Mutlu Noeller!

Merry Christmas!

This has been a whirlwind Christmas season for me, as I'm sure its been for all of you as well. Time seems to fly so fast, especially in that chunk between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and now New Year's is right around the corner. This was my first Christmas away from my home and family, which was difficult, but it was still a wonderful time. There is such an amazing crowd of people here in Antalya who included me, so I didn't feel lonely for a minute.

Alli went home on Monday, so she and I and Ashley went to Istanbul for the weekend, to see a little of it before Alli left for good. It was a wonderful trip! Unfortunately it was pouring down rain the whole time, but somehow that made it feel more like Christmas to me. It also made it easier to keep track of each other in the rain - with Alli's yellow rain coat, and my red one, we stood out like obvious tourists in the crowd of brown and black Turks. There is so much to see in Istanbul, its absolutely crazy! I think one could live there year-round, and still not experience all the city has to offer. I hope to go back again before I leave. That said, we did manage to do most of the very touristy stuff in our two days there. I was in Istanbul a few years ago for about three days, and I am trying to remember what we did on that visit, because except for the Grand Bazaar, everything that we did this weekend was completely new to me. Our hotel was in the heart of the old section of the city, within walking distance of everything we wanted to see. We saw the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet), the Basilica Cisterns, and Topkapi Palace. We even managed to squeeze in a few wonderful meals, a walk through a gorgeous park, and a ferry ride on the Bosphorous and Marmara seas. The only item on our list that we missed was the archaeological museum, which I hear is also fantastic. And on top of all that - we learned how to play the game "Okey", which all the old men play for hours and hours, sitting around in all the men-only tea houses around the city. This was a lot of fun, but confusing to learn, because the name of the game is pronounced "OK", which we found ourselves saying frequently in response to the instructions.

There is so much to say about Istanbul, and the sights that we saw - so much history and beauty in one location, that I can't possibly begin to describe what we saw. Out of everything we saw, I think my favorite part was walking through a beautiful, rainy park, laughing with friends and munching on freshly roasted chestnuts.

Laughter was a constant throughout the weekend, up until it was time to say goodbye to Alli. From the beginning of the trip, I knew that I would have to continue what we had started on my own, but her three and a half months here just went so fast. Since September 8th, we have been together 24/7, literally. I miss her already, but its been good to have Christmas this week to throw off the schedule. When I am back to a regular routine next week, I know I will miss her even more.

Christmas eve was a busy night for me, as it usually is at home. I joined the Christmas choir, so we had an early practice, then sang at both the family service and the traditional service. Afterwards I went to Karn and Jorge's house with Ben and Verna and a couple others from church. It was a very pleasant evening with great company! I shared Christmas morning with Nuran, and then we both went to brunch at Ben and Verna's house. Crepes are so good! Then I walked home along the water - so beautiful! Winter has definitely come to Antalya, but yesterday was a clear, sunny day, and in the sun it was about 45 degrees. Lovely! I had Christmas dinner with a young family from church, along with a few others from Paul's Place. They have three adorable little kids, the youngest of whom just starting walking a couple days ago. I had so much fun playing with them - kids are so open and easy to befriend!

I took the day off from work today as well, and used it to sleep in, as well as finish figuring out my visa renewal. I first applied to renew my tourist visa almost a month ago, and it took five trips to the station and 250 YTL, but I finally got my residence permit, so I am legal for the next 3 months! Yay! I think in the future I will just leave the country, instead of trying to go through the whole process again, it took forever. The system was really inefficient, but apparently it is that way to make work for a lot of people. Greek Islands, here I come!

Konya and the Whirling Dervishes

I have been meaning to write about our trip to Konya for so long, and somehow I just haven't had time. I guess its just human nature to make ourselves busy, no matter where we live. Plus, Alli is leaving this weekend, and we had two parties to plan and put on this week, so that has added extra stress. We took the day off from school today, so that Alli has time to pack, and to gather up loose ends before we leave for Istanbul this evening. So now I have the day off too, to run errands, and to blog!

Last week was a week-long holiday (schools and government offices, including the post office, closed all week), so we thought it would be a great time to visit Konya. Wednesday night was the beginning of a week-long Mevlana festival, at which whirling dervishes perform each night. I feel like I've always heard the term "whirling dervish", but I have never known what they are, why they dance, the theory or the beliefs behind it. It was incredibly interesting to learn all these things while there.

We a day bus to Konya, and the drive was beautiful! It went inland, through some mountains (small mountains!), but enough that they had a light dusting of snow on them! It reminded me of the drive from Seattle to Spokane. The snow and the pine trees put me in the Christmas mood. I tried to take a picture, but pictures shot from a moving vehicle, through reflective glass windows don't turn out so well. Chigdem, a friend of Verna's daughter who lives in Konya, met us at the bus station, and took us to her house. We would not have been able to do this trip without Chigdem, literally. First of all, all the hotels were booked, and we would not have been able to find a room at the late date when we planned the trip. Second, we would not have been able to get tickets to the festival (it is a huge deal for Turks, some make pilgrimages there every year), but Chigdem's husband knew a guy who knew a guy and got tickets for the three of us. Third, Konya is very spread out, and without Chigdem to guide us, we would not have been able to see all that we did.

We met Chigdem's family, and ate the type of pide (Turkish pizza) that is special to Konya. It was very interesting to talk to one of her sons, Gunesh, who is 23. He was frustrated with Turkish expectations for young men, the educational system that forces students to choose a career path when they are 13 or 14, and the fact that all Turkish men have to do a stint in the army. I think I would be frustrated if I was him too!

Finally on Wednesday night we headed to the festival. It was amazing! The stadium seats completely surround the round floor, so everyone gets a good view. The show began with about 45 minutes of singing from a popular Turkish artist. Then, the dervishes came out. The dance has a specific sequence to it, and the actually whirling doesn't come till the end. Each dervish dances with the right hand palm up, to receive grace and blessings from God, and the left hand palm down, to distribute those blessings to the earth. They wear white, which is the burial color here, to show that their ego is dead, they are giving up earthly things. The dance is the dervish's journey closer to God. The festival is named after Mevlana, and culminates on the anniversary of his death on Dec. 17th. Mevlana called all people to him, believing that differences in religion and beliefs didn't matter. Back to present time - the dancing was amazing! I don't know how they don't get dizzy! The dancers whirl around, hands in the air, always keeping their left foot on the ground, spinning around with their right foot. The music being played was absolutely hypnotizing! Reed flutes called "ney" and warbling voices, so beautiful!

The next morning we did a whirl-wind tour of Konya on foot, led by Chigdem. We went to the Mevlana museum, which holds the tombs of Mevlana and several of his followers. Then we visited tile museum, which was beautiful! Turkey is famous for all things ceramic - plates, bowls, tiles, and all manner of art! Then another museum, which held all sorts of carvings on ancient wood doors and marble pieces. Gorgeous things, and it was amazing to realize how old it all was. I'm sure the artists didn't think anyone would be looking at the work ten centuries later in a museum! At about 1:00 Chigdem said goodbye and put us on a bus back to the bus station. It was a whirlwind trip, but I think it was just enough time! Konya is not a very pretty city (mostly industrial buildings and ugly apartments), and it made me even more glad that we live in Antalya, which really is beautiful.

Then on Sunday, it was my birthday! It was Alli and my day to teach Sunday school, and all the kids sang happy birthday to me! So sweet! Then after church a small group of us went out to lunch at a very yummy restaurant, and Ben and Verna brought an absolutely amazing cake! I felt very loved. We went straight to our Turkish lesson afterwards, where Emel gave us fun Christmas lanterns, as birthday and good-bye gifts. Later that night we met Ebru for dessert, and we had kunefe, my favorite dessert here in Turkey. Its basically shredded wheat with melted cheese in the middle, soaked in honey and sprinkled with pistachio crumbles. I know it sounds disgusting, but its actually quite amazing!

Since then we have been madly trying to finish things up - Alli has been saying good-bye, which is hard. This week we put on a winter party at the kresh, and a small goodbye/Christmas party at our house. And we have been trying to arrange our trip to Istanbul this weekend. Alli's flight leaves early Monday morning, and we never did have a chance to see Istanbul, so we figured now would be as good a time as any. And Ashley, our new friend, will come with us, which is great, because then I have a friend to take the ten hour bus ride home with me! I am so thankful that Ashley is here, because I know that life will feel really empty without Alli. (I can't remember if I already said this or not: Ashley is working as a teacher for the kids of a couple of families that are here with YWAM. She lives way out of town, but she joined our Bible study, and we hang out as much as we can. She is an answer to prayer!)

Turkey: Land of Giant Vegetables

I'm not kidding. I am often blown away at the market by the sheer size of the vegetables. Leeks, cabbages, and apples in particular stand out as amazingly large versions of the normal-sized fruits and vegetables we have at home. I wish I had a picture of the apples, but the leeks and cabbages will have to do for now.

This week is Kurban Bayram, the holiday devoted to sacrificing goats and sheep in honor of Abraham's sacrifice (that was supposed to be Isaac) so we have the week off from school. Its been a good chance to rest. I made some Christmas cards, which made my heart happy, and we've been watching lots of Christmas movies, and listening to Christmas music! Next comes decorating the house for our Christmas/Goodbye Alli party. Last week we did puppets at school, and the kids loved them. We used them as we taught the concepts of "night" and "day" so the students got to make snoring noises and put their puppets to sleep. Lots of fun!

Tomorrow we will go to Konya to see the Whirling Dervish festival at Mevlana. We've heard from several people that there will be snow, so I had to pull out all my warm layers, that I haven't needed yet in Antalya. Should be fun!