Maria's Trip to Turkey
July 19th, 2003 - August 4th, 2003
 
 

These are pictures of Maria's trip to Turkey in the summer of 2003.  I went to teach English at a Christian bookstore in downtown Ankara, the country's capital city.  I went with six other people from Grace Community Church.  At the end of the trip, we were able to site see a little bit in Istanbul.  I had a great time and love the country and people of Turkey!
 
 
The Turkey Team, our first morning in Ankara!
We had breakfast, chay or tea and breads,
at our friend's house on her backyard patio.
From left to right: Juliet, Suzan (our fearless leader :) ),
Maria, Dallas, Kelly, Lindsay, and Tina.		 Kocatepe Camii.
The biggest camii, or mosque, in Ankara.
We visited this mosque several times,
praying for the people and going in to view the inside.

 		  
Ankara University in the foreground.
One of three university campuses in Ankara.
It has a great view of the city.		 Our intermediate English class.
We taught three levels of classes,
beginning, intermediate and advanced.
All of our students were college students,
ranging in age from 19 to 25, and 90% of them are Christians!

 		  
Maria and Kelly on the Ankaray, or metro.
We would travel from the Bahçelievler area,
where we were staying,
to the downtown area called Kızılay.		 A simitci!
These are people who walk up and down the street yelling "Simitci!"
They sell simits, a crispy bread ring strewn with sesame seeds.
Check out this link for more info on the simit!
By the way, they start selling at around 7:00 AM
...very early in the morning for us sleepy heads :)

 		  
It was Kelly's 22nd birthday while in Turkey.
So we celebrated with a party and invited all of our students.
It was very fun!		 Dallas with our advanced student, Mehmet.

 		  
Dallas with our advanced student, Sephi. We got the chance to visit Shema Radio,
the only Christian radio station in Ankara.
 There are three stations total in the country,
one in Ankara and two in Istanbul.
They air all types of Christian music 24x7.

 		  
Kelly, Juliet, Maria, and Lindsay in one of the recording rooms. We were invited to a Turkish breakfast by our friend's neighbor,
all homemade!  It was awesome!

 
The Turkey Team with our friend's neighbor and her little baby boy. We spent an evening with one of our intermediate students,
Mesut, at his home.
This is him with his one of his little sisters and his little brother.

 		  
Julie T and Mehmet near the top of the Ankara Citadel.
Julie is my friend from Arizona that is now living in Trabzon, Turkey.
She took an 18 hour bus ride just to see us in Ankara!		 Kelly and Mehmet walking in the old and poor city
that is now inside of the citadel walls.

 		  
The squatty potty!
Yes, you can image why it is called that :)		 Time to leave Ankara :(
Our going away party at the bookstore with all of our students.

 		  
Everyone saying goodbye to us :( The Turkey Team in Istanbul.
Us girls were dressed as Dallas' harem :)
We ate gözleme at this very touristy place.
Gözleme is a dish consisting of a thin pancake similar to crepes
filled with either white cheese, chicken, or potatoes.
It was quite yummy!
Check out this link for more info.

 		  
A scenic view of Istanbul on our last evening in Turkey...*Sigh* Cola Turka!
I brought back a can for Paul and his cousin, Jayson.
Chevy Chase, an American actor,
does the commercials for Cola Turka.
Check them out!  Commercial one and two