THIRTEEN DAYS IN TURKIYE & COUNTING

Due to visa restrictions, we are limited to spending 90 days in Türkiye out of every 180 days. Including travel time, we added another four days to our tally this week. We flew to Ankara on Sunday evening with our manager Eric for some important meetings. On Monday morning we met with Mr. Omur at the Ministry of National Education to set the date and discuss details for the school inauguration.

Waiting to be called into his office

That afternoon we met with the mayor of Etimesgut, Erdal Besikcioglu to discuss a service project in his community during the young single adult conference next month. We settled on planting trees. The mayor is a famous Turkish actor who has many innovative ideas for his community. We look forward to working with him on future humanitarian projects. As we sat in his office with the windows open, we heard the Muslim call to prayer and thought how blessed we are to be in this part of the world with these wonderful people.

We ended the day with a delicious meal overlooking the city of Ankara. The main dish was lamb served with bulgar wheat with delicious sides. Dessert was called irmikhelvas (sweet semolina) and ice cream. The mandarins in Türkiye have green peel.

On Tuesday we flew to Adana with our translator Meric and then took a 3-hour drive to the Hatay region to see the progress of the three schools. Two will be completed next week and the third within a month. At one school the principal was waiting for us, expressing his gratitude for the wonderful new building.

The owner of one of the construction companies purchased school supplies for a few of the children who will be attending the school he is building. It was a sweet experience to see the happiness on the children’s faces as they received their gifts.

I was thrilled to meet a fellow first grade teacher and her darling students.

Not so thrilled to experience my first Turkish toilet.

The day ended with another fabulous meal at our favorite kabob restaurant. All participate to hold the kebob as the chef pulls the skewer out of the center.

Then comes the melted butter

The guest of honor is offered the first bite from the chef

Dessert was fresh fruit with honey/pumpkin squares covered in tahini. We then had a three hour drive back to Adana.

We are not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.

We spent Wednesday traveling back to Germany. On Turkish airlines every announcement begins with, “Ladies and gentlemen and dear children…” and the passengers clap as the plane lands.

Thursday and Friday were long office days with lots of catch-up work. We enjoy eating lunch with our office friends. From left to right: Celia (from Spain), Lorena (from Chile), Laura (from Italy), Elder & Sister Stoker, Elder & Sister Nelson, us, and Elder Johnson (Sister Johnson is taking the picture). Ed made Chilean empanadas for Dieciocho (Chilean Independence Day) and Lorena gave them a 10 out of 10.