american safety

I am not sure how many people are framiliar with mitch hedburg but one of his jokes is about how he finds Subway the american embassay when he would get in trouble in other countries he would get chased to the nearest Subway, go inside and say HAH you cant touch me here. Well i feel like that with starbucks here. I never wanted to admit it and i never wanted it to happen but that seems to be my refuge and my chilling space. Its not even that i need american coffee. I think its my safety knowing I wont be attacked by turkish people. I wont be asked to sign up for some charity and I wont be convinced to try some restaurant. I know what I am getting when i walk in, and have the sercurity of framiliarity.

Yesterday I finally began to realize how women are treated differently here. I know many of you are saying, geey christy we have been telling you this from day one. I had a male tell me that I was basically made to be a housewife. NOt my personalities of caring and wanting to actually be a housewife but that Hey you are female, ready to care for all the children? I have always been telling people that ultimately i want to stay home with my children, soyou are probably asking why this is a big deal. I think it was more the fact that he said Im a woman. you stay home with the children. no question whether i want to work on the side, whether maybe there is a nanny involved. it was in stone females = housewives. No questions. It was just interesting to me. I am seeing little issues like that more and more as i get to know turkish females.

I found a church that I am going to go to. Actually I have to get ready pretty soon. I inquired about some bible studies and the only ones the told me about were for married couples. I have a feeling im going to be in some very uncomfortable positions inthe near future. ONe thing i love about being away from the United states is that I no longer have the pressure of being married. Yes i really badly do want to be married some day, but not now. Its hard being in the states where the number one question is are you dating anyone. Its even harder when a lot of your friends are getting married. Here despite the fact that the second question i am asked when i meet a turk is "are you married" i dont have the same feeling of embarassment or uncomfortable feeling. I am afraid that will come back in the bible study groups.

My birthday! I realize i havent updated this in awhile. I had a fantastic birthday. I went to my refuges spot (starbucks) in the morning where i got breakfast and read my book. The sun was shining and it was maybe 60 degrees. Then i went ofr a long walk down by the water. Very peaceful and relaxing. I came back and my roommate made me dinner. I went to class, where i had told my students the previous week how important my birthday was to me and they all remembered and said happy birthday as i walked in. Then 10 mins into class I was doing a review game and the four students that were absent burst in with balloons and a cake with sparklers and candles. The whole class then started singing, and I was so happy. The difference between turkish classrooms and american classrooms is that they dont have as many rules. I was feeling very uneasy when they walked in with fire but quickly realized that its their country and would know what they can and cant do. THen they set of sparklers inside.. another shock to me! Finally one went to grab the knife to cut the cake and walks in with a huge butchers knife. Three things that are not allowed in the US. I however didnt care and was really excited. After class some students, my friend from the US, and my roommates and I all went out or a drink. It was great. Very relaxing and i love that Turkish people take birthdays seriously. Perfect place for me! My roommate got me a plant for my room which made me really excited. I think any sort of green makes it feel more like home!

Well i believe that was a monsterous post. I have to go study. I made a bet with my students that they had to learn all the food names in english and I would learn them in Turkish. Today we have a test...