Çey Varmı?

Recently I met our neighbor, a kind "grandpa-like" fellow with a big smile and seeming to have an even bigger heart. After a short introduction he said to me, "So Heather, you must know the most important phrase in Turkish, yes?" After a quite puzzled look from me, he said: "Çey Varmı?"

Pronounced "Chai Varma," this phrase translated into English is roughly: "Is tea available?"

Boy was he right, this is indeed the MOST important phrase in Turkey! People here drink tea like it's

their religion! At first you may think it to be a little odd, but in all honesty after drinking it a few times

myself here...I'm in love! I know we had the Boston tea party and whatnot in the US, but they got it

goin' on over here in Turkey. I thought Apple tea was my favorite....then I tried Kiwi- heaven! Then, I

discovered the cherry on top: Banana. (I don't even like Banana's?)

Kiwi Tea :)

Banana Tea! :D

Ready to learn some Turkish?! Here are some of the most common words/phrases:

Merhaba (Mare-ah-bah)- Hello

Taksi Varmı? (Taxi Varma) - Is a taxi available?

Tamam - Okay

Tamama? - Is it ok?

Teşekular (Tesh-ek-yoolar) - Thank you (informal)

Turkçe Bilmiyorum (Turk-chay Bilmee-yorum) I don't know Turkish

But most importantly...

Çey Varmı?

Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light

I think it's inevitable that anytime you venture somewhere new for a long period of time, you're going to feel homesick; most people can't stop that feeling from arising within themselves. I'm certainly not one of the few who can. I put my entire life on hold for a year; I took advantage of the fact that i'm young and don't have huge life priorities holding me down. Yes, I dropped some other great opportunities, but I did so with the idea that I have more to possibly gain where I am now. I'm most certainly on the opposite side of the globe from where I started...where I've been my entire life. Most people say, "wait....Turkey? I must have heard you wrong....TURKEY?! 3rd world country Turkey?" .....yeah. That one.

Little do those people know, Turkey is NOT a 3rd world country at all. Turkey is absolutely gorgeous, there is SO much to learn here, more than I'd ever learn from a textbook. I can't begin to explain the chills I felt standing beneath the dome of the Haghia Sophia, or overlooking the Bosphorus and the fortress, realizing I was literally in both Europe and asia at the SAME time. I'm learning about a culture, but not JUST learning, I am also experiencing it- can't beat that.

So back to being homesick- I won't lie and say it's easy, because it is very hard to come somewhere where you don't know anyone, and can hardly even communicate with people due to a language barrier. Yes- it's really hard, sometimes I miss home and family and friends so much I want to pack up and come home tomorrow! But here's the silver lining, if I came home right now, I'd only have been here a little over a month. Thats only a SLIVER of the experience that I could have. I have the world in the palm of my hands, and I intend to take in every opportunity that I can. I have no intentions of throwing such an amazing opportunity away. I think too many people throw away amazing things...they just let them pass right by. I think their scared....well so am I. But you can't let fear stop you, fear can't have a hold on your life. I'm going to tough out the hard times, wipe away the tears when I miss home, and discover something beautiful.

Will it be easy? No.

Will I be sad and miss home? Often.

Will it be life changing?

Better believe it.

pictures!

At a restaurant in Taksim with 2 au pair friends- lots of CATS and games of backgammon going on all around us!

This dessert is completely sinful- it's a waffle with white chocolate spread, then covered in fruit. Each bite is a pure delight, but the aftermath is pretty hard- I thought I was going to die, basically.

Welcome to Taksim! This is a very crowded area in Istanbul with ton's of shopping! This was taken on a particular road flooded with shops, and NO cars!

Right down the street from my complex is a nice bar/restaurant! Here I am with 2 au pair friends, time for girl talk and a yummy watermelon drink! OH- I had mozzarella sticks too; some things never change.

Swimming with my Friend Can and his buddy Dogus!

Just Drinking Coffee

My host family arrived back from vacation yesterday- all tan as can be and I am SO jealous! Anyways I have a short break right now so I am at starbucks enjoying an iced chai latte typing this now...the staff at starbucks has finally realized I am not just some tourist now I think; they have really warmed up to me! :)

I guess my internet is not very strong here, because it is not letting me attach pictured! Sorry! I will just type about my past few days and add pictures later!

I spent a few days at Huma'a home with her au pair Leslie, and we had alot of fun! One night recently Leslie and I went to a really cool cafe that overlooked the city and the Bosphorus with two friends- Cihan and Erdem! (leave it to the locals to know the best spots!) I find it a bit odd that so many young people play backgammon here, but after they boys taught us how to play, it was really neat! Leslie caught on much quicker than I did!

Later on the boys took us to a nice spot right next to the bosphorus and we all got Kumpir at a stand...basically the best thing EVER! Kumpir (and i'm totally spelling it wrong) is like your average baked potato- only instead of the normal cheese, cream cheese, and bacon, they fill it with a million different random things here and its amazing!!!

I've also been reading alot lately- believe it or not I've already one through about 6 very thick books! Never did I imagine I'd be spending my pocket money on books! I think its about time I write my own novel considering I'd like to actually SAVE my money!

Tomorrow is my day off!

I am going with another au pair, Lauren, who recently arrived to explore the city some more! Istanbul is so beautiful!

Promise I'll post pictures soon!!!

Ciao!

This past week! (written yesterday but had no internet to post!)

Let me begin with sharing an experience with the kids first! I needed to fill up some “outside” time (As I have such a strict schedule with them) that I managed to convince them to come to the park by the lake nearby. Of course they still wanted to take the golf cart! After they played for a bit on the playground we sat by the lake and saw SO MANY TURTLES! Not 5 or 6, I’m talking about 50 turtles probably swimming around in the lake! So we went to the “macro center grocery store” right by the park and bought some bread (and ice cream for the kids) and fed the turtles J The kids really enjoyed it!

On my second full day off, I decided to spend the day with another au pair, Leslie, and Huma! Huma’s kids are precious beyond belief! We went to the “Tuesday market” in Levent; I was amazed to find a ridiculous amount of very cheap clothes and everything else you could possibly think of being sold there. Everytime I go out I feel like I am in the world of Aladdin…

On a side note- You would think in a city of such a big size there would be several homeless people begging like in Atlanta or NYC, but I only have seen a few. I feel like the people here are very hard working, they FIND a way to make a living…be it selling the popular Turkish Simit on the street, lemons, water, or shining shoes! They find a way!

On Saturday, my host family left for Bodrum for their vacation…although I am a bit sad I am not going to I am very happy to have this whole week free to do what I want and explore Istanbul!! J The night before they left, they fired one of the housekeepers! I feel bad because I am sure the housekeeper blamed me since right after I came she was fired :/ Anyways, on Saturday they left around 10:30 am so I had the rest of the day free; I didn’t know they were leaving so early so I made no plans! I decided to walk to the bookstore by starbucks and find a new book to read…I’ve been reading a lot here! I was finally hungry so I went to this café I have really cme to love, it’s called Gezzi Istanbul. It’s a 20 minute walk from my house, and its really cool, it’s a choclaterie, pattiserie, café all in one! I am actually here now typing this! :P

I ordered the same thing I am eating now here, a smoked salmon salad- SO YUMMY! Then read my book (The girl with the dragon tattoo) and had Turkish Chai (tea) for the next couple hours. Around 2, another au pair Julia called me and asked to meet at Starbucks. I went and met her and 2 of her Turkish friends! Julia and I walked around and lost our way into where the “regular” people of the area live :P

Then I went home and showered and went to one of the Turkish friends she has house near mine and we hung out for the night! Another au pair named Sam came to and we all had a lot of fun!

The next day, Sunday, me and 3 other au pair girls (Sam, Julia, and 1 other) met at Starbucks and took the bus to the Old City! We surprisingly got the the old city with ALMOST no problem, however it was terribly hot and we finally decided to take a taxi the last 10 kilometers! The taxi driver said he knew where he was going and it would be 15 lira….but turned out he didn’t understand Topkapi palace after all, so 20 lira later (between 4 of us was only $3 USD a person!) we were at some random street NEAR topkapi palace! We wandered for a bit and decided to stop in a Kebab restaurant and recharge. We had a great meal and the service was AMAZING! After eating, the restaurant sent out one of their staff (looked like a 13 year old boy, yet he was smoking!) to take us to the metro!

We went to the area with Haghia Sofia and the Blue Mosque and took some pictures. We took a back street to go to the other side (unsuccessfully of course) but ended up staring at a very old Turkish bath! It was SO COOL and the owner led us inside just to see, how nice! It was SO hot inside I can’t believe people actually use the baths during summer time, but it was still really cool. The owner showed us his café right next door so we stopped in for some fresh squeezed orange juice and iced coffee! J

We wondered around for a while and went into some very traditional looking shops and finally got SO lost we couldn’t see a single person in sight! It was so quiet! Finally after getting wrong directions from so many people, Julia was able to lead us to the Egyptian Spice market, where I bought some lovely apple tea (which they kindly vacuum sealed for me)

there are always these men selling simit!

...does this remind you of Aladdin or what?!

We had probably walked 10 miles by this point and we were all so exhausted! (And felt sticky because it was SO hot!) So we found our bus and headed back! When I walked inside I seriously showered and then collapsed in by bed. I finally got up and drank about a gallon of water and then read my book for an hour and fell asleep. After sleeping for about 12 hours I woke up the next morning (today) and met with some Turkish friends at starbucks. (starbucks seems to be the place to meet…)

So…today after Starbucks we went to Nigele (water pipe) in the forest. There was a wild horse just lounging near by, kinda cool! I then met a different Turkish friend at Starbucks (the first Turkish friend I made here, actually!) His name is Can, pronounced “John” and he is very nice! Now I am at the café I love writing this and enjoying my smoked Salmon Salad…probably about to order some Kahve (coffee) and read a bit, then see what tonight brings! Bosphorus maybe?

We’ll see.

Til next time!