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It has been a rough couple of months, my friends. I’ve definitely learned a lot about myself. I feel like normal girls cry over boys, but my tears have been over a much greater heartbreak in my life. I have never felt so lost and confused in a classroom before, and unfortunately I feel as though I have no power to change it. I know what I have been taught and what I believe in, but sadly that gets pushed aside day after day. I’m proud I’ve lasted this long. I feel as though I have lost the fight, so I will begin the endless crafts and mindless tracing that has been consuming my days. I will use this as a learning experience and move on.  The following video is something I like to watch to remind myself of the kind of teacher I am deep down inside (and because I love Alfie Kohn). My mantra for the next few months: breathe and let it go. Good news: I’m off to Ireland on Saturday for spring break. When I return, I will focus on finishing my classes, getting back into fantastic shape, and familiarizing myself with this beautiful county.

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in.-- Phillipians 4:11

sıcak çikolata içiyorum ve ödev yapiyorum

Translation: I drink hot chocolate and do homework. My Turkish is getting pretty good, eh? So I don’t know past tense yet…but baby steps, right?!

Well it was a wonderful week for me here in Ankara. On Friday afternoon my class had a dance party with the class next door. We had some pretty talented brake dancers! I absolutely love the unit we are teaching right now. It’s all about how we express ourselves through the arts. They are singing, dancing and just being so very creative I could cry!

On Saturday night, my friend Rasha cooked a few of us a wonderful Syrian feast! I don’t remember what everything was called, but it was certainly delicious! It was nice to just chill out with friends and enjoy some good food.

Today was spent doing tons of homework! I asked for it I guess. I really need to stop putting my assignments off until the weekend. But I must say, these classes have been wonderful for the self esteem! I’ve gotten full points on everything and all of my instructors leave such wonderful comments!

Anyways, it was a good week. We are mixing some things up in our classroom this week so I’m really looking forward to seeing out this all plays out!

It's All Good

Finally we had a snow day! Yay! We had one full day and an early release, so it was nice to have some extra time to finish up report cards that were due this week.

I’ve been thinking a lot about things that I miss back in the states. The obvious is family and friends, Skippyjon Jones and Max, cheddar cheese, Oreos, Phoenix Suns, desert hiking, swimming, English, being in the same time zone as people back home, big English book stores, teaching resources, dollar stores, my guitar, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, good coffee in general, pork, MEXICAN FOOD! frozen yoghurt, driving to the gym, good sidewalks, diversity, my car and just generally knowing where I can go to get anything I need.

It might sound silly, and some of the things aren’t a big deal at all, but these are just some conveniences of home that I miss. But there is always a flip side, right?! Here are the things that I really like about Turkey: history, hospitality, tea, beautiful people, national pride, expat community, location, fruits and veggies, cultural opportunities, and my students. As much as I complain sometimes, I do like Turkey and am thankful for the opportunities that I have.  

On Saturday, I joined some girlfriends for a Sex and the City day! We went shopping for a while, went out to a nice dinner, Novembers Pub to hear a friend sing, and then out dancing (of course)! Sometimes life is funny. By the end of our evening, we had made friends with a few American professional basketball players who are currently playing for a team in Ankara. So much for my idea to blend in as much as possible! These guys were all 6’10” and I felt that everybody else knew who they were! All I could do is giggle a little, thinking about how weird my life has become. Who knew that this is where I’d end up? Just a year ago I was on my way to Italy and here I am somewhere in the middle of Turkey! It’s rough at times, but I also like to remember that I’ve been very fortunate and that I’m quite lucky to be where I am today. J

Now back to the homework! Ugh!

çok soğuk

Back to the grind! I must say, Ankara is quite beautiful when it’s covered in snow but it is awfully hard to get going in the morning when it’s so cold! I kept thinking that a snow day was in sight, and I even broke out the snow dance to make sure…but no such luck.

Well after two weeks into my special education classes I found out that student teaching this summer is, unfortunately, not a possibility. After a few melt downs, lots of tears, and nightmares about people asking about my “5 year plan,” I have finally moved past it and found a silver lining. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to student teach with DoDDS again in the Fall of 2013 after my time in Ankara is up. Not exactly ideal, but as long as I’m taking a step towards my goal, I’ll be happy!

This Friday and Saturday we had an IB PYP professional development workshop for our elementary staff. Although I must say I was not exactly thrilled with waking up early and going to school from 8-4 on the weekend, I feel that I learned a lot and as a result will feel more confident with my teaching. Today was spent simply watching “An Officer and a Gentleman,” baking some yummy bread, and just cleaning the lojman.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” – John Lennon



Munich & Brussels

Munich:

It wasn’t until we got to Munich that Joanie reminded me how we had decided to go there in the first place. Oktoberfest and the German Embassy! We both had so much fun that night that we figured Munich would simply be a blast. And it was! There was so much to see and we did lots of day trips in the area.

We took the train about an hour and 15minutes south of Munich to the little town of Garmich. It had been in my top three choices of where I wanted to do my student teaching, so it was fun to see what life could've been like! Such a cute town!

looking for prince charming at Neuschwanstein

It really did look like Cinderella's castle.

We also went to the palace.

Hofbrauhaus was so much fun! The band was so goofy and we were able to get to know some new friends. So much history in one beer hall!

Rothenburg was another beautiful day trip with friends!

On Christmas Eve I went to two different masses. One was a tiny english mass that was in, what seemed like, a little apartment building. That night I also went to a German mass with all Haydn music at Frauenkirche. The massive church was packed and between the music and the Archbishop giving the mass, I could understand why. I think I had goosebumps for the whole 2 hours!

I think one of my favorite things was the fact that I got to eat something other than Turkish food! Lots of pork! yum! Most of the food I liked, but some was a little interesting.

Munich was beautiful, but after 8 days I was ready to move on. Maybe someday I'll get the opportunity to live in the area. You never know!

Brussels:

I was so excited to seem my mom and aunts that I could hardly contain myself during the whole flight! I swear for the first two days straight I had the hiccups because I was just giggling ALL the time. We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Metropole which was a nice change from the one star hotels I had been staying in, and it even had a bathtub! Brussels was so beautiful and really looked more like the Europe I had always pictured but had never really found.

We did a wonderful daytrip out to Brugge. What a beautiful place!

We also did a day trip to Aachen, Germany to see a friend and his family. Max showed us around the town and we then went to his parents house for a dinner fit for a princess!

Oh wait, there's more! We decided that it would just be wrong if we were so close to Paris and didn't manage to fit in a day trip! So off we went, yet again! After hearing so much about Musee d'Orsay and several failed attempts to actually get inside over the years, I finally made it into impressionism and post-impressionism heaven. We had a beautiful lunch and then enjoyed the works of Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Renoir, and Degas. Then down the Champs Elysees and eventually landing at the Eiffel Tower. It was fun to be back as I start to notice the little things that make Paris so wonderful!

  After some more chocolate, beer, and finally seeing the pee statue (rated one of the top over rated attractions in Europe) our trip had come to an end. It was hard saying goodbye to family, but I was ready to head home and jump back into a routine. It made me smile when I heard Turkish at the airport and even laugh out loud while on the drive to Bilkent. Once again I'm eager to start traveling more. Spring break is right around the corner!

UPDATE!

So I promise I’m alive. In my last post (two months ago! Geez!) I mentioned that after returning from Italy I immediately starting researching options for grad school. Well after two months of phone calls, emails, and faxing, I finally managed to annoy someone enough to let me into their program! Yay! No graduate school, but post- baccalaureate special education certificate program. Faster. Cheaper. Overall better option for my life now. I officially begin classes tomorrow!

But don’t worry. I did manage to have some fun in the past few months. Here’s what I’ve been up to!   

I spend a wonderful evening at the Bilkent Symphony

Dad sent me a ukulele. I've missed it!

Pre-K had a field trip to a transportation museum. They loved it! I think they all now want to be pilots!

I painted my bedroom

Lots of reading!

And just working of course. I love these kiddos! We had parent/teacher conferences and they went really well! (It also landed on Turkey's teacher appreciation day...so lots of gifts!)

Stay tuned for Munich/Brussels!

Italia

Finally! I made the long awaited trip back to Italia this past week for the Kurban Bayram. I knew I missed Italy (anyone who has talked to me could figure that out) but I didn’t realize just how much or even why. Italy is simply beautiful. I knew that around each corner there would be something to marvel at, whether it be moss on the old buildings, a macchiato in a café or just the smiling faces of the Italians. The man at the first hotel I stayed at even laughed at me when I first walked in. He said I just looked so happy. And I was! I spent my first day in Venice just walking around and hitting some of the museums that I had missed. I then went off searching for a restaurant that was recommended. After two hours of walking in circles, I came up with a theory. If you go looking for something in Venice, you’ll never find it. You just have to have faith that you stumble upon it. I guess you could say it’s the same for life in general.

The next day I left for Aviano. I was expecting it to feel foreign and that I would feel a little out of place. It was like going home. I went to the same café and even took a walk to go look at the apartment. It was so wonderful seeing good friends. I forgot just how much they were like a family to me when living out there. Good times were had and I felt truly happy. Susan (my first mentor teacher) took me on a beautiful adventure on Sunday. Her friend had us over for lunch and then we took the train down to Veince to watch a wonderful piano player.

Since I was traveling alone, I did a lot of thinking. Mostly I thought about my goals and what makes me happy. I realized that just lived a much more balanced and reflective life when I was in Italy (BLIS people: PYP essential elements!)  I also had a wonderful reminder about just how badly I would like to teach with DoDDS. I kept the in mind this week and have been stressing out about starting grad school. It got so bad that I couldn’t sleep one night. I tried, but I just ended up getting up and calling different universities and sending emails to various advisors. I’m hoping to start a master’s in special education within the next 6 months. Lots of thinking to do! It was a wonderful short week and I’m excited to get back in the swing of school!

Aviano Antique Market