Last Night Here

Last Thursday...

It is really here.  Today was my last day in Turkey.  Tomorrow I will be in America – and I get to sleep in my own bed – while I am excited about that, when I woke up this morning at 7:30am, that was literally my first thought: “well, the next time I get to go to sleep for real will be tomorrow night in my own bed in Maryland.” Depressing.  That is a VERY long time from now.

I had a lot I needed to accomplish today – so far the only thing I didn’t get to do was “take a nap” – oh well, hopefully I will sleep on the plane a little.  So, this morning Sarah and I made vanilla lattes and watched a movie in our pajamas – lazy morning, just for old times sake.  It was really good to have a restful morning…and it was perfect too since it was raining today.  After lunch I got myself ready to go and went to go run a few errands in our neighborhood…including my last minibus ride here.  This afternoon was also super encouraging because I got to spend it with a friend that I have had the privilege of getting to know for a couple of months – we got to sit and talk and share life together today.  She encouraged me so much and I am so thankful for the few hours that I got to spend with her!  As I was walking home in the rain tonight, it wasn’t that cold and just raining lightly – I was by myself and for the first time it really began to hit me that I was leaving the country tomorrow.  While four months isn’t a long time in the grand scheme of life, it has impacted my life greatly and I will certainly never forget it!  When I got home, my roommates and I ordered in…Güney of course!  Had to have some good tavuk şiş before I left!!  After dinner, Vonda, Jess, Sarah and I went to meet Seth & Michael at Starbucks! We had a great time hanging out with them and laughing…I will miss them a lot.  Well, truth: I will miss everyone a lot!!! But, I am excited to be home in literally less than 24 hours from now!  Good-bye Turkey – I will miss you terribly.  America bound…

Don't Believe It

If anyone ever tells you that you can make anything taste good, they have not tasted shalgum.
I know this because today I tried this drink made of fermented beet juice that they drink here.

Did you catch that? FERMENTED beet juice. 

I promise it is as gross as it sounds.
It will make you want to gag and run out of the room with tears in your eyes.
You CANNOT make that stuff taste good.
Take my word for it.

I would happily drink ayran like it was going out of style before I EVER took another sip of shalgum.

Last Wednesday...

De-briefing done.

One more day ahead.

A little packing to finish.

Soon, I will be on my way home. 

I am excited, but I am also sad. 

Today was a blast with all of our friends – we laughed a lot.  I am thankful for the relationships that we have developed and especially the joking that all goes on among us.  We finished early today and then Sarah and I went to go have coffee one last time and say good bye to one of our dearest friends here.  It was so fun and we laughed a lot and caught up!  A warm vanilla latte tasted so good on a cold winter day.  Tonight, we are home sweet home in our apartment.  Finishing a little packing and then going to bed tonight…for the last time in Turkey…next time I go to bed, it will be in my own bed in Maryland…

here is a picture of our de-briefing group…

Last Tuesday...

Day 2 of de-briefing...
It was a cold, but beautiful morning and I thoroughly enjoyed our 15-minute walk to the office (so different from the intense heat when we first arrive over four months ago). Today we heard a challenging talk from Romans 15 about the belivers' role in the work that is being done around the world.

So many thoughts in my little head tonight...
I need to put them in a journal.
We also had a great time of sharing and talking about our different experiences and sharing some of our answers from our personal de-brief time. It has been so encouraging to hear about everyone's time over the past few months. We have also had many laughs about many of the cultural blunders that we made.

This afternoon, one of our tasks was to show the group about 15 pictures representing our time overseas. We also spent a great deal of time preparing various types of answers that we can use to share with people when we return home. I trust that this will help to buffer some of the culture shock I am sure we are all about to experience. It has been really helpful to hear from workers who have already experienced what is about to hit us.

Tonight, Sarah and I went to have dinner with a dear friend of ours. It felt so normal to meet up with a friend and have dinner at a local restaraunt. It felt like home. We sat outside under the heaters and talked and ate the evening away. What a blessing to spend the evening with these two ladies. On the way home we found tarçın lokum (cinnamon Turkish delight) - that was a new flavor I had never had before. Of course I also had to get my favorite to take home with me: fısktıklı ve fındıklı lokum (pistachio & hazlenut Turkish delight). I am thankful for the confidence we have gained to jump on public transportation and go anywhere we want.

2 days 'til home...

Last Monday...

Today we started our de-briefing meetings to reflect over the last four months that we have been here.  WHERE did the time go? It was exciting to come together with the six other students that were living in Central Asia and to hear bits and pieces about their time. What a blessing! This morning we started with hearing some encouragement from the Word.  It was a great reminder that as we look back over what we have seen and done in the past four months, it is all by the grace of God that any of it has happened and that God is the One that causes the growth from each of the seeds that were planted!  Next, we had a small time of discussion and then split up for the rest of the day at to go to individual locations and work through a stack of de-briefing papers that we were given.  They had really helpful questions to help us work through and analyze how we have grown and changed and expectations of going home, etc.  It was really helpful for me, but also overwhelming in ways at seeing the big picture, now looking back over the past four months.  I can’t believe that we are already at the end!  After our personal reflection time (which really was a huge encouragement), we all met up at a restaurant to have dinner!  We laughed and laughed and laughed and shared so many stories from our time overseas and joking about culture shock (ironically the menu was in English – that totally threw me off and I actually found myself wanting a Turkish menu).  I guess I’ve lived overseas for long enough when I feel less lost with a Turkish menu than an English one.  I actually couldn’t even pick what I wanted – I ordered the first thing that was recommended to me and it was good. Good thing.

Last Sunday...

One of the first things I realized today when I wrote the date today is that I have officially been here for four months today!  And on that four month anniversary, it was also the first day of good-byes. So bittersweet.  I had to say good-bye to the two families in our house group – both couples and their four (soon to be six) children combined have been such a blessing to me over the past couple of months that I have had the privilege of worshipping with them and getting to know them.  We took our house group this morning to see a Christmas musical at one of the international fellowships in our city.  And bonus! Jess was singing in the choir so we got to see her too!  After church, our whole house group went and got kumpirs for lunch! I was starving and they were delicious!  It was freezing cold today – so thankful now that I do have my winter coat, gloves and hat!  This afternoon, I made my final airport run before I go to take myself to the airport early Friday morning.  Sarah and I also went this evening to say good bye to our supervisors – they are precious and I will miss them a lot! It was fun to sit and drink çay with them tonight.  Since I will be in Asia for meetings for the next three days, I decided to start attacking the packing process today – I know myself well enough that I either need to tackle that job and get it all done at once or it will surely come undone.  So, I have picked out my outfits for the next four days and sorted everything out and put it all in suitcases – it’s truly a miracle it all fit back in there, even with the extra stuff I have accumulated over the past four months.  So now, suitcases packed – I’m exhausted from being gone all day for the last several days…time for bed!