Welcome to my blog! So for those of you that don't know I received a state department scholarship to study in Turkey for a year. I will be living with a host family, attending a high school and taking intensive Turkish language classes. All the kids that received the scholarship-called Nsli-y will be living in Adana, Turkey. Adana is southeast a little bit north of the Mediterranean, near the Syrian border. It is the forth largest city in Turkey and home to about two and a half million people. Though Turkey is about 98 percent Muslim it is secular and modern.
That said, I left Tuesday to begin my adventure. After a tearful goodbye with my mom I flew to Washington DC for a two day orientation. My plane landed at about 6am and we went straight to a hotel near the Dulles airport. The orientation began at 2pm and it was far more informative then I had anticipated. Many of the people leading the orientation are AFS staff that work specifically with the state department. They stressed the fact that this is not a gift or a paid vacation, but a job that should be taken seriously. We are to be ambassadors for our country and with our main objective to learn Turkish.
The majority of the students are going to Egypt either for a year or a semester and there is a group of about 15 of us going to Turkey. Some are on the same Nsli-y scholarship or various other partial or full scholarships. I have met some really cool girls that are going to be in the same city, and most of them are in the same situation as me-graduated high school and deferred college. It is nice to know that there will be people in the similar situation living so close.
The most informative part of the orientation was the cultural resource time where we sat down with a Turkish guy and a woman whose family is Turkish and has traveled extensively there. They told us about the food, (which is going to be ammaazzingg!!) the culture, and the dress. It sounds like we will be wearing uniforms and dressing pretty moderately, if we don't want to stand out or be harassed.
All of us are super excited and maybe a little bit nervous. Tomorrow we are in for another long day of orientation, and then we fly out at about 5pm eastern time. I am so ready to go!
I will try to keep up on the blog, so keep reading!
7 comments:
What a fabulous experience! We look forward to hearing more.
xxoo, Anne, Peter & Alyo
This a great idea Charlotte. I've already bookmarked
Turkish Adventure. Have a splendid year.
Love,
Nan
yo tambien tengo blog, que raroo!!!
hahahaha
me pasare por aqui de vez en cuando :)
muchos besosssssssss!!!(L)
Great read, Charlotte!!!!!! Can't wait to hear about your family and school and the yummy food. Try to send recipes, it would be fun to try something Turkish in your honor. I just got back from Darby's wedding on the Oregon Coast. It was fun bragging about you (my favorite goddaughter) to everyone! Love, Shelle
Dear Charlotte: We are quite concerned about the flooding in Istanbul. Please tell us what we can do to help out. We naturally were relieved to see your latest blog having yuou in the hot desert land of Adana, but we couldn't help wondering if the rivers have flooded there also. We love youl. Grandma Helen and Grampop Howard.
Dear charlotte: We've been following your trips with a map of Turkey in our big atlas on the coffee table.
What a wonderful place you have found. Your family sounds delightful. God bless you and your new friends. much ;love Grampop Howard & Grandma Helen.
Hi, I just read all your entries and really appreciated the vicarious visit to your Turkey.You give the best small details that say volumes about the culture and the day to day humble details of life!
How are you feeling at this holiday time? Is there a presence of the Christian Christmas?
Best wishes for your New Year.Denise
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