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Farm in Corlu
One of the Rotarians had a farm outside Courlu. Their crops were sunflowers for oil, rice and canola. 5-13-08 Corlu to Ederine
Our morning started off with a trip the farm of friends of a Rotarian. The countryside was beautiful and relaxing. The main crops were sunflower (to make sunflower oil), canola, and rice. There much more farmland than in the states. People live in high-rise apartyments rather than individual houses. This allows for much more farming. The house (we would say apartment) that I stayed in was constructed by my host family’s company. I think they were the contractor/owner… I’m not sure. They said that all of them were sold except 56 units. Anyway, back to the farm. The house keeper was from Bulgaria, so she made Bulgarian coffee for us and served us watermelon. We are now on our way to Ederine. It should take about an hour and a half. On the way we stopped at the Shell station to go to the restroom. There was a bakery next door, so the president of the Corlu Rotary club bought us some pastries. They were like biscuits fried and drenched in sugar water topped with a dab of cream. Lets just say it was too sweet for me. I made a sneak attack to the restroom to
dispose of it discretely.
When we arrived at Ederine our new host families greeted us at restaurant named Kofteci. Lunch started with salad (shredded carrots, pickled purple cabbage, lettuce, and ?), cheese, tomatoes, and cucumber. This was followed by meatballs and lamb liver. For dessert we had the same soggy biscuits that I didn’t like earlier in the day. This time it was accompanied by some shredded cheese that had the consistency of a papaya. This was my last meal with my host family from the previous days. It was really hard to say good bye to them knowing that I may not ever see them again. They were so nice and went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable.
After lunch three of the wives took us to the border of Greece and Turkey. One of the cars overheated, so we had to ride in the back of a pick-up truck to get to the border. (It was nice to have a bit of fresh air )There is a café near by and we stopped to have tea. Tomorrow we will go back and walk on a famous bridge. There is a tower in the
Beautiful Farmland
You can drive for hours and see nothing but green farmland. It is really peaceful. All of the people live in apartment buildings concentrated in one area. center of the bridge where the king would stand and the soldiers would salute as they crossed the bridge. During the war, the king stood in the same place and gave money to the soldiers. There is so much history here. The wives spoke some English so we communicated ok.
Once we got our caffeine fix we headed to a private school that has grades 3yrs-8th grade. This was an experience!!! We visited the indoor swimming pool first. Students take swimming lessons during their PE time. The preK was much like the previous private school that we visited. VERY NICE! We also saw music and a few English lessons. Students in all of the classes were all talking at the same time during the lesson, not paying attention to the teacher, uniform shirts unbuttoned with South Park under them, and OUT OF CONTROL! The recess bell rang while we were outside looking at the bball court and the kids went WILD without a teacher in sight. The students that stayed inside could go to the cantina and get a sandwich. Their cafeteria has a hotline and sandwich line. The highlight of the trip was a Kindergarten class that was
We are meeting our families in Edirne.
We ate meatballs at a popular resturant. learning how to play chess or should I say playing with chess pieces and running around pretending to learn. It was VERY DIFFERENT from our classrooms. I would say that children are allowed to do a lot more of what they want. They say that this is the best private school in Ederine, so I guess they are doing some thing right. All in all it was a little chaotic. Sandy our teamleader (who is a principal in Thibodeaux, Louisiana) had a blank stare on her face for this tour. I had to ask her if she was in shock. She said that she was just adjusting.
We stopped by a monument that is between Turkey and Greece that represents peace. It is two tall towers that have a statue between them. The office for the University is here too. This building used to be a train station a long time ago.
I met the son of my host family, Guyner, after our tours. He was very nice and I was relieved to know that he speaks English. He graduated from a University in Michigan 6 months ago. His father is in Greece and his mother does not speak
Downtown Edirne
This is the view from the resturant. English.
The Rotary meeting didn’t start until 8:30. We had to eat and present so I knew that it would be another late night. I was worried because a majority of the people didn’t speak very much English or at least that’s what they said. I get the feeling that they know more than they lead on. Anyway, dinner started and I got the chance to feel what it is like to be in a foreign country surrounded by strangers who are laughing and talking and I have no idea what they are talking about. It was not a good feeling. I kind of felt alienated. Tonight was very different than the last meeting. The people around us did not try to include us in conversations or let us know what was going on. At times it even felt as if we were the butt of their jokes. And to top it off there was an old man sitting across from me that has been in Rotary for 50+years. He kept trying to talk to Laurie and me but her host family was trying to distract him. I asked her host father what the man was saying and he said
School Children
These students are sitting outside the swimming pool at the best private school in Edirne. This school was a little caotic, but a very nice facility. that he didn’t understand what the man was saying because he is from eastern Turkey and the language is different there. Ok maybe the language is different, but they were having conversations at other times. I don’t know I guess I should look at it as if they were talking business, but either way it was uncomfortable because we don’t speak the language and the people around us who do weren’t at the time.
I don’t think that all of the girls had the same experience. I will get a chance to talk to them more tomorrow.
The son of my host family took me by the Selimiye Mosque to take a picture of it all lit up at night. WOW it was beautiful. It is the largest mosque and it is very old. Tomorrow we get to tour it. I will have a chance to wear the headscarf that was given to me yesterday.
I am going to start tomorrow with an open mind and just chalk up the atmosphere of tonight as cultural differences. Tomorrow night we will have a BBQ so maybe things will be different.
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Heather
non-member comment
hang in there!
Sarah, You are learning and experiencing more than you can imagine right now. You will be even more considerate and kind to people due to your experience tonight. You are such a sweet person and outgoing that I know it was tough for you. Hang in there! Tomorrow is a new day. Also, did you eat the lamb liver?