Life in Turkey

Here are a few things we have learned the past few days of living in Turkey.

1. Never flush toilet paper down the toilet. There is usually a little trash can next to the toilet where the paper goes... enough said.

2. Always remove your shoes when entering someone's house.

3. Watch out for cars, because they are not really watching out for you!

4. The call to prayer happens 5 times a day and sounds a bit like an air raid siren when it starts up!

5. Never overcrowd a turkish elevator.

This last one we learned by experience. The first day we were here 5 of us crowded into our flat's elevator. We pressed the floor button to go UP, the door closed and locked, then we felt the elevator drop a few inches and the lights went out. Now, anyone who knows me pretty well, knows that I do not do well in tight, enclosed spaces. I was in a corner, in a crowded elevator, where the heat seemed to rise at least 5 degrees instantly, trying not to panic! I noticed Jon knelt down in front of me, not sure if he did this to try and give me more space or what, but I was grateful. I just sat there praying that we would get out soon, and trying to not have visions of being in this elevator for hours! Luckily someone was out in the hall and realized what had happened. They got the key to the elevator door and opened it for us. I am sure we weren't even in there for 5 minutes, but it seemed like hours! Needless to say, I have not stepped back into the elevator...I will us the stairs from now on, thank you!

Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday Jon has had to be at band practice, so the boys and I are on our own. We have walked around our neighborhood quite a bit. Yesterday, I had plans in the morning to go find the money exchange place (we were told it was about a 25 minute walk), and go to the grocery store. I was supposed to bring a dessert to the team dinner that night. Devon woke up not feeling very well, but we thought maybe he was hungry (he hasn't eaten much since we got here), so I got him to eat a little breakfast. Thinking he was going to be okay, we set out on our adventure. When we were walking down the street he threw up. I was ready to turn back to the apartment, but Devon said he felt much better, so we kept going. A little later, he needed to stop and rest. Then we started going again, and a little later he threw up again! Okay, at this point I wasn't really sure what to do. We were almost to the money exchange (at least I hoped we were!), and I really needed to get some of our personal money exchanged. So, the loving mother I am, I convinced Dev to keep going and told him we could stop and rest when ever he needed to. Needless to say, the 25 minute walk turned into 1 hour. We finally found the place, exchanged our money, and started back to the flat. Devon threw up again, this time right in the middle of the sidewalk. I was trying to help him and no be mortified that he was doing this right on the sidewalk, when a little old lady came up and started rubbing his back and saying something to him. She smiled at me and I think said , "tamam" which means okay in turkish. I thanked her in Turkish, which surprised me, because I have trouble with the turkish word for thank you, must have been a God thing! I poured some of my water bottle onto the sidewalk, to at least help clean it up, and we were on our way again. Devon let me stop at the grocery store, where I bought him some Sprite, and we looked for something for dessert. I thought if I could find something that looked like rice krispies I would make rice krispie treats, no such luck. I looked in the dessert aisle and thought, "who am I kidding, I can't read the directions to any of these things!" So, I bought some cookies and fruit. The fruit here is amazing! So fresh and juicy! Ty and I also bought our first (and I am sure will NOT be our last) Magnum bars. Kinda like Dove ice cream bars, but waaaay better! Why don't we have these in America? By the time we made it back to our flat it was over 2 hours later! Devon threw up I think 5 times during our walk. When we got back he laid on the couch and watched a movie, and then was fine the rest of the day. By the time dinner was last night, he was hungry...a good sign!

This morning we are taking it easy at the flat, and then around 3pm the boys and I will catch the train to an outdoor market, and then meet up with the team to help stuff envelopes or something like that for some concerts. They said the boys could help stamp them. This will be the first time we have taken the train by ourselves. It is amazing to me that these things are not making me scared. I don't normally think of myself as a very independent person, but here I am walking around, exploring, shopping, and catching trains in a foreign country and feeling fine about it! I even told the boys I would take them out to lunch today! God is so good! I know that is the only reason I am here, because He loves me and has enabled me to be strong in that love. I truly feel like I am only trusting in Him, what a great feeling! I will write more later and let you know how the day went!