With the sheer number of students and encouragement from our host families we have been celebrating both Turkish and American holidays. For Halloween, a few of the host mothers rented a bar and organized a party with a surplus of food and Turkish music. We dressed up as if Halloween exists in Turkey and looked like crazy people walking down the streets in our costumes. I finally had a chance to wear the Betsy Johnson jumpsuit my mom and I bought while shopping for conservative Turkish clothing and my host mom and scoured the city to find fairy wings. Dilşad was a hippie and looked super cute in her bangles and sunglasses. She is very outgoing and it in nice that she can dance and have a good time with my AFS friends without me having to worry that she is enjoying herself.
We also had a somewhat last minute Thanksgiving celebration. There was no Turkey on our Turkey day in Turkey but there was plenty of food. We met up early in the day and made a mixture of American and Turkish food. Finding the ingredients was a challenge and we had to substitute a lot but our Pumpkin Pie turned out delicious, as did our stuffing, sweet potatoes, chocolate chip cookies and an array of Turkish food our mothers put together. Keeping up with tradition we all said what we are thank full for and there is a lot. I am thankful to have such and amazing opportunity in such and interesting and unique country. I am thankful that I have such a great family both in the United States and here in Adana. I am thankful that the Turks are hospitable and make delicious food and that I still have six months left of eating it. I am thankful that I have eight best friends that understand completely what I am going through and make up and extraordinary support system. And lastly I am thankful that I have so many caring and wonderful people in my life; you all that are reading this blog.
On the day after Thanksgiving, Kurben Byram began. It is the Turkish sacrificial holiday that is marked by the killing of sheep and though my family did not partake the carnage was hard to miss. I t as pretty disgusting to walk past the head of the poor sheep hanging on hooks in parking lots. We spent a lot of time at my host great aunts and grandmothers apartments because they both have apartments on the same floor of the same building (Liz we are so doing that when we get old.). I didn't really look forward to it because last holiday meant a lot of chatter in Turkish, and I didn't understand anything, but this one was really nice. My favorite host great aunt who calls me Fatma and I talked for a while, and I had fun playing with all of my cute little cousins. Plus I understand a lot more now so I was able to contribute to the conversations. Of course there was also the food, lots of dough things, fried dough, boiled dough, noodles and pastries. I love watching my host family cook, though they make each meal with such skill they put so much time and effort into making a meal that is then eaten so quickly. Food here is such a big part of the culture, and they really take pride in it. They pass their methods down not in writing but from generation to generation, and I hope it never gets lost. Kurben Byram was interesting, and somewhat gory but I enjoyed it, and was not that excited to get back to school!
Now back to another Pagan holiday, Christmas is just a few days away and I can't believe how fast time has gone here! I only have six months left here, and that feels very short! I know that other AFS girls have plans to celebrate the holidays with a big host family- student party but I will be going to Rome to spend Christmas with my family. ROME! I feel so lucky that I have such an opportunity and I really can't wait to see all of my family. I will miss my dad, the Croppers, Bells, and the rest of my family and friends but I am VERY excited, I leave today! My host mom has been so great about my trip, last weekend she took time to old Adana to get presents. We got the traditional Turkish things for good prices, because my mom is the best haggler I have ever seen. I am the most excited about the Turkish coffee pot because my mom and I looked especially hard for the best pot and coffee cup set and she has been teaching me how to make it. Every night I make her Turkish Coffee and then we sit down and drink it together, and sometimes she reads my fortune. I also taught her how to make chocolate chip cookies, American style, which was a challenge without measuring cups, vanilla, or baking soda, but they turned out pretty well and my classmates seemed to like them!
I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and I will try to keep you updated from Rome!
Love, Charlotte
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Oh Charlotte...what a wonderful life you are having! We just decorated our Christmas tree and used all the old ornaments and the funny hand made ones...Sky found one that was a red glass ball with one eye that he made back in the day at Foxglove...it is a smaller tree this year but very sturdy. We got it from Pat Nash, Margaret helped. They were selling them at the old Fat Cat restaurant. I have Christmas music blaring out of the computer and I am missing your mom's egg nog. I was describing it to someone yesterday and realized the reason mine never turns out as good is because I measure everything. I'm learning some new techniques from your mom in our canning adventures, like not measuring. You will love the peach salsa we made and I can't wait to give it to people for Christmas. I miss your family and wish we could have a Christmas with you all here although I suspect you are all going to have the most wonderful Christmas of your lives! I hope you are learning some cooking techniques yourself...I can't wait to pick up some international cooking secrets. Your description of the Turkish Bath was wonderful. I can see the marble place and the big heated table covered with women. Your massage sounded brisk and maybe not so relaxing, similar to my first pedicure. Isla and I got a pedicure/foot massage when we were off island Christmas shopping. I decided since it was the first time I had ever had one that we should do the full price, everything added, grand pedicure. Unfortunately Isla got the "nice" girl and I got one who looked like she was sucking on lemons. She'd bang my foot with her fist when she wanted me to move it into or out of the water and she sighed voluminously as she rubbed the different salves and rubs on my feet and calves. There was supposed to be a final scented massage right before the official painting of the nails but my girl decided that the whole process was taking to long and went straight to the bottle of nail polish, pink clearly being a color she would not have chosen given the look on her face as she shook the bottle. She proceeded to whip the color onto my toes and no worries about smudging. Then she rapped my legs a few time and ordered me off the chair and across the room to the toenail dryer..."You sit too long...need to move around...been here to much time..." With great reluctance, I pried myself out of the massage chair and with a lingering glance of fondness, I left the little foot hottub behind. She got on the phone immediately and turned into a flirty young woman. It was an amazing transformation; from a cranky, old woman to a vivacious young one. We both came out with very relaxed feet even though we'd been shopping all day. Then the perfect end was, we were the last car on the ferry with the little net skirt bending around the rear end of our car. You need to send me your address...I tried to get it from your mom but she said it would be better to get the exactly right one from you. I'll be sending you a New Years gift since I've missed Christmas. Let me know if there's anything special you want...Merry Christmas Sweet Charlotte from your godmother who thinks of you often.
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