im back

I made it back to Turkey in one piece. Everything was on time, except for my bus, which was about half an hour late in getting to Ankara due to inclement weather. But, we were lucky. Apparently a bunch of people were stranded due to the snow. One bus got stuck and the people on it walked for a kilometer to the nearest town and spent the night there. For about two out of the 6 hours I was on the bus, there was a blanket of snow on the ground at least 2 inches deep. The roads were relatively clear though, I think.

I am currently working on a presentation I have to give in Turkish class tomorrow. Its all about Richmond. I decided that its a lot easier to not explain what a commonwealth is in Turkish, so for tomorrow, Virginia is a state.

The new group of kids is coming soon. A few have already arrived I believe.

Now that I have a working computer, I will try to post more often. For now, I am just hanging out until the semester starts in a couple of weeks. Peace

Just for you Mrs.Banks

you can see all my pictures here:

http://flickr.com/jehosephat103

not much going on here

i am starting my journey back to america in 4 days. trying to get a lot of stuff done before i leave. finishing up my third turkish class, got an exam on friday morning, trying to get some scholarship essays done, and trying to find some small gifts i can bring home for people.

i bought my bus ticket to istanbul today. my bus leaves ankara at 2am, which means i have to catch the last metro to the bus station at midnight and then hang out for a couple hours. i will get to istanbul around 8 or 830 am, take the shuttle to the airport, then hang out till 1pm when my flight leaves. i transfer in munich i think? then i will get to DC at 8pm saturday night, barring any delays. so i will finally get home by 11pm that night, which is 6am here, which means i will have been traveling for 30 hours.......................but i will be home, so its worth it.

dont expect any posts while I am home. I have way too much to do and too many people that want to see me and not enough time! but i will be back in turkey on the 28th, back in ankara by the 29th.

görüşürüz!

daha kar var!

heres some pictures from my new years in Istanbul and the three snow days we have had in the past week.

This is my friend Margot in our hostel. It was decorated with victorian furniture. She said it made her feel like we were two old ladies enjoying an afternoon tea and talking about our days.

Found this guy outside of Aya Sofia

This was just one of the many New Years stores we found.

We decided to buy some masks for the night. Most of them broke immediately, but they were fun for a minute.

Took a walk through a neighborhood near the historical sites. There were lots of really old buildings...

...and two tvs.....??

We found an aqueduct at the end of our walk.

And then Margot's boot needed fixing.

Then we went in search of dinner and found this guy.

Then it was time for parties and fireworks in Taksim Square.

Then I came back to Ankara and it snowed finally.

Butters wanted to take a picture of the birdy feet...

and me, tabiki

Then it snowed again.

This is the judicial building across from my language school.

Then it snowed again last night. A lot.

yeh

So at 9pm when it was still snowing, I decided to go sledding.

On the sidewalk

On a piece of plastic

Backwards.

Hey, gotta deal with what you have.

kar var! (there is snow!)

So I came back from Istanbul and the next day there was snow :) its been snowing off and on for the past two days. I will post pictures later.

New Years was fun. They canceled the major celebration in Taksim Square (where I stayed) but they still had fireworks at midnight.

I have two weeks left until I start my journey home for a week. I wont be bringing too many presents this time because I am not bringing my big suitcase. I have to ride the bus to Istanbul and it would be a really big hassle to lug my suitcase around Ankara and then around Istanbul. So I will bring what I can manage. Sorry :-/

My friend Margot is heading back to America tomorrow. I'm gonna miss her a lot but I know she is ready to go home. I also know that I will see her again. After Margot, my friend Andrew is the last of the fall semester kids to go home. After him, it will only be the kids staying for a year until the first week of feb. Most of them are traveling during this time though. Two are currently backpacking in the Balkans, one is going home for a month, one is already at home, and I think one is going home for a couple weeks. Theres apparently 17 new kids coming in for the spring semester. And we are apparently going to Hatay for one of our trips which is really exciting. If you dont know about Hatay, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatay_Province . Aside from its historical significance, it is also the birthplace of künefe, one of the most delicious desserts around.

Now that there is no school, I am being pretty lazy. Trying to apply for some scholarships and figure out what I am going to do for next year. Otherwise I just sleep a lot and hang out with friends. So far, this trip has really been a big vacation. Its kind of nice to get out of the nonstop life I have at home, but having nothing to do leaves me feeling very unmotivated. Next semeseter will be a lot busier because I will be taking more classes at ODTÜ. It will be better.

Its time to find some lunch now. probably delicious doner for 2 ytl :) görüşürüz