Hurray!

One of the students that I work with in one-on-one therapies at the center is particularly challenging for me. I don't know her particular diagnosis, but from what the teacher says, this 18 year old student has the mind of a one-year old. It took me a while to realize that the student was actually there for therapy with the teacher, because the teacher completely ignored her. Her thought is that the student has the mind of a one-year old, and therefore cannot learn, so it's not worth trying. This breaks my heart, because I believe that every student can learn. Up till now though, I haven't been faced with a situation that tests my belief. I know that this student has a lot to learn, but I've had a hard time knowing where to start. Normally during her therapy time (2 hours), she sits in a chair and does her version of twiddling thumbs. For the last couple sessions, I have tried to capture her attention, and evoke a response from her, but I have so far not seen results. Today though, after 20 minutes of playing "catch" with me, she reached for the ball!!!!! Three times!!! And the best part is, the teacher saw her interacting, and I hope, hope, hope, that she will take an interest and work with the student. That totally made my day, and deserves a big hurray for the student!

While we're on the subject of hurray... I live in the area of Antalya called Fener, which means lighthouse or lantern. It is named for the lighthouse that graces one of the rocky outcroppings of the cliffs. This is a view of the lighthouse, taken from Verna's porch. That deserves a hurray too!

What Do You See?

Isn't this the coolest rock ever?! I can no longer look at it and not see a face. It's a part of one of the interior rooms of Selime Monastery, carved into the cliffs in Cappadocia.

Pumpkin Party!

In honor of Halloween, and the fact that Alli and I didn't want to let it go by without some sort of festivity, we threw a pumpkin party at the kresh! And of course, our idea of a small party quickly turned into a whole-school carnival. Which wasn't so bad, since there are only 25 students at the school, but wow! I now have major respect for all those people who make Richmond Beach's carnival happen every year - there is a lot of planning that goes into booths, materials, prizes, volunteers, etc! I actually had a lot of fun thinking about what kinds of booths we wanted to have, and how to get the kids excited about it. Our Turkish is limited, so in true Tarzan/Jane fashion, we told the students that Friday was a holiday in America, where we eat lots of candy, wear costumes, and paint faces. That's really all Halloween is about, right?!

The pumpkin party was a blast! We borrowed costumes from Tansule (and it was probably the most complete, store-bought costume I've ever worn!), and she had tons of costumes at the kresh for the students. I was a clown, with a squeaky nose and everything, which the kids all took turns honking. Alli made a wonderful pirate, complete with a painted eyepatch! Alli and I made a pumpkin pinata, which was fun all around! Playing with flour paste and balloons is fun at any age. It turned out a little triangular, but still pretty cute. And our favorite neighborhood kirtasiye supplied the crepe paper and balloons! (Alli and I visit the kirtasiye down the street at least once a week, sometimes twice. The woman who works there has become a friend, and we always laugh with her that we are at the store, again! I love it though, because it will be a great source to feed my addiction - card making.) We set up different booths around the room, including fishing, bobbing for apples, bean bag toss, face painting, costumes, dancing, coloring, and that game where you try to eat a donut off a string without using hands. I'm pretty sure that none of the kids had seen any of these games before, but they had lots of fun anyway.

Those kids are so cute in costumes! Every little girl wanted to be a princess, but we had quite a few amazing animals as well. My favorite part was towards the end, when we got everyone into a big circle to do some dancing. My EEU connections paid off, and we danced to a song I learned there, called "A Tootie Taw". Pretty much the most awesome preschool dance song ever - at the end you get to waddle around in a circle, with your tongue out, eyes shut, and rear-end in the air! I laughed hysterically at the mere thought of my clown-self in action. Good times were had by all, and much candy was eaten. A very satisfying halloween!

American Women on Holiday Always Wear Sensible Shoes

(Movie quote, anyone??)

This weekend Alli and I visited Cappadocia, and I am so incredibly glad that we did! Cappadocia is a large area in the center of Turkey, known for its incredible landscape, and ancient history. Seriously, it is hard to describe what it looks like, because it is so unlike anything I have ever seen. It was vaguely like a cross between the Grand Canyon, Petra, cave dwellings in Arizona, and what I think the moon must look like. We had the perfect timing too, because tourist season is now over, and we mostly had the place to ourselves. We took an all-night bus from Antalya to Goreme, the small village/city where most of the amazingness is centered. We spent our first day wandering around on foot. The Goreme Open-Air Museum is a cluster of ancient churches the have been carved out of the fairy chimneys and rock walls. Some of the churches had frescoes still clearly visible on the walls! Early Christians hid in the rocks to avoid persecution. Absolutely amazing. On the second day we took a tour that was well worth the 50 lira. We started with a panoramic view of Goreme's fairy chimneys and valleys, then hiked in the Ihlara Valley. This was the most amazing part of the whole day! I have been missing the fall colors in Antalya - everything stays green here. But in Cappadocia, fall colors were everywhere! The hike through Ihlara followed a quiet river through beautiful trees, sunlight filtering through, with the occasional house carved into the canyon walls. My soul was revived!

On our third day in Cappadocia, we rented bicycles. We took a four hour trip to visit a rock formation called the Three Beautifuls (uphill all the way, just about killed me!), then rode home through a series of gorgeous valleys which afforded wonderful views of Goreme every few minutes. Thankfully, it was downhill all the way home! =) The weather was perfect for our adventure - cool and clear! Actually, it was pretty cold for most of our time in Cappadocia. I haven't been cold in so long, it was great! It was the perfect combination of crisp fall weather to go with our fall leaves!

We discovered a fabulous restaurant, and ate two dinners there - so good! Great lentil soup, wonderful hummus, and superb bread! We stayed in a pansion called Flintstones, which was kind of funny, but we were very well taken care of. If any of you are ever in Goreme, I highly recommend it! One night we were feeling tired, and had eaten a late lunch. The manager of the pansion asked us about our plans for the evening, and we told him we'd probably take a rest, then go find some light dinner somewhere. He offered some chicken, and said he'd let us know when it was ready. He did better than that - he brought us a plate of food, 2 sets of silverware, and half a loaf of bread for us to eat in our room! So incredibly sweet. All in all, it was a wonderful trip, and it couldn't have been better!

P.S. My pictures don't do it justice. Go online and look it up - so beautiful and strange!