized that is the name of the place- the people speak English and Ben and Verna use the trusted company frequently. So we rented a car, split the cost, and I drove us all down to Olympos for a packed 24 hour trip with very little sleep. It was fantastic! Before coming back we drove another hour and a half south to Perge, the St. Nicholas town. St Nicholas was bishop there long ago, you can read the description in my photos. In olympos we saw the flames on a mountainside in the middle of the night, made 3 hour friends with people who played us music on Turkish instruments on the beach, swam in the sea at 3 am, and stayed in tree houses for the night. I was a little
Standing outside the fire
These flames come right out of the ground, natural gas fires burning on the side of a mountain. To get there if your'e not going on a bus, one must drive 22 km from Olympos on windy bumpy narrow roads (in a rental car), then hike up a mile or so in the pitch black darkness (thank goodness for a nice guard with a flashlight, and no scary boogyman) nervous about driving a car (manual) in Antalya traffic, and making it down and back without scratching the thing. But despite the giant busses, getting caught in the middle of an intersection with everyone honking, driving the narrow streets, and getting a little lost on the way to find the flames on the mountainside in the woods in the middle of the night, we made it there and back and had a fabulous adventure.
Thursdays and Fridays, starting last week, I lead gymnastics classes at Tansule's Kresh (preschool). The kids were a little tentative last week, but now they know who I am and I kind of know who they are. So I'm looking forward to what this week will bring. Karn is gone to America, so Ishagul and I have been hanging out here at the apartment fighting the bugs. Literally. We have a little infestation. But nothing that a little bleach, Raid, and careful placement of food can't take care of. And lots of bravery. Ishagul woke up with a scream a couple nights ago with a GIANT beetle 3 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide crawling in her hair. We trapped it under a glass
Fire is so incredible
Especially when nobody started it, except for maybe God bowl so we could monitor it, and put a box on top of the bowl so we wouldn't have to look at it. The next day we spent a half hour working up the guts and creatively figuring out how to get rid of the thing. See picture. The weather has not been too bad, surprisingly. It has been warm, but not unbearably hot. The humidity comes and goes. Or maybe we're all just learning to deal with it?
Future plans: When I leave Istanbul August 16 I will go to Germany to visit a friend, to Austria for a day or two visit with my cousin and extended relatives, and then likely spend a day in Paris with one of the deputation girls before coming home. I will nearly exhaust my funds! But I'll save enough ti last until I get a short term job in the Seattle area. I am planning to live in Puyallup/Seattle until December and house sit for my parents while they are in Fairbanks for a semester. For those of you who don't know, I've decided to move to Alaska! I applied for a full time job at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, the hospital
Turkish men are nice
We were invited to join some people from Turkman Treehouses (our place to sleep for the night) on the beach after our flame adventure, and wandered down a path in the dark alone. These caring laundry men from Turkman with a lantern walked us to the beach and played us drums and another instrument at 3 am with turtles chirping in the background. Then they gave us free towels from the laundry after we went swimming in the sea at 4 in the morning. that I interned at and worked at last winter. It was a decision that took lots of prayer and some time to think about. But really, deep down I think I knew I would return there, after I left in the spring. I am super excited to go back, and looking forward to staying in the same place for more than a few months! I will be committing to at least 2 years. The hardest part is knowing that I do have some really good true friends in the Seattle area, who I have missed this year with all the traveling, and now I will continue to miss. And of course I will be further from my family. For these reasons, I can't really explain why I feel so pulled back to Fairbanks (well, except for the awesome people I know there too, you know who you are... and the land, and the glory of it all!). But then again, life isn't always logical. Sometimes we have to listen to the One In Charge, aka God. How else could I have come up with these crazy traveling ideas that somehow worked out? I can truly say that I am so
thankful I am not the only one in control of my life. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you again fairly soon, and have enjoyed keeping touch with some of you over email and Skype. For those of you who don't have Skype I highly recommend it! Until next update, take care and may God bless you abundantly!
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