Turkey at last

There is an old adage that says to becareful what you wish for because you just might get it. Well, I worked so hard to make this Turkey thing come through, now I wonder if that was a good thing.

I am trying to be positive about it all so let's start with the good things: my roommate is very nice. She is a young (23!) woman from Buffalo. Our apartment is HUGE -- got to be 1800 sq. ft. minimum. There is talk about a 3rd roommate but no one has appeared. The weather has been fantastic. Warm, not hot, sunny days and cool nights with a wonderful strong breeze up on the 8th floor that makes sleeping excellent. The food is fabulous! I haven't eaten anything that I haven't just loved beginning with the tomatoes. I always love tomatoes but these are the best anywhere and they eat them at all meals. My school is very attractive, new, very well equipped, great teachers who have been very friendly, and a great principal who promises us that we will always have the best food in the system.

On the other hand -- my apartment is way the hell away from downtown. Technically part of Istanbul, Belikduzu is about 1-1 1/2 hours from downtown. I live in a ghetto of 10 story high rise buildings grouped into some sort of compound. Ours is one of the oldest at 8 years, and we have 6 buildings around a nicely landscaped courtyard. It's a nice place, just not the "urban experience" I was expecting. There are like complexes everywhere you look for miles. Sort of like living in Ashburn and trying to enjoy DC nightlife.

Second, I was hired to teach high school. When I got here it was determined that since I was experienced with 7th and 8th grade, maybe I could help with those too. This did not thrill me, but I'm here now. Yesterday, they said that 8th grade will not be spending much time on English since they have to prepare for their Big Test which has no English questions on it so maybe I could teach 5-6-7! 5th grade!?! I think this will be a one-year stint.

This is just an introduction. I have so much to tell but I keep getting warning emails from people so I thought I'd better get something out there. More tomorrow.