Village of Yakakoy

I had another amazing opportunity to go with the Humanitarian Missionaries to a village called Yakakoy. It is a mountain village about 2 1/2 hours away from Izmir. It was an incredible day and there were multiple times I felt like I was in a movie. The mountains and scenery were amazing and there were so many things I never in my whole life would have expected to see. Just another adventure to add to the list of things I've done while in Turkey...

Look at this cute little lady. Huseyin rolled down his window and yelled "Hello my mother! How are you?" And she responded "Hello my dear son, please come in and visit." It just tells you about the Hospitality of Turkish people. She has no idea who Huseyin is but yet she wanted us to come in and visit with her.

The playground

The Art class! I would ask them to hold up their drawings and they would get so shy! So cute!

The Art Room

The girls playing at recess. They love to tap me on the shoulder and say "Hello my name is Beya. What is your name?" That is the only English they know but they love to practice!

When we first arrived to the school they put on a little assembly. I met a bunch of the adorable children and they would all run and pick me flowers! They made me feel so special! When the assembly was over we went and had a meeting with the Principal. After the meeting we went around to each classroom and said goodbye! When we went into one of the classrooms a sweet little girl had drawn me this picture and taped flowers to the paper. I loved it!

The cute little Kindergartners!

The boys were so funny. When we were getting ready to leave they would poke their heads out the school windows and yell "BYE!" and every time I would turn around say bye back they would giggle and duck down in the window. They did it multiple times and each time they would laugh harder and harder!

The Teachers and Staff of the school.

Kindergartners

They brought me flowers during the assembly

1st Graders

These are Huseyin's friends. They live in the city that is about 30 minutes before the village. We stopped at their house for lunch. We were expecting a light lunch or even just a few snacks...but NO they gave us a feast!

Pita with meats and cheeses

This is the table when we were finished. Pomegranates, mandarins, pita, tomatoes, lettuce, fruits I've never seen and a yogurt drink!

The Village we went to visit. It looked like a movie...

A man selling Mushrooms on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere! I guess there are famous mushrooms that only exist here in Turkey. I wish I would have taken a better picture of them but they are PINK! They look so interesting! This man wanders through the mountains and sleeps in the mountains until he has sold enough mushrooms to return home. What an interesting life.

I didn't dare try a mushroom. I am sure it would do something a little "special" to you if you know what I mean!

This is the end of another adventure I will never forget! There will be plenty more to come!

EMBARRASSING MOMENT

So the other day I asked Ryan to come to Migros (our grocery store) with me. I asked him to grab some cash before we left. He asked "Is 60 Lira enough?" And I replied "That's MORE then enough! Our groceries are never more than 40 Lira!" But Ryan being Mr. Prepared still brought the 60 Lira. We did our shopping which was not any more then we usually buy. There was only one extra thing I had added which was face wipes. We get to the check out stand which is already an ordeal. You don't realize how difficult it is to bag your own groceries AND try to communicate with someone in a foreign language. We finish bagging our groceries and the girl told us the total. As usual we didn't understand and so I asked her to show us the computer screen. 81.14 Lira!! WHAT? Ryan and I looked at each other in shear panic. I looked back at her and was trying to explain that we needed to take some things off of the total. When I looked back to talk to Ryan HE IS GONE! I was so confused! Had he left me because he was so embarrassed? What was going on! She wasn't understanding what I was saying so I just put the groceries in a cart and stood there trying to figure out what to do. Just when I was about to break down Ryan comes SPRINTING up and throws her another 40 Lira. He had run all the way home, gone up to the 16th floor, grabbed the cash and come all the way back within 5 minutes! It was amazing and hilarious all at the same time! Even the girl was laughing! I was so relieved. Yet again Ry guy comes to the rescue! This is something we will never forget and have still been laughing about for 3 days! The joys of living in a Foreign Country!

Instead of crepes being the big thing it is all about WAFFLES! They are thinner waffles and you choose whatever toppings you want! They have about 15 different flavors of pudding, ice creams, fruits, nuts, candy etc! They are so good!! We love chocolate pudding with banana!
We've discovered this amazing gyro place and it is SO yummy! This is going to sound incredibly random but this is what is in it...delicious kebab chicken, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, FRENCH FRIES, mayo, ketchup and a pita! It is amazing and I can guarantee you would love this random concoction!
An early Birthday gift! Genius me forgot to bring warm workout clothes. I didn't bring any warm jackets and only 1 pair of long workout pants! SO...Ryan got me new workout shoes, a really warm, cute jacket AND these really cute workout capris (they make me feel like Jillian Michaels although I wish I looked like her in them)! I love them all! It is all a great Birthday gift! Thanks Ryan!

I can tell you one thing. If you were to spend one day in Turkey I can promise you would see a few things that you have NEVER seen before. I have been here for over 2 months and I am still seeing new things everyday. The other day I was driving down the street and what did I see? A HUGE CAMEL! It was all dressed in bright colored costumes and of course I wondered what it was for? Well...you'll never guess! The one and only "Camel Wrestling!" I was amazed. The things you'll see here in Turkey! Supposedly a camel can sell for 1 million dollars. I don't know if that is completely true but at least that gives you an idea of how much they love their camels! A camel takes priority over the owners children. I hear that if it comes between a camel and and the owner needing medicine the camel wins. I want to see camel wrestling in action someday!
I thought I would do a quick post of what I usually come home with from the Bizarre. In this picture I have dried apricots, clementines, apples, bananas, grapefruit, pears, almonds, black simple gloves, 2 huge pens for my niece and nephew and 3 pairs of ankle socks. Want to know how much this all cost me? 25 Turkish Lira. Want me to convert it for you? A little over $16 U.S. Dollars for all of this! The Bizarre is a wonderful thing and I am definitely a fan! I usually get the most amazing fresh pita but Ryan is out of town and it is too much to eat on my own. Jess + Cheap and amazingly fresh produce = love

Here is a few replay clips of the huge win against Fenerbahce! Ryan had an amazing 29 points! This is a really great win for Karsiyaka because Fenerbahce is one of the top couple teams in Turkey AND Europe! WAHOO! GO RYAN! (Excuse me talking the whole time! I was really excited and was talking to my father in law on the phone!)

The Village of Tuzburagzi

I had the opportunity to go with the Humanitarian missionaries that are here in Turkey to a small village called Tuzburgazi. It was an amazing experience. This village was started by immigrants from Afghanistan. The people are living in very poor circumstances and have close to nothing. It is very humbling to go and see these smiling and laughing children that are happy with absolutely nothing. They look forward to getting a new notebook and a pencil. The other problem in this village is that there is a huge population of handicapped people that don't have any of the medical care that they need. The majority of the children don't have wheelchairs or crutches let alone even blankets. LDS Charity Services is hoping to be able to help this village with Education Kits, wheelchairs, hygiene kits, blankets and if possible even some computers for the school. For the entire village they have only one nurse, one policeman, one engineer and there has only been one person to ever leave the village to go to school in Istanbul.

The adorable little girls! So sweet!

They love to have pictures taken and then see them on the digital camera

We found a little boy that had an LDS Charities wheelchair

I am so happy I was able to go to this village. It was a big eye opener and it really makes me realize how lucky I am to have all the things that I do. It was an amazing day and I look forward to more opportunities to visit and meet more people!

I miss these people

I want to snuggle with this little guy! My nephew Benton

All the girls of my family!

My amazing mother in law Cheri

My fabulous sister in law Mckell
My sweet brother Cody and Paislee (Stef and Allen's baby)
Saders and Sammers
My Mom and Dad
MY CRAZY SISTERS!
My Best Friends!!

If you're not on here it's not because I don't miss you! It's because I don't have a picture of you on my laptop. Living in another country has made me realize even more that I'm lucky to have amazing family and friends! I love you all!