Three months later...

Cappadocia

So I am officially the worst "blogger" ever! I have basically not posted anything for almost three months which is yes, I know, pathetic. I wish I could come up with an amazing excuse, but in reality life has just been happening, just like it does for everyone. Before I knew it, it had been three months and the last post I posted was a about toilets! So let we just flush my excuses down the pipe (Ha Ha Ha that’s so punny) and instead tell you what I have been up to these last few months:

SCHOOL, SCHOOL, AND MORE SCHOOL

Cappadocia

Well as you may have guessed it, when someone goes overseas to teach school, one spends the majority of  their time teaching and doing other school related activities.   I just happen to be half way across the world doing it. Yes my students come from 40 or so different nations, but surprisingly they are still kids! Shocking news I know. They still have that amazing ability to drive me crazy, inspire me, frustrate me, and make me laugh all at the same time. It has been so fun to get to know them and all their unique personalities. That is definitely the best part of my job. I love talking to them about literature and writing (even math sometimes because this English teacher is teaching Algebra 1), but I mostly love talking to them about who they are and who they want to become. I truly feel blessed that I get to be in the "business" of being a part of these students' lives. Not that it is always sunshine and butterflies, but I just hope that I always strive to see each student for who they are and all they can become. (Yep they probably have that last statement on a mug somewhere- it's a sappy statement, but it is true). 

Cappadocia with my teacher friends

EXPLORING

Now, though teaching does consume about 90% of my life, there has still been some time to explore this side of the world. Turkey in and of itself is a diverse place to explore, and I have gone on two long weekend trips so far. The first one was shortly after we started school. We had a three day weekend for a national holiday. All the new teachers went up to a little town called Amasra which is located on the Black Sea. It was beautiful and so relaxing; we swam, ate fish (heads and all!), hiked. It was wonderful. The next long weekend we had, I went  to Cappadocia or Kapadokya (which is how they spell it here). This is probably one of my new favorite places. The only way I can really describe it is that it is like entering a landscape conjured up by Dr. Seuss! Unbelievable rock formations that people built h

Dinner on the beach  in Amasra at sunset 

omes into, underground cities, hot air balloons at dawn. It is crazy! I can definitely see myself going back to Cappadocia many

Amasra

more times.

Let’s see where else have I gone..... um oh yeah for our fall break (another national holiday)  I went to GREECE! Since Turkey is so close to so many countries, hopping over to Greece is just like hopping from state to state in the U.S. A fellow teacher and friend Lori and I went to some of the iconic islands of Greece for a few days and stopped by Athens while we were at it. I never really thought I would be standing in the places I read about in my history books and in Greek mythology; it was kind of a surreal experience, and I am still in awe about the whole experience.

Well I think that is about all the news I have to offer for now. I am going to get better at posting more than once every three months; I promise! Thanks for reading this and keeping me and my students in your thoughts. Lots of love

Athens

Crete

Charissa

Oia, Santorini

Patmos