A Visit to the Village

It's customary for the bride & groom to visit the family's home village after the wedding. It's sorta like saying "thank you" for coming to the wedding. A few weeks ago Umut and I went to his family's small village in the mountains, outside of Denizli (modern Colossea).

This is the village where his grandmother has lived her whole life and Umut's mother lived here before getting married and moving to the metropolis of Izmir. Umut spent his first 4 years living with his grandparents as well.

Even though I am from Tennessee, this was the 1st time I used a real outhouse! (Let's just say if you have to use an outdoor restroom in the winter, you think twice about drinking anything at dinner.)

It was one of the most extreme cultural experiences I have had since moving here in March. It was also one of the most rewarding. I loved getting to know Umut better by experiencing a little bit of his heritage.

So here is what you are looking at:

- Just the 2 of us chilling on a couch (a.k.a. floor cushion) in the living room/bedroom.

- The 2nd picture is Umut with his mother & grandma. He and his grandma have a very special and close relationship.

- The 3rd picture is where his grandma does mosting of her cooking...in an outdoor shed over an open fire! She has a stove but isn't interested in using it. I guess old habits are hard to break.

- The 4th picture is his grandmother's home with the mosque in the background. This is the mosque where Umut went to Koran school for many years.

Only in Turkey...

Beginning tomorrow (Friday) is a 4-day religious holiday for Muslims. It is a time when they remember Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. Muslim families sacrifice lambs and sheep. This afternoon while riding in the car, I saw a funny sight before me. A family had purchased their "sacrifice" and were driving home. Poor lamb! He has no idea this is his last night!

An Herbal Remedy

I am so sick of being sick. I've had a cough for over 2 weeks. For the last week I took an antibiotic (you can buy them over the counter here), cold & flu medicine, vitamin C and cough drops. The medicine helped, but I am not fully well yet.

At church yesterday one of our members told me there is a tea that works as an antiseptic. She assured me it would kill the bateria making me cough and slowing my breathing.

This morning Umut bought me the herbal tea and we are about to give it a try. It looks like the weeds my neighbor just cut out of her yard, so you probably need to wish me luck!

A Little Update

So what in the world have I been up to? It has only been 5 weeks since I last blogged, but it feels like a lifetime. First…I was sick for a few days and Umut’s neighbors (a retired couple from Istanbul) made me a special drink to help me out. Did you see the color of the drink she made???!!!! It was the color of…pee. Actually, it was intense flavors of lemon and mint. It was rough going down but in the long run, I think it worked! Whatever bug was in my stomach was certainly killed by that cup of tea!

Next you will see pictures of a bunch of cute school children in a parade. Thursday was the annual celebration of the Turkish Republic. Each year every city hosts parades of school children (indicating children are the future of the Replublic), speeches are made and elegant balls are thrown. I really enjoyed attending the parade, even though we were late and missed half of the show. I especially loved asking Umut about his experiences performing in similar parades in elementary school. It's crazy to think that one day I will be watching my own half-Turkish kiddos in a similar parade.

I just love this picture...

I just love this picture. Hopefully now you can see why I really want our children to inherit their father's hair!

A Blob of Henna and a Marshmallow

What do you get when you mix a blob of henna and a puffy marshmallow dress? A Turkish wedding, of course!

Here are just a few pictures of our Henna Night and Turkish wedding. For those of you unfamiliar with a Henna Night, essentially these traditions come from the Hitittes, who ruled this area of the world thousands of years ago. Both the Bride & Groom are stained with henna followed by a war victory dance by the groom. Basically it was a night of food, alcohol and LOTS of dancing.

The next day was our Turkish wedding. More food, more alcohol, more dancing. But this time I got to wear a marshmallow dress! I think I was so worried the entire time that I would trip while dancing that I hardly remember the evening.

I've mentioned before that Turkish weddings are about BIG and *BLING*. This Turkish wedding celebration proved to be nothing less. If you get a chance, check out my Facebook page for more pictures!

Umut's 1st Boxing Match

I went over to Umut's house after church on Sunday to find him in a boxing match with some American friends.

I am ashamed to say that Umut lost. Then again, our friend had already reached the level of "professional" and this was Umut's 1st game. Maybe next time, Umut.

(Feel free to ask Umut why his Wii character is named Paco Sanchez!)

Gumby and a Turkish Hair Salon

Yesterday Umut's mom surprised me by taking me to the Kuaför (hair salon) to get highlights. My friends know my hair color is always unpredictable, but this experience streched even my risk-taking muscle.

Unfortunately, there were NO hair magazines at the salon to show what I wanted! All I could say in my broken Turkish was, "Two colors I am wanting. Brown and blonde, but more brown than blonde."

It look 2 men 3 hours to work on my hair. I've always been told I have very healthy hair, mainly in part to good genes and the fact that I never use a blow-dryer or flat iron; but the guys at the salon said Turkish hair is much stronger than my hair.

The foreigner at the salon was certainly drawing a lot of attention. That, and the fact that I didn't understand any of the commands the colorists ("turn your head", "walk to the rinse bowl"...) so they had to move me like Gumby the entire time.

In the end, my broken Turkish was sufficient. They did a great job!

Things you only see at a circus...

The 1st question on a circus application

The 1st question on a circus application must be…

“Are you willing to grow a mullet?”

On Friday Umut and I went to the circus. There were Chinese performers, Russian performers, Western performers and Latin American performers. (Ironically, no Turkish performers were spotted.) Yet no matter what continent each talented act derived from, one central theme wove throughout the entire evening: rockin’ Rat Tails and Mullets.

We saw mullets & rat tails doing Olympic-style flips while springing off of bouncing balance beams. We saw them swallowing sticks of fire and carrying gigantic pythons. We even saw rat tails and mullets magically making doves disappear! (Of course during that particular act, I said, “Hey, Mullet Magician! I saw the Prestige. Those “disappearing” doves better be alive at the end of the show!)

Maybe I got a little carried away with trying to snap shots of all the rad hair-dos, but I was very entertained. Besides, isn’t that what the circus is all about?

Did You Know Dogs In Turkey Can Read?

Warning to the dogs....stop the dog peeing!

Turkish Breakfast vs. American Breakfast

I am not a "breakfast" girl, but I have really come to love a real Turkish breakfast! I took this picture last week when we visited Umut's parents' house.

You'll see: tea, cheese, olive oil, olives (from the Ceylan family olive grove), homemade jellies, watermelon, bread, cucumbers and tomatos. Delicious!

I decided to introduce Umut to one of my favorite breakfasts from America: Monkey Bread! My mouth is watering as I write this. I bought some dough from a local bakery, which exploded out of the tupperware overnight, mixed the cinnamon and sugar, and wowed Umut with my culinary expertise!

For those of you who don't have a Monkey Bread recipe, here is a link to a good one:http://www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/monkey-bread-recipe.html

Enjoy!

A Bridal Nightmare Redeemed

Since Umut's parents will not be in America in January for the wedding and weddings are a BIG DEAL in Turkey, we wanted to bless his parents and extended family with some type of celebration. So September, we will have a Turkish "wedding celebration".

So...I get to wear a wedding dress twice! With eager anticipation, everyone waited 4 months for the dress to arrive and last week I was scheduled for my 1st fitting.

As the store clerk began helping me put it on, I knew immediately something was wrong. It was WAY too small. As she tightend the corset, I began to understand what the ladies of the Victorian Era felt like. Dizzyness.

Come to find out, the store had ordered the wrong size but their solution was to wear a tighter corset. No way! No corset would make a dress 2 sizes too small look good. Besides, I was convinced that after 45 minutes, I would surely faint from wearing this dress.

Luckily the next day we found a new dress which will be ready on time.

Even though the day was a little discouraging...trying to squeeze into a dress 2 sizes too small is tough on the ego...it was redeemed with the new dress, which I like even more. And I made a decision that I would rather look a little less "hour glass" and actually ENJOY wearing the dress.


FYI: Here is some info I found on the history of the Corset:
article of dress designed to support or modify the figure. Greek and Roman women sometimes wrapped broad bands about the body. In the Middle Ages a short, close-fitting, laced outer bodice or waist was worn. By the 16th cent. it had become a tight inner bodice, sometimes of leather, stiffened with whalebone, wooden splints, or steel; fashion demanded the slenderest possible waist in contrast with the enormous farthingales and stuffed breeches that were worn. Stays and tight lacing were made for both men and women from the 17th through the 19th cent., except for a brief period following the French Revolution. By 1900 the corset had become primarily a female garment, and it was gradually modified to conform to the natural lines of the body.

A Year Ago Today...

July 16, 2008, Umut and I went on our 1st date. Little did I know that night was the beginning of a new season in my life. And little did I know about the adventure awaiting me. What a year this has been!

Before we left İzmir in June, we went retraced our 1st date at Barinak Cafe and retold each of our perspectives of that special night. But yesterday was the actual 1-year anniversary so we had been eager all week to celebrate.

As we have been reflecting on this past year, we both acknowledge there is much to be grateful for. The Lord's kindness and graciousness to us, both individually and as a couple, has been immeasurable. He has held our hand as we have walked through so many barriers...cultural barriers, relationship barriers, language barriers. And each of these barriers continues to teach us about the Lord's faithfulness while increasing our desire for joy in perseverance.

From July through December of last year we Skyped 4 times a week. Then for 5 weeks at the end of 2008, Umut arrived in America and concluded his visit with a beautiful proposal. In March I arrived in Turkey. Today we are just past the half-way mark of our 13-month engagement (January 8, 2010!!!) and the halfway mark of my 1st stint in Turkey.

My conclusion is this: for the last 4 1/2 months I have fallen more in love with Umut, more broken for this country and more in awe of God's immeasurable graciousness to us.

An Ironic 4th of July

Our new team is quite diverse. We have 2 from England, 3 Americans, 2 Mexican Americans and a Turk. A few weeks ago one of the Americans said to me, "We need to celebrate the 4th of July next week!" And David, from London, asked, "What is the 4th of July?" "Independence Day!", I replied. "'Independence' from what?" he asked. "Independence from...YOU!" We all had a good laugh.

So this 4th of July was quite ironic because the Americans celebrated with a group of Brits. We tried to get them to sing "God Bless America", but we were unsuccessful.

In the video, you will see me celebrating with Umut, and another couple we invited to join our celebration. (The guy is from England and his fiance is Canadian.)

My new home!

I wanted to share with you my new home....it is SO DIFFERENT than my condo in Austin, yet I see God's provision for a great place to live. My roommate and I have little girls come over daily to pet our rabbit and "help" us with our Turkish. Actually, the girls are really good tutors!

Target ripped off the Hittites!

A few weeks ago Umut and I were in a fantastic museum in Ankara. In this museum, there were artifacts from some of the most ancient civilizations, including the Hittites, one of the tribes that Abraham spoke with. While the Hittites Abraham rubbed elbows with were further east than Ankara, the history and culture of this huge tribe were the same.

So as Umut and I were enjoying all the artifacts, made thousands and thousands of years before the incarnation of Christ, one particular treasure caught my attention.

“I have seen this before. I just know it. I have seen a very similar piece of bronze décor.”

So I went online and discovered my inclination was right. TARGET ripped off the Hittites! Now, I am a big fan of Target. I miss Target over here. Turkey needs Target. So perhaps a better way of putting it could be, “Target got its artistic inspiration from the Hittites.”

If the Hittites were still around, hopefully they wouldn’t demand copyright commission. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery!

Home Sweet Home

Just a few of my favorite places in the city of İzmir!!!!!

A Circumcision Party

Tonight Umut and I went to our neighbor's circumcision party. I'm sitting here, at midnight, totally exhausted. Tonight was culture overload. Just check out the pictures and videos...you will understand. Hundreds of people. Lots of loud music. Constant dancing. And more Turkish language than my American brain could handle.

2 observations are worth mentioning. First, this family's heritage is from eastern Turkey. So the men were separated from the women and children. All the men wore blue jeans and sat cafeteria-style to chow on food and Rakı (liquor). Meanwhile, the women dressed up in semi-formals, loaded on makeup, and danced the night away; but weren't served any food. :)

The 2nd observation worth mentioning is the 2nd video. The boy, as you will see, is dressed up in a prince uniform, modeling after ancient Sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Notice the boy and his parents leading the Turkish congo line as people throw money at him. The money is actually for the band, not the boy! For those who don't want to chunk cash at the kid, you can buy gold coins to pin on the boy (see the picture). Later he and his family cash in the gold coins to help pay for the party.

And for those of you with queezy stomachs; no worries, the boy was actually circumcised at birth. Tonight these virgin Western eyes were spared a bloody Turkish scene.