Day Two.

My second day wasn’t quite as eventful as yesterday, but still enjoyable. I woke up at eight and took a shower. By the time I was out, Tugce and Anne had breakfast out and ready. It was similar to yesterday’s dinner – cut hot dogs with tomatoe sauce and spices, pida with cheese, Turkish tea, and tomato slices. After eating, I helped them clean up and Tugce said there was an English movie on TV that we could watch. I tried to pay more attention to the subtitles than the movie. I can recognize words better when I see them than when I hear them because I have been mostly been learning from books and looking at translators.

Later we went to the Pendik market. Tugce kept me very close to her, almost always carrying my arm in hers. I also noticed that she didn’t speak to me in English when there were many a lot of people around; I assume this would point me out as an American and make me vulnerable. Before I left Texas, I would have hated this, but I am very grateful for it now and I have only been here for two days! I would be freaked out now if I wasn’t being protected so well.

While we were at the market, Anne bought me a prepaid SIM card (one that won’t work in my phone for some reason, so I’m borrowing Ayce’s until my parents can get a hold of T-Mobile at home and see what’s up). We went to the store and they bought me some snacks (Turks consider it rude to turn down presents), including some type of Turkish ice cream. We went to the bakery and got a cake with fruit topping. After that headed home. Oh, did I mention that we rode the midibus? It was fun, but it has no AC, is very crowded, and smells weird. The driving in Istanbul is INSANE (take the worst driver you know, multiple it by like 100 and that’s everyone here) and since the bus was crowded, I had to stand. I was holding onto the railings, but I still almost fell onto a small child (who kept his balance better than me!) a couple of times. Still, I had fun on it; I’ll probably love it by the time I have to return.
When we got home, Tugce made burgers. They’re smaller than the ones that I’m used to, but really good. I love the spices. They’re not as hot as I expected, but still full of flavor. After that we went to the living room and watched some TV, but it was in Turkish, so I got lost. I went to my room after a while and read an article that Anne gave me that was written both in English and in Turkish, but I started to fall asleep, so I went back to the living room. After ten minutes, Baba came home from work.

He rang the doorbell from downstairs so that they knew he was coming. Both Anne and Tugce jumped up when they heard it. They opened the door and waited for him with his slippers. Tugce took his shoes and bag and put them away while he greeted Anne and me. After he greeted Tugce, we all went to the living room where Tugce told him everything that had happened that day and last night after he went to sleep. I had always known there was a strong emphasis on family, but knowing and experiencing it were two completely different things. You learn that fast when you’re on an exchange.
After, we loaded pictures onto their computer (my laptop still isn’t connected to the internet) and I tried to email them to some people, but the internet is very slow here. I forgot how much the US takes our fast internet for granted. It’s so easy to when you have easy access to it, but when it takes thirty minutes to upload five pictures, you remember to be grateful.

We ate dinner after the prayers rang from the mosque by our home. Baba is the only one in the family that is fasting. Since Anne and Tugce are not and I spend most of my time with them, I will not either. After dinner, we went to the living room and I took some pictures of the mosque lit up at night. We had slices of the cake we bought earlier while watching TV. We watched some in Turkish and some in English with Turkish subtitles. I tried to pay attention to the subtitles, but it was an interesting crime show (one that I haven’t seen, but I only watched like two at home) and I got really into it. I’ll have to watch out for that.

Anne and Baba went to bed at 10:30 and 11:00 respectively. Tugce and I stayed up for another half hour and watched some show, before we went to bed. I couldn’t fall asleep though, because my body is still adjusting to the time difference. It was 11 at night here, but it was three in the afternoon at home and usually play practice would be starting and I would be getting my energy up. I stayed awake until about one in the morning, watching a movie on my mp3 player.