On Saturday after work Esteban, the Costa Rican trainee, and I took Lee, the new Australian trainee, and Walid, the new Tunisian trainee, for a little stroll around Bursa. We stopped at a place called Pirinç Han, which is a nice little courtyard where you can sit at tables and drink çay, play games like Backgammon, and have a nargile. Esteban and I tried to fill them in on what to expect and our experience, as well as an introductory Turkish lesson.

Like I mentioned before that night we met up with most of the other trainees at Cacaron. The band was pretty cool, and they were playing all these English rock songs that Lee and I knew. We were standing at the front and singing along, and hooting and hollaring after each one, which was incredibly funny because EVERYONE else in the bar could've not even been there and it wouldn't have mattered. Seriously, no on else was even dancing, and after the songs there were maybe a few golf claps, but that's about it. I'm not even sure if they were breathing! It didn't matter to us, though, if anything, it made our hooting and singing seem even louder.

Unfortunately, we(Lee and I) had to cut out early to catch the last metro and Lee had to pick up his bag from the Aiesec office, and I'm pretty sure the party left with us. The whole way back to the Aiesec office we kept singing the songs on the street. When we got there, the Aiesecers had just finished their meeting for the night, but they were still in the office. When they met the L^2 craziness, they were convinced that we were wasted off our rockers, and I just kept saying that this sort of craziness just results when you get two native English speakers together. I think that Lee and I are going to be the new crazy comedic dynamic duo, and believe me, this town needs it.

Also, a little American culture:

Happy MEMORIAL DAY!

Memorial Day, originally called 'Decoration Day', is celebrated the last Monday in May in the USA. It is an official holiday, serving as a day of remembrance of those who have died in our nation's service, and almost no one works on this day. People can wear ribbons, and visit cemetaries or memorials or parades to formally observe this day. It was originally observed on May 30th, however, Congress changed it to the last Monday in May to ensure a three day weekend. Pretty swell of them, eh? Unofficially, it's the beginning of summer! Woo hoo! And as I mentioned before, usually cities will have parades, and families and friends will take advantage of that three day weekend by going to those parades, as well as having parties and barbeques.

Likes and Longings

This is kind of a spin off the Pros & Cons I had when I was Blogging in Jena.

Likes:

• I can walk down the street and see a man throwing crumbs on the sidewalk for the ants. Yes, literally feeding the ants! It's amazing to see that kind of respect for all creatures.


• The fruit vendors on the street. Especially now because of the season...mmmm.


• Simit..especially cheese-filled..especially Tulumlu Simit..mmm.


• Walking through any pazar, even if I don't want to shop or buy anything. It's like playtime for your senses-it's incredibly visually stimulating!


• Locals' ready and willingness to help. Today I had just begun making a circle around a building to look for an entrance, and some kindly old man wearing a cap stopped, turned around, started leading me in the completely opposite direction he was going, and stayed with me until we found the place. Turned out the place was closed on Saturday's anyway..eh, it's Turkey.

Longings:

• Cilantro


• The ability to communicate with all of those wonderful people who just want to help.


• Being able to walk down the street and smile at people, and most of them will smile back, maybe even throw in a "hello". It's not that they're mean here or that it never happens, it's just not a regualar part of their culture, I suppose. You kind of just focus on where you're going, and it is definitely not a good idea for a girl to smile at guys when walking down the street. If you do, it's not like you'll endanger yourself, but you could be asking for some hoots and whistles; not so out of the ordinary really. Mostly it's the eye contact and smiling and people to do it back, that's what I want most. Today some girl returned my eye contact and smile, and I've been feeling on top of the world all day.

Also, something you might find interesting. On long bus trips, not the local city buses, a man and woman who don't know each other will NOT sit next to each other. It is highly irregular, and this type of situation will be avoided if at all possible.

Yay weekend!

Wow, how about that Milan/Liverpool game, eh? My friend Walid had flown into Istanbul just a day or two before, and he decided to stay in Istanbul for the match. I saw some of his pictures, and Taksim square just looked like a sea of red! He was telling people he had flown from Tunisia just for the match, so they were all really excited. I'll post some photos as soon as I get my hands on them.

I finally went and saw the new Star Wars Movie (in English). Actually, the beginning was in Turkish, which had us English speakers a little nervous at first, but thankfully the rest of the film was in English with Turkish subtitles. phew. I wonder how many people around the world will be having Star Wars movie marathons when that one comes out on DVD. Or how many people are having them now with pirated copies. :)

Last night we welcomed the three new arrivals to Bursa. It was a nice little arrival, if I do say so myself. None of the other trainees met them last night, but tonight should be pretty fantastic. So many of the trainees, and of course the new ones, are going to all go out to this bar called Cacaron. Before that, though, I'm going to take them for a little stroll around Bursa and pretend I know what the hell I'm talking about. :)

Champions

Wow, well Liverpool has earned the right to call themselves Champions, that's for sure. Down 0-3, then they score three goals in the second half in like five minutes!! I went to the Latin Force house last night to watch the match. We had a nice size group, mostly trainees, with a couple of Turks mixed in for good measure. Everybody there supported Milan except Vlada, the Serbian, and Elisabeth, the German. The first half wasn't so interesting, in my opinion, but what was interesting was how dead silent the room got when Liverpool scored it's second goal in like two minutes. We were all sitting there chit chatting one moment, and all leaning forward in our seats, some with hands raised to their mouths, and not one peep the next moment.

The crowd cleared out of the Force at the end of official time, because a lot of us had to catch the last metro, so I didn't get to see any OT. But, I did make it home in time to see the PK's. It went down to the last set!

I was chatting on MSN with a soon to be Bursa trainee from Tunisia, Walid, who was there last night as he had just arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday, and he said Istanbul was crazy! Walid said he took some pictures, so I can't wait to see those! That reminds me, we'll be welcoming three new trainees to the Bursa family-Walid, Lee from Australia, and Neslihan from Kansas, USA, but whose parents are Turkish. She's one of those fortunate people who can actually speak this language.

Tonight after work I'm going to catch the new Star Wars movie..in English of course.

Melancholy Laughter

I just found out through reading one of my bro's emails that Mitch Hedberg, comedian extraordinaire, passed away in March. It's a sad blow to be dealt, because he was just a funny guy, plain and simple; his jokes and the way he delivered them. Not to mention that at those oh-not-so-funny moments, he wasn't afraid to call himself out with a, "man, that didn't make any sense at all!" On that note, I find myself thinking about him, but immediately smiling because, well, try not to smile while reading these and you'll see what I mean:

I wish they made fajita cologne, because that stuff smells good. What's that you're wearing? That's sizzlin'!

I want to rob a bank with a BB gun. "Give me all your money or I will give you a dimple! I will be rich, you will be cute. We both win."

I made $3,000 opening for the Neville Brothers, and they paid me in cash. That was a bad situation, because I bought ridiculous stuff. I bought a snake bite emergency kit. Then I said to my friends, "Don't even worry about snakes anymore". My friend stepped on a worm, and I said, "Lay down!"

I saw a seagull hanging out by a lake, but I said, "Don't worry, Dude. I won't say anything."

I was at a restaurant, and I ordered a chicken sandwich, but I don't think the waitress understood me. She asked me, "How would you like your eggs?" I thought I would answer her anyway and said, "Incubated! And then raised, plucked, beheaded, cut up, put onto a grill, and then put onto a bun. Damn! I don't have that much time! Scrambled!"

I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just gonna ask where they're going and hook up with them later.

People associate long hair with drug use. I wish people associated long hair with something other than drug use, like an extreme longing for cake. And then strangers would see a long haired guy and say, "That guy eats cake!" "He is on bundt cake!" Mothers saying to their daughters, "Don't bring the cake eater over here anymore. He smells like flour. Did you see how excited he got when he found out your birthday was fast approaching?"

I saw this wino, he was eating grapes. I said, "Dude, you have to wait."

An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You would never see an "Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order" sign, just "Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience."

Mr. Pibb is a poor imitation of Dr. Pepper. Dude didn't even get his degree.

If you had a friend who was a tightrope walker, and you were walking down a sidewalk, and he fell, that would be completely unacceptable.

You know you can't please all the people all the time, and last night, all of those people were at my show.

YES - To Lead the Future

I just had one of the best Aiesec weeks of my life! Last Sunday night/Monday morning I found out that I would have the privelege of attending NATCO, Aiesec Turkey's national congress, and be facilitating YES, a congress for SN's (people who are going to be matched on traineeships). NATCO would be starting on Thursday evening, YES on Friday afternoon, but I would be heading to Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon for pre-meetings to prepare. The "faci" team for this congress was very small; only Tiago, who is actually a Brazilian trainee from Bursa and me, and the chair for YES congress, Ajda or "Adi", who is the MCP of Bulgaria (President of the national Aiesec in Bulgaria). I don't know how many people were there total from both congresses, but it was a lot. And I know a lot of people did not come because this congress was scheduled inconveniently right smack dab in the middle of university exam time. D'oh!

I can't elaborate on NATCO because everything was in Turkish and I couldn't understand even the titles of the sessions, but at YES we had sessions on Leadership, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), Cultural Understanding, and of course quite a few specifically about certain aspects of Aiesec. Of course, for as hard as Aiesec works, we play just as hard. There was an '80's party one night, and a crazy party sponsored by Beck's another night, where they donated a bunch of beer and brought their own dj's. And on the last night there was a really formal dinner. Not to mention that the hotel in which this congress is, is on the beach (Marmara Sea), and has a pool, hamam, bowling, and disco of its own. I can probably count the hours I slept the whole week on one hand.

The bags under my eyes are so worth it, though. If anything I regret sleeping even just those few hours. I met so many new people from all over Turkey, and I got to see some old familiar faces from the last congress that we went to in February. It was really quite nice to see the familiar faces, because when I said goodbye to them at the last congress, it was under the impression that we'd not be seeing each other again for a long time, if ever, since I was due to leave Turkey at the end of the project.

Ah yes, and the project. You've all heard from me how awesome the MMF project was, well now there's evidence! Aiesec Bursa took home three awards, and one of them was for Best Project in Turkey with MMF! The other two were Best LC Development, and Most Exchanges. So I think they deserve a pat on the back for that!

I learned so much myself, and made so many plans to visit people I don't know if it's humanly possible to do it all, but I'd sure like to try. I'm finding it extremely hard to focus at work, since it's my first day back. It's definitely no time for dilly-dallying, though, because I leave again in less than a month!! Yikes!

Which way did I go??

Thataway! I found out some fantastic news-that for the national Aiesec conference happening from May 19-22, I'll get to be a member of the facilitating team! Those of you who know Aiesec and congresses, especially the way Turkey hosts them, should know what an incredible experience this is. Those of you who don't maybe have an idea from the few pictures I posted to the YES Congress-Istanbul album from the MMF Project photo album. I'm sure there'll be many great moments and pictures from this congress, too, so be expecting those. We're supposed to be there tomorrow(Tuesday) to begin pre-congress meetings. Yikes!

I know I sent a lot of you some pictures of the new hair. Well, what I didn't do was tell you how it happened. I went to the salon with my host mom, Berna, to get a hair cut, nothing special and no particular style in mind seeing as how I've had the same hair cut for the last 23 years. I told Berna that I didn't have anything special in mind, and that I wanted to see what idea the stylist had. He thought about it for awhile, then started spouting off some crazy Turkish.

My host mom began to translate what idea he had expressed to her while he walked away. Then all of a sudden he came back out of nowhere and just started cutting large chunks of my hair off and tossing them. It was hilarious! You should've seen the look in Berna's eyes; which is funny, because you'd think I should be the one freaking out right about now. She started to say something to the stylist, but really what good would it have done at this point, and I said, "no no, just let him go." So, that pretty much brings us up to date.

I'm definitely not used to having such short hair, but I actually kind of liked it yesterday when it was all styled. I'll have to see how I'll adjust to having it on a daily basis, though, especially because I won't be blow-drying and styling it like they do in the salon. C'mon, I'm lucky if I brush my hair on a regular basis. :)

perspective piece

I just wanted to share with you a part of a nomadlife Blog post I read from a another girl's blog, Sarah, who is doing a traineeship in Istanbul. The entry is from this past March.

PS> For the Americans getting this email, a kind of interesting aspect of my life: I take a shuttle to work everyday with about 8 co-workers who start at the same time as me. Two of them are brothers and are from Iraq. One of them has lived in Turkey for 12 years, but the other just arrived from Baghdad about 5 months ago. He wanted to leave earlier but because of the regime, he wasn't allowed to. We have talked a lot about what it is like to live in Baghdad now. I have always just imagined the city in ruins, but the way he explains things and living there, it's amazing how they live daily life and work and go to school or what not and how 'used' they all are to war surrounding them. We talk also a lot about their opinions on the war. Both of them are mixed about what is going on and how it will work out and what is right...and they say, the people are just so confused, after years and years of mess, they do hope for restoration of the country and standard of living and growing economy. Well never-the-less, it's great to get to know them, they are smart and intelligent and so nice.

I've met quite a few people from the eastern part of Turkey, but only one guy from Iraq, and I met him in Istanbul. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to talk because I had to catch a bus and he was really self-conscious about his English. Okay, so it wasn't that good, and we couldn't really have an in-depth conversation; but I just wanted to second Sarah's compliments, because of how personable he was.

So, another week (almost) down, and so much to talk about. On Thursday I went to the uni festival again, and I was so surprised because there were a ton of Aiesecers there. This particular night there were three performers. The first guy/group was okay. The sound was good, kind of like classic rock, but I just didn't like some of the songs so much. Second was Pamela, a pretty big name here in Turkey. After her was group that I'm not even going to attempt to remember or spell. I liked them, though, and they're apparently even older and more well-known than Pamela. With all of these famous musicians performing, the whole place was crawling with people. That is, until it started to rain. It actually only rained for about five or ten minutes, but a lot of people cleared out when it started. I thought the rain was nice, plus it made the place less crowded.

I left the concert a little early to make sure I could catch the metro, and this is where the night got a little topsy turvy. I got on the Küçük Sanayi dolmuş, or so I thought because that's what the sign said. Well, it turns out this guy just didn't take down his sign, and that he was actually going to Görükle! Now this isn't really such a big deal, under any normal circumstances I would just have a little tour around Görükle, ride back to the uni, and jump on another dolmuş. The problem, like I mentioned before, is that wanted to catch the last metro. I got back to the uni and got off the dolmuş, but this is Turkey so the confusion didn't stop there. Everyone was confused (not just me because I'm a foreigner who doesn't speak Turkish so well), because everyone was asking which dolmuş was going where. Mostly this was due to some prick, who thought he was the dolmuş king and was arguing with all of the drivers and trying to tell them which places they needed to go. Finally me and this other guy just left and walked to another stop.

I caught the very last metro leaving at 12:20am, which made me about the luckiest person ever because normally the metro stops running at midnight. You would think the night would be ending happily ever after by now, wouldn't you? Nope. When I got back home I realized I had forgotten my key. I left my bag at the office because I didn't want to bring it to the concert, and I remembered my wallet, but not my key. Oops. It wasn't such a big deal, though, because both Berna and Bensu were home.

Last night I went to the Baba Zula concert at Konak Kültürevi. I don't know how to describe it. I guess it was just your average run-of-the-mill group using some Turkish instruments with an aging Turkish hippie type, who's discovered the technology of electronics and synth, enjoys creeping through the audience aisles, dancing with the curtain, pouring water on himself and throwing it at the audience, coupled with a belly dancer and a girl that draws crazy creature pictures on a Mac, which are projected on a huge screen in the background. Yep, nothing out of the ordinary there.

Tonight at a place called Cacaron, there will be two "alternative" groups, Velocity from Istanbul and Karbon from Bursa. I say "alternative" because that isn't my word; it is the answer I got when I asked what kind of music they play. Get this, there is no cover for foreigners! Isn't that the craziest no cover rule you've heard of? I mean, I know lady's night, and maybe costume night, but foreigner night, how great!

Oh, and one last important point. I booked my plane ticket yesterday! Hooray! I'll be flying into Chi-town on June 18th and flying back to Istanbul on June 27th. It will be one very busy week, but the weekend of the Christening should be a nice, relaxing way to end it.

Flight search engines

Thanks bro Joe* for forwarding these two flight search engines to me! Kayak and Mobissimo are not agencies. It's kind of based on the same principle as google, and they're very easy to use. I found a flight 150 dollars cheaper through Kayak than my bro, my boss, or I could find without using it! You'll find the links permanently under the "toolbox" on the right.

*Name originally printed incorrectly. Point dually noted, jb, and you should get some props for finding those. Credit must be given where credit is due, right? right. :)

You learn something new everyday

If you're interested in finding out more about a US-Ottoman connection, check out this English translation of The Barbary Treaties.

mmm...Tommy likey booky

I sent out my new address in one of those *gasp* dreaded mass emails!! If you were somehow inadvertenly left of the list, I profoundly apologize and email me to tell me what an ahole I am and I'll send you my address.

You guys are doing great with book recommendations! Keep 'em coming! By the way, Chris, I actually haven't read Captain Corelli's Mandolin, so I'll be adding that one to my list for sure! And Will, I don't know, man. I don't think you're giving the RZA enough credit. I know you saw Coffee and Cigarettes. He's all deep and into alternative medicine. And now he's written a manual?! I don't know if I could handle that. :P What about the rest of you? Don't you read? Can't you read? I want more!!!

Mozilla Security Issue

For those of you who use Mozilla, you should be careful and read this.

Festival Days

First, I want to announce that Dody, being the fantabulous person he is, fixed that whole encoding thing so now the only funky characters you'll see are the real ones in the Turkish alphabet.

Second, Fenerbahçe LOST to Galatasaray 5-1 tonight!! I did not end up watching this match, but I did go to the university to see a concert. The girl's name is Nil, but I have no idea if I spelled that right. It was a pretty good time-I think all of the Reception team was there, and they're a fun bunch of girls. There was a kind of after party, too, where some dj played mediocre at best club music. Once you just accept the fact the music stinks, it's amazing how you can just let go and dance. I also saw some poor puppy being carried through the crowd above someone's head. It was quite interesting. I have to say I never saw that one coming.

Tomorrow night I'll go again. A woman named Pamela will play and she's pretty famous. The Turkish music awards were last night and she won one or two; of course, being that I can't understand Turkish I don't exactly know which ones. I guess it's possible they give out awards for suckiest song and video, but I doubt it's likely.

On Friday I'll most likely go see this group Baba Zula. I don't know if I'll like them very much, but at least it will be an interesting experience.

Change of Plans

So, instead of watching the huge football match between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray (by the way, a match that's really big, like this one, is referred to as a "derby"), I decided that I will go to the university this evening. Tonight is the first night of the festival and there will be a concert and a party afterwards.

I also found out that the UEFA Championship match will be in Istanbul in May. I think it would be sweet to go to, but the dopes scheduled the thing in the middle of the week!! D'oh!

World On Fire

Check out the World On Fire video from the Sarah McLachlan site. I watched it on a computer without sound, and it was still interesting and worthwhile.

I Want YOU! To recommend some books!

I used to keep a list o' books by my bedside, but that list is either packed away in a box or in a garbage can. Either way, I don't have it, and as a person grows and develops so should their bank of knowledge and resources. Simply put, I want to make a new list.

I have a few entries, which have carried over from my mental list, but I want more. When I go back to the states I'm going to acquire a mini-library to take back with me, and I could always order some online (like the sixth Harry Potter book that comes out in July!).

Anyway, this is where you all come in. I want some recommendations-things I should read, things I should avoid. I'm not putting on any stipulations, like non-fiction, personal development, yada yada yada. Just start spouting off suggestions, and I'll take care of the filtering. Okay? Ready. Go!

..::Happy Mother's Day::..

I first want to give all the mom's out there a big "Wooo hooo!" for being the fantabulous mom's you are. I hope your Mother's Day was sunny, cheerful, and bright.

Secondly, I want to congratulate this year's new batch of graduates! Nathan, Kate, Sheena, Justin the kind-of graduate who finished his last semester, and anyone else I might've failed to mention, you guys rock the house!

I went to a Mother's Day breakfast with Berna and Bensu, where we also saw Tijen, my old host mom, and a woman named Elif, who is also like a cool aunt or something. I brought them each a flower, including Bensu. After the breakfast Tijen, Begüm(her daughter), Berna, Bensu, and I went to a shopping mall called Carrefour. The mall was hopping that day, as you can imagine, and I didn't stick around too long.

After I managed to escape the sea of people, I went out to visit Mert, Ibo, Berk, and Ufuk's apartment. They are who I stayed with before I moved in with my new host family. I had left some bags with things I didn't need right away there, so I picked them up. The new Aiesec EB (Executive Board) was in the midst of a strategic planning meeting there. Yesterday was their third day straight, so I thought they could use a little fruit salad with ice cream, and I stopped to pick up the ingredients en route.

I hung out there in the apt for a little while, and then Berk, Ufuk, and I went for a walk around the little village, Görükle. We stopped and ate some pizza at a place creatively named Pizza Pizza. I have decided that it's an awesome place to eat, because it's seriously the first place I've seen that actually had mustard on the table. Normally it's the ketchup and mayo dynamic duo, but this place was high class with the ketchup, mustard, mayo terrific trio! The weather was really beautiful in the early night, so there wasn't an open table in or outside the place.

After a tasty veggie pizza, we walked down to a nargile cafe. After all that pizza, sitting there with the apricot tobacco and drinking out of my little Turkish tea glass, I could've fallen asleep. That is, if Berk and Ufuk weren't so darn entertaining. Plus it was the first time that Berk had tried nargile, so he was especially funny.

Time kind of ran away from us, so when we finally made it back to the apt, Ibo gave me a ride to the metro station to make sure I'd get there okay. I don't know if it was the nargile, but I'm pretty sure it's just my nature, but I of course forgot some stuff-a couple of shirts and a towel. I will probably head out there later this week or on the weekend. I like the environment there, it's really quiet because it's not all built up ..yet. And their apt is actually really nice, when they manage to keep it clean. We've been planning a BBQ for some time now, we just aren't sure when we'll do it. It will have to be a Sunday, because I work every other day of the week. One of these weekends, though, we'll make it happen.

Berk and Ufuk decided that it's okay for me to live with a host family (whereas I think Ibo and Mert just plain aren't happy with it), but that I have to live there on the weekends. Ha. I don't know about that-it would take me so friggin' long to get to work! Maybe on Saturday nights, though. I actually wouldn't have minded staying there instead of living with a family, but it's just the commute. And I wouldn't even mind it so much in the evenings, but in the mornings is when it would kill me.

By the way, I survived my first week at my new job! It's overall a good thing. I like the atmosphere, the location, the office, the people, yada yada yada. Right now I'm just mostly reading all of the different materials on everything under the sun that could have to do with sending students to the English speaking countries we deal with-US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Malta, and South Africa. Since I'll be in charge of this department, I really have to be on top of everything from the legalities, market, and the education system in each country, including in Turkey, to a good knowledge of our existing partners, to a good knowledge of UKLA and the services it offers.

Tonight I'm going to go visit Tijen and catch up. Oh, and on Wednesday there is a pretty big football match between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. Some of us are going to get together at the Aiesec office and watch the game. Also there is a three day festival at the university starting on Thursday. I'm not sure how much of it I'll be able to go to because of work, but I think we are trying to organize an information table to set up there, so hopefully I can work that and get to enjoy the festival, too. If not, then maybe I can catch some of the night activities after work. Then on Sunday there is a trainee picnic. Woo hoo!

In a couple of weeks there is a two or three day national conference in/near Istanbul. It's actually at the same hotel we had the YES congress at during the project-you know, the one album I'm working on that still isn't finished for the MMF photo album site. That's been kind of put on hiatus, by the way, until I find some good chunks of time to work on it. Anyway, I'm planning on attending that, and possibly being a facilitator. Either way it will be a good experience, and I'm really looking forward to it.

And you all know now that at the end of June I'm coming home for Joey's Christening and my biggest bro's birthday!! Any special requests, bro Nick? I already got a bottle of Rakı covered. :)

And I found out about this amazing opportunity in August called You Can. It's pretty much one of the biggest international congresses Aiesec organizes. It would be such a valuable experience-personally, professionally, and aiesecly. I think I will try and apply to be a delegate. Being a facilitator would be unbelievable, but I don't know how plausible this is at the moment. This year the congress will be in Mumbai, which would be so sweet to go to. Plus then maybe I could meet up with my friend, Ibo, from the project. Right now it's just kind of a dream, but you never know..

In November there is a ginormous education conference called TUYAP, and UKLA is planning on coordinating some huge international something or other with a bunch of different schools. I don't know so many details, only that I'm supposed to be in charge of that when the time comes around. So bro Nick, I might need some of that worldy advice and knowledge of event planning you've acquired.

I think that's about as much I know about my life schedule at the moment. How's about that?

So shut up & just DO IT already!

I like it, and I think I'm posting it more for me than for the rest of y'all. But I hope you like it, too...

"It's not because things are difficult that we dare not, it's because we dare not that things are difficult,"
--Seneca

Funky Monkey

I just wanted to say that I realize there are some funky things happening to some of the characters in my Blog. The English ones are okay, but Turkish and German don't seem to be displaying correctly. I've tried changing the encoding, which didn't work (c'mon, would it be so simple?), and I've already emailed the big man about it. He's still working on the problem himself, so hopefully we'll ratify it soon..just wanted to let y'all know!

American Classics in Turkey?!?!

Ndreeeeeeek!
Ich kann es nicht glauben! Ist es echt dich?! Ich wüßte nicht was hat bei dir passiert. Es ist fantastisch von dir etwas hören! Ich kann vorstellen, daß Jena immer gleich genau Jena ist :) Du sollst mich anmelden. Ich will alles was ist neu hören. Bhoye hat mein Email. Aber, du sollst auch bitte immer Bemerkungen auf mein Blog schreiben. Es freut mich zu sie sehen. :)

Okay, back to the native language..phew. I just wanted to say that my first full week at the new job is almost over, and I survived!! Just kidding, it's actually pretty great so far. Today was pretty interesting. I saw a car accident on my lunch break-nothing major, just a fender bender headlight knocker outer. But what was kind of funny was that the car that was hit belonged to some sort of authority figure. The car had blue lights on the top and the driver was in a uniform, but I know it was any kind of normal or traffic polis car. I think it was he was the kind of security/police that get called out for riots and stuff, and this is why:

Today there were some protestors that were walking down the street (our office is very near the city center) past our office. They were protesting Imperialism. They were holding up signs, pictures, and a huge banner with a picture of a guy named Deniz Olunmalı, and chanting things like 'We won't forget!' Of course, they were chanting in Turkish, but my co-worker, Nurhan, translated for me. He was apparently murdered. Don't you hate being ignorant? I immediately went back to my work station and started an internet search. I wanted to take a picture of the event, because we had a perfect overhead view of the group protesting, city police, and onlookers because they walked right past our office.

I didn't go to the Aiesec office tonight or last night. Some of you might realize just how out of the ordinary this is. I'm not sure if it's really because I've been so busy, or that I can't bare the ugly truth that when I show up there is no chance of me seeing any of the MMF trainees.

I came straight home after work tonight because I wanted to get some worky done, and I told Berna and our other mom-friend, Elif, I would hang out with the girls, Bensu and Buse, tonight so they could have a mom's-night-out. We went and got a bunch of snacks and listened to music. Oh, we also watched 'Stand By Me'! It was on TV here-I thought that was crazy.

I am trying to apply to be a facilitator at a really huge international congress that will happen this August, which is why I came home to tonight to work on the application. I just found out about the congress not too long ago, and also that the deadline has already passed for applications, but I'm going to send in the materials once they're ready anyway. I will finish the application tonight(or this morning, as the case may be), and then I'm just waiting for a couple more reference letters of recommendation. It's worth a shot..at least I won't regret not trying.

The Last Samurai

As far as worky work, I got two more new big, juicy, Guides to read, pumped full of information. Mmmmm mmmm. They're good for me, though. I really need to have a good handle on this stuff, if there's any hope of being successful. Ah, one thing I have not mentioned yet, that some of you already know, is that I will be coming back to the states for a short period at the end of June!!! That's right, for a few days in the last week in June, I'm going to come home for my little nephew, Joey's, christening! I'm looking forward to the visit, and I can't believe the fact that it will happen in less than two months!

I went to see a football match between the Executive Board (EB) of Aiesec Bursa and some other members. It was much more pleasant this time, because more people showed up to play and watch. The night went off almost without a hitch-Eray got kicked in the eye, and I had to say goodbye to my partner, Ewa. She'll go to Istanbul in the morning, and then off to Poland. She is the last of the other MMF trainees to go, and I have been appropriately dubbed as 'The Last Samurai' because I'm the only one left now.

UKLA and LB Abroad

So, I've been at my new job for two full days now. I've been reading and dealing with everything under the sun that has to do with our markets in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, so you can imagine I've been just a little busy. I guess technically our partners in Malta and S. Africa are my responsibility, too, but we're going to focus on the others, mainly the US and Canada, first, because they're the largest and most complex. Then the others, theoretically, shouldn't be so hard to be brought up to date. Anyway, these first few weeks is an intense period where I have to acclimate to the environment and really get a good grasp on the background of our partners, the market in general, the company, and the education systems.

I also talked with my boss, Bülent, yesterday, and he said it would be fine for me to come home for Joey's christening! Yahooo! In fact, he is going to let me have the whole week off before the party, too, so I'll be coming home for a WEEK at the end of June! I did tell him I would meet with one of our Chicago schools, because I think it will be really great for the company, and it won't be so hard on me to go there for a day. I also want to take a bunch of pictures of Chicago to show the Aiesecers here. I would love to get some of the IU campus, too, so they could see what a beautiful campus looks like, but I don't know if I'll have enough time to do that..I don't want to get ahead of myself.

I plan on coming back to Turkey loaded with a bunch of crap I don't need. I've already started forming the list in my head and it includes things like more clothes, CD's of course, and an ultimate frisbee. I'm going to go home with (maybe) a backpack, so that I can just bring a bunch of bags back with me. Big Bertha is definitely one of those things, and she'll be groaning under her own weight.

Anyway, that's pretty much all..I've just been working at UKLA, helping out with Aiesec matching and Reception, trying to partake in congresses, and one more thing..what was it? Oh yeah, trying to have a social life. :) Oh, which reminds me, tonight I'm going to see a football(not the American kind) match between Aiesecers and trainees. It should be pretty funny, to say the least. But it will be a very hard night, because my partner, Ewa, will be leaving tomorrow morning to go to Istanbul. She will fly back to Poland on Friday. :( She is the last of the MMF project trainees, other than myself, left in Bursa; and she is one of the few close friends I've had here since most of the others are gone already. *Sigh* Se la vie.

The Living Dictionary

Today Berna, Bensu, and I slept in, then went to visit Berna's parents' house. Right before we left, Gigi escaped from Bensu's room and we decided to let him have free reign of the house while we were gone, instead of trying to catch him and put him back in his cage. Anyway, Berna's parents' house is really large and beautiful and it's in a very peaceful subdivision. We had some tea and snacks, then walked around a bit.

After that, we went to a mall I had never been to here in Bursa. It was pretty much your average mall, except that it had a little ice skating rink in the center of it!! There was a little arcade area with a mini bumper car setup, so Bensu and I played air hockey, shooting and racing games, and a German version of the Terminator-Rise of the Machines pinball game.

Then we went out to eat at a kebap place..mmmm. One of Berna's friends, Murat, happened to be walking by and joined us later. The best part of the night was when we were discussing what the word "patlıcan" means in English, and Bensu insisted it was some word that I've never even heard of. I kept reiterating it was "eggplant", and then Berna said, "Okay, let's call Elif," who is a Turkish lady that teaches English. Well, that was too much for me. I said, "Hellooo! I'm an American, ya?! I speak English!! And this is called "eggplant!" We were almost driven to the point of me running out to the car to get the Turkish/English dictionary, but we decided to wait until after the meal. I guess I don't need to tell you who was right..count it!!

Coming home must've been quite a site, because we opened the door so cautiously and then ran in like cockroaches scattering when a light is turned on. We found Gigi on the keyboard, out of all the places in the house. I still claim he was checking his email. I think he's been receiving love mails from that bird outside our apt. I hear singing every morning.

This is How We Do It...

So, here it is. No more sending out mass emails with a new link to this or that address. I've finally settled down in a home base, which interestingly enough is hosted from the name "nomadlife". Isn't that irony? Hmmm.

Anyway, this will be the mothership of the magnificent, magical, marvelous, world of LB. If you are sitting at your computer sipping a nice cup of Chamomile and you want to catch up on the haps or just want to waste some time mindlessly reading the latest ramblings of my mind, you will know without a doubt that this is the web address to go to. Besides, now if I want to throw new links in your face, I can do it by posting them to this site. You didn't think I'd just stop altogether, did you?

Welcome to nomadlife's "A Day in the Life", brought to you by yours truly...

Photo Archive

Around Bursa

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Bulgaria

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Cappadocia

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Cumalıkızık

• Brunch

Karagöz International Folk Dance Festival

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Erdek

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Eskişehir

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Lena's Farewell

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Rhythm Project

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Traineevision

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• Walid's

Urmi's Photo Albums