My last Post!!

Hello everyone! If you don’t know yet we made it home safely. It’s the 1st full week back from Turkey. I still feel a little weird being back in the states but I don’t mind the air conditioning and the long bed I get to sleep in. I don’t if I’m experiencing very much cultural shock (or maybe I am but I just can’t tell) but I am doing a lot of internal processing from the trip and within my spirit. I hope everyone’s summer is going well.

This blog post will consist of an update of the last week and a half of our trip. Sorry it’s a little late but we didn’t have much Internet opportunities near the end of the trip.

7/11/07 Wednesday

So today was another Sabbath day and we had decided to go see a movie late afternoon. So with some free time in the morning all the young people (excluding Esther and Kristin…you’re young…just not as young) decided to go to the weekly market in Antalya. I had been craving cherries ever since I got to Turkey. And even though they give me about the worst gas anyone could ever imagine I had to get some. So we went to the market aka pazar and marveled at the mountains of fresh fruits and vegetables. I found my cherries first and bought one kilo for only $1.50!! We meandered around for a while gawking at the amazing fresh fruit and veggies. I was in heaven. So after the Market we partook in our weekly Wednesday PB and J lunch. The bread, the ingredients, and the Coca Cola cost a total of 4 dollars to feed 6 hungry teenagers. It’s so beautiful and tasty. Then because I guess we were craving something American we went and watched Die Hard 4. It was your classic action movie with the good guys winning at the end and Over the Top action sequences. It was entertaining and totally worth the 3 dollars we paid to see it. We were the only Americans in the theater and the only ones laughing we people were being injured or beat up. Everyone else was probably thinking…crazy, loud Americans. That movie was about all the Americaness I could handle for the whole trip. It was a restful day though. As I look back at our trip I can remember specific moments where I felt tired and ready to be done. And then within hours or the next morning I would feel re-energized and rested. I love how Jesus is always lifting us up and keeping us going. How great is He!

Ps. On the way back from the movie and bird pooped on my hand…I don’t know how but it did. And it’s good luck if a bird poops on you in Turkey so I was on half annoyed.

7/12/07 Thursday

I don’t really remember what happened today. I guess I took too long of a break from the blog. I’m sure I had breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also probably spoke some English and Turkish. Those are the only for sure things. See ya tomorrow! Oh yeah, we had a discussion on Holidays in a café that overlooked Akdeniz (the white sea aka the Mediterranean).

7/13/07 Friday

So today we met our Turkish friends and our Balkan friends at St. Paul’s Cultural Center and watched Spiderman. This is one of the more popular movies in Turkey. It was entertaining and afterwards we split off with separate language partners. I was paired off with one of our worker friends in Antalya and with one of our Turkish friends and we went to a café that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. It was very beautiful but even more beautiful was the story that our friend Deniz shared with us. She is a believer but was struggling with different things such as school, friends, and mostly family. She told us that there was a big hole in her life/soul and that she couldn’t be happy until it was filled. She told us that in her previous years she felt fear but with Jesus she feels peace, safety, and hope. We prayed together and it’s really encouraging to continue to see how Jesus works in everyone and gives us peace and hope when we really seek him.

7/14/07 Saturday

So today was the last day that we would be able to hang out with all of our friends at one. Today we had our Culture exchange of dance, music, and food. So I guess our team decided it would be fun to prepare for the exchange the day of. I sincerely apologize for the next few sentences in how us Americans tried to share our culture. So we did the food first and that went wonderful. We made macaroni and tacos/burritos and also had Romanian food/Turkish food. That part went well. Now comes the part where we exchanged our different culture’s dances. The Turks showed us their ceremonial bridal dance and group dancing in a circle. The Albanian and Romanian dances were very similar and had their own exotic taste of dancing. Now it was our turn. So yes…we decided the best way to share our American Dance culture would be experienced through the YMCA song and the Macarena (provided by my iPod). As ashamed as I am to admit it they loved it. We did look goofy standing up front dancing and doing the YMCA but then everyone else joined in and it was great. We danced for over an hour and had various desserts from the different countries. Romanian dessert is sooooooo good.

7/15/07 Sunday

Today we went to the international church again (which means they speak English). I think I’m more of a fan of the Turkish worship but it was good to experience both. Pastor Bultema had also asked a couple of us to read scripture at the beginning of the service that related to his message. So Erin, Lauren, Ashley, and I volunteered to read. It went well but we sat up front and so many people kept filing into the church. There were several different visiting groups from England, India, Netherlands, etc…It was truly a visual beauty to see different cultures coming together to worship God. After the service we went to the beach and played volleyball and hung out with all of our friends. We had to say goodbye to some because it would be their last day with us. And others we had to say goodbye the next day (since it was the last day of the program). But my team won 4 volleyball games in a row and despite threats from other teams we persevered. I think I’m really missing the beauty of the Turkish landscape. The sea, the cliffs, the beach, the coast, just amazing.

7/16/07 Monday

Today was the last day of our program. We went to a place called Olimpos. It was about an hours drive from Antalya and when we got there it looked like a scene taken directly out of Lord of The Rings. There was forest everywhere and ruins placed all throughout the area. The sea was connected to a fresh water river and the water was a bright light blue. Breathtaking…and when we went exploring through the forest I felt like Aragorn (he’s a Lord of the Rings character if you didn’t know). God’s creation is so amazing when you stop to look. But the day consisted of hanging out, eating really good homemade Turkish meals and saying our good byes. Our two closest friends, Atakan and Ertan, promised that we would hang out the next day. It was a sad time but also a time of rejoicing because we made really great friends and we knew that they had taken important lessons away from the experience just like we did.

7/17/07 Tuesday

Today consisted of packing, trying to find souvenirs, and just preparing for the journeys ahead after leaving Antalya. The Balkan students were leaving the same time we were (at night) so we hung out with them at the Pansiyon until we left. Atakan and Ertan also came so we could get our last second good byes in. We gave Salim an Arizona shirt and he put it on about 5 seconds later and said it was good luck to wear it! We became friends with Atakan, Ertan, and Salim and God really became a central part of those relationships. The girls (some of them…not naming names) cried when we finally had to leave but it was a great goodbye. I had been in Antalya for a month, befriended Turkish people, and got to know a couple really well. I was so excited for them, sad that we had to leave, but so excited because I knew that when we were driving away that night Jesus was staying behind.

7/18/07 – 7/23/07
***We took a night bus to Cappadocia (central Turkey where a lot of underground churches were created 2000 years ago) and the next couple days we rampaged around cappadocia and also had a great time of debriefing our trip. Spending time in prayer, worship, and just thinking about what God had done in our lives the past month. I know he did a work in me and really challenged all of us, on our specific campuses, to reach out for those needing God’s love. After cappadocia we took a night bus to Istanbul and met my sister, Chelsea Scott, and Jessica Wright (all u of a’ers) for a day. We had great travels back home and it took me about 6 days to totally get my body clock back on schedule.

Turkey has a lot of biblical history and God’s presence is still there even in the darkest of places. For those of you reading this ask us questions (the team). I know you didn’t experience what we did and sometimes it’s hard for us to really explain what happened but ask us. It was absolutely incredible. I know my life and how I live it changed over that month in Turkey. As we head back to our campuses pray that we will be able to apply what we learned in turkey to our classmates, friends, and campus in general. School starts for both UofA and ASU on the 20th of August. Building true relationships based in Jesus and letting love speak for itself. God is good and he’s up to something. We get to come along for the ride. What else could you want? Thank you all for reading this blog, praying for us, supporting us, and loving us. We couldn’t have done it without your support. Thank you all!!