Voila! Here I am, in France! When I first arrived my groupe traveled to Sommieres for a short orientationm then a week ago we retourned to Montpellier and moved in with our host families. I love my hostparents! They're so sweet. It's an older couple, orthodox Christian, and they have been so nice to me, helping me with my French, etc. We have these in-depth conversations about religion and life at the dinner table every night; it's pretty cool.
This has been our first week of classes in what's called the préstage, which is like three weeks of language and civ classes before we start at the university in September. Those are pretty straigh-forward and not overly difficult , which is nice, but it means I don't have much free time right now.
Our group of UNC students is fun. We what 14 girls and 1 lone guy, and a few of us get together to do something most evenings. In August, Montpellier has wine tastings every Friday, so a group of us went to that last week. I've discovered that I don't like wine; I want to acquire the taste before I leave but at the moment I can't drink more than a few sips of it. Even here in France where it's legal for me to drink and people don't drink to get drunk like they do in the US, I still have zero desire to drink, and I haven't yet decided if I'm going to go out with some of the other girls and try a drink or not sometime. Any thoughts?
So far I love it here, but I do miss people, and I miss being on campus. I think the hardest part of that is feeling somewhat left behind by your friends because you're not with them doing the things they're doing, something that's exacerbated by the 6-hour time difference that makes it hard to talk to people at all. But this is a beautiful city that I'm quickly falling in love with, and I can tell already that I'm going to be really sad when I have to leave.
24 August 2007
13 August 2007
En France
I am in France! I'm currently in the Paris airport with about two hours to go before my flight leaves for Montpellier. I'll arrive in Montpellier and then head over the program office, from where we'll leave for Sommieres for a few days for orientation. While I'm excited to be doing this this semester, right now I'm mostly just kind of intimidated and a little overwhelmed. I haven't yet been forced into a situation where I need to make conversation in French, and I think once I do that I'll feel a little better. I can read all the signs and such, but I have to listen hard to understand bits of the conversations going on around me. I think it's just going to take a little while to get used to everything being in a different language. So far there haven't been any problems though, which is good. I'll have to take a taxi once I get into Montpellier; that makes me nervous. Hopefully there will be other people there from this program that I can split it with, but I don't want to count on it.
Once we get to Sommieres, I'll be internet-less for a couple days, and after that, I'm not sure how soon or how often I'll be able to get to an internet cafe, so I'm not sure when my next update will come, but hopefully it won't be too long. We move into our host homes I think on the 16th, which is also really nerve-wracking, but should be okay. My host family is an older couple whose children no longer live with them, but I think some of their children are students in Montpellier and they have a grandchild that's around some too. I'm more nervous about the language than anything else. I don't want to misunderstand something and cause problems.
I really want this semester to make me fluent. It's kind of overwhelming to be so surrounded by French, but at the same time it's exactly what I want, because it's the only way I'll become fluent, which has been my goal since I first started taking French. Hopefully it will work!
Once we get to Sommieres, I'll be internet-less for a couple days, and after that, I'm not sure how soon or how often I'll be able to get to an internet cafe, so I'm not sure when my next update will come, but hopefully it won't be too long. We move into our host homes I think on the 16th, which is also really nerve-wracking, but should be okay. My host family is an older couple whose children no longer live with them, but I think some of their children are students in Montpellier and they have a grandchild that's around some too. I'm more nervous about the language than anything else. I don't want to misunderstand something and cause problems.
I really want this semester to make me fluent. It's kind of overwhelming to be so surrounded by French, but at the same time it's exactly what I want, because it's the only way I'll become fluent, which has been my goal since I first started taking French. Hopefully it will work!
04 August 2007
Summer is ending
Tonight is my last night in my host home. I'm sad; I'm going to miss them while I'm in France. I love having kids around to play with and snuggle with and hang out with. The four kids here are so fun and so cute, and my hostparents have been so awesome this summer, and I can't believe it's already time to leave. It's kind of hit me all at once that summer is ending and I'm about to leave everyone and everything for a semester, and I know I'm going to have a great time in France, but at the same time, I'm kind of like, What was I thinking? I think it's just going to be hard, especially after this summer, after I've built all these really close relationships with the other people in the Institute and with my hostfamily and with people in the church, to just up and leave all that. I kind of feel like I'm abandoning it. But I will be back in four months, so maybe I'm just being melodramatic. But I do love my hostfamily, and so appreciate everything they've done for me this summer and how sweet they've been to me, and I'm going to miss them all a lot. I'm going to miss my room here, with my roommate, and hearing the children at 6.45 in the morning, discussing life with my hostparents, just being a part of the family here. I love that, and I'm sad I have to leave so soon.
03 August 2007
Here we go . . .
I'm back from Central Asia! It was an amazing trip! I'll admit it, I almost didn't want to come home. While I was there, I journaled every day (quite the feat for me), so now that I'm back, I'm going to type up those journals and backlog them here so they look like they were posted on the day they happened. It may take me a couple days to get them all up, so I'll leave this post up til they get done. The posts should be relatively in depth, but if you have any other questions about the trip, feel free to ask!
*For safety reasons, I've changed the names of our guides and of a few people who went on the trip with us who are going to be moving there next year. I also won't mention the name of the city we were in, but will just call it "our city."
*For safety reasons, I've changed the names of our guides and of a few people who went on the trip with us who are going to be moving there next year. I also won't mention the name of the city we were in, but will just call it "our city."
29 July 2007
Central Asia: Day Five
Today was a pretty chill day. We got to go to the city where two of the workers live, which is about an hour away, and meet their wives and children. They were such sweet women! You could just see the joy that the Lord has given them through their devotion to Him. The boys left to go do something else and the girls just sat in the worker's living room and talked. It was such an encouraging time. It was so nice to go and spend some time with an American where we didn't have to continually worry about have sit, where we look, how much we speak, and every little thing, to avoid offending someone. We talked about being a woman in this culture and how you're almost forced to become really close and intimate with the only other American woman, because usually she's really the only one who knows how you're really doing and everything that's going on in your life. It was so refreshing to see the interaction between the worker and his wife, to see the mutual love, how he cherished her, how she offered to serve out of love, not cultural obligation. We also talked about how a daily personal quiet time is a job requirement when you're on the field. At home, even if you miss a quiet time or two, you're still usually getting some truth spoken into your life from someone, be it a mentor or a pastor or a Christian radio station or whatever. On the field, you don't have any of that, so if you're not having your quiet time, it doesn't take you long to get sucked under by the culture surrounding you. God's Word is so important.
I got a little bit homesick (which is unusual for me) on the van ride back to our hotel. Missed my family. I've been bouncing around so much it feels like I haven't really seen them in a while, which I guess is true. The last time I spent significant time with them was last Christmas. I miss them. God has blessed me with such amazing parents and siblings. My mom, who is the kind of woman I hope to grow into; my dad, who is so supportive of all the crazy things I want to do, like move to France for four months; my brother, who is such a great encourager; my younger sister, whom joy just bubbles forth from; my youngest sister, who has such a sweet and loving spirit. I look at families here in this nation and compare them to my family and the pervasive love in my home, and I can't help but marvel at how incredibly blessed I am. It matches me ache for all the families here that don't have that, and I long to reach out to them and tell them about the freedom and joy they can have. If only life were that simple, where all I had to do was say it and they would realize the truth. All I can do is pray God will soften the hearts of these hardened people and share when He gives me the opportunity. God will do the rest. (Unfortunately, knowing that doesn't make you feel any less burdened for the millions of people outside your hotel that are all going to Hell.) God, save them fast!
Edit: I'm in the middle of my quiet time, but I wanted to share this.
My new life verse: Galatians 1.24 - "And they glorified God because of me."
That is my purpose in life. At my funeral, I want people to say that they glorified God because of me. Not because of me, but because of God's work through me. But in order for me to have that said of me after my death, I need to live up to it now. I challenge each of you to feel free to ask me, if you observe me doing something I shouldn't to remind me - "Becky, will people glorify God because of you through this?"
I got a little bit homesick (which is unusual for me) on the van ride back to our hotel. Missed my family. I've been bouncing around so much it feels like I haven't really seen them in a while, which I guess is true. The last time I spent significant time with them was last Christmas. I miss them. God has blessed me with such amazing parents and siblings. My mom, who is the kind of woman I hope to grow into; my dad, who is so supportive of all the crazy things I want to do, like move to France for four months; my brother, who is such a great encourager; my younger sister, whom joy just bubbles forth from; my youngest sister, who has such a sweet and loving spirit. I look at families here in this nation and compare them to my family and the pervasive love in my home, and I can't help but marvel at how incredibly blessed I am. It matches me ache for all the families here that don't have that, and I long to reach out to them and tell them about the freedom and joy they can have. If only life were that simple, where all I had to do was say it and they would realize the truth. All I can do is pray God will soften the hearts of these hardened people and share when He gives me the opportunity. God will do the rest. (Unfortunately, knowing that doesn't make you feel any less burdened for the millions of people outside your hotel that are all going to Hell.) God, save them fast!
Edit: I'm in the middle of my quiet time, but I wanted to share this.
My new life verse: Galatians 1.24 - "And they glorified God because of me."
That is my purpose in life. At my funeral, I want people to say that they glorified God because of me. Not because of me, but because of God's work through me. But in order for me to have that said of me after my death, I need to live up to it now. I challenge each of you to feel free to ask me, if you observe me doing something I shouldn't to remind me - "Becky, will people glorify God because of you through this?"
27 July 2007
Central Asia: Day Four
Today was a little more chill than yesterday and just as God-directed. They had set aside today as a day to meet again with contacts we had made before, so we all headed out to downtown, and those of us who didn't have someone specific to meet were free to roam around the bazaar and hopefully make some new ones. Marcus, Kyle, Amy, and I roamed the bazaar, made a couple good purchases, attempted to find some English0speaking women to befriend (and failed at that), and just sort of hung out together. The whole team met back up together after we had all finished meeting our contacts and we all headed back to the hotel, then were free to grab a couple of people and grab dinner. The family Kyle, Dan, Abby, Julie, and I met last night invited the five of us to supper with them, so we met up with Mahmet and he took us to his apartment.
We had an amazing time! We visited for alittle while, then sat down to a really good meal. Over dinner we discussed food, mostly. It was just Mahmet, his wife, and his younger daughter, Huma (his other other daughter was at her aunt's). We talked to Huma some about her imaginary friend she normally plays with but hadn't that day. She was so cute! Three years old and assassy as could be. I think last night she was kind of overwhelmed by all the foreigners, but tonight she warmed up to us a little more and even sat in Abby and Julie's laps. She just jabbers and jabbers away at us; if only we could understand what she's saying!
Dan and John did an amazing job tnight telling the Story to Mahmet and a friend of his that came by. They asked some really great questions and had a good conversation going. We didn't want to just focus on religion though, and we spent a good awhile just loving on them, asking questions about their lives and them. They are so sweet. The part that was most personally exciting for me was after Mahmet got down some photo albums and let us look at them. It was awesome for the girls because it gave us an opportunity to interact directly with Nagihan, the wife, without the need of a translator. Since we know to say "who's this" and "what's this" and we already knew the names of her children, she was able to share some of her life with us through telling us who was in each picture.
There were a lot of cute baby pictures and also some pictures from their wedding. It was really cool to see into their lives like that, and I felt like we were able to connect with Nagihan through it. She also showed us some head scarves she made before she got married (apparently that's a tradition here), she taught us to count to ten in Turkish, and we got to ask her some questions about her life, so she was able to share with us. She is so sweet-speirited, always smiling and laughing! She made us feel so welcome, and I was so glad to be able to interact with her more today. Women don't have much dignity or worth in this culture, and I feel like us allowing her to share her life with us, to teach us, and just honoring her, we are showing her, just a little bit, that she does have something to give and contribute, that she's not just a second-class citizen who's meant to do all the "women's work."
At the end, we took pictures, of the men and the women, and she asked if she could have a copy, so over the weekend we're going to get those photos developed and on Monday we're going to meet with them one last time so we can give them to her. I'm praying that then we will get another chance just to love on her and her daughters, showing them God's love and Word, even if we can't speak it to them.
Over the last day or so, I've finally become competent at being able to look around as I walk without making eye contact with people. It's hard when you're not used to it. But I definitely don't want to be giving off any vibes I don't intend to follow through on. In other news, I now love çay! I'm beginning to crave it as I walk around the city. Unfortunately, my traumatic encounter with Ayran the other day has ruined for me anything that has yoghurt in it. I also had to drink some Turkish coffee today, and that was a struggle too (though nowhere near that of Ayran), but it did get a little easier as I went. Who knows, maybe I'll develop a liking for that too. I may come back to the States craving all the thinks I once hated! :p
After we got back to the hotel at like 12, I talked for a while with Ivey and Amy, just about womanhood and life in general. God put such amazing people on this team! He's already blessed me with them so much. And He gave me such joy and peace in that apartment with that family; it was so encouraging.
We had an amazing time! We visited for alittle while, then sat down to a really good meal. Over dinner we discussed food, mostly. It was just Mahmet, his wife, and his younger daughter, Huma (his other other daughter was at her aunt's). We talked to Huma some about her imaginary friend she normally plays with but hadn't that day. She was so cute! Three years old and assassy as could be. I think last night she was kind of overwhelmed by all the foreigners, but tonight she warmed up to us a little more and even sat in Abby and Julie's laps. She just jabbers and jabbers away at us; if only we could understand what she's saying!
Dan and John did an amazing job tnight telling the Story to Mahmet and a friend of his that came by. They asked some really great questions and had a good conversation going. We didn't want to just focus on religion though, and we spent a good awhile just loving on them, asking questions about their lives and them. They are so sweet. The part that was most personally exciting for me was after Mahmet got down some photo albums and let us look at them. It was awesome for the girls because it gave us an opportunity to interact directly with Nagihan, the wife, without the need of a translator. Since we know to say "who's this" and "what's this" and we already knew the names of her children, she was able to share some of her life with us through telling us who was in each picture.
There were a lot of cute baby pictures and also some pictures from their wedding. It was really cool to see into their lives like that, and I felt like we were able to connect with Nagihan through it. She also showed us some head scarves she made before she got married (apparently that's a tradition here), she taught us to count to ten in Turkish, and we got to ask her some questions about her life, so she was able to share with us. She is so sweet-speirited, always smiling and laughing! She made us feel so welcome, and I was so glad to be able to interact with her more today. Women don't have much dignity or worth in this culture, and I feel like us allowing her to share her life with us, to teach us, and just honoring her, we are showing her, just a little bit, that she does have something to give and contribute, that she's not just a second-class citizen who's meant to do all the "women's work."
At the end, we took pictures, of the men and the women, and she asked if she could have a copy, so over the weekend we're going to get those photos developed and on Monday we're going to meet with them one last time so we can give them to her. I'm praying that then we will get another chance just to love on her and her daughters, showing them God's love and Word, even if we can't speak it to them.
Over the last day or so, I've finally become competent at being able to look around as I walk without making eye contact with people. It's hard when you're not used to it. But I definitely don't want to be giving off any vibes I don't intend to follow through on. In other news, I now love çay! I'm beginning to crave it as I walk around the city. Unfortunately, my traumatic encounter with Ayran the other day has ruined for me anything that has yoghurt in it. I also had to drink some Turkish coffee today, and that was a struggle too (though nowhere near that of Ayran), but it did get a little easier as I went. Who knows, maybe I'll develop a liking for that too. I may come back to the States craving all the thinks I once hated! :p
After we got back to the hotel at like 12, I talked for a while with Ivey and Amy, just about womanhood and life in general. God put such amazing people on this team! He's already blessed me with them so much. And He gave me such joy and peace in that apartment with that family; it was so encouraging.
26 July 2007
Central Asia: Day Three
Today was a way busy day. The Institute team was back together today, and after devotion we went to prayerwalk the bazaar. During the van ride there, we learned to count off in Turkish! It was very exciting. Bir, iki, üç, dört, besh, alti! We also had some good food and talked to some contacts some of our team had made yesterday. Excitingly, today I began to like çay, which is the tea they serve all the time. I don't like tea, but I've been drinking like 7 glasses of this stuff a day, because it's really rude to decline it when it's offered to, and I was really hoping I'd learn to like it, and I finally am! I really wanted to able to be an engaged part of their culture on that front, and now I can be! I think I just usually put more sugar in it than they do. Ah, well. Such is life.
After that we went to the Grand Mosque in town. It was really . . . overwhelming. It was beautiful - gorgeous architecture. But it was such an empty beauty. A temple built to an idol. We took our shoes off and went in, the girls getting scarves to cover their heads on the way. We all went into the men's side of the mosque, which was okay because we were obviously tourists, but I would have rather gone in the women's side, just to get an idea of what it's like for them. Our guide said it was okay to discreetly take some pictures since we were foreigners (these people are so sweet and give foreigners so much grace). I took one or two, but it felt really disrespectful, so I stopped after that. The mosque was very uncomfortable for me. Maybe it's just me being sentimental, but I felt spiritual oppression as soon as I walked in. I looked at all the people praying there and just marveled at how they devote their entire lives to following all this, and in the end it will all turn to ashes in their hands. I want to stop them right there and start telling them about Isa and the peace and joy He brings. It was an overwhelmingly spiritually dark place. It took me a while to shake off the feeling afterward.
After the mosque, we went to visit the only church in town - and old Greek Orthodox church, gated in, that now serves about 40 Protestants in the city. The building was in disrepair, and you could see where people had thrown bricks through windows and other vandalism. Needless to say, by the time we got back to our hotel after lunch, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and subdued. They gave us free time between lunch and dinner, and Abby and I had some great conversations about gender interaction among Christians and some of our struggles with that. Then, both of us wanting some quiet time with God, we took my Zen (mp3 player) and sat overlooking the city, listening to some worship and just praying over the city for a while. Through that time God really encouraged me that despite (or perhaps because of?) all the darkness in the city, He was there working, and His presence was there, indwelling us. It was a really powerful time.
After that, Kyle, Dan, Julie, Abby, and I decided to wander the city in search of food, set off, and found ourselves in a mostly residential area with no food in sight. So Kyle asked a guy at an apartment building for directions. The man, Mahmet, stopped what he was doing and offered to walk us up to a good restaurant. He was waiting for a friend to phone him to meet for dinner, but he ended up eating with us (he said his friend didn't believe him when he said he was with some American friends :p). He introduced us to some weird dessert that's made out of chicken. It was okay, but it was a strange texture, and it seemed odd to me to have my dessert taste slightly of chicken. Mahment (who doesn't speak English) talked to Kyle through the whole meal and actually invited us to his house to meet his family! I was so excited! It gave us an excuse to interact with women, something we hadn't been able to do much. By now it's like 9.00; we leave the restaurant and go with Mahment back to the apartment complex to finish the job he dropped to take us to dinner, then we all crammed into his little 1970's-ish car and he drove us about 15 minutes up the mountain to his house.
It was breath-taking to see the city span beneath us and above us as we drove up the mountain. I'm a Florida girl, so I'm not used to mountains, and Julie even said something at one point about how a city on a hill cannot be hidden, and I'd never really seen that before, and it was such a cool thing to me to see. It was dark, so there were just lights everywhere, traveling up the sides of the mountains and spanning nearly as far as I could see. It was gorgeous.
Once we reached his house, we went in to meet his wife and two children, sister-in-law and two children, and parents-in-law. They were such a sweet family! You could tell they were thrilled to have us there. They gave us a local pop drink, which he sent his daughters to get once we arrived, then later some nuts, then later some çay, then later some strawberry juice. They were so hospitable. We talked for hours, with Kyle translating between us. Kyle was able to talk to them about Isa, and we all discussed beliefs back and forth, which was so amazing. It was the first time I'd really done house EV. Before he took us back to the hotel, we gave him a NT in his Turkish and some Isa CD's, which hopefully he will watch. He even invited all of us back to his house tomorrow for supper, so hopefully we'll be able to do that and follow up some. I would love to see his sweet family again!
It was so cool because Abby and I had just spent time praying over the city, and literally 20 minutes later, He pretty much handed us this family. It was so direct, and you could just sense the hand of God directing it. It was amazing. I can't wait to see what God does next!
After that we went to the Grand Mosque in town. It was really . . . overwhelming. It was beautiful - gorgeous architecture. But it was such an empty beauty. A temple built to an idol. We took our shoes off and went in, the girls getting scarves to cover their heads on the way. We all went into the men's side of the mosque, which was okay because we were obviously tourists, but I would have rather gone in the women's side, just to get an idea of what it's like for them. Our guide said it was okay to discreetly take some pictures since we were foreigners (these people are so sweet and give foreigners so much grace). I took one or two, but it felt really disrespectful, so I stopped after that. The mosque was very uncomfortable for me. Maybe it's just me being sentimental, but I felt spiritual oppression as soon as I walked in. I looked at all the people praying there and just marveled at how they devote their entire lives to following all this, and in the end it will all turn to ashes in their hands. I want to stop them right there and start telling them about Isa and the peace and joy He brings. It was an overwhelmingly spiritually dark place. It took me a while to shake off the feeling afterward.
After the mosque, we went to visit the only church in town - and old Greek Orthodox church, gated in, that now serves about 40 Protestants in the city. The building was in disrepair, and you could see where people had thrown bricks through windows and other vandalism. Needless to say, by the time we got back to our hotel after lunch, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and subdued. They gave us free time between lunch and dinner, and Abby and I had some great conversations about gender interaction among Christians and some of our struggles with that. Then, both of us wanting some quiet time with God, we took my Zen (mp3 player) and sat overlooking the city, listening to some worship and just praying over the city for a while. Through that time God really encouraged me that despite (or perhaps because of?) all the darkness in the city, He was there working, and His presence was there, indwelling us. It was a really powerful time.
After that, Kyle, Dan, Julie, Abby, and I decided to wander the city in search of food, set off, and found ourselves in a mostly residential area with no food in sight. So Kyle asked a guy at an apartment building for directions. The man, Mahmet, stopped what he was doing and offered to walk us up to a good restaurant. He was waiting for a friend to phone him to meet for dinner, but he ended up eating with us (he said his friend didn't believe him when he said he was with some American friends :p). He introduced us to some weird dessert that's made out of chicken. It was okay, but it was a strange texture, and it seemed odd to me to have my dessert taste slightly of chicken. Mahment (who doesn't speak English) talked to Kyle through the whole meal and actually invited us to his house to meet his family! I was so excited! It gave us an excuse to interact with women, something we hadn't been able to do much. By now it's like 9.00; we leave the restaurant and go with Mahment back to the apartment complex to finish the job he dropped to take us to dinner, then we all crammed into his little 1970's-ish car and he drove us about 15 minutes up the mountain to his house.
It was breath-taking to see the city span beneath us and above us as we drove up the mountain. I'm a Florida girl, so I'm not used to mountains, and Julie even said something at one point about how a city on a hill cannot be hidden, and I'd never really seen that before, and it was such a cool thing to me to see. It was dark, so there were just lights everywhere, traveling up the sides of the mountains and spanning nearly as far as I could see. It was gorgeous.
Once we reached his house, we went in to meet his wife and two children, sister-in-law and two children, and parents-in-law. They were such a sweet family! You could tell they were thrilled to have us there. They gave us a local pop drink, which he sent his daughters to get once we arrived, then later some nuts, then later some çay, then later some strawberry juice. They were so hospitable. We talked for hours, with Kyle translating between us. Kyle was able to talk to them about Isa, and we all discussed beliefs back and forth, which was so amazing. It was the first time I'd really done house EV. Before he took us back to the hotel, we gave him a NT in his Turkish and some Isa CD's, which hopefully he will watch. He even invited all of us back to his house tomorrow for supper, so hopefully we'll be able to do that and follow up some. I would love to see his sweet family again!
It was so cool because Abby and I had just spent time praying over the city, and literally 20 minutes later, He pretty much handed us this family. It was so direct, and you could just sense the hand of God directing it. It was amazing. I can't wait to see what God does next!
25 July 2007
Central Asia: Day Two
Today was a scavenger hunt! We were split into three random groups and our guides were instructed not to translate for us, but to pretend to speak only English. They were strictly instructed not to help us. We had a whole list we had to do, the main goal of which was to force us to interact with the Turkish people. The first task we tackled was each member of the group drinking Ayran, which is liquid yoghurt and tastes kind of like salty buttermilk. I failed miserably - it was definitely the lowest point of my trip so far. It's not that it tastes bad, because it didn't taste that bad, but every time I put a tiny sip in my mouth I'd gag and only barely keep from throwing up. In about two hours I managed to drink about 1/3 cc of it. After I'd been carrying it around with me for about an hour trying to get it down, my team leader told me to just throw it out because it wasn't worth ruining my day over. So I felt bad about that for the rest of the day.
Nothing else today challenged me quite as much as that did. The guys did most of our talking, since most of it required approaching Turkish men. We all had to use a squatty potty, which everyone always makes a big deal out of but which don't really bother me. We got to eat some really yummy Turkish ice cream bars, as well as some other Turkish food. I love lamb and usually choose to get it over chicken, unlike most of the others. We also got to ride the metro around for a little while, which was cool too, since I love subways. We met a really cool lady who helped us with some of the things in the scavenger hunt and even rode the metro with us. We want to try and contact her again before we leave the city. After all this, my team lost the scavenger hunt.
The city
was never
ending -
it just went
on and
on and
on and
on . . .
all the way
back to the
mountains.
Once the teams had all reconvened, we all headed to one of the higher points along the mountain our city is built into and got to overlook the city at sunset. It was beautiful, but also very sobering. Looking over the city, it's like it's never ending - everywhere you look is city, stretching out into the horizon and even up the sides of the mountains. You see minarets everywhere, since there are mosques every block. You also see the disrepair the city is in, and it makes me want to cry out to these people, because I know their city and their lives reflect one another and that God longs to rebuild this city and restore it to glory. This people is a beautiful people and it's sobering to know that they live their lives in the shadow of all these minarets, of this law with its intensely restrictive rules and regulations when they don't need to. Instead they could have the joy and the peace and the assurance that comes with knowing the Lord. At this time, we know of about 40 Christians among the 2 million inhabitants of this city.
One of the
dozens of
minarets
piercing the
landscape,
broadcasting
the call to
prayer five
times every
day.
"How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? [...] So faith comes through hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ."
~Rom 10:14, 17
God wants to do something about it and I'm so glad the Summit has pledged to be a part of that. Whether or not I'm ever personally a part of it, I'm glad that I'm at least associated with someone who's doing something.
Our
beautiful
city at
sunset.
Nothing else today challenged me quite as much as that did. The guys did most of our talking, since most of it required approaching Turkish men. We all had to use a squatty potty, which everyone always makes a big deal out of but which don't really bother me. We got to eat some really yummy Turkish ice cream bars, as well as some other Turkish food. I love lamb and usually choose to get it over chicken, unlike most of the others. We also got to ride the metro around for a little while, which was cool too, since I love subways. We met a really cool lady who helped us with some of the things in the scavenger hunt and even rode the metro with us. We want to try and contact her again before we leave the city. After all this, my team lost the scavenger hunt.
The city
was never
ending -
it just went
on and
on and
on and
on . . .
all the way
back to the
mountains.
Once the teams had all reconvened, we all headed to one of the higher points along the mountain our city is built into and got to overlook the city at sunset. It was beautiful, but also very sobering. Looking over the city, it's like it's never ending - everywhere you look is city, stretching out into the horizon and even up the sides of the mountains. You see minarets everywhere, since there are mosques every block. You also see the disrepair the city is in, and it makes me want to cry out to these people, because I know their city and their lives reflect one another and that God longs to rebuild this city and restore it to glory. This people is a beautiful people and it's sobering to know that they live their lives in the shadow of all these minarets, of this law with its intensely restrictive rules and regulations when they don't need to. Instead they could have the joy and the peace and the assurance that comes with knowing the Lord. At this time, we know of about 40 Christians among the 2 million inhabitants of this city.
One of the
dozens of
minarets
piercing the
landscape,
broadcasting
the call to
prayer five
times every
day.
"How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? [...] So faith comes through hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ."
~Rom 10:14, 17
God wants to do something about it and I'm so glad the Summit has pledged to be a part of that. Whether or not I'm ever personally a part of it, I'm glad that I'm at least associated with someone who's doing something.
Our
beautiful
city at
sunset.
24 July 2007
Central Asia: Day One
I love the schedule here! Breakfast is usually eaten between 9 and 10, lunch between 1 and 3, dinner between 7 and 9, and they go to bed around 12.30 to 1. That's like my natural schedule, when left to my own devices, so it's perfect for me.
Breakfast was really good. Bread, cheese, tomato, olives, cucumber, boiled eggs, and juice or çay. The feta is really good - you put it on the bread and I could eat it every meal. We had orientation after breakfast, where we went over some ground rules and did a devotion. Then we split up into three groups and went on our way.
Our city,
as seen
from the
front of
our hotel.
My group, made up of the Instituters, went to the local university. We ate lunch in the cafeteria and then split inot groups of 2's to meet people, asking them to show us around campus a little. The students actually seemed kind of reticent to talk to us or said they couldn't speak English at all. Eventually two of the girls took my partner, Carrie, and me to one of their teachers who spoke English (ironically, our two group leaders showed up there a few minutes later). He called a girl from the International Relations office, Müge, to give us a tour around campus. The professor was a cool guy; he had done a lot of traveling all over the world and seemed really interested in talking to us.
Müge didn't seem that interested in talking to us, as if she had been pulled away from other things to do this. But she was nice, and we kept the conversation going as she showed us around. She took us up to her office,k where we met two of her colleagues, a guy and a girl, whose names I don't remember. They were nice too, and he seemed really interested in talking to us. We talked for a while about Turkey and universities and such things. They also gave us some messenger bags (!!!) with hats and a notebook. I was so excited, because I'd been wanting a messenger bag recently but hadn't gotten one yet, and here was one for free! They also seemed interested in maybe doing a summer exchange program with a university in the US, which would be 1) really cool, and 2) a great platform.
A statue in
honor of
Ataturk, the
father of the
country, on the
university
grounds.
After the university, we went and got the van fixed, so it would stopped beeping all the time. Then we came back to the hotel, freshened up, and walked up the hill in search of a good restaurant for dinner. We had lamb and chicken kebabs and a minced lamb and cheese tortilla thing that's really good. They eat yoghurt (not American-style yoghurt) here with everything, which is cool because it's full of good bacteria that help your stomach. It's a non-flavored, kind of sour sort of yoghurt. It works pretty well with lamb.
We ended the day early since it's our first day here. Our hotel is on a hill overlooking the city, so we got to take some cool pictures of the city at sunset. Then we all just hung out and talked until bedtime. It's cool talking to and getting to know the believers here and the others from the Summit. All in all, a good first day.
Our city
at sunset.
Breakfast was really good. Bread, cheese, tomato, olives, cucumber, boiled eggs, and juice or çay. The feta is really good - you put it on the bread and I could eat it every meal. We had orientation after breakfast, where we went over some ground rules and did a devotion. Then we split up into three groups and went on our way.
Our city,
as seen
from the
front of
our hotel.
My group, made up of the Instituters, went to the local university. We ate lunch in the cafeteria and then split inot groups of 2's to meet people, asking them to show us around campus a little. The students actually seemed kind of reticent to talk to us or said they couldn't speak English at all. Eventually two of the girls took my partner, Carrie, and me to one of their teachers who spoke English (ironically, our two group leaders showed up there a few minutes later). He called a girl from the International Relations office, Müge, to give us a tour around campus. The professor was a cool guy; he had done a lot of traveling all over the world and seemed really interested in talking to us.
Müge didn't seem that interested in talking to us, as if she had been pulled away from other things to do this. But she was nice, and we kept the conversation going as she showed us around. She took us up to her office,k where we met two of her colleagues, a guy and a girl, whose names I don't remember. They were nice too, and he seemed really interested in talking to us. We talked for a while about Turkey and universities and such things. They also gave us some messenger bags (!!!) with hats and a notebook. I was so excited, because I'd been wanting a messenger bag recently but hadn't gotten one yet, and here was one for free! They also seemed interested in maybe doing a summer exchange program with a university in the US, which would be 1) really cool, and 2) a great platform.
A statue in
honor of
Ataturk, the
father of the
country, on the
university
grounds.
After the university, we went and got the van fixed, so it would stopped beeping all the time. Then we came back to the hotel, freshened up, and walked up the hill in search of a good restaurant for dinner. We had lamb and chicken kebabs and a minced lamb and cheese tortilla thing that's really good. They eat yoghurt (not American-style yoghurt) here with everything, which is cool because it's full of good bacteria that help your stomach. It's a non-flavored, kind of sour sort of yoghurt. It works pretty well with lamb.
We ended the day early since it's our first day here. Our hotel is on a hill overlooking the city, so we got to take some cool pictures of the city at sunset. Then we all just hung out and talked until bedtime. It's cool talking to and getting to know the believers here and the others from the Summit. All in all, a good first day.
Our city
at sunset.
23 July 2007
Central Asia: Travel to
Our flight left Sunday afternoon. Short flight to DC, layover, 7ish-hour flight to Europe, layover, and another short flight to get to Turkey. our seats were all randomly assigned, but I did get to sit next to two Instituters during the long flight, which was nice. Overall, the flights were pretty uneventful; only one person had a bag that didn't make it, and he should be getting it in the next few days.
Me and
Julie at
the RDU
airport!
She did
my hair.
Once we landed, we got our 90-day visas, met up with our three guides for the week, and set off on a 6-hour drive to our city. In my van it was only myself, Carrie, and one of our Guides, Sam. Poor Sam! I asked him question after random questions for six hours straight. I don't think there was more than a 7-minute silence the entire trip. We would pass random things that would evoke a question in my mind, and I just asked whatever came to mind, so the poor guy was stuck answering random questions about the ambulance system, ice cream, television, etc, for six hours. Also, our van decided about halfway through the drive that it wanted to beep at us every time Sam hit the breaks, so that was a fun thing to listen to for a few hours, too.
The mountains
were gorgeous.
Some of them
were off in the
distance, but
some of them
were right up
against the road.
We stopped at a local mall for dinner once we reached our city (I had Burger King), then we went to our hotel and dropped into bed around 11. Most of us had averaged about four hours of sleep during the 32-ish hour trip, so we were pretty tired.
Initial impressions about Turkey
Turkey is beautiful! The terrain is magnificent and the culture is fascinating. I feel as though I have never ending questions about it just because it's so interesting to learn about. The people are very friendly and welcomeing and very gracious to foreigners. Most of them seem excited to have us here and eager to talk to us. Even though most of them don't agree with our politics, they say they love American people, and they are very proud of their own country, often calling it "perfect." There's so muct culture and history here; I love it! The Turkish also have this thing about tea, which they call çay (pronounced chai, though it's very different from American chai tea). Whenever you enter a shop or someone's home, you'll be offered çay, and it's considered rude not to accept. They drink it from these little glasses, and it's a big social thing. Our guides say sometimes they'll drink 10 glasses of it a day, so it's something hopefully we'll be able to get used to!
I don't know
what body
of water this
is, but I love
water, and it
was beautiful!
Initial impressions about our city
Our city is gorgeous! It has a population of about 2 million and is built up into the side of a mountain. We haven't gotten to see a ton of it yet, but I think I'm already falling in love iwth it! It's also very safe. Our guides say they very very rarely here of much significant crime, with the main one being stealing. But it's a pretty safe place to be out and about, even after dark. The Turkish people are all gorgeous, men and women alike. I love the Turkish language and am working on learning a few words, though our guides say it takes about 2 years for a person to become functionally fluent in Turkish. For comparison purposes, for most romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, etc), it takes about six months. So it's a pretty intense language, but I love hearing and seeing it around. I think it'd be a really cool language to learn. I can't wait to get out and start meeting some people and getting to know them!
Me and
Julie at
the RDU
airport!
She did
my hair.
Once we landed, we got our 90-day visas, met up with our three guides for the week, and set off on a 6-hour drive to our city. In my van it was only myself, Carrie, and one of our Guides, Sam. Poor Sam! I asked him question after random questions for six hours straight. I don't think there was more than a 7-minute silence the entire trip. We would pass random things that would evoke a question in my mind, and I just asked whatever came to mind, so the poor guy was stuck answering random questions about the ambulance system, ice cream, television, etc, for six hours. Also, our van decided about halfway through the drive that it wanted to beep at us every time Sam hit the breaks, so that was a fun thing to listen to for a few hours, too.
The mountains
were gorgeous.
Some of them
were off in the
distance, but
some of them
were right up
against the road.
We stopped at a local mall for dinner once we reached our city (I had Burger King), then we went to our hotel and dropped into bed around 11. Most of us had averaged about four hours of sleep during the 32-ish hour trip, so we were pretty tired.
Initial impressions about Turkey
Turkey is beautiful! The terrain is magnificent and the culture is fascinating. I feel as though I have never ending questions about it just because it's so interesting to learn about. The people are very friendly and welcomeing and very gracious to foreigners. Most of them seem excited to have us here and eager to talk to us. Even though most of them don't agree with our politics, they say they love American people, and they are very proud of their own country, often calling it "perfect." There's so muct culture and history here; I love it! The Turkish also have this thing about tea, which they call çay (pronounced chai, though it's very different from American chai tea). Whenever you enter a shop or someone's home, you'll be offered çay, and it's considered rude not to accept. They drink it from these little glasses, and it's a big social thing. Our guides say sometimes they'll drink 10 glasses of it a day, so it's something hopefully we'll be able to get used to!
I don't know
what body
of water this
is, but I love
water, and it
was beautiful!
Initial impressions about our city
Our city is gorgeous! It has a population of about 2 million and is built up into the side of a mountain. We haven't gotten to see a ton of it yet, but I think I'm already falling in love iwth it! It's also very safe. Our guides say they very very rarely here of much significant crime, with the main one being stealing. But it's a pretty safe place to be out and about, even after dark. The Turkish people are all gorgeous, men and women alike. I love the Turkish language and am working on learning a few words, though our guides say it takes about 2 years for a person to become functionally fluent in Turkish. For comparison purposes, for most romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, etc), it takes about six months. So it's a pretty intense language, but I love hearing and seeing it around. I think it'd be a really cool language to learn. I can't wait to get out and start meeting some people and getting to know them!
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