Day Three.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night, so I watched a movie on my mp3 player for about an hour and a half, before I fell asleep. That being said, I like Brokeback Mountain a lot better the second time. (Random, I know, but it really was much better the second time…that or my tastes in movies has changed, which is very much possible.) I woke up later this morning, at like nine. My home is always quiet, so as soon as I opened my door, Anne heard me from upstairs and asked if I was hungry. I wasn’t too hungry, but it was breakfast time and you always eat with someone in Turkey apparently, so I said yes. She told me to go watch TV while she cooked and I watched some little kid show.

At the same time, it started to rain. It had been raining last night, but it was getting pretty hard. It was so pretty though. I tried taking a picture, but you couldn’t tell. It thundered and the power went out for a bit. It was still kind of light though, so I could see perfectly fine. I went into the kitchen and asked Anne if she wanted help, but she just said “Sonra”, which means later, which means to help clear the table after. The food was still hot because they have gas stoves here or at least this building does. So I sat down and she served me this hash brown type of thing that was red with an egg on top. It looked weird, but it was really good. I also had some fries and some pida bread with jam and Turkish tea, of course. (I swear, I am going to get addicted to it!)

Half way through the meal, Can and Teyze knocked on our door. Can told me that it never rains, so they woke up to it and freaked because all their windows were open. Teyze and Anne talked for a bit in Turkish, so I don’t really know what they were saying, but then Can and Teyze went inside. When I sat back down at the table, Anne, after a couple of attempts, told me that Teyze was coming over for breakfast. When she came, like ten minutes later, I went with Anne to the door and she gave me a hug and kisses on the cheeks. At the table she asked “Nasilsin?” which means “how are you?”. She laughed when I tried to answer because I knew how to say fine in Turkish, but I couldn’t pronounce it. When I finally got it right, I added “sen nasilsin?” which means “and how are you?”. Apparently that really impressed Anne and Teyze because they were high fiving each other and me.

They talked for a lot of breakfast, very fast and in Turkish, so I caught like every tenth or twentieth word. Teyze tried to ask me something about the rain and I tried to tell her that I love rain, but that didn’t work out so well. We both got confused. Tugce came in after ten or fifteen minutes. She had been at her college registering for classes (she wanted me to go with her and meet her friends, but Anne wanted me to stay with her for the week until I got more used to Turkey). She had to climb up all the stairs because the power still wasn’t back and she was already tired from running to the home (we live up a very steep hill) so when Anne asked “Nasilsin?” she said something in Turkish and then “I am not fine!”

Tugce changed clothes and Anne gave her some breakfast too. I was able to get a little more involved in the conversation when she was there because she could understand me and told me what to say in Turkish. I helped Anne and Tugce do the dishes when after breakfast and then went to write my report for Rotary. As soon as I was finished, I saw Tugce vacuuming (I think it was vacuuming; it worked like a vacuum, but also had brushes on it or something) (and even though the house is already spotless and they have a maid that comes once a week, they are always cleaning) and asked if she needed any help. She asked me to vacuum my room, which only took me like five minutes because my room is smaller than in Texas and the floor is wooden.

After that Anne asked me to help her make something. It was vine leaves and we put rice into them and rolled them up. Think of an eggroll made of something like cabbage and filled with rice instead. I don’t know why we made them though, because we didn’t eat them for lunch or dinner today. Anne and Tuge said I did a good job rolling them up, but they were probably just saying that because mine looked horrible compared to theirs. Tugce was probably doing them better than that when she was a kid, haha.

Tugce told me I could use the computer, so I went to check my mail and my Facebook. My dad is working on getting my Blackberry to work here and I talked to some of the other girls who are exchanged here as well. I took pictures of my room and posted them online. Apparently a lot of the girls exchanged into families with guys so they have plain boy rooms and I have a cute, girly room that’s decorated. (Thank you, Ayce!) I got offline just in time to have a light lunch.

Right after that, a lady came to the door. She and Anne and Tugce and Teyze (who had heard us and come outside to see) talked for a bit. When the lady left, Teyze told us to come over and we went into the room where they keep Satzi, their female cat, and her two kittens. Can came in because they wanted him to translate for me again, haha.

He asked how my Turkish was coming and if I needed any help. Why is it that I always blank on what I need help with when someone asks? But we laughed because I am supposed to be learning Turkish, and I have a bit, but Anne and Tugce’s English has gotten like ten times better in these three days. Even Teyze, who usually doesn’t speak to people in other languages because she believes people in Turkey should learn Turkish (which makes sense because if you go to France, you better speak English or prepare to be ignored and the same goes with the US; but then again, I am trying), has gotten better. She was able to tell me that ben means “me” and sen means “you.” Can stared at her for a minute because he was in shock that his mom knew that much, haha.

Once that was over, Can told me that the environment here is that everyone is family. You are never a burden, so if I need something, don’t worry about asking for it. He also told me that he is off of school all of this week so he will be home if I get bored. He then added that he has classes next week, but isn’t going to them because his friends aren’t because of Ramadan. That somehow led to a conversation about the type of Muslim I am and the difference between it and “regular” Muslims. Then, somehow, we got back onto the subject of Texas. Teyze said something about Mexico and then went “Texas! Como estas?” but she has a really thick accent. I couldn’t help it and I completely lost it. I was laughing for a good ten minutes and everyone else was laughing at my reaction.

It was around that time Anne and Tugce said we had to leave because random woman who had come to our door came because she had invited us over for drinks and we had to be there in like five minutes. And, of course, I was sitting there in my PJs with my hair in a messy pony tail, no makeup, and my glasses on instead of contacts. So I got ready really fast (only put on a bit of makeup, not much) and went over.

We had coffee there with her daughter who is 28 but looks 19 or so. The lady and her daughter asked about me, but not to me because they know no English, and Anne and Tugce talked about me to them. (People are always talking about me here and I don’t ever know what they are saying. I hate it. I can pick up a few words here and there, and get a general idea of what they are talking about, but I don’t know exactly and it bothers me.) But by the time we left, after an hour, the lady said that she liked me. That surprised me because all I did was sit there and drink my coffee and nibble on a couple of cookies and pretzels. I thanked them and we left.

When we got back, I got my notebook and some of the English/Turkish books out of my room and sat in the living room. I picked a work (“Tamam” which means “okay”) and wrote it down around 100 times. Yeah, I definitely know that word now. I should Tugce and asked her what I should do next. She said “hos gildizin” which means “welcome.” I was in the middle of that when Baba came home. We greeted him and I was able to say “iyiyim, sen nasilsin?” when he asked how I was. Apparently the thing to do in Turkey when you’re impressed is high fives because he and Tugce high fived each other and then me. I did “hoscakal” (goodbye – informal; the person who is not leaving says this; “gule gule” is what the person who is leaving says), and “tabii” (of course). Then we had dinner, which was leftovers from lunch.

When I went back to it after dinner, I did “cami” (mosque) and “anlamiyorum” (I don’t understand – I did two pages of this instead of one). Tugce served cake (an hour had passed since dinner) and Anne came over and told me to do “Gunaydin” (good morning). I took my shower and blow dried my hair after that. Anne and Tugce served strawberry pudding (I swear, all these people do is eat but they’re still so skinny!) and Anne told me to do “iyi geceler” (good night). I took off half way through that one because my hand was going to fall off. I started writing this and it’s now one in the morning. And watch, I’m going to wonder why I’m so tired in the morning.