I had a two week holiday in February so I decided to go visit some friends in Munich :) I had never been to Germany before and have always wanted to go so it was a dream come true :) I stayed with a friend on mine who I met in China and another friend from China, still living in China, came to visit him as well so it was the three of us. My friend had to work while I was there, but he showed us the sites at night and my other friend and I hung out during the day. So let me recap the highlights of my adventure and then I will upload some pictures.
Since Munich is the home of Oktoberfest, there are some nice beer halls that are pretty authentic Bavarian culture, so we went to a few of those and I had to join in the tradition of drinking a one liter glass of beer. Don't worry I finished mine off no problems :)
I spent a lot of my time around Marienplatz. There was a lot of nice shopping there and some fun cafe's to sit in and just enjoy some time with my friend :)
We did take one day to go out to the Dachau Concentration Camp that was a very emotional day. I am glad that I got to experience going to a camp but I don't think that I ever need to see one again. It was very depressing.
And on the weekend I went skiing on the Alps! in Austria. Now I am not a very avid skier in fact I've only been three times and the last time I had gone was at least 7 years ago, and I can vividly remember when I hit a tree skiing in Vermont, so the Alps was quite an adventure, but I survived to live another day, thanks to the bunny hill. It was an amazing day, just check out the pictures.
Well that was the highlights, since then I have sadly come back to my life in Ankara, full of school and work, I have started to play frisbee again, which has been only a bit painful the day after. Still working out all those kinks. I finally feel pretty settled into life here, still finding new things to do and looking forward to the weather getting warmer. The Sun is out today and I am thankful for that.
Be sure to check out my pictures and I will update again hopefully next month :)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Long Overdue!
This week is the last week of our first semester and I am headed to Germany next week, so I thought before I went I should update my blog so that when I get back from Germany I can tell you of my WONDERFUL experiences there.
Since my last post I have celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and a New Year! So I will update you on a few of the highlights and then add some pictures to my flickr page.
Thanksgiving I spent with the fellowship that I meet with here. We had a nice dinner together I made stuffing, it didn't turn out as well as I would have hoped but there is always next year :) We had a great time and ate a TON of food the following Saturday I hung out with a big group of young adults to celebrate Thanksgiving again we had a ton of food, it was so much food we put it all out on the pool table.
The weeks leading up to Christmas were good, that time of year is always hard for me to be away from home, I miss Christmas lights and real trees but I was able to borrow a tree from a neighbor and some lights from another neighbor and my mom is always really sweet to me and sends me a HUGE box full of goodies :) I decorated my place pretty nicely you will have to check out the pictures to see some and then close to Christmas before the International School started their 2 week break my whole fellowship came over to my place and we had a potluck brunch and enjoyed each others company. I made the ever famous Easy Baked French Toast, a family tradition. I worked all the way up to Christmas and on Christmas Eve we got to leave around 3. That evening I went to the Vatican Embassy to go to Christmas Eve mass it was a really neat experience. Two friends from school and I went then afterwards we found some dinner and enjoyed each other's company. Then on Christmas day I got to skype with my family more then once. :) I had Christmas Dinner at my friends' house with their family. Then I went back over on Boxing Day for a Buffet. It was a wonderful time. Then Monday I went right back to work.
Luckily it was only a four day week because we got a three day weekend for the New Year. I didn't do anything to exciting for the New Year but there were some AWESOME fireworks that totally reminded me of China :)
Since then I have been working a lot, making a few new friends and never taking pictures, I know I know I need to work on it. Hopefully the next two weeks I will do better with the pictures. Well I hope you enjoy the update and I promise to update again after Germany!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Istanbul
This week during my holiday I went with another teacher to Istanbul. Here are my adventures from the week. Be sure to check out the pictures on Flickr :)
Monday
Monday morning we had bus tickets to head up to Istanbul, it is about a 6 hour bus ride, we got to the bus station early and enjoyed a nice breakfast and then got on our bus at 10:30am. The bus was pretty comfortable, it had wifi access so I enjoyed using my ipod on it. The bus did not have a bathroom on it, so We made one pit stop along the way, so that all the women could use the bathroom and all the men could have a cigarette. ;) We then continued on our way and made it to Istanbul around 4:30, 5pm. When we got off the bus we booked our tickets to come back Thursday night and then proceeded to find the metro. We made it to the transfer stop on the Metro and was supposed to take the Tramvay, I have never seen a Tramvay in my life, so sadly I couldn't find it, I was looking for another underground metro, but this is an above ground Trolley system, so ya know you live and learn :) We ended up taking a taxi to our hotel and got checked in and then went to go find some dinner. The first night we found a nice restaurant for dinner. We then walked around our hotel area and decided to sit down for some drinks at an outdoor restaurant, as the waiter seats us I realize that I know the couple sitting next to us from Bilkent. So we had a nice chat with them, they had been to Istanbul many times so they gave us some tips. All in all it was a nice start to the holiday.
Tuesday
This morning we got up bright and early and enjoyed the complimentary all you can eat breakfast. Then left the hotel by around 9am to head to Hagia Sophia to beat the crowds, but then found out that because of the holiday Hagia Sophia wouldn't be open until 1pm, so we headed to the Blue Mosque. This Mosque was beautiful, walking up to it was quite a sight and then when you got inside it was even better. I won't bore you with all the history but if you would like to know more check out Blue Mosque. From there we wandered around looking for the Grand Bazaar, we eventually asked a man where it was and he told us it was closed until Saturday for the holiday, so I guess I will have to go back to Istanbul to see the Grand Bazaar, and many other things ;) From there we headed to the Basilica Cistern. What I found really interesting about the cistern was that no one knew it was underground for a long time until locals started cutting holes in their house floors and putting buckets underneath and pulling out fish. It was quite a neat area. From there we went and found some lunch and then headed FINALLY to Hagia Sophia. This building was first built as a church but then converted over to a mosque but because of the different materials they used to build the church they had a hard time converting it to a mosque so there are still crosses and pictures of Jesus on the walls, very interesting. After our busy morning we headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit and then went back to that area for dinner and found a nice restaurant that overlooked Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. And of course after dinner we walked around and did some shopping.
Wednesday
On Wednesday we decided to head over to the more modern side of Istanbul. Istanbul is the 5th largest city in the world, and it has all these sections. There is the Asian side and the European side and then on the European side there is the old section and the more modern section. It is a very interesting city. Our hotel was on the European side in the old district, very close to all the historical sights. But one day we decided to cross a bridge over to the modern side. We crossed the Golden Horn and found a lot of fishermen over the bridge they were there all day fishing for these tiny fish. The bridge we crossed had all of these restaurants under it. It was pretty neat. We then walked around a bit and found Taksim Square, the center square of the modern part. A few weeks ago there was a suicide bomb on the square, so it was very interesting to walk there. Everything was safe, there were no problems, I'm fine, don't worry. But it was still neat to see a section of town that was just in the papers. After a LONG walk around that area we found our way back to the bridge and ate a late lunch under the bridge, it was a great lunch of fish with an amazing view! Then we headed back to the hotel because we decided to go on a dinner cruise for the evening so we wanted to rest up before that late evening. The dinner cruise picked us up at our hotel at 7:30 and then took us to the boat and then we went up and down the Bosphorus Strait. The cruise provided dinner and entertainment, I got to see my frist live belly dancer, she was amazing! and some other Turkish dancing. We sat at a table full of people from the middle east. A couple from Iran, one from Egypt and one from Jordan. They mostly spoke Arabic but it was really neat to be around so many different people from so many different countries.
Thursday
This morning we got up and went to breakfast and then checked out of our hotel room and left our luggage with the hotel. Then we went to Topkapı Palace, on the way to the Palace we found some museums so we went to the Istanbul Archaeology Museums In this complex there were three museums. My favorited was the Tiled Kiosk it was the third and final museum we went to. It is the oldest non - religious building in Turkey. It had the most amazing tiles on the walls I loved the patterns it made. After we walked around the museums we went over to Topkapı Palace. I don't have a lot of pictures from inside the Palace because a lot of the sections they ask you not to take pictures in. But the view from the Palace was amazing and I have a lot of pictures from there. The highlights of the palace were the treasury which had all of these amazing jewels. Also the harem was really neat. This was the royal's family living quarters and the entire palace was pretty plain I didn't notice the walls at all until we went into the harem. The walls were all tiled and out the windows was an amazing view of the city. I'm not sure if I would have minded being part of the harem. After we were done looking through the palace. We found a nice restaurant to eat lunch then we found a coffee shop to rest for a bit. After that we walked around and window shopped then we ate dinner at a restaurant that over looked the Golden Horn and then window shopped a bit more because our bus didn't leave until midnight, so around 10pm we went back to the hotel and got our bags and then took the Tramvey to the Metro and found the bus station and got on the bus at midnight and slept all the way back to Ankara. I got back home around 8am Friday morning.
Since then I have been resting and cleaning and doing laundry, now I need to work on planning for school this week.
**Side note, when looking at my pictures it may make more sense if you go into the set from Istanbul and look at them in order**
This is a map of the European Side of Istanbul I hope it helps you visualize my descriptions a bit more
Monday
Monday morning we had bus tickets to head up to Istanbul, it is about a 6 hour bus ride, we got to the bus station early and enjoyed a nice breakfast and then got on our bus at 10:30am. The bus was pretty comfortable, it had wifi access so I enjoyed using my ipod on it. The bus did not have a bathroom on it, so We made one pit stop along the way, so that all the women could use the bathroom and all the men could have a cigarette. ;) We then continued on our way and made it to Istanbul around 4:30, 5pm. When we got off the bus we booked our tickets to come back Thursday night and then proceeded to find the metro. We made it to the transfer stop on the Metro and was supposed to take the Tramvay, I have never seen a Tramvay in my life, so sadly I couldn't find it, I was looking for another underground metro, but this is an above ground Trolley system, so ya know you live and learn :) We ended up taking a taxi to our hotel and got checked in and then went to go find some dinner. The first night we found a nice restaurant for dinner. We then walked around our hotel area and decided to sit down for some drinks at an outdoor restaurant, as the waiter seats us I realize that I know the couple sitting next to us from Bilkent. So we had a nice chat with them, they had been to Istanbul many times so they gave us some tips. All in all it was a nice start to the holiday.
Tuesday
This morning we got up bright and early and enjoyed the complimentary all you can eat breakfast. Then left the hotel by around 9am to head to Hagia Sophia to beat the crowds, but then found out that because of the holiday Hagia Sophia wouldn't be open until 1pm, so we headed to the Blue Mosque. This Mosque was beautiful, walking up to it was quite a sight and then when you got inside it was even better. I won't bore you with all the history but if you would like to know more check out Blue Mosque. From there we wandered around looking for the Grand Bazaar, we eventually asked a man where it was and he told us it was closed until Saturday for the holiday, so I guess I will have to go back to Istanbul to see the Grand Bazaar, and many other things ;) From there we headed to the Basilica Cistern. What I found really interesting about the cistern was that no one knew it was underground for a long time until locals started cutting holes in their house floors and putting buckets underneath and pulling out fish. It was quite a neat area. From there we went and found some lunch and then headed FINALLY to Hagia Sophia. This building was first built as a church but then converted over to a mosque but because of the different materials they used to build the church they had a hard time converting it to a mosque so there are still crosses and pictures of Jesus on the walls, very interesting. After our busy morning we headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit and then went back to that area for dinner and found a nice restaurant that overlooked Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. And of course after dinner we walked around and did some shopping.
Wednesday
On Wednesday we decided to head over to the more modern side of Istanbul. Istanbul is the 5th largest city in the world, and it has all these sections. There is the Asian side and the European side and then on the European side there is the old section and the more modern section. It is a very interesting city. Our hotel was on the European side in the old district, very close to all the historical sights. But one day we decided to cross a bridge over to the modern side. We crossed the Golden Horn and found a lot of fishermen over the bridge they were there all day fishing for these tiny fish. The bridge we crossed had all of these restaurants under it. It was pretty neat. We then walked around a bit and found Taksim Square, the center square of the modern part. A few weeks ago there was a suicide bomb on the square, so it was very interesting to walk there. Everything was safe, there were no problems, I'm fine, don't worry. But it was still neat to see a section of town that was just in the papers. After a LONG walk around that area we found our way back to the bridge and ate a late lunch under the bridge, it was a great lunch of fish with an amazing view! Then we headed back to the hotel because we decided to go on a dinner cruise for the evening so we wanted to rest up before that late evening. The dinner cruise picked us up at our hotel at 7:30 and then took us to the boat and then we went up and down the Bosphorus Strait. The cruise provided dinner and entertainment, I got to see my frist live belly dancer, she was amazing! and some other Turkish dancing. We sat at a table full of people from the middle east. A couple from Iran, one from Egypt and one from Jordan. They mostly spoke Arabic but it was really neat to be around so many different people from so many different countries.
Thursday
This morning we got up and went to breakfast and then checked out of our hotel room and left our luggage with the hotel. Then we went to Topkapı Palace, on the way to the Palace we found some museums so we went to the Istanbul Archaeology Museums In this complex there were three museums. My favorited was the Tiled Kiosk it was the third and final museum we went to. It is the oldest non - religious building in Turkey. It had the most amazing tiles on the walls I loved the patterns it made. After we walked around the museums we went over to Topkapı Palace. I don't have a lot of pictures from inside the Palace because a lot of the sections they ask you not to take pictures in. But the view from the Palace was amazing and I have a lot of pictures from there. The highlights of the palace were the treasury which had all of these amazing jewels. Also the harem was really neat. This was the royal's family living quarters and the entire palace was pretty plain I didn't notice the walls at all until we went into the harem. The walls were all tiled and out the windows was an amazing view of the city. I'm not sure if I would have minded being part of the harem. After we were done looking through the palace. We found a nice restaurant to eat lunch then we found a coffee shop to rest for a bit. After that we walked around and window shopped then we ate dinner at a restaurant that over looked the Golden Horn and then window shopped a bit more because our bus didn't leave until midnight, so around 10pm we went back to the hotel and got our bags and then took the Tramvey to the Metro and found the bus station and got on the bus at midnight and slept all the way back to Ankara. I got back home around 8am Friday morning.
Since then I have been resting and cleaning and doing laundry, now I need to work on planning for school this week.
**Side note, when looking at my pictures it may make more sense if you go into the set from Istanbul and look at them in order**
This is a map of the European Side of Istanbul I hope it helps you visualize my descriptions a bit more
Saturday, November 13, 2010
This might be kind of long..
So this is a pretty long overdue update. I have been really busy at work lately, so I haven't updated in awhile, but now I have a vacation for a week, :) So I have a little bit more time.
Halloween
The night of halloween I had about 30 kids show up to my door to get candy, it was fun to hand out candy to all of them and see their costumes. Since I live in a country that doesn't really celebrate halloween kids have to get creative with their costumes you can't just go to the local Halloween Store and pick up a costume, it was fun to see what they came up with. Even one of my students came to my door, he doesn't really like to speak English much, so I told him I wasn't going to give him candy until he said trick or treat, so he said it, talk about positive reinforcement :) I also decorated my door and have put up pictures of that so don't forget to check out Flickr.
Birthday
So this week it was my birthday. I had a nice birthday, on Sunday a group that I have been meeting with in the mornings had a cake for me and another girl who was born the same day as me just 2 years earlier :) so they sang happy birthday and gave us each a present. It was very nice I even got to take home a piece of cake so I would have some on my actual birthday. On my birthday I worked all day and at our staff meeting in the afternoon they had a cake for me. It was chocolate banana cake, I have noticed that a lot of cakes here have banana in them, not sure why but they do. I actually really like the chocolate banana cake it's pretty yummy :) When I got home from work I was able to talk to most of my family and friends :) and then my upstairs neighbor invited me up to her house for some ice cream :) So I brought my left over cake and she had the ice cream. It was a pretty nice birthday :)
This Week
This week was crazy at work, I have had so much paperwork to do and I was observed twice this week, so that was a bit extra, both observations went well, but now I have a week vacation. This week is called Kurban Bayramı I have been told that in Turkey during Ramadan they spend the month fasting and so 48 days after Ramadan is over the Turks will get together with their families to celebrate that they completed the fast. So this is more of a food holiday, I guess you are supposed to eat a lot. Also most families will sacrifice an animal and enjoy it together, they will also give some of the food to the poor. No one goes hungry during this time. And supposedly it has some connection to Abraham sacrificing Isaac on the altar.
As for my plans for the week I cleaned my apartment and made some cookies, I also took some pictures of what my apartment looks like now, be sure to check those out. Also on Monday I am headed to Istanbul with another teacher, we are going to do some sight seeing so I'm sure I'll have to post about that when I get back. I will be coming back to Ankara on Thursday night, That way I have next weekend to sleep and get ready to go back to school :)
Sorry this post was so long, but I hope everyone has a nice Kurban Bayramı :)
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Shopping...
So I've been doing a lot of shopping lately and I want to tell you about my experiences. As I go to different malls and look around to see what is there I get oddly excited about the things that are in China. As in I found a Watsons and a Decathlon, these were basically my two favorite stores in China, so I was very excited to find them here I have also found a Carrefour.
So I have been pretty excited about my China finds it makes it feel more like home, then of course one day I was wandering around the mall (this is the mall that has Decathlon and Watsons) And suddenly I found a GAP. Sadly I was not as excited about the GAP as I was about Decathlon, but ya know I guess that happens when you live in China for two years.
So I have been buying all sorts of things trying to make my apartment more of a home. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to post some pictures and you will see how much nicer it looks now.
This weekend is Halloween and I am planning on giving out candy to kids tomorrow night, I am going to try to decorate my door a bit before they come. I'll have to see how creative I can be...
Happy Halloween!
So I have been pretty excited about my China finds it makes it feel more like home, then of course one day I was wandering around the mall (this is the mall that has Decathlon and Watsons) And suddenly I found a GAP. Sadly I was not as excited about the GAP as I was about Decathlon, but ya know I guess that happens when you live in China for two years.
So I have been buying all sorts of things trying to make my apartment more of a home. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to post some pictures and you will see how much nicer it looks now.
This weekend is Halloween and I am planning on giving out candy to kids tomorrow night, I am going to try to decorate my door a bit before they come. I'll have to see how creative I can be...
Happy Halloween!
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