The Battle of Evermore

A last look at... Adana

2008-05-30T02:00:00.005+03:00

One last shot of Adana, my home for the past two years. I love you Adana. You were very good to me. Maybe we'll meet again some day. Until then, I'll have these to remember you by.

Enjoy.

Junior at the barbershop.
Fruit and vegetable market.
The Grand Mosque
Either drunk, homeless, or both, outside the train station.
Late night prayers at my mosque.
Ali and Şahin giving lessons.
Prayer beads at the Butter Mosque.
Pulpit at the Butter Mosque.
What was once a tunnel for escaping from a church is now a washing room for entrance to a mosque.
A friend of mine outside the Butter Mosque.
Street scene on a hot Adana night.

A last look at... Antioch

2008-05-30T01:14:00.004+03:00

Here's a clutch of photos from the ancient city of Antioch. Most of them are from the museum there. Enjoy.

Peter on the door to the Orthodox Church.
The side of an ancient sarcophagus in the Antioch museum.
One of the many mosaics in the Antioch museum.
Bust of an Emperor
Neptune and his fishes.
This throne was dated pre-Christ, yet you can still just walk up and sit on it (until the guard catches you).
Family Tree?
Goofy looking bust.
More sarcophagus love.
The Fashion Saloon - For Man
Looking out over the city. I'll miss you Antioch.

A Last Look at... Mardin

2008-05-29T18:36:00.005+03:00

Here's some pictures from a quick trip I made out to eastern Turkey to the city of Mardin. Enjoy.
A young man heading off to do his mandatory military service.
Looking toward Syria.
The one operating Orthodox church in town. Supposedly it draws 300 people on a typical Sunday.
With the oddly shaped minarets and the fact that Mardin sits on a hill on the edge of a vast plain, it lends itself to these sweeping landscape shots.
My traveling companion on one of Mardin's narrow streets.
Prayer beads on the wall of the mosque that held a plaster print of Mohammed's foot.
Passing the time with tavla.
The monastery outside of town. We got there just in time to see them close.
The man who picked us up and took us to town from the monastery. He ended up sitting with us over dinner, talking about spiritual things, and then paying for our dinner. I hope God speaks to him and blesses him greatly.
Selling çiğ köfte on the street by the bus station.

A Last Look at... Tarsus

2008-05-29T18:27:00.002+03:00

Here are a handful of pictures from my last trip over to Tarsus. Enjoy.

One day I want a beard like that.
My time here in Turkey is over. I wonder what's over the next hill?
When I asked if I could take their picture, the old man (the one on the left) told me that I could, but that I couldn't use it in any advertisements.
His modeling contract must not allow for freelance work.
Goodbye Tarsus.

Going "Home"

2008-05-16T08:26:00.002+03:00

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know.
-"Home" by Michael Buble

As my time here has slowly grown shorter and shorter, I have had to deal with a lot of mixed emotions. Emotions that I did not expect to have, at least not at this time.

Pretty much everyone that I've ever met living overseas has gone through periods of really missing their home and periods of really loving their current country. I went through that cycle many times. Some days I would kill for a Dr. Pepper and some college football. Then, on other days, I go downtown and stay out late just because I want to be out with the people as much as I possibly can. This has been going on for two years and hasn't been a big surprise. It still happens. And that feeling can change from week to week, day to day, or even hour to hour. Missing home, wanting to be there, missing friends and family, these are all things that have just become part of life. You learn to deal with it.

So none of that has been a problem. But here recently, I was thrown a curve ball and caught extremely off guard. As my departure has gotten closer, I've been forced to think about what I'm going to do in the States. I need a job, place to stay, and some sort of plan for the immediate future. At times I get excited about it all and at times I am scared to death. One day I'm ready to go, one day I never want to leave.

So what has changed? Didn't I just say that missing home was a natural part of life here? Yes. But there is one big difference. There's a few questions that came up in my mind and heart that I had a hard time answering.

Where is home? And how is my family?

There's a great conversation between two characters (Andrew and Sam) in a movie I like (Garden State) that goes like this:

Andrew Largeman: You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place to put your shit, that idea of home is gone.
Sam: I still feel at home in my house.
Andrew Largeman: You'll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day. One day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. I mean it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.

I lost that feeling of home a long time ago. I didn't grow up in the same house my whole life. The last house I lived in before going to Clemson was the one I lived in the longest. But then in the spring of my freshman year, my parents moved out of that one. I rarely went "home" during college and then I moved to CO, which might as well have been Turkey. I could go back to SC anytime and have a place to stay. I still do. That's not a problem. But I didn't have a home there. But, again, I was used to that. This new problem came up when I began to realize that I might not feel at home in the United States anymore. Forget not having a house to call home, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to call one country home!

Now, I know, it's very dramatic and blow out of proportion. I know that. But consider that I've been gone for almost two years now. When I go back, I'm going to be living in a city that I have only driven through once. Everything will be new again. I know everything hasn't changed in two years, but enough has to make me feel like a stranger. Which brings up the second question.

Who is my family? Everybody that knows me knows that my family has never really been like a family at all. My parents divorced when I was little and both have gone through (at least) one more marriage apart from each other. Almost everyone in my family has been divorced and arrested. When I became a Christian, the gap between them and I became exponentially larger. I still love them and I still visit them, but I haven't been part of the family for many years now. My friends and Christian brothers and sisters have been my family over the years. I have latched on to friend's families and tried to make myself a part of them. Here is no different. Here I have the V-family that I have grafted myself into. They are gracious and loving and have accepted me in as one of the clan. But there are others as well. Special K, the Canadian, the Anti, the Botanist, Crack and Miss Kitty, Zack and Mrs. Yates, they've all become like family to me. We have shared life together. And even though I know that I'm just a small part in their lives, they have become large parts of mine.

I have lived in the apartment I'm sitting in now longer than I have lived anywhere since I left home for Clemson. I haven't had a consistent group of friends since my sophomore year at Clemson. I haven't attended the same church for this long in years. This place feels as much home to me as any place. The people I am with here are just as much my family as anyone I know. It's hard for me to think about leaving this place and these people.

I know I have wonderful friends waiting for me. I have people that are waiting to make me feel as much at home as they can. I have a wonderful girl that has waited a long time for me to get there. I have a lot to look forward to. I do and I am honestly excited about the new few weeks and months. I don't want you to misunderstand me. I am ready to leave. But at the same time, the grass doesn't seem all that much greener on the other side. It's no worse, it's just a totally different pasture.

I will always look back on these two years of my life very fondly. Where, for a brief time, I found a place that felt something like home. And I found some people that felt a lot like family.

I miss home, where ever that may be.

Sabancı Merkez Cami

2008-05-15T12:15:00.004+03:00

It's not the White Stallion that I used to have, but this baby gets me (close to) anywhere I want to go (that's on it's route).
This is actually from the Butter Mosque. It's part of an old tunnel that ran from the then Crusader church, under the river, to the other side. It served as an escape route for whoever was occupying the area at the time. Now it's where these Muslim men do their washing before prayer.
Downtown scene. I just wanted a picture of the market and got the three ladies walking in stride as a bonus.
Sabaci Merkez Cami - supposedly the largest mosque in Turkey (per Wikipedia, see picture on right hand side of page).
Inside the Sabanci Mosque, pointing the way to Mecca.
Minbar - Islamic Pulpit
The large, central dome on mosques was started by the Ottomans. The idea was taken from Byzantine churches, most notably the Hagia Sophia.
Men chatting before prayers. Most the mosques here are much cooler during the day because of how they're built, thus providing a great place for men to relax and fellowship together, though you rarely see them crowded.
Same guys, one of which has started his prayers.
The women's section. Almost all mosques have men and women separated for prayers. The reasoning is so that they don't distract each other from their prayers. Mohammed supposedly said, "The best mosque for a woman is the inner parts of her house."

A few more from Cappadocia

2008-05-15T11:20:00.005+03:00

These were all taken during the trip up to Cappadocia. The scenery is absolutely amazing, but I haven't figured out how to capture that on film quite yet. I hope you enjoy.

This is simit, a wonderful snack that is somewhere between a pretzel and a bagel with sesame seeds. I bought one for a homeless guy the morning we left for Cappadocia, but he wouldn't take it.
I liked the look of the sheen on the water. When I tried to get the picture, someone inside the station turned on the fountain to ruin it for me. Once the water calmed down, I went back, and the same thing happened. I gave them the evil eye and the third time I approached, I got the shot, with the dead bug as a reward for my persistence.
Yes, I've become that creepy dude who carries his camera to the bathroom with him.
One day the Anti, the Botanist, the elder V-Boy, and I rented four-wheelers for a couple hours. We had a blast and no one got hurt. Though, as you can see here, there were a couple close calls.
Once we got back on the trail though, we were able to enjoy the ancient cliff dwellings that surround the modern villages of Cappadocia.
And explore the many valleys that house thousand year old churches and rock formations that are like nothing I've ever seen.
Then we took turns getting air-born on our four wheelers.
Artifacts from the not so ancient history.
Then a bunch of us guys rented mopeds the next day. We took them into places that mopeds are not supposed to go into. There were a few spills. This is the result of fall #1 (notice the mud flap on the moped to the left is missing).
More of the landscape that makes Cappadocia so unique and intriguing.
The weather was awesome all week and I enjoyed every second of the get-a-way. I really love the people I get to work with and to spend a week in such a beautiful place with them all was a huge blessing. With my end approaching, I made sure to enjoy and treasure every moment of it. And, thanks to the Canadian, I'll have all these pictures to remember it by.

Blog Overload

2008-05-13T23:56:00.001+03:00

We're approaching critical mass here on the blog. I have at least three good blogs just waiting to be typed out. However, I don't have the time to do it. I don't have the time and won't have the time until at least Friday. If it doesn't get updated before then, it may not get updated again before I leave (which happens on May 31st).

But trust me, when I do take the time to update, it will be worth the wait.

I hope.

Milk, it does a body good?

2008-05-08T23:32:00.003+03:00

Maybe and maybe not. It really depends on who you ask. Here are two good stories from my last week that revolve around milk.

The first was actually more of a metaphor from an old man at my youngest Turkish friend's birthday party last weekend. It came up that I was still single but had a girlfriend waiting for me in America. The old man and some of the other guys were discussing the pros and cons of marriage and whether I should be going in that direction or enjoying my singleness. The definitive word came from the old man.

He asked me if I liked milk. I said that yeah, it's okay. He asked if all milk tasted the same. Of course it doesn't! The box milk here is awful compared to that clean, cool taste of some thick whole milk from the States. "Exactly," he said. "You can go from cow to cow and get all kinds of different milk. Some of it is a different color, some of it different texture, some of it sweet, some bitter, some thick, some thin, etc etc. You can get milk from a different cow everyday if you want," he explained. "Why then would you want to just drink one type of milk and limit yourself to just one cow?"

The other men were in full agreement.

The second is a warning to all of you out there living the American dream where you get up and have a nice breakfast with a glass of milk and orange juice in the morning.

Some American friends and I played basketball with a Turkish man Monday night. He is an educated man and successful in his business. We had a great time and worked up quite a sweat. So afterwards, we headed to a local cafe for some drinks. The Turk ordered us all a round of orange juice. It really hit the spot, cool and sweet. But then, one of the Americans asked if we were going to get a muzlu sut (banana milkshake) to go along with it. The muzlu sut is thick, but cool and refreshing. However, according to the Turkish guy, when it's mixed with orange juice, it's toxic! Yes, in fact, it's bigger than that. When asked if he was sure that orange juice and milk mixed was in fact toxic, he replied, "Yes, orange juice, pineapple, lemon, any citrus fruit. In fact, anything with milk is toxic."

Consider yourself warned.

A Little Taste

2008-05-05T15:08:00.005+03:00

Here is a handful of pictures from a roll I took over the past week. I took them without the aid of a light meter, so some of them did not come out as well as I'd hoped. Hopefully I'll have a few more to post on Wednesday.

Fairy Chimneys - One of the reasons Cappadocia is like no other place on Earth.
A view from the road of some cave dwellings.
She's like a sister to me.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Ps. 19:1
Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. John 4:35
I guess the workers didn't read the "No Parking" sign. Get to work!
I just thought this would be a cool picture.
Cute little Baby Brownie
Worship at the church picnic Sunday.
One mean game of dodgeball.

Back in Town

2008-05-03T13:53:00.002+03:00

I got back in last night from a wonderful week in Cappadocia. We got the whole gang together and headed up there for a few days of rest, relaxation, and spiritual rejuvenation. I think we accomplished two of the three (I'm worn out today).

We spent a lot of time in meetings. I know, it sounds boring. But, it was interested stuff and should prove to be useful. We started everyday with some worship, prayer, and teaching from 1 Peter. 1 Peter has always been a book that has really spoken a lot to me and this past week was no different.

The first day we were there, we had a presentation about the status of the Turkish church. It was humbling, but at the same time, for me at least, very motivating. The group that compiles the numbers say that there are just over 3,000 believers in Turkey and they are organized into about 97 churches. Honestly, I was surprised that it was that many. After being here for a year and a half, it becomes obvious that they are few and far between. It is very sobering to think that there are only 3,000 believing Turks among 70.5 million people living here. Also, the numbers on foreign longevity were sobering. Most workers that come here to stay "long term" leave before their 7th year. There is a small number of people that have really been here "long term." Again, it's very sobering to think of the amount of work that is left to be done here. At the same time, it's incredible to think that just ten or twelve years ago, we were counting Turkish believers in the hundreds, not thousands. God is working here. It may be small and slow right now, but the Spirit is moving.

We also had presentations on team roles (a kind of personality test) and on how to be a good listener. Both presentations were insightful and helpful for us all. With the enormous task ahead of us of reaching the Turkish people and planting churches here among them, being able to work together on teams is a must. Figuring out ways to do that in a more Christ-like manner will only make our lives easier and our work more Christ centered.

But, for me, the best times we had were just sitting around and enjoying the fellowship of the wonderful people I get to work with. The first night there, the Anti, the Botanist, all the V-boys, and myself got together for a rather slow, but fun game of Rummy. Lots of laughs and me winning adds up to a great night any time. When I can have lots of laughs (and win) with the people that have become my family over the last year and a half, then it's really a special night. The second night was Phase 10 with Papa V, the Mexican, a few V boys, my Favorite Co-Op-er, and myself. There were plenty of corn nuts to go around and as the night wore on the laughter turned into the smooth sounds of some classic country. The only thing better than a fun card game with corn nuts and good friends would be a fun card game with corn nuts and good friends that I didn't finish last in. Which brings us to the last night, when we again played Phase 10, with pretty much the same crowd, and with me finishing last again. Poop. At least I still had fun. Also, we got out and enjoyed the adventures that Cappadocia offers. One day, the Anti, the Botanist, the elder V-boy, and myself rented 4-wheelers for a couple hours. We cruised through the valleys that make Cappadocia so special. We found a nice spot to get a little air and took turns jumping our ATVs. The one near death experience only added to the fun. The next day all of us guys rented mopeds to cruise around on. We took these mopeds places that the ATVs didn't even dare to go. There was some jumping of the mopeds and some wrecking of the mopeds involved. I admit that I laid mine down once in some thick sand. But when you consider all the places (mud, sand, steep hills, off any sort of trail) that we took the things, it's a small miracle that no one was hurt (seriously) or no moped was broken (too bad). The Anti and I took some time on the last day to do a little souvenir shopping before hitting the bus home. It was a good, low key way to end a really great week.

I took a good number of pictures with the Canadians OM-3 this past week. However, I didn't have the handy dandy light meter with me, so there are no guarantees on whether or not they are going to turn out alright. Also, I won't be able to get them developed until Wednesday, since the one place in town that develops black and white film only does it once a week (on Wednesday morning). But once I get them, and sort through the crappy ones to find a good one or two, I'll post them up.

Until then, I need to get back to life here. I have a birthday party for my youngest Turkish friend tonight (he turns one). Pray for his father, the Big O. He's been a friend of mine and of some other friends for a long time now. Spiritual things seems to come up anytime I am around him. With my time coming to a close here, I hope to speak as much truth into his life as possible. Pray that God is softening his heart, taking out the heart of stone and putting in a heart of flesh, to make him receptive to this truth. I love this guy and want nothing more than to see him find the love and forgiveness that has been offered him by our God and King.

The Ultimate Weekend

2008-04-22T10:29:00.009+03:00

I had a dream come true this past weekend. There were little, round pieces of plastic flying through the air above the local university for two solid days. No, we weren't invaded by UFOs (still waiting for that dream to come true), we had an ultimate frisbee clinic here in town.

It all started way back last August when I met a couple of people from Istanbul that played ultimate up there. They had been playing pick up games with some other foreigners and some Turks and had organized themselves into a team. They had already made one trip to Europe for a small 5 on 5 beach ultimate tournament and were hoping to go to a larger, full 7 on 7 tournament that fall. I kept in touch and sure enough, I made the trip with them to Germany where we placed 4th (out of 8 teams) and had a blast doing it. It was then that I learned that they actually had enough interest to have a small, 4 team league in Istanbul last fall. It was also about that time when the idea of them coming down here to play got tossed around.

After meeting with these people last August, I figured, "If they can get ultimate going in Istanbul, why can't I get it going here?" Through the fall, I learned why. First of all, I don't speak the language well enough. The leader of the group in Istanbul is an American, but he was born and raised in Istanbul, so he speaks Turkish as well as a native. Secondly, I didn't have a lot of connections at the university. I hadn't spent much time out there and my job had put me in contact with mostly working professionals, not students. But I tried anyways.

It was up and down through the fall and winter. One week we had 17 people show up. The very next week we had 6. That's the way it went all winter and into this spring. And just when I was about to lose hope and give up, I get a call from our frisbee friends in Istanbul.

They had applied for and won an "Innovators Grant" from the Ultimate Players Association in America. They received a small amount of money to develop ultimate within Turkey. Since I was here and had exposed a few people to the sport already, they chose Adana as one of their sites. You can get an idea of how that went by looking back at this post and at this one. It was frustrating, but eventually we found a professor that was excited about the idea and willing to put things together for us. He really came through.

The guys from Istanbul had so much fun doing one of these clinics in another city two weekends ago that they had a lot of people volunteer to come down here. It was a good thing they did. Even though there were 12 Turk Kasi players and myself at the fields, it was hard to deal with the 40-50 people we had show up on Saturday. It was even harder when we had close to 70 show up on Sunday. To say it was a success is an understatement. It was a small miracle.

Saturday we started with some breakfast at a cafe on campus. We discussed what we'd do for the day, some translation issues, and fate, among other things. We made the long walk across campus and got ourselves stretched out, warmed up, and organized. To start the day, we taught the simple backhand and forehand throws. After a little practice with that, we tried the basic offensive and defensive strategies, the stack and force. We let them play a good bit and everyone had a blast. The day ended with a couple talks about the history of ultimate, the spirit of the game, and the role of women in the sport. Everyone went home and we felt great about the day. Turk Kasi played an intrasquad match before heading to the house for showers and a kebap. After throwing down some great Adana cooking, it was off to a cafe for cay, nargile, and lots of laughs. You couldn't have asked for a better day.

Sunday started pretty much the same way. Everyone was pretty beat from the day before, so we slept in and had breakfast at my place. After some long and draining conversations about the place of women in society, the interaction between Islam and culture, the differences in Islam and Christianity, and, finally, politics, we got ready for round 2 at the university. We decided to start the day with some talks on fouls and spirit of the game to stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day. We were amazed to find that not only had almost everyone come back from the day before, but there were at least a dozen new people there. We divided into four teams and had a quick two game tournament. I have to brag a little and say that my team won both our games, 7-1 and 7-2, to take home the championship. We also had the best team name and celebration. We were the Pink Panthers (due to the pink jerseys we had to wear) and would sing the Pink Panther theme song after a point.

Again, it was a blast, a small miracle, and for me, a dream come true. The professor that sponsored us is the perfect kind of guy (sporty and hippie) to keep ultimate going here. I hate that I am leaving so soon because I would love to be a part of this budding ultimate community. But at least I got to see it's beginnings. Maybe one day in the future I'll be able to see where it goes.

And since some blog buddies of mine have been doing "picture blogs" recently, and I love to one up anyone whenever I can, this is going to be a VIDEO blog. Here are a handful of short clips from the weekend. Enjoy.

My roommates and I trying to figure out how to translate some ultimate language into Turkish.
Breakfast Saturday - Getting our plan for the day together.
It wasn't all serious.
Making our way across campus.
Teaching the stack and force.
Handing out certificates.
And that's a wrap guys.

Night and Day

2008-04-16T22:22:00.004+03:00

It's amazing how much of a roller coaster my life has been in this country. I complain about how dramatic the Turkish people are, and yet, at the same time, I understand how they feel. It seems that every other week I'm ready to get on that big plane home. And every other week I'm ready to trade my passport in for a Turkish ID card.

Two weeks ago was one of those that makes me wonder what the heck I'm doing here. I had just said goodbye to all my marathon running friends. It's always a bit depressing to see a bunch of friends leave town. It's even harder when the next afternoon you come home to a note on the door asking you to clean up the living room. They had just left at 10 the night before and I had been busy that day. Give a guy a chance. Then, the next day was an impromptu theological round table discussion. Due to my busy weekend and the need to clean the house Monday, I did not come fully prepared. Not only that, but the topic is one that I have not studied much to begin with. So it wasn't surprising that I didn't have much to add to the conversation. It was a bit surprising that the tone of the meeting wasn't what I had hoped for and it added to my already melancholy mood. Then I showed up to play some ultimate on Wednesday afternoon only to find a big DO NOT ENTER sign on our field. Pooper. Then, on Thursday afternoon, after not talking for a week or so, I had a difficult conversation with Lane. It was a terrible way to cap a pretty crappy week.

Does it have to fit the story to be included? I didn't have any pictures of a crappy week. I hope the arch picture will suffice.
But the last week was the total opposite. I had a great time seeing an old friend on Wednesday. We sat around and chatted for hours about life here and I came away very encouraged. Then on Friday, we had a great Bible study followed by some good fellowship and a delicious kebap with friends. It doesn't get much better than that, but it did. Friday night at my barber shop I got to speak truth into the life of a good friend here. He's newly married and is dealing with all kinds of junk that I can't even imagine. But he got to hear the message again, in it's entirety, in English, and for that I am very grateful. As soon as he left, I got to share the full Gospel with another man. This time, it was entirely in Turkish. It's the first time I can remember sharing with someone and answering their questions without there being some major language barrier in the conversation. I felt like I explained everything just how I wanted and was able to answer his questions without much problem at all. Then my roommate came down to sit with us. He was on a special TV series this past week entitled "Being a Missionary in Anatolia." I watched the episode he was interviewed on with my barber, so I knew they had seen it. Just as I had hoped, they were full of questions for my roommate when he came down. He got to share his testimony, story of his beating, and answer a ton of questions about being a Christian and church life. It was absolutely wonderful. The conversation was full of laughter and deep spiritual truths. It doesn't get much better than that.

Random picture of our church. I know you like pictures.
I have ticket to go home now. I fly out early on May 31st and will be in the States that same day. It's done. There's no going back now. And some days that's exactly what I want. Other times, I still don't like to think about leaving this place and these people.

Right now I feel like I could stay forever. Then again, who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Running Where Paul Walked

2008-04-08T11:10:00.011+03:00

A week ago a bunch of us headed to Tarsus to participate in the 5th Annual Tarsus Half Marathon.

Well, that was my original intent at least.

Not long after I started training for the half marathon, my frisbee friends in Istanbul told me that they had obtained some grant money from the Ultimate Players Association in the US for the purpose of putting on instructive clinics in Turkey. I was super excited. Then I found out that they wanted to do one in Adana the same weekend as the half marathon. It meant that I had to choose one or the other and when faced with the choice of putting myself through the agony of three months worth of training and then running 21.1 kilometers for no apparent reason or doing nothing for three months and showing up to play ultimate for two days with good friends, I chose what was behind door number 2.

So I quit training. But then as the weeks went on, it became obvious that we were not going to be playing ultimate that weekend. This is Turkey and things just don't happen as fast as you'd like sometime. So it freed me up to run in the race. But by that time, it was too late. There was no way I was going to be ready for a full half marathon. So I decided that I would rather run a good 5k than a horrible and painful half marathon. And that's what I did.

The race itself was short (5k really isn't that far and there's no guarantee that it was actually 5k anyways) and it passed quickly (I asked a guy I was running with for the time just before the finish and he said 18 minutes. When I crossed the finish line, my clock said 20 minutes. I finished somewhere in between.). So I took up position, with all the women who did the 5k, near the finish line to watch the men, and some women, finish their half marathon.

It was a ton of fun and I have to say that I am still interested in running a half marathon some day, just not today. Enjoy some pictures from the weekend.

The Start/Finish Line - I'm not sure who designates what year it is.
I could've sworn this was the "Year of Chris."
Everyone came out to cheer on the runners, even the old ladies.
This dude did the 5k on crutches. His arms were as big as my waist.
And this dude did the whole half marathon.

Easter Fun

2008-04-07T10:34:00.005+03:00

I'd like to start by saying that I had a BLAST on Easter Sunday. It was a long, full day that literally lasted from sunrise to sunset (and after). It was jammed pack with worship, prayer, and lots of laughs. We started with a city-wide sunrise service out by the lake. It was very peaceful and quiet at that time of morning and the sun rising over the lake cast the perfect glow on the scene. There are very few things that I will wake up that early for, and this was certainly worth the effort. From there we headed to the international church for a little breakfast and fellowship time. I don't get over to the international church much and have to say that I really enjoyed the chance to spend time with the people who are there. Of course, that could just be the breakfast talking.

But don't think I'm thinking of switching churches. I love the 2 PM start time too much! I got to go home after breakfast and sleep for another hour or two before getting up and getting dressed for our service. We had a full program for our Easter guests and a full sanctuary for our Easter program. There were so many people that about 10 of us had to stand in the back. They all seemed to enjoy the worship to start things. Cobbler John gave us a good explanation of how the death and resurrection of Jesus was foretold in the Old Testament. We had a dramatic poem reading, an interactive reading from the New Testament, a choir that couldn't quite get on the same note, a theatre production that had everyone laughing (though it wasn't meant to be funny), and a great message delivered by our faithful leader. We enjoyed lots of cake and conversation afterwards before the party moved elsewhere.

After church it was back to the international church for a "youth group" party. It's really funny to me that "youth" is the word they use for practically anyone in the church that is still single, with no regard for age. There was a lot of food, good conversation, and a small worship service. One of the Turkish believers gave his testimony and explained why Easter was important to us. Later one of the guys who came pulled this believer off to the side and supposedly gave his life to Christ. I'm skeptical by nature and being here has only made it worse, but it was still an exciting time and I think we should all pray that this was a genuine decision made with the head and heart. We all had a blast as well, sharing a special day with all our special friends.

So, that's the serious side of Easter in Turkey. Here are some light hearted happenings from the day...

At the sunrise service I was talking with a young Turkish believer from the international church. We had met a few times before and we were just catching up on what's been going on in life. In a lull in the conversation he shows me his pants. They have a big brown mark that surrounds a hole in the leg. He says that he was ironing them, but the iron wasn't hot enough. So he left it on the board and went to look up something on the internet while it heated up. He must've waited a little too long because he smelled something burning. He ran back in to see the iron laying down and burning through his pants. Funny enough in it's own right. It was even funnier that night at the "youth group" party when he had changed into some "nicer" pants. The "nice" ones he put on had intentionally had holes cut in them to look "fashionable." You can't make this stuff up.

I humbly admit that the best parts of our Easter program did not involve me. But as you can see here, some of the funnier parts did.

You should've heard us when we first started practicing.

Yes, I said the right words. Apparently, though, I didn't say them the right way.

And lastly, at the international church that night, I was a minor celebrity. I had worn my suit to church because we always try to look nice on the major holidays. When I showed up at the international youth group party, however, I was way over dressed. But it was a big hit with the ladies. I kid you not, I probably had close to 10 or 12 requests for a photo that night. I was slightly embarrassed by the attention. It's a good thing I'm so humble about my stunning good looks.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter as well and yes, I know, I'm about two weeks late, but I promise I'll catch up in the next few days. Hopefully I'll have some pictures from the Tarsus Half Marathon to post tomorrow and some stories from a crappy week.

My Portfolio Debut

2008-04-01T20:45:00.006+03:00

I have given a few private viewings over the last week or so, but this is the official debut of my long awaited (and once unsuccessful) photographic debut. After coming up blank on my last attempt, I spent a couple weeks learning how to read a light meter, adjust aperture and shutter speed, fine tuning the focus, and seeing if I had an eye for what makes a decent photograph. The first few things I could learn, but the last one is something you either have or you don't. I present my first 36 shots and I will let you be the judge. Here is a sampling, and to see the rest, go to my Flickr page.

Enjoy.

Two things I'll miss when I leave here, şalgam and kebap.
I love the old man in the back row there. Classic.
Maybe a little gross, but it has that National Geographic feel to it.
The Barber says, "You should go see the rest on Chris' Flickr page!"

Quick Update

2008-03-21T20:00:00.002+02:00

First of all, one of the guys from the Istanbul team came down this week to help with the frisbee weekend preparations. He was born and raised in Istanbul, so he is practically Turkish (though he still claims to be American). I was amazed at how someone with the language could do more in one day than I did in two weeks. We have some solid leads now and I hope to be telling you all about this frisbee weekend really soon.

Secondly, I just got back from an awesome trip to the mountains with the roomies. It was raining most the day, but we found shelter in an old watchtower. I have no idea when this thing was built, but when we asked a local villager he replied, "I'm 55 years old and it has been here my whole life. My father is 80 and it was here as far back as he remembers." So we know for a fact that it's at least 80 years old. Past that, it's anyone's guess. Hopefully I will have pictures soon (assuming the film was loaded correctly).

Third, Uncle Ted and his wife had their fourth son this week. Congrats to them and welcome to Earth, Brownie #4.

And lastly, Clemson didn't quite pull it out for the ACC title, but we still landed a solid 5 seed in the tourney. While I know the history of 5 seeds being upset, I'm hoping that Drake will get beat (they're down as I write this) and take the pressure off of us. I'll go ahead and mention here that I didn't take enough time to really look at my bracket. The tourney kind of snuck up on me this year. My bracket looks terrible already, though my Sweet 16 is still intact so far.

I hope everyone enjoys their Easter. We had a wonderful prayer time at church last night where we had a nice dinner, shared our thoughts on the upcoming "resurrection holiday," and then celebrated the Lord's Supper. It was really great and a wonderful way to really prepare myself and the church for the upcoming holiday. Easter is what our whole faith revolves around. I know that it was on the cross that our sins were paid for. But think about it. Everybody dies. If Jesus had just died, he would have just been another man. It was his resurrection that showed his power over death. And like Paul says, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." (1 Cor. 15:14)

Praise God that he has risen!

Blog FIRST!

2008-03-16T10:52:00.003+02:00

For the first time in the history of my blog (and probably in the history of blogs in general), you are going to get an entire post dedicated to... wait for it...

Clemson BASKETBALL!?!?!

That's right, all you diaper dandies out there. March Madness is upon us. Today is Selection Sunday, when the NCAA debuts it's field of 65 teams that will compete in the greatest championship tournament in the world, the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament (otherwise known as the Big Dance).

Most years in March Clemson is hyped up on baseball. With the 9th winningest program in the nation, Clemson baseball is perennially in the top 10 and eyeing a chance to go to Omaha for the second best championship tournament in the world, the College World Series. However, this year is quite different. Baseball is in a rebuilding year and looking rough. Basketball is what the orange faithful are watching these days (and only the orange faithful will realize how dramatically unbelievable that statement is).

The experts say we had a bid to the Big Dance locked up a few weeks back. We played a great nonconference schedule that only included two losses (one to a good Ole Miss team). Then, we finished all alone at third in the ACC (one of the top basketball conferences year in and year out). Along the way we took UNC, the #1 team in the country, into overtime twice before finally falling. Both games we had and let slip away. But we beat the people we were supposed to beat and only had a couple goof ups along the way. Just getting that at large bid is enough reason to have any Tiger excited, but that's just the beginning.

Being third in the ACC gave us a first round bye in the ACC tournament. Friday night we kicked off our ACC tourney run with a blasting of BC. The final score ended up being 82-48. Yes, you read that right, 82-48. The press defense forced 22 turnovers and kept the fighting Jesuits from getting any rhythm on offense. Again, this is enough to be considered a monumental year in Clemson basketball. But the ride continues.

Yesterday we played Duke in the semifinals for the right to play UNC in the finals. I got home from a fabulous dinner just in time to tune in (via the internet) to the last 5 minutes of the game. When I turned it on, we were up 7 and Duke looked beat. But Duke is never really beat. They stormed back to within two before I knew what was happening. All the memories of close calls and major collapses came rushing back to me, and trust me, there are a lot of them. But these Tigers proved that this year is something special. They hit shots when they needed to and, against all statistical odds, hit 7 of their last 8 free throws to hang on to the win. The defense held Duke, the best 3 pt. shooting team in the league, to just 6 of 26 behind the arc. And, again, after hitting only 62% of our free throws in the regular season, we hit 7 of our last 8 to ice it. Absolutely amazing.

Now we get our third chance at UNC. The first two times we had them all but beat before they stormed back on us. Let's finish the job this time and bring home that ACC Championship!

GO TIGERS!!!

Frustrations

2008-03-15T15:01:00.002+02:00

The reason I have been silent the last few weeks is two fold. 1. I've been very busy. 2. I've been very frustrated.

So what have I been busy with? And why has it been so frustrating?

Well, for starters, I'm unemployed. It happened suddenly and required me to make a few trips downtown to pay some fines. Apparently my internship wasn't quite as legit as the company and I thought. A week or so of uncertain anxiety and a few hundred dollars later I cleared my name in the government's eyes and cleared my schedule of anything work related.

Next has been an exciting opportunity to bring ultimate frisbee to this city. We've been trying to get a game going on Wednesday afternoons for months to varying degrees of success. Our frisbee friends in Istanbul landing an Innovator's Grant from the Ultimate Player's Association and want to use part of the funds to develop ultimate here. That means someone here (me) has to help set up all the logistics. We'll look past the fact that I'm the only foreigner really devoted to trying to build this and past the fact that I'm totally unorganized and not gifted in any administrative area. The fact is, it took me two weeks of almost daily trips to the university campus to find out who I'm supposed to talk to in order to reserve a field to use, figure out what kind of documents we need to request permission, request permission, and then get denied permission. As one very honest Turk told me yesterday, "No one likes to make decisions because no one likes to be the one responsible for anything. If you don't know someone, you can't get anything done." Don't I know it.

Third on the list has been Easter program prep at church. I volunteered to sing in the choir again (since I knew there'd only be five or six of us) and was volunteered to be in the theatre part of the production, though my last venture onto stage didn't work out so well. There's something about foreign vowel sounds, awkward homemade sandals, and suit pants that just don't go together. It really is a joy to be a member of this fellowship and to be able to serve, but that doesn't mean that it's not time consuming and frustrating at times.

Also, not something that I have to do, but something that I'd like to do, is learning photography. The Canadian is a pretty good photographer and has a classic 1983 Olympus camera that he has allowed me to learn with. It's manual everything and a lot of fun. I put friends and strangers alike in awkward situations as I snapped away for about two weeks, using up my first ever all-manual roll of film. Then, when I got it developed, I learned that the film hadn't been loaded properly (by the guy at the film store) and that I had not, in actuality, taken a single photo.

Funny, yet frustrating, story from today... After our regular Sat. morning basketball game (which I played very poorly in), we went to our regular cafe for our regular drinks and regular conversation. We were carrying on about the morning's game, the upcoming NCAA tourney, life and love and happiness and then the Holy Ghost. When, from the corner of my eye, I notice a lady from the other table very openly staring me down. She's an older lady with at least 6 gold teeth (that's all I could count). I make eye contact, give her a head nod, and a polite, Turkish, "Hello." This is how it goes from there.

GoldTooth: Hello.
(pause)
GoldTooth: English?!?
Me: No, we're American.
GoldTooth: This is Turkey.
Me: Excuse me?
GoldTooth: Turkish. Turkish. This is Turkey.
Me: Yes, I know. We know Turkish, but English is easier for us.
GoldTooth: Ah, you know Turkish. (Turns to husband) They know Turkish.
Husband: They know Turkish?
GoldTooth: They are speaking English, but they know Turkish.

It's sad that no matter how long I am here, how many people I know, how much of the language I can speak, what kind of service I am giving to the community, that some people will still not want me here based solely on the fact that I'm a foreigner.

Pile all of that on top of the usual stress and frustration from living in a strange place, with strange people, who speak a strange language, living with two roommates who are very different from myself, trying to carry on a relationship with a girl half way across the world (who's got a world of worries of her own at the moment), and sprinkle in a little Turkish pollen to get my nose running and you have the perfect recipe for a frustrating couple weeks.

Lane gave me a pep talk last night, reminding me to look at the positives in my life instead of the negatives. It's true, you can never overstate the power of positive thinking. The positives in my life far, far outweigh the negatives. Thanking God for what he's given us and for his faithfulness to us changes the outlook of any day. I need to do that more often. Maybe then I can understand that these things are nothing more than slight, momentary afflictions. And easy ones at that.

Separated at Birth? - First Pitch - Last Shot - Sing-a-long - Staying Home

2008-02-23T22:15:00.004+02:00

Tell me these two cats don't look like long lost twins...

That's Fidel on top and Willie Nelson on the bottom. Or was it the other way around?
They come from totally different places and have done totally different things with their lives, BUT... they sure do look alike.

Play Ball!
Today is the opening day of the college baseball season in Clemson. The Tigers are not as highly ranked as usual this year. We lost a lot of talent to the majors and graduation. But I think this is better for us. The past few years we've come in as preseason favorites (#1 or close to it in most polls) and haven't lived up to our expectations. Maybe this year we won't be puffed up with the high preseason rankings and instead we'll play with a chip on our shoulder, trying to prove ourselves. As I type this, Clemson has already secured our first win of the season 12-5 over Mercer and are getting ready for the second half of a double header. Though I have to admit that college basketball has my attention at the moment (it's been years since Clemson has been in NCAA talks this late in the year), it's great to hear the ping of those aluminum bats.

BEAUTIFUL Tiger Field- On a sunny spring afternoon, there is no better place in the world.
I got two points.
We played our usual Saturday morning basketball today. I have been a little off as of late. It's hard to live up to the name "Sweet Jesus." Today, with my old friend the Commie back (the one who gave me the nickname to begin with), I found my stroke again. The Commie himself nailed 6 straight 3s at one point, with each one a step further away than the one previous. Then I got in on the action nailing my first 3 attempts from long range. Even the old guy they call Father hit his first 2. It felt great to be hot again. Then, at the end, after a lot of people had left, we ended up with a game of 2 on 3. I was the third guy that got left open at the top of the key. I made 8 straight shots from about the free throw line to put us within two points of the game. I wanted to be the hero and end the game on a three, but I missed my long bomb. So our Turkish friend, who may not have hit a jump shot all day, called for the ball. He said he had two points. When I saw him spotting up from about 4 feet outside the three point line, I was a little skeptical. I tried to get in good rebounding position as he sent it up. It didn't have much arch, it looked ugly from start to finish, but he drained it and we walked away with the win. If you're going to call for it, you've got to make good on it. He did just that.

And Together We Sing
I have been leading worship two or three Sundays a month at church for the last few months. It's been a lot of fun, very rewarding, and a blessing to the church and to myself. It is nice to be able to serve at the church and the church seems to be enjoying my playing. Tonight though, I took another step in my musical career. I helped lead worship at one of our team meetings. The Anti and I prepared a few hymns, a few praise songs, and a few Turkish worship songs to share with the group. It was one of the best worship times we have had as a team, in my opinion. Despite my many differences with the Anti (hence the nickname), I have to say that she has one heck of a voice. It was a great time and hopefully I'll have some pictures to post for you soon.

Bearing Bad News
Lately I've been talking about the difficulties in keeping my mind on things here when going home is slowly but surely creeping up on me. This past week some of us received some unsettling news that could potential affect our ability to stay here physically. I can't divulge the details, but suffice it to say that we are worried about the ability to stay in this city long term. Obviously, for me, it's not that big of a deal at the moment. But others may be effected more by this, and I don't know what the ramifications will be long term. If y'all could be praying for that, I'd appreciate it.

This Week in Space

2008-02-20T00:48:00.002+02:00

I came across this tonight as I was doing some pre-bedtime reading. I had read a short article about the US wanting to shoot down this thing last week. This is what we've come up with.

Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference last week that the military is fairly confident that the Navy's SM-3 missile, fired from aboard a cruiser in the Pacific, will hit the satellite.

"I think Secretary Gates shares that confidence," Morrell said. (from Yahoo News article)

The military is "fairly confident" that this thing is going to work. Secretary Gates shares that "confidence"?

Look, I know the thing is way up in space and all. But if we're going to start firing off rockets that cost God-only-knows-how-much towards satellites that cost God-only-knows-how-much, I'd like to think we could do better than "fairly confident." Heck, I'm "fairly confident" that I could shoot the thing down with my old iron sights 30/30. I'd hope that with our military's advanced technology we could at least be "pretty sure" about this.

One Last Look - For Fortune

2008-02-17T19:36:00.011+02:00

It's been a long time coming, but I wanted to finish up showing off my pictures from Rome.

The last day there, Lane and I went back around to some sites that we had seen, but hadn't spent a lot of time enjoying. First on the list was the Spanish Steps. If you'll remember, the last time we were there, it was pouring. The second time around, it was much nicer.

Beautiful overlook of the city.
There is a nice park at the top of the Steps where Lane and I relaxed for a bit. We sat on a bench in a nice wooded area to just talk and relax.

The scene of the Double Pat.
A man came up to us selling little bracelet things. He put one on Lane's arm and then tied one on me. We kept telling him that we were not going to give him any money. He continued to reassure us that we didn't have to. He explained that the color he had given Lane stood for fortune. But then, I think he realized that he had no fortune on that day. I am cheaper and more stubborn than your average tourist. So he took the bracelet back from Lane. As he went to pick up his stuff, Lane looked over at me and said, "He just patted me on the butt." But she was kind of giggling, so I assume she meant he just bumped her when he was picking up his stuff. Apparently he had given her a little double tap on his way out. For fortune.

And we were able to laugh about it afterwards.
From there, we walked back down the Steps and on to the Pantheon. I was glad to go back by the place, since I had forgotten to take a picture of it's outside the time before. Lane was glad to go by it because she needed to go to the bathroom again.

Looking back up at the Spanish Steps.
The Pantheon from the outside, as I waited for Lane.
Even the McDonald's in Rome are swanky. This was stop #42 on Lane's "Public Bathroom Tour of Rome."
From there we went back to Trevi Fountain. I took the opportunity to eat one last piece of pork before coming back to my pork-free city. Then Lane and I spent a long time trying to guess where people were from. At a place like Trevi Fountain, there are people from every continent passing through. We talked about how great of a week it had been and what was to come when we returned to our respective places. All in all, it was probably my favorite part of the whole week. I know it doesn't sound too exciting, but it was just a very special time to just sit and be with each other.

Enjoying the pork immensely.
It was daylight when we got there.
After our sit by the fountain, we tried to find a nice place to eat. Even though Jess gave us wonderful directions, there is just no way to find your way around the back streets of Rome alone. So, we ended up at this little restaurant just up the road from her apartment. What a find! I wish we had gone there earlier in the week. It was one of the best meals I had in the country and Jess said that we didn't even get the best of it. She said they had the best pizza in town and Lane and I both got pasta.

Warm lighting, cool wine, the smell of pasta, and the sound of loud Italians made for the perfect atmosphere.
The food was dang good too.
But after that, the hard part came. First, we had to say goodbye to our friends and hosts. They were incredibly welcoming, helpful, and fun. I love Jess and her roommate was just as cool. Alex and everyone else who made the trip a big success will always have a special place in my heart. It was a great week and wouldn't have been so without the good advice, good pasta, and good laughs that you guys blessed us with. Thanks.

Since Lane had a super early flight, we had to take the last train out to the airport and spend the night there. Lane and I found a wide window sill to set up camp in. She got a few hours of sleep. I got a few espressos.

I don't think I could've slept anyways, but an espresso per hour will keep you wide awake.
Everybody did good until they started boarding Lane's flight. It was hard to see one of the best weeks of my life come to a close. But I know that it was just a taste of what's to come. In just a few short months, we'll pick it back up in Mississippi. Until then, I'm going to make the most of my time here, she's making the most of her time there, and we are making the most of this long distance relationship until we can be together again.

Last picture from one of the best weeks I can remember.

New Approach to Running

2008-02-12T13:53:00.000+02:00

I've changed gears in my running to help me make it through the Kashmir Syndrome. I've been listening to Piper sermons while I run. I've got a CD of biographical sermons he has done that is really inspiring and challenging. Last week I used his sermon on the life of John Calvin to get me through a cold and windy 30 minute run. This week, I've started one on Jonathan Edwards. It got me through a solid run today and inspired and encouraged me today.

I had a nice conversation with the Canadian last night about our church, it's direction, and my personal direction in life. He was unaware that I had been to college. He thought I was the ultimate lay person. In a way, it was very encouraging. He admitted that he was encouraged that I came because it's rare to see a "practical" person on the field. In his opinion, too many intellectuals come overseas. People with PhDs, MDivs, and all the other titles that make us feel important have a little bit harder time fitting in with your average Joe (or average Mehmet, in this case). I agree. But the body of Christ needs theologians just as much as they need preachers and evangelists. Which got me thinking, "Where do I fit in this body?"

I'm not a theologian. Yes, I have read the books. I've put down Piper, Grudem, Sproul, and I'm working through Edwards, Owens, and Luther now. But I'm no theologian. I'm not a preacher. Yes, I've given talks. I can put together a challenging message that's interesting enough to keep your attention. But I'm no preacher. I'm not a pastor. I have friends that come to me for advice. But I can't deal with the problems that arise in leading a group of people. I haven't been giving that leadership gift nor the wisdom and compassion to direct and help people in need. I'm no pastor.

But I'm not supposed to be. Piper says at the beginning of this sermon on Edwards that no one else in that room is Jonathan Edwards. He was in a class of his own. The greatest thinker ever born on American soil is not who you should compare yourself to. In fact, it's not biblical. 1 Cor. 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am..." So what am I?

Sometimes I feel like that flabby part under your arm. I'm there. Most people would rather get rid of me, or at least minimize me. I serve no purpose. I'm unattractive. I'm embarassing.

And sometimes I feel like the elbow. I work. I do my job without much glory or praise. I'm not the prettiest thing to look at, but everyone is glad to have me. I can pack a punch and hit hard when I need to. I'm useful. I'm needed.

In reality, I'm probably both of these at times. And, at other times, something entirely different. I feel like I am learning and growing every day. There are so many things I have seen and done in the last two years that have made me rethink so much of what I believe. Some things have been cemented in my mind as true, never to be shaken again. Some things that I thought were cemented have been uprooted forcefully. I don't know what I am yet. I know some things that I'm not. I know some things that I want to be.

I want to be the best C-Love I can be. The best English teacher. The best Turkish student. The best friend. The best teammate. The best jogger. The best theologian. The best evangelist. The best boyfriend. The best son and brother. The best roommate. The best guitar player.

The best me. The me God wants me to be.

Checkin' In

2008-02-09T15:00:00.000+02:00

It's no secret that my time in this country is quickly coming to an end. I have felt it coming since I got back from vacation and it's not a pleasant feeling. It tears and gnaws at me. At the same time it is pulling me towards what is to come and grounding me in what is here and now.

There is a lot (A LOT) of work to do here. I have a lot of friends that I have grown to love. I still don't understand the majority of the language. The church still needs a decent guitar player. The Barber still needs someone to play backgammon with. I have a few more Turkish Bibles to give away. The guys still need a small forward on the "national team." Somebody's got to teach English to all these business men. And who is the Big O going to go fishing with when I'm gone?

But at the same time, I want to be ready for America. I need a job. If any of you reading in the Jackson, MS area know of anything, please let me know. I'll need a place to stay. I'm going to need a car. I've got connections already, but I'll be trying to find and fit into a new church, a new set of friends, a new community. I'm jumping right into some of the best fishing of the year and I'll just have a few short months to get a game plan ready for duck season.

I dream of Chick-fil-a and Rush's chili-cheeseburgers. I dread the day I have to walk away from Yaprak Doner and Adana Kebap. The idea of getting 64 ounces of Dr. Pepper with as much ice as I want at ANY gas station makes me giddy. Not being able to find a lukewarm glass of frothy ayran makes me a little sad. Being able to talk about deep, personal, and spiritual issues at ease with people I understand is something I long for. Doing the same thing when it's difficult, confusing, and sometimes impossible is something I live for.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I see my departure on the horizon and at the same time I'm excited about it and dreading it. I've had a little while to get over my post-vacation moops and I am ready for the spring. Things are about to get back to normal, hopefully (whatever normal is). We should start playing ultimate again this week. We've found another group of guys to play basketball with. We've got our first coffee house coming up soon. It's about to be a lot of fun again.

Some people tell me that it's easy to check out the last few months that you're in country. You see the great shining glory of the western world and it mesmerizes you. I see it. It's tempting me. But I don't want to miss "this." Brothers, sisters, friends, experiences, sights, sounds, and tastes that I won't have there. I don't want to check out. I'm just checking in.

Short Post Before Bed

2008-02-08T23:32:00.000+02:00

Things I am thankful for today:

Phone calls from Peru.
People helping me get up for Bible study.
Nescafe Cappuccino Mixes!
God speaking to us through his word.
Naps.
Lunch and laughs with good friends.
Expensive coffees.
Being able to joke in Turkish.
A good haircut.
Having someone else wash my head for me.
3 glasses of "fugitive tea."
2 good roommates.
1 low electric bill.
Music that never gets old.
And a lot more to look forward to tomorrow.

If you can name who this is, I'll give you a dollar.
You have one week.

The First World

2008-02-05T20:17:00.000+02:00

As I proofread my own post from earlier today, I noticed a slight misnomer.

I mentioned that Lane and I were shocked by our re-entry into the "first world." While it is true that the moment was shocking and that we were in the "first world," it must be noted that I actually live in the first world now.

Lane and I were having a discussion the other night about what exactly the terms "first world" and "third world" meant. We were also having a "discussion" about whether Peru and Turkey were in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd worlds. Lane was very correct in saying that Peru was considered 3rd world, but to my utter surprise, Turkey is considered part of the 1st world. This, obviously, made me question.

So, what do you do when you have strange questions that need an answer immediately? Wikipedia!

God bless the man who thought this up!
Here I learned that the terms 1st world, 2nd world, and 3rd world were originally political in nature, instead of economic (which is how most of us think of them today). After WWII, when the world was being divided between the NATO countries and the USSR, the terms "Western Bloc" and "Eastern Bloc" came into use to describe which side you were on, freedom's or communism's. Then a Frenchman (of course he'd be French) felt sorry for all the countries being left out of the talk, since the majority of the world was not involved in the NATO/Warsaw Pact ordeal. He coined the term the "Third World" to give these countries some unification and identity. The Western countries grabbed the term "First World" for themselves and left the Soviets with the "Second World" term. Among those in alliance with NATO was the young republic known as Turkey. It sat precariously below the USSR, squeezed between Big Red and the Med. Peru, however, was not part of these political bickerings, and thus is 3rd world.

Map courtesy of Wikipedia.
Blue is the First World.
Red is the Second World.
Green is the Third World.
Now where are Turkey and Peru?
The article does go on to mention how the terms have drifted to more of a socio-economic meaning. The Third World is more widely understood to be an economic label put on those countries that are not producing at the rate of "the West." The Global South is made up almost exclusively of these "developing" nations.

The problems are larger and more dynamic than I can ever understand. I don't pretend to know even what the problems are, and I would never claim to have an answer. But I do know one thing. As Christians, we are commanded to help those in need (Matt. 5:42 and Luke 6:35, among MANY others). Jesus said we would always have the poor with us (John 12:8). That means we will always have someone to help. And help we must. How? Well, there are great organizations out there to support: the Hunger Site for helping feed the poor; Amnesty International for protecting the poor; and the American Red Cross to heal the poor. These are just names I thought of off the top of my head. I can't vouch for the work they do, I'm just throwing out ideas.

And supporting those organizations through time, labor, and money is very important. But the biggest, the most widespread, and, potentially, the most world-changing organization in the world is the body of Christ. We need to take a good look at our own lives and determine what we are doing to uphold these commandments of Jesus. If we are to be obedient to the Gospel, we must be obedient to the whole Gospel. Let's consider what we can do in our lives to help feed the hungry, clothe the cold, give hope to the hopeless, and love those that don't know love. When we as Christians begin to do this in our own lives and as it grows into a movement of the Body as a whole, then we will be able to show a lost and hurting world what the love of Christ is truly about, bringing the kingdom of God to this world.

Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Eve's Fall from Grace

2008-02-05T10:05:00.000+02:00

Rome, day 4, was one that was extremely frustrating. It tested the limits of my love. My devotion and my affections were stretched. It was really hard for me to stand by my girl.

Eve, my Mac, got sick.

I don't know what it was. It started with my iTunes library being lost and needing to be rebuilt. Then my desktop became jumbled for no reason. Then all of my passwords and keychains were lost. Things went downhill fast. But, luckily, it went sour in the right place. If it had happened here, in Turkey, I'd be lost. No one I've met in this city knows anything about Macs and as far as I can tell there's only one store that claims to know anything about them and it's in the basement of a very sketchy building. But since Rome is the Capital of the World, of course they have an Apple Store. So off we went!

The Apple Store was on the complete opposite end of town, off the city map. It tooks us a tram, bus, tram, bus, and a long walk to get there. This is tram #1.
The day was a little drizzly, but we started out in good spirits.
The good spirits didn't last long. Between the first bus and second tram, we got a little bit lost. Lane had had enough already.
Getting there is half the fun. It can also be half the torture. Tram, bus, tram, bus, and a long walk made for about 2 hours (or a little more) of travel. We got a little lost once. Then on the last bus ride, we wound up riding in green fields with the sun on our faces (movie quote!). Neither of us could understand why we were driving through the farm to get to the Apple Store. Lane thought for a moment that maybe I had looked up an apple orchard named the Apple Store. But the nice bus driver knew enough English to understand that I was lost and told us when to get off the bus. From the bus stop, it was only a mile along a busy interstate-type road to the massive shopping mall.

Our second tram. It weaved through a huge piece of an ancient aqueduct.
Gotta love Rome.
The shopping mall caught me and Lane both by surprise. It was as crowded as a mall in America the week before Christmas, and much fancier! Neither one of us was ready for the shock of first world commercialism. That shock combined with the stress and aggravation of sitting at the "Genius Bar" for two hours means no pictures of the mall. The one Genius that spoke English could not solve my problem. In fact, if he did anything, he probably made it worse. But he did tell me how I could fix it myself once I got back to Turkey. So we left cautiously optimistic, slightly frustrated, a wee bit tired, and very hungry. A walk, bus, tram, bus, and tram later and we were ready for dinner.

This was the cute couple in the restaurant. We look happy enough. But then...
Lane said, "Alright, now let's take a picture of how we really feel."
This sums it up pretty well.
Overall, it was a little bit frustrating. But in the end, we had a few good laughs, spent some good time together, and Eve is running at full speed again. Everyone is happy.

A Little Cultural Learning

2008-01-29T16:13:00.000+02:00

But not the culture I'm used to learning about.

It's been cold and dreary here in the land of the Turk the past couple days. It has made running impossible (well, you know) and even going outside is an uncomfortable chore. So this morning I had a nice conversation with Lane Marie and one thing led to another and here is where I found myself.

The Wikipedia article on Southern American English.
The journey to this site is almost, if not as, interesting as what I learned in it. First, I was just running through my normal website checks for daily news. I always check the front page of Yahoo and found this interesting article about an asteroid that will be coming "close" to Earth. Granted, close in astronomical terms is, well, astronomical.

Next, I see a link at the bottom of the page to a link on the Black Death. Thank goodness a plague that killed upwards of 50% of the population of Europe didn't do it "indiscriminately."

That article led me to wonder what the Black Death really was. Was it the bubonic plague? Was it from rat fleas? Was it something totally different? Can't say that I had really invested it. So, off to Wikipedia we go. I know it's not "official" and anyone can change the data on it and yadda yadda. It's a poor man's encyclopedia and I love it.

Whilst perusing the article on the Black Death, I learned some very interesting facts. First of all, no one really knows for sure what the Black Death was. It was bad, everyone agrees on that. But the list of effects is really what caught my eye. Among others, some of the longest lasting effects, though rather indirectly, of the Black Death are the rise of capitalism, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Great Vowel Shift. Having a pretty good idea about the first three, I followed the link to see what this Great Vowel Shift was all about.

Apparently during the same time period that the Black Death was ravaging the world, a major shift in how English speakers pronounced certain vowels began to occur. The article claims that it was helped along, in part, by the Black Death. While I am not an expert in the phonetic alphabet, I still found the article interesting. I also saw a word that I have heard a few times in my short English teaching career, but wasn't entirely sure on it's definition. So next, I read about diphthongs (and yes, this is a family friendly blog).

Again, an interesting read. It's nice to pick up some of the technical lingo from time to time. These are principles that we all use in our everyday speech, but we just don't know what the professionals call them. On the diphthong page, I saw another term that caught my attention. Under the examples of English diphthongs was the phrase Rhotic dialects. Using the examples they gave of how a speaker of a Rhotic dialect would say certain words, I wondered if I may be one myself. Come to find out, I may be.

Rhotic and non-Rhotic are two main categories that English speakers are divided into. It all revolves around how and when you pronounce the sound commonly written in English as "R". Apparently, the earliest cases of losing the "R" sound date back to the 15th century, around the time of the Black Death. Rhotic speakers will pronounce the R in all situations, but non-Rhotic speakers will only say it when followed by a vowel, and sometimes not even then. Sometimes they will use a "linking-R" when a word ending in R is followed by a word beginning with a vowel. And, even more cultured, is the "intrusive-R" that finds it's way into words between vowels or between words. I tried to pronounce some words non-Rhotic-ly and found that a lot of them were foreign sounding, but that most of them rolled right out pretty easy. There was almost a Gone With The Wind sound to my voice. And for good reason I found out.

Southern American English is one of the non-Rhotic dialects. That's what gives all those sweet Southern Belles that wonderfully soft tone. Though I might have to argue Wikipedia's definition of "the South" (the "modern definition" is the one I'd use), I have to admit that they amazed me with their ability to distinguish between the different types of Southern accents. This is something that I have tried to explain to my non-Southern (or should I just say Rhotic) friends my whole life. There is a difference.

For example, I have known people from the coastal areas of SC. One of my best friends in high school had family in the Georgetown, SC area. His grandmother had that wonderful Southern Coastal accent that rarely pronounces an R and sounds as soft as the breeze coming in over the marshes. On the other hand, most of my family is from the upstate where the Highland Southern is more prevalent. But my great grandmother was from way up in the hills (she used to run moonshine as a teenage girl) and could not say the word "wash" without an R sound to save her life. This is defined as the Southern Appallachain accent.

I'd place myself somewhere in the middle of all that. Between my mother's mountain heritage and my time in the Midlands, around all those beautiful coastal folk, I have a nice blend of two wonderful sounding accents. I definitely lean heavier towards the Southern Highland sound, but I have been known to drop an R from time to time.

It was an interesting read and made me feel proud, once again, to be from a place with a little culture. And so, to delve into that culture a little more, I headed over to YouTube to see some of the less refined, but more entertaining, pieces of my culture (that last one is for you, Massons).

Hope you enjoy the Grand Finale.

It never rains in Rome.

2008-01-28T21:16:00.000+02:00

That was the word our token Italian gave us when we arrived. I guess "never" means "every other day" in Italian.

Our third day in Rome was a wet one. It had been drizzling the day prior. It was absolutely pouring this day. But we made the most of it.

Our first stop was the Pantheon. This was once a temple devoted to all the many gods of Rome, but then later converted to a Catholic church. It was built in 125 AD and was the largest dome in the world until 1781. It is the final resting place of some Italian kings and the famous painter Raphael. It is regarded as the best preserved piece of ancient Roman architecture. It was quite impressive, though I forgot to take a picture of the outside (partly due to the rain).

The Great Eye in the center of the dome.

The nicely decorated interior.

From there it was off to Trevi Fountain. This used to be the end of an aqueduct that brought fresh water into the city. The fountain was built in 1762. It's the grandest of the Baroque fountains in Rome. There is a myth that says if you throw a coin over your shoulder and into the fountain, you will return to Rome. With the current exchange rate, it was a pretty expensive gamble. But, when in Rome...

The story of the week.
I give the fountain one very enthusiastic thumb up.
I love Rome.
From the fountain we strolled on over to the Spanish Steps. The only things I really know about these things is that it's the "longest and widest staircase in all of Europe," according to experts, and "it's really pretty," according to girls.

They were not all that pretty to me.
As you can see, it was raining pretty hard. So we just left the Spanish Steps and headed home. We were already soaked to the bone and it was a little chilly. So, at Jess', we enjoyed two very frustrating games of darts (both of which Lane won) and a nice game of one on one rummy (which I dominated).

How does someone who is admittedly "just throwing it" hit a bullseye? She beat me twice because my darts kept falling out.
After darts, I was ready for revenge. I beat her, unmercifully.

I am a travelever of both time and space.

2008-01-26T00:48:00.000+02:00

If you can name that song reference (and movie reference, actually) before you read on, let me know and I'll give you a dollar. Be honest though!

I have been running, somewhat, and as promised, here is the latest update. This week I ran twice. I will play basketball tomorrow, and that will include some more running, so let's make it two and a half days this past week. It hasn't been bad. I haven't felt like I was going to die while I've been out there and I haven't been sore or tired afterwards. But, I think I have found my hopefully temporary limit.

At about the two mile mark I start feeling it and as I approach the third, I crap out. I am keeping a pretty good pace, so I could potentially slow down and run further, but still, it's a little embarrassing. I should not have trouble running for more than 20 minutes. I have a list of excuses though, don't worry.

1. I'm still not sure how to eat for running. What I mean is, I always feel a little sick when I run and I think some of it has to do with what I'm eating. Something tells me that those two Turkish sausage, egg, potato, and cheese burritos I had (with mayonnaise) the night before were part of the problem today. Maybe I should be looking more for fruits and vegetables and less for processed meat products and fat based condiments.

2. I have had a head cold for the past week or so. It makes breathing in my nose hard and it means I have a lot of drainage too. This would explain why my spit is so thick and why it is harder than it should be to breath. It may also explain the upset stomach.

And finally, 3. Kashmir. Hopefully you all see the song reference now. If not, go out and buy the Led Zeppelin box set and listen to it from start to finish. It'll be the best $70 and 5 hours you've ever spent. Matt Damon quotes it in the meeting with Matsui in Ocean's Twelve, by the way. Anyhow, I made a playlist of just over thirty minutes worth of music to run to. The songs are rocking, to keep me going. Everyday I have started with a different song and just put it on random order. Everyday Kashmir has been the 4th song played. The song that carries me from the 15 minute mark past the 20 minute mark (or past two miles and to the third). I have yet to finish the song.

So maybe 20 minutes is my wall right now. That'd be about 3 miles at the pace I keep, maybe a little less. That means I'll be walking the last 10 miles of this half marathon! Great.

Or maybe it's just Kashmir. Maybe if I replace it with the hard driving duo of Moby Dick/Bonzo's Montreux and Immigrant Song, it'll carry me over towards that fourth mile. Valhalla, I am coming!

Financial Crisis Hitting Home

2008-01-24T15:25:00.000+02:00

I don't keep up with the news very well, but even I have heard about the financial crisis that is sweeping through most of the major world markets. I don't know that I've ever really noticed much change in my life during times like these in the past. With the exception of rising gas prices, I haven't felt the effects of any of the economic shifts in my life, for better or worse. But this latest one has hit closer to home.

The most immediate effect is the exchange rate. I get paid in US dollars, so my pay literally goes up and down daily. I get paid a set amount and that set amount can translate into X lira one day and X+ or X- the next day depending on the exchange rate. For example, soon after I came the exchange rate was hovering around 1.4 to 1.5 lira to the dollar. This past week, it went up to 1.19 (it had fallen lower than that). That means for every dollar I'm paid, I'm losing 20-30 Turkish cents compared to what I was making a year or so ago. That adds up quick.

But the effect that hit me last night was much bigger and effects people besides me. I teach an English class that is made of a salesman from a large international company and two bankers. They have been telling me for months that the American economy wasn't doing well and that it was going to be bad for everyone. They knew it was coming, but they still weren't able to prepare for it fully. One of the bankers lost a lot of the money he had invested recently. The other is doing better, but both are living with the weight of this on their shoulders. It's possible that with the amazing losses banks are reporting these days that these men could be fired.

They don't have the time, money, or concentration for English class these days, so they dropped our class. They've become friends though, so I will keep in touch with them over the weeks to come. I pray that through this time we Christians can show the world what it means to hope in something that neither moth nor rust (nor stock market fluctuations) can destroy. I also pray that we can give that hope to those in need around us.

When cooking potatoes...

2008-01-23T00:34:00.000+02:00

don't turn your head for even a second, especially not for 5 or 10 minutes.

I decided that I'd try to cook some potatoes tonight for dinner. It's warm, filling, and delicious. So, I cut the potatoes and a small onion to cook with them. Then, with my health in mind, threw them in a pan with a lot of butter. And I mean a lot. I knew that it would take a while for the pan to warm up since I was using the small burner. Boy was I wrong!

I came in here to work on that last blog post and in no time at all, I smelled smoke. By the time I got into the kitchen, it was boiling out of the pan. The little burner wasted no time burning the potatoes in the middle of the pan. All total, only about three or four slices were beyond saving, but they sure did put out a lot of smoke!

Roma 2 - The Eternal City Continues

2008-01-22T17:38:00.000+02:00

After a wonderfully lazy morning, Lane and I got out in time to grab some lunch. With no idea where we were supposed to be going, we wandered until we found a great little hole-in-the-wall pizza joint.

I was hungry that day.
And of course, when you're in Italy, even if it is freezing butt cold, you have to get some gelato.

This was the first, but not the last (by far) cup of gelato that would find it's way into this mouth.
After filling our stomachs with such wonderful treats, it was time to get out and see some of Rome. Up next on the list was the Coliseum.

It's not Death Valley, but impressive nonetheless.

Unfortunately, it was raining on us and it started to get a little cold. We were deterred from entering the Coliseum by the warning that it's not all that impressive inside and the even more unimpressive price of admission. We sought shelter in it's shadow as we tried to figure out what to do next. Something that would keep us dry, warm, and having fun.

I was really craving some more of that wonderful Italian coffee, but we needed a place to sit. Most of the espresso bars don't have tables to sit at, so I thought maybe we could find a bookstore that had a cafe inside of it. That way we could sit, grab a book or magazine, and drink some coffee. Nice, warm, relaxing.

Rome guide book, telling us about all the things we had and hadn't seen.
To find this bookstore, I had the ingenious idea of just getting on a bus and riding it until we saw something that looked good. Come to find out, it worked! We found a nice bookstore with a cafe on the top floor. We grabbed a Rome guide book and a few other things to read as we sat and had some good coffee. We stayed for a few hours and had a really great time.

The happy, and warm, customers.

From there, it was off to the grocery store. We (read: I) wanted to save a little money and one easy way was for us (read: me) to cook dinner a couple times. It turned out fairly well, compared to recent happenings (read: my next blog post).

My job: wash and break broccoli, clean and cut mushrooms, peel and slice onions, and cook all of the above with our meat in a pan. Lane's job: play with the camera.

Don't we at least deserve an explanation?

2008-01-21T00:06:00.000+02:00

I mean, really, what's so bad about it? I know there are a lot of worthless videos out there. I know people try to post music videos and even movies illegally. I know that the entertainment industry has complained. But what in heaven's name is so bad about YouTube that the Turkish courts block it from all of us? What's worse is that this is the second time in the last 12 months that this has happened! If anyone has read an official reason for this, please let me know. In the meantime, I will be downloading low quality Russian mp3s, watching a couple pirated DVDs, and doing other totally legit activities which the Turkish courts see no problem with.

Herşey Türkiye İçin!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race?

2008-01-18T15:25:00.001+02:00

That's the old saying. I'm pretty sure fast and steady would beat slow and steady, but I'm just working on the steady part for now.

I did start my "training" today for the half marathon. I ran for almost 20 minutes at what I felt like was a good pace (maybe an 8 minute mile). It was short, I know, but it's a start. I wasn't too terribly tired afterwards and besides having to use the bathroom kind of bad, I didn't have any pains. Hopefully I can get the bodily functions under control, or else it'll be one messy race.

I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Assuming I progress.

Rome - The Capital of the World

2008-01-17T21:35:00.000+02:00

Thank goodness the Italians aren't dramatic or they may come up with grandiose names for "THE City." (I think I just got sarcasm on my keyboard)

I want to let you see the "Eternal City" of Rome. It really is a beautiful place with an ancient artifact around every corner. It was amazing and encouraging to see how remnants of the ancient world are being preserved and how the demands on the present world are being met at the same time. Well, enough jabber, let's get on with it...

Day 1 - Sistina Capella

For our first day out, we decided to see the "Holy See." Lane and I were both pretty pumped about seeing the Sistine Chapel. I have a program that sends me a religious painting every few days and I can't tell you how many of them have come either from the Chapel itself or the museums that are included in the tour. So, with instructions from Jess and Alex on how to get there, much enthusiasm about seeing some of the world's most famous pieces of art, and the soul soothing sounds of this guy on the tram, we were on our way.

Friendly Neighborhood Minstrel
Thanks to our wonderful directions, we found the place very easily. It's hard to miss the largest Christian church in the world and the tallest building in the city of Rome.

Welcome to the biggest church in the world in the smallest nation in the world. St. Peter's, Vatican City.
There are four things I expected to see while at the Vatican. I got to see three of them. Unfortunately, the Pope was no where to be found. But we did see...

Nuns of all colors! I have read that there is a meaning behind the color of their "habits" (nun outfits), but I don't remember what grey means.
Strange dudes in funny clothes! This was actually a step up for the Vatican guard from their usual attire. (Google Vatican guards to see what I mean.)
Amazing works of art! This is the inside of the basilica, but the picture doesn't do it justice.
Works like this (Raphael's "Transfiguration") were around, and in, every corner.
From St. Peter's we made our way to the Vatican Museums. By "make our way" I mean that we followed the Vatican wall around past the hundred African and South Asian immigrants that were selling fake Chanel, Prada, and Luis Vuitton bags on the sidewalk. I didn't stop to talk to any of them because all the Wolof I could remember was "I speak a little Wolof" and "I want to go to sea." I didn't think that would get me far.

So we got in to the Vatican Museums. I didn't really know what to expect, since I hadn't done my homework before going. All I really knew was that the Sistine Chapel was waiting for us at the end. What I saw before we ever got there was worth the price of admission.

The first thing that really got my attention was the "Hall of Maps." We had been walking through a few rooms with sculptures and things, but this room was the first one (of many) that made me stop and stare for a while. It was a long hallway that was decorated with these huge maps on the walls and beautiful paintings and guilding on the ceiling.

A view of the ceiling. Every inch was covered with something beautiful.
Lane really liked this room. The big maps were quite impressive.
From there, we wandered through hallways and bedrooms in the Apostolic Palace. These were rooms that were largely decorated by Raphael or his assistants and students. I really enjoyed these rooms. I was blown away by Raphael's use of color and how it gave the paintings such depth.

The Deliverance of Saint Peter
Maybe Raphael's greatest work, The School of Athens.
After taking in these great works, we then meandered through the modern art section. There were some interesting things, to put it nicely. Modern art is one of those things that is either cool and dead on, or is wacky and out there. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. But we found quite a few pieces that were very well done. To my surprise, I got to see a couple Salvador Dali paintings in the collection. These were some cool things we saw, though I don't know who did them.

From there it was on, finally, to the Sistine Chapel. Everything you have heard about it is true. It's amazing. The ceiling is beautiful, there's no denying it. It is beyond my comprehension how a man can make such beautiful pictures. The thing that really took my breath was the huge Last Judgment that takes up the entire wall behind the altar. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. They wouldn't allow you to take pictures, and you could find better pictures online anyhow, so I don't have anything to show you here.

From there, it was off to find a slice of pizza and a way home. I developed a bit of a headache throughout the day. Everybody showed a lot of grace towards me by letting me drift off to sleep on the couch that evening. That was the end of DAY 1 of our Roman vacation. Man, it makes me tired just telling you guys about it.

Sleep tight Pope!

When in Rome...

2008-01-17T01:02:00.000+02:00

...Sleep?

After traveling half the length of Italy and walking around Florence all afternoon the day before, we took it easy our first day back in Rome. We saved the exciting stuff for when we were a little more awake.

And I have a confession to make real quick. I am in the middle of a rigorous 9 week training program for the upcoming Tarsus half marathon. I am supposed to run 20 miles this week. Also, one of my own, self-imposed rules is that I can't drink Coke during all this training.

Well, I have yet to run a single step this week. And I was in the checkout aisle with a candy bar and a Coke in hand today before I realized that I wasn't supposed to be buying it. Nor was I supposed to buy that Coke I had with lunch. Doh! I had made it 4 whole days. I hate to see a streak like that broken. But tomorrow is a new day, full of potential and opportunity. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life. (And sitting here, alone in my bedroom, I feel a little embarrassed at the cheesiness of that last sentence.)

Tucked in the Hills of Tuscany...

2008-01-15T21:36:00.000+02:00

...is a wonderful city called, in English, Florence.

We said goodbye to Venice on Jan. 1st. It was a wonderful start to our vacation, but it was time to move on. Next stop was Florence!

Parting shot of the canal that we stayed along.
We found out that Florence's real, Italian name (Firenze) bears almost no resemblance to it's English translation when we couldn't find it in the "destinations" section of the self-service ticket counter in Venice. But thanks to a helpful, English speaking counter lady, we got our tickets and headed that way. Don't I look excited?

Why Lane wanted to get up at 8 after staying up so late
for New Year's is beyond me.
I knew that a lot of famous people had lived in or were born in Florence. The list is quite impressive actually. Dante, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo di Vinci, Machiavelli, Galileo, and Florence Nightingale.

There are many very famous museums to see in Florence with the most widely known being the Accademia, home to Michelangelo's David. But honestly, I didn't really care to see it and I don't think Lane did either. So instead, we just wandered around the city, seeing it's numerous towers, nice river with pretty bridges, and expensive shops. We spent a couple of hours resting in a cafe and then had a wonderful dinner that night in the McDonald's in the train station before heading back to Rome. Enjoy a few shots of Florence.

One of the many towers in the city. I have no idea what their significance is, but there were quite a few throughout the city and I took a picture of every one!
The Duomo. This is a famous church that is huge, covered with beautiful tiles, has a massive dome and a tall tower, and impressive bronze doors on the baptistry it faces (which is the oldest building in the city). It's famous for having the largest brick dome in the world and was the biggest cathedral in the world upon it's completion.
Statue of Dante, the poet.
Lane on one of the bridges in Florence. God blessed us with a beautiful sunset that evening.
The remnants of our Florentine cuisine.

Come to Venice they say!

2008-01-15T15:59:00.000+02:00

Everyone showed up safely and almost on time. After gathering up in Jess' apartment, we headed out for Venice. The trip started at the Rome train station, Termini.

There we boarded our train to Venice. It was a 4:30 train ride, broken neatly into two parts. One 4:20 minute train ride and one 10 minute train ride. We passed the time with great conversation, A River Runs Through It, cards, and some sandwiches we picked up on the way to the train station.

First Subway sandwiches we've had in a looooooong time.
Delicious.
We got in late and found a place for the night. We spent the next morning looking around for a place to stay for the next two nights. As we found out, Venice is the hottest place in all of Italy for New Year's. It was hard to find a place but we found two quaint little places. They weren't the nicest places I've ever stayed in, but they did the job. We spent a little time walking around the city and seeing what there was to see. We took it easy and relaxed in the afternoon. That night we took a little stroll and found a nice pizza joint for dinner.

St. Mark's Square, also known as the "the drawing room of Europe."
This was my first taste of real Italian pizza. It would not be my last.
Lane with her "big as my head" slice of pizza.
The "room" (attic) that the girls stayed in.
The second day we really toured the city. We saw the Grand Canal, went back by St. Mark's, and just wandered through all the small little streets and alleys that make the city so charming (and difficult to navigate at times). Lane and I had a nice time sitting next to the Rialto Bridge, walking through St. Mark's Square, and enjoying the view from the mouth of the Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal
Rialto Bridge
Lane and I taking a break next to the Canal.
Lane, laughing hysterically, in front of St. Mark's Basilica.
Looking out into the Adriatic.
That night was New Year's Eve. Since Lane and I hadn't technically had our first date yet, I figured that Venice on New Year's Eve was the perfect opportunity to finally ask her out. She said yes, thankfully, and we headed out to a nice dinner.

She was looking beautiful in her little black dress.
I didn't look too bad in my suit either.
We changed and headed to St. Mark's for the New Year's celebration. We picked up a crepe for dessert on the way.
Like I said, Venice is the place to be for New Year's in Italy. Everybody (and I mean EVERYBODY) crammed into St. Mark's Square for the celebration. We arrived around 10 or so and it wasn't too terribly crowded. By midnight however, it was hard to move. They had a big band playing the best in hits from yesterday and today that kept the partying going strong for most of the night. After midnight though, things were a little less fun. Thousands of people were cramming into the small alleys and no one was making much progress. People were shooting fireworks out of the crowd, some of which sounded like small bombs. The twenty or thirty minute walk to the square turned into an almost 2 hour walk back. It was a crazy night and one of the best New Year's celebrations I've ever been a part of.

The theme for the night was "Love 2008," in English.
The pandemonium was just starting.

Italian Holiday Prelude

2008-01-11T20:42:00.000+02:00

I need to write a quick forward here to explain the characters in the upcoming Italian Holiday series.

First and foremost, Lane. I met Lane before I left America. We spent some time together as friends, but neither of us had any serious interest at the time. We kept in touch through email while she was trouncing around the jungle and I was getting adjusted to life here. As I learned more about who she is, where she comes from, and where she's headed, I found her more and more attractive. Over the course of the fall, I fell, so to speak, for her. I made my feelings known in late December and spent the next few months trying to convince her to start a "relationship" of some sorts via the internet. I felt that if we made a commitment to talk often and really get to know each other we could build a foundation of good communication and we would know each other pretty well by the time we had a chance to see each other again. That chance was this Italian holiday.

Secondly, Jess. Jess is a mutual friend of Lane and I's. She's an incredible girl. She lives in Rome now and works on a university campus there. She's super cool. She is incredible welcoming and hospitable. She is one of the best friends you could ask for. She asks good questions, likes good conversation, and laughs a lot. She's fun and fashionable and friendly. A wonderful combination.

Third, A-Rod. He's an Italian friend of Jess' that was a huge help in getting us from the airport, to the train station, to all the sites, and to some good pizza and coffee. He was just as fun and friendly as Jess and even had that added Italian flair about him. He also made a couple of mean pastas for us while we were there.

Fourth and Fifth are Brad and Krystal. Brad works with Lane and Krystal is his girlfriend. They have been dating about the same amount of time Lane and I have been and in pretty much the same circumstances. They were our travel partners for part of the trip.

There were a ton of other people that were in and out during the weekend. I need to give a shout out to ML and Micah. ML is Jess' roomie and she was very gracious to let us invade her apartment. Her BF Micah was there for part of the time we were and I know we could have been a major nuisance to them, but they were incredibly cool about the whole situation. ML also had a lot of other friends that were there at different times and all of them were just as fun to hang out with as Jess and ML were.

The next couple blogs will be pics and stories from the past couple weeks. Hope you enjoy.

It's Christmas Time in the City

2008-01-11T19:34:00.000+02:00

One last post without pictures.

I just wanted to say that it was a wonderful Christmas here. I know the time for Christmas stories has passed, but I didn't get a chance to let you know what I was up to for the holidays.

First, there was the Christmas program at church. I played a Wise Man from the East in our little play, sang in the choir, and handed out prizes during a Christmas Q&A we did. The star of the show, however, was my little Turkish teacher Melissa. She's only maybe 10 years old and as cute as a button. She recited a poem that a man in the church had written. It was quite a performance.

The next night, Christmas Eve, the church got together in a restaurant for a big holiday feast. We rented out the second floor of a restaurant downtown and we just about filled it up. It's amazing how many "members" show up when there's free food. The choir had an encore performance, sans accompaniment and, more importantly, sans lyrics. There was a short highlight film of the program and some songs before dinner too. It was a very enjoyable evening... all five hours of it.

Needless to say, I didn't make it to the V-house as planned. In fact, Papa V called to ask if I wanted a ride, since he was about to get in bed, and we hadn't even been served dinner yet. So I spent the night here and headed over to my family's house with my two roomies. Of course, we were late. But that just meant that everybody was there to greet us. We had a wonderful brunch thanks to Mama-V and the lovely single ladies. We shared a lot of good stories and good laughs. Then we sang some Turkish Christmas songs and prayed together. It was a very sweet and special time.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to push the Germans out of Northern Africa with the eldest V as my wingman. What's Christmas without some anti-aircraft fire?

Then, Christmas night, the Anti had a dinner for a couple of her Turkish friends. These girls were celebrating their first Christmas as believers. It was really neat to see how happy and excited they were. I was invited to keep the Anti's dad company amongst all the gals. It was another special time, watching two young believers celebrate their first Christmas with their first taste of pork!

I told the Anti before Christmas came around that it was going to be the best one ever. I have to say, if it wasn't the best, it was real stinkin close.

Holiday Hussle and Bussle, No Refunds, and Hunting for Snow

2007-12-21T23:36:00.000+02:00

Tis the season to be crowded.
I went to our mall today with the Anti and the Botanist. The Anti has recently learned to drive a stick shift and was willing to drive us out there. They were going for a movie. I was going for some Christmas shopping. The place was absolutely packed! You'd think it was the last weekend before Christmas. Oh wait... It is! With the holidays fast approaching, everyone was out picking up those last minute stocking stuffers. Or not.

Yesterday was probably the biggest single day in the Islamic year. It's called Kurban Bayram here, the Sacrifice Holiday. Every family buys a sheep and kills it to help them draw closer to God. It's in rememberance of Abraham sacrificing his son on the mountain. Everyone travels home to be with family, sacrifice the sheep, and eat a big meal complete with the freshest of meats. It's a huge holiday and most people had the day off yesterday. Judging by my quick estimate, about half the city had today off too... and they were all at the mall. Add to the mass of people crowding the stores the constant heat that was pumping out of only God knows where (Turks are deathly afraid of the cold.) and the many frustrations that come with living here (examples forthcoming), and I think you can understand why it brought back all the worst memories of holiday shopping.

You check the cheese. I'm going to get some dinner.
With that said, I can remember how difficult it is to shop in America around Christmas time. I remember the long lines, walking for hours in the mall, trying to figure out how much you should spend on someone based on how much you guess they will spend on you, etc. But there are some things which happen in this country that just don't make sense. Even though I understand that these people are extremely busy on days like today, there's just no logic behind it, and that adds to the frustrations of the HOT, crowded mall.

Case #1 I'm trying to return a jacket to the store I bought it in two days ago. The man says that I can exchange it for whatever I want. But I don't want an exchange, I want a refund, I tell him. He goes into a long explanation which, due to my limited knowledge of the Turkish language (esp retail vocabulary), the extremely loud Euro-Pop being played over the speakers, the low roar of the other 1500 people in the shop, and the fact that I am sweating profusely and trying to remember if I wore deodorant or not, I don't understand. I simply ask, "Can't I get a refund?" His simple answer, "No, it's a holiday." I clarify, "So, if I want to buy something, I can. If I want to exchange it for something else, I can. But if I want a refund, I can't have it." "No, the banks are closed. It's a holiday." I glance over and notice that the 12 credit card machines are all working. Yes, he assures me, I can buy anything I want. But I can't have a refund. "Come back Monday," he says. And adds, "Merry Christmas."

Case #2 I go into the supermarket just to get a Coke and something sweet to eat. I find some pretty good little doughnut-esque goodies called "Berliners" and the coldest Coke in the cooler (to offset the 120 degree [Celsius] heat coming from the vents) and head to the row of registers. Just like at Wal-Mart back home, there are numerous lines to choose from, but twice as many lines not open. Why places like this feel the need to have 100 registers and only 8 employees to run them is beyond me. But I spot the express line and jump in line behind two people. The man directly in front of me just has some blank CDs and some sort of electronic wire. But the man in front of him seems to have exceeded the 5 item limit. He looks to have close to 10 things on the belt in front of him. I furrow my brow and wonder if this atrocity will be allowed and as I am trying to put together a mild rebuke in Turkish without coming across too condescending, yet forceful, I notice a young child to my right. The bright eyed youngster is holding, excitedly, two packages of chocolate pudding mix. Dad with double the allowed number of items already waves him in to bring the total up to a cool dozen. Then, as the lady behind the register starts to explain to the man that he can't have that many items, his loving wife shows up with an armful of other assorted goodies. The register lady says what I assume is the required and rehearsed speech in this situation and then proceeds to ring him up like nothing was wrong. I was appalled that a man with close to 20 items would try to check out in the "express" lane, more appalled that the company representative manning the retail goods and services invoice calculating station would allow such a travesty, and even more appalled, flabbergasted, really, that the man would have the nerve to pay for his quadruple the limit purchase with a stinkin credit card.

Case #3 The Anti and the Botanist bought a bunch of groceries at the same time (and went through the appropriate lane). But, for whatever reason, the bar code on the cheese they wanted to buy wasn't recognized by the scanner. So, what to do? Punch it in manually? Trust the consumer to tell you the stated price? Or, wait for five to ten minutes, then call a stocker from the warehouse, wait for him another five or ten minutes, explain to him the problem, send him to find either a new pack of cheese or the proper price, ring up the next three customers, continue to wait, close down your register, leave on your dinner break, and leave the foreigners waiting indefinitely for a strange warehouse worker to come back with the cheese that the foreigners haven't actually paid for yet? If you guessed the last one, you'd be correct. The only positive that came out of that whole deal was that I got to break open the Berliners a little earlier than I would've otherwise.

Me make fire. Me eat meat. Me man.
For all these, and a few other reasons, I really missed the mountains today. Yesterday, my two roommates and I took off for the hills. Since it was a holiday, none of has work to do, nor any family to spend the day with, we decided to do something. I talked them into going into the mountains to find snow to play in. We invited some other men, but in the end, it was just us. I was busy Wed night, so I just set my alarm for 9:30, expecting my roommates to wake me up earlier since, surely, we'd be on the road by then. In actuality, I had to wake up one of my roommates and the other was making himself breakfast when I finally got up. We didn't leave the house until after 10, giving us a short day to work with. But, no worries, we still had a blast in the time we had. The ride up was an adventure in itself. My roommate has a new car (twenty years old, but new to him) and had never driven it outside of the city. In fact, he had never driven any car outside of an urban setting. We might have fish tailed once or twice. We may have drifted dangerously close to the opposite shoulder after a turn or two. Special K may have let out a few of his patented wooooooooow's. But getting there is half the fun, right? It became obvious that the snow was just out of reach after we had been driving for almost 2 hours. I thought we would find it at the top of a pass and when we got there we noticed that the snow was actually on the next set of peaks. We were one valley away. But the roads were all dirt roads already, we didn't really know how to get there, and there was no telling how long it would've taken us to get over to it. So instead, we made a picnic.

We just pulled off the side of the road, parked, and made a fire in someone's plowed field. We made a small fire ring and collected firewood. I explained the basics of fire making to the guys and we lit'er up. All there was to work with was pine, so the fire burned fast and cool and made a lot of smoke. But it was good enough for us to cook some Turkish sausage, peppers, and tomatoes. We cut open some loaves of bread and had us a half meater sandwich (Get it? Half meter, meat. Oh well.). We sat around that fire for the rest of the day. We shared stories from our lives. We discussed what was going on in our lives today. We tried to solve the problems of the local church. We dreamed big dreams about seeing this city and this country reached with the Gospel. We told funny stories and some really personal struggles.

There's just something about sitting around a fire with other men that bonds you to them. I can't think of too many other times and places in life that you would just sit in one place and talk and yet never feel bored. Staring into the flames dancing around. Breaking twigs and feeding them to the fire. Poking at the coals with your stick, which you found and whittled to your own liking. It's nothing special, and yet at the same time, such a magical time. Up there in the peaceful countryside bathed in warm sunshine and being watched over by the majestic mountains, time stood still for a while. We weren't English teachers or Turkish tutors or out of work bums. We weren't the guys in church that everyone just laughs at. We weren't at home alone, bored and lonely. We didn't have to hear about how we were coming up short or what was expected of us next. There were no deadlines, no meetings, no place to be except there. It was wonderful.

Though we never found snow and I never got the solitude I was looking for, getting away with those two guys in that field is a memory that I will always cherish. It was a special time spent with two special men. They are incredible people, living incredible lives here, in an incredible place. As Christmas approaches, things have become extremely busy. I have every day planned until I leave for my long-awaited vacation to Italy (more on that later).

Happy Holidays to all of you! (Even if I don't remember which country you live in.)
I may not get to really take time to post my thoughts again like this, so I want you all to know that even though I miss my friends something terrible at times, I am happy. I am glad to be here and glad to be working, living, and worshipping with the people that I have been given. The family I have been given here (the Vs) can't be replaced. The team I get to work with is a great blessing. The church I get to serve with is truly a small and growing portion of the body of Christ. This Christmas is going to be one of the best ever for me. Though I miss Gouge and Paul. Though I wish I were sitting around Ginger's table. Though I wish I could get the apple and orange and peppermints that my Grandma always put in our stockings. Though I can only imagine how excited my little pup Allie is to get her new bone. Though I won't be listening to Dr. Winburn give one of his classic sermons. Though my Dad will probably still be working on Christmas Day again this year. And though I have yet to sing a Christmas hymn this year, in English, I am excited about the holidays. We have a lot of fun, exciting, and worshipful events coming up in the next few days. I hope and pray that you all have as much fun and laughter as I have over these few days. I hope and pray that you all are blessed and loved as much I as I will be over these next few days. And I hope and pray that you all will see God anew, and worship the Saviour who left His place in the heavens to be born a helpless babe in a dirty manger, as much I believe I will over the next few days.

God bless you all and have a Merry Christmas.

(Pictures from the snow hunt will be coming and I will try to have some holiday pictures to post too, since these pictureless posts are getting old. Also, flabber gasted, separately, is underlined in red as being misspelled. But flabbergasted together seems to be correct, in case you were wondering.)

Nifty Little Counter, The Cold, Freedom from Stuff

2007-12-16T22:30:00.000+02:00

I added this neat little deal on the left hand side to see where all my readers come from. I know that I don't get the traffic that some of my blogging buddies get, but I always wonder who reads my blog and where they come from. I've already had one hit from Malaysia! I can't say that I know who it is off the top of my head (My apologies Malaysia!), so that's exciting.

In other news, it's still cold here. After summer temps lasting through October, it's gotten cold fast. I know, I know. It's winter, it's supposed to be cold. I agree. But up until yesterday, we had had rain every day for the better part of two weeks. I love this type of weather in America. Whenever I walk outside in that cold drizzle with the low clouds and a slight breeze, I can't help but look to the horizon for that group of widgeon (ducks) coming up the river. I have this incredible urge to go stand in knee deep water before daylight and slowly and precisely place the little plastic decoys in their hospitable formation. To see Orion, my only hunting partner on many mornings, holding his post, steadily gazing off to the horizon, looking for that first flock of wood ducks. It really makes me miss the rivers, swamps, and ponds of home. Plus, it's ALWAYS cold here. The concrete houses, tile floors, and lack of good indoor heating means that I am colder inside my house than I am outside of it. A lot of nights I can see my breath as I type out these updates. I'm not really looking for pity, just venting a little.

And lastly, just a few thoughts on stuff. As Christmas approaches, we Americans inevitably think of presents. We do the nice thing and make long lists of things to get others. I enjoy the process of thinking of everyone, trying to decide what they'd really be excited over, and then the search through the narrow streets of downtown and the bright shops at the mall to find that perfect gift. But I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't just as excited about what I'd be getting. Even here, where I've been stripped of most of my most loved hobbies (like duck hunting), I still long for new things. But why, I wonder.

I don't know why I am so hung up on stuff. I know people here that live in one room apartments. Not one bedroom, just one single room. Everything they own can be put in the back of a station wagon. They live happy lives. They lack nothing. Why do I, with all my cool toys and nice clothes, continue to long for new things? Why do I feel the need to have the nicest of this or the newest of that? Even after I find the answer to these questions about myself, I still have to figure out why I judge the people I meet by what they have or what they wear. It frustrates me. I think back to my time at Clemson when, for the most part, I was the poor college kid. I didn't wear trendy clothes. I didn't have a car for a year or so. Yet I didn't really care. I can't remember ever lacking anything or wanting anything that I couldn't have. Where has that attitude gone? Do I feel like I need to look good now that I'm a professional? That may be legitimate to some degree. But why does that same attitude have to set my standards for others? In short, why do I judge my own worth or the worth of those around me by the stuff they own? People are more than the things they have collected. Sadly, considering all that I have and the attitude I have towards it, I may be less.

God gave you style, he gave you grace.

2007-12-15T10:34:00.000+02:00

Lots of things to write about, but they're all jumbled. So here they come.

We had another installment of our Global Cafe last Friday night. It was a smashing success, I thought. We had some fun games planned, but I was a little nervous. They were kind of simple games, but at the same time, I was worried that they may be too advanced for some people. Plus, I was afraid that they may be too childish. But, they turned out to be great. I will admit, I love a good group game. I made another friend in the English teaching department at the university. Hopefully that will develop into something that I can call a friendship and open doors to a new niche for me out there.

That day was one to really remember too. Zach and I had lunch with one of the most interesting people I have ever met in my life. He's a guy that we met through our weekly basketball game. He actually used to play pro ball here in Turkey, but was forced out because he was translating socialist books into Turkish. After that, he went off to Canada for a while. After being fed up with the big city, he made friends with some local native americans and moved in with them. They gave him the name, "Wild Wind from the East" and he loves them dearly. Somewhere in all this, he made some good friends in Cuba too. I'm sure his socialist and atheist beliefs was the common denominator there. Back here in Turkey, he is a lawyer now. He has worked on cases for a local Islamic group as well as for the local Catholic church. He gives a lot of free legal advice, bootleg DVDs, blues remixes, and, as I found out last Friday, free Cuban cigars. He fed us a nice kebap lunch, though he just ate leftover breakfast food. After our kebap, we made our way to his office where he offered us cigarillos from his last trip down to the island. He packed a pipe and we all lit up. He had a lot of business to attend to, so it was mostly Jared and I having nice conversations, but it was a great afternoon.

While we're talking about smoking, let me say that I had the chance to smoke a nargile again this week and it was just as good as I remembered. Such a sweet, mild taste. I love it.

Since Zach and his wife are leaving soon, and going on vacation even sooner, we had a small gift exchange the other night. It was such a fun time to spend with the people who have really become my family over the last few months. It's going to be hard to see them go. But I will always have a part of them here with me.

Especially Zach, since he left me enough clothes for me to postpone washing for a whole week. I doubled the number of t-shirts I own in a week.

I know this is mostly just stuff that I've done, and not what I'm thinking. But I don't know that I'm exactly sure what I'm thinking right now anyways. I need to take a little time and sort through it all. I have a lot of joy in my heart right now. I love this country and this city. I love the people I know here. I am really looking forward to seeing Italy soon (more to come on that). I am ready to meet God all over again.

And I'm late.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-12-04T18:54:00.000+02:00

The bookmark that Cynthia stuck in the Bible she gave me. The Bible is here with me, in pieces. The bookmark, too, has seen better days.
No, I'm not trying to get a second birthday. Gouge already beat me to that trick. I'm just celebrating my "REBirth-day." After a couple years of watching a group of strange high school kids act out their faith, countless hard questions and emotional conversations with a special girl, and reading through the dusty Bible I found in my house, I finally gave my life to Jesus on Dec. 2nd of 1999.

I was driving home from work on interstate 77 in Columbia, SC, just crossing under the Percival Rd. exit sign when the truth of my sin and Christ's redemptive work became real to me. I remember the first words that I really heard from God and the first words God really heard from me. I said, "I'll never get this life right. I can't do this." God said back, "No you can't. Just give it all over to me." The only response I could give was, "You're right. I give it all to you. I can't do this anymore. Not alone."

That's how it started.

Since then it's been a wild and beautiful ride. I've conquered sin and felt conquered by it. I've felt close to God and far from him. I've been a part of great things and been a part of active rebellion. Daily it's a struggle.

We're asked to believe so many contradictions. God chooses us and we choose God. Jesus was fully man and Jesus was fully God. I am a sinner and I am righteous. So many times I feel that one of these "opposites" is pulling me. I think about myself now and it's really easy to see myself as a sinner. There are a lot of times when it is really hard for me to see myself as righteous. In the same way, I hear almost everyday about how Jesus was just a man. And though it is true that he was a man, he wasn't JUST a man. And during this time of year, when my spiritual birthday comes around, I look back on my life and my story. And sometimes I can't draw a clear line between what I chose and what chose me.

But that's what gives me comfort. Knowing that the God I worship is far more wise than I am helps me trust in his perfect plan. I didn't know what that plan was on Dec. 1st, 1999, but I have been learning a little more everyday since. Looking back over my last eight years is a somber and exciting time. Success and failure. Victory and Defeat. Faithfulness and unfaithfulness. The only constant has been the love and grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory.

Tarsus, Ultimate, and Don't Close Your Eyes in the Shower

2007-12-01T21:56:00.000+02:00

The last tourist stop for my friends was Tarsus. I'll go ahead and say it now, I was tired pretty much the whole time. We had a good time, but it's all a bit fuzzy to me. We, again, left way too early for me. The first stop was the Roman Road. It's a road that has been there for over a thousand years. There have been a few famous people walk along this road throughout history. Here's a short list for you: Marc Antony, Cleopatra, Paul, Barnabas, Myself, Julius Caesar, and anyone else passing between Rome, Istanbul (Constantinople), Anatolia, Galatia, or Cappadocia on their way to Antioch, Jerusalem, Syria, or Jerusalem by land. Pretty impressive. It's a favorite spot of mine because of how quiet it is. It's far away from anything and on top of a good ridge. You can't hear anything from up there. It's very peaceful.

On the road again.
From there it was on to the city of Tarsus. I can't remember what order we hit everything in, since every time I've been there I've taken a different route. But we saw all the following sites.

Cleopatra's Gate
Cleopatra's Gate was built to welcome it's namesake, Cleopatra, to Tarsus. Marc Antony and her met here in 41 BC. Tarsus, like most cities of the time, was surrounded by walls. It had four gates, one to the north, east, and west, and this one, the Sea Gate, to the south. This is the only gate left standing today. Also, at one time it was right on the water, where as today, it's many miles inland.

I wish I had a dollar for every old church turned mosque/museum/pile of rocks that I've seen in this country.
St. Paul's church was once an Armenian church. It was claimed and restored by the Catholic church but the Turkish government later realized that the Catholic church had never held any rights to it. Today, it stands only as a relic of what once was. We stopped here for a quick history of the Christian church in Tarsus which is a pretty somber story.

The curly tailed S should be said with a SH sound. Very important for you to know that in order to understand the humor in this story.
Ulu Camii means Grand Mosque in Turkish. Every city has numerous mosques, but each city also has one that is the greatest and grandest of all. Usually they pick the grand mosque based on which one is the oldest, biggest, or most noteworthy for whatever reason. This one, in Tarsus, has quite a history. It is said to be built on ground where Seth, Adam's son, lived, as well as the same ground where Mohammed's personal "prayer caller" lived. On top of that, it houses the graves of a couple famous locals.

The funny story here has to do with Seth. I was showing these pictures to a Turkish friend of mine a while back. It was before my Turkish had reached it's current level of fluency (beginner-mid anyone?), so we were speaking in a mix of Turkish and English. When I got to this picture my friend asked, "Do you know Şit?" The i makes more of an E sound, meaning that he said something close to "sheet" but also closely resembling other words. I laughed and explained to him what he had said. Then I answered, "No, I don't know şit."

Under a different mosque is, according to local tradition, the grave of the prophet Daniel.
Who would you hire to excavate such a great religious figure's grave? Your cousin, brother-in-law, and the guy that shined your shoes this morning of course!
The small handout we were given says that Daniel came to Tarsus "after a starvation." Not sure where that fits in the whole exile and return to Jerusalem story of the Bible, but it's worth a good laugh. They have finished excavating what they believe to be his tomb, but we may never know. They can't open it to see who it is because the two people who have approached the tomb have both fainted. I wonder what would happen if they were ever able to open it? Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark anyone?

Shahmeran, the Snake... King?
Next we stopped in front of the statue of Shahmeran. This is a local legend that I have yet to get straight. As you can see from the statue, they depict him as a man. The first story I was told was that he fell in love with the daughter of the local king and was killed when he fell in the bath house were she was bathing. This bath house supposedly still has the red spots to prove that his blood was spilled there. However, after doing some research, the most credible story I have found is that Shahmeran should actually be considered the Snake Queen. She is mostly depicted as a half woman, half snake in ancient paintings. She was the goddess of wisdom and of secrets. According to legend, she was found by a man who had fallen in a well. She allowed him to leave on one condition, that he not tell of her location. The man could not keep his mouth shut and the Sultan heard of her location. The Sultan was ill and had been told that the only cure was eating Shahmeran's flesh. The Sultan had the Snake Queen killed and boiled. An evil adviser drank some broth first and was poisoned by his greed and died. The Sultan drank next and was cured of his illness. The man who had found Shahmeran drank last and was given great wisdom and went on to be the Sultan's top adviser.

Make that two dollars in Tarsus alone!
You can just see the edge of it on the right hand side of this picture. Right near the Shahmeran statue is another old church turned mosque. I can think of at least two more in Adana and two more in Istanbul that I've visited just like it. Sad.

The big pile of old rocks in the picture is the remains of an old Turkish bath. It was actually a Roman bath, since Tarsus was governed by Rome at the time and the Turks were still in Central Asia somewhere, but Roman baths have such a bad connotation to them. Turkish baths are much more refined.

What's that? Another Roman road?
Sadly, it seems that the Roman roads around here are in better shape than the modern ones! During my short stint with the Georgia Department of Transportation, I learned that our modern roads don't last very long. Granted, they do have massive cars and trucks driving over them almost constantly. But still, this thing is in great condition hundreds (and possibly at least a thousand) years later.

The story is that they were digging to build a parking garage and unearthed this gem. It's right in the center of the city. It was one of the main roads, this one running east and west, to each city gate. The center road is made of black, volcanic rock, which is very hard, to absorb the punishment of being traveled on. It is arched, to allow rain water to drain off into the ditches to the side. Also, the sewer system under the road is still in use today by some parts of the city. You can't really see in the picture, but behind that tree branch is a market center with granite columns. More than likely they were brought in from far away, since we don't have any granite here, for some special occasion. Also, on some of the stonework, you can see crosses, showing the Christian influence that was once here in the city. The road probably continues on for miles. We'll never know, since we can't relocate the whole city. In a place like Tarsus, if you dig anywhere for long enough, you'll find something ancient.

"They come here for salvation."
That's part of the story Mr. G was telling his tour group. We eventually found out that they were from the local air force base, but not before we got to take some wild guesses about where they were from and whether they knew this dude was full of crap or not. We were at St. Paul's Well. This is an old well in the area of Tarsus that they believe was where Paul lived. Whether it's actually his neighborhood or not, no one can know for sure. But Mr. G, short for the Turkish word for "trust," was anything but trustworthy. He was telling his tour group a bunch of crap about how the water from the well gives salvation to Christians. Ally busted out her Bible and was about to lay the smack down when we finally made contact with someone from the group. She was a nice lady who said she was a believer and knew it was crap, so we felt better about the whole situation.

Nice view from the table.
Next was a lunch stop at the waterfall restaurant. They serve some really good stir fry type stuff that we all really love. It's Ally's favorite dish and this is the best place around to get it. Not only is the food good, but the view is pretty nice too. After filling our stomachs and taking a few pictures at the waterfall, it was time to head home.

We grabbed a "taxi" at the restaurant. Actually I think one of the waiters just yelled at his brother to take us to the train station. On the way, Steve was trying to learn how to blow a bubble inside a bubble with his chewing gum. The pressure was just too much and he ended up shooting his gum into the floorboard. But, no worries, he just picked it up and put it back in his mouth. That's my kind of guy. We had a short wait in the train station before we headed home.

Again, I love this country.

We didn't have many Turks show up to play ultimate that day, but we had enough foreigners to have a good game. We tried a new field which had been lit up the week before, but my attempts to get the lights turned on were unsuccessful. We had a good time though and I think it was good for my local friends to see some girls playing. It's hard to cross that gender boundary in this part of the country. I don't know that we ever will, but maybe now that they've seen that girls can play, and play well I might add, maybe they'll try to recruit some for us.

It was sad to see the group go. Not only was it a nice break from the everyday grind here, but it was very refreshing to have people come in with the energy and excitement they had. They brought a bit of joy with them that really brightened up the place for those few days. It was a great blessing to share life with them, even if it was just for a short while. Thanks for everything and I hope you come again someday!

Changing gears totally, I wanted to share a quick story with you. We don't have a hot water heater in our house. A lot of apartments don't. Instead, they have solar powered water heaters on the roof to provide their hot water. We don't have one of those either. In fact, the only hot water I have in my house is provided by a small little box that is mounted on the wall of our shower. The water goes in cold and comes out in varying degrees of warmth. It's usually very good. There's only one problem with it... it is a major drain on our electrical system. It's such a drain that you can't have anything else running at the same time as it is, or else it will flip the breaker for the whole house!

Case in point: I was enjoying a nice warm shower the other evening. It's been cold here for the past couple weeks and the shower is one of the few places where I can warm up. I was enjoying it so much that I just closed my eyes and let the water run over my head. It was so nice and warm. Then, all of a sudden, it was ICE COLD! I let out a girlish squeal and opened my eyes to find myself in total darkness. After a quick moment of "Oh my gosh, I've been blinded by the cold water," I realized that the breaker had been flipped. I had to dry off and walk all the way out to the stairwell of our building to turn our power back on. What else was pulling the power in our apartment, you ask? Our mini-fridge and two laptops. I might've been charging my cell phone too. I'll have to be sure and unplug that next time.

Antioch and Go Tigers

2007-11-25T22:41:00.000+02:00

Continuing with the series of stories from the Big City folks coming to the village, let me tell you about our day in Antioch.

We were blessed to have Zach Morris and his family join us on our Antioch voyage. We borrowed the Party Wagon from Papa V and hit the road earlier than any man or woman should ever wake up. It should go unsaid at this point, but yes, believe it or not, we had a blast. The drive down there takes a couple hours, but it was full of good conversation, so it passed quickly. Once we were in Antioch, we had to find our way to our first stop, Seleucia.

The picture doesn't really capture the beauty of the place. The waves were incredible!
You might remember that name, but you probably won't. It's the port that Paul and Barnabas set sail from on the first missionary journey (Acts 13). The port isn't there any more and there isn't even a city there, just a few small villages sprinkled around. But there were some neat ruins.

There we explored Titus Tunnel. This is a tunnel that is dated to at least 79 AD by inscriptions found near it. It bears the name of Titus, Roman emperor who, before he became emperor, was the general who took Jerusalem and silenced the Jewish revolt in the late first century. His father, Vespasian, was the emperor who succeeded Nero, to give you a time frame to go by. This tunnel was worth seeing because it's really big (6 meters high and 6 meters wide) and long (220 meters) and old.

Approaching the tunnel. Even before you got to the actual tunnel, you had to walk through this amazing gorge.
Also of note was a place known as the Necropolis or "City of the Dead." It looked really cool, but the best part was the description on the sign. Read close.

"There are many grave. Yards can be seen."
I love this country.
Yes, that's an Elvis prayer rug in front of the Necropolis. I think it's actually funnier if you don't know the story behind it.
From there it was off to lunch at Liverburger. If you remember my quick description of Liverburger from last time (here, though unnamed), you'll remember that it was supposed to change our lives. Well, this time it was rather unimpressive. First of all, they seemed to have cut back on the mayonnaise a little. I'm not sure if there were some law suits or what that caused that. But probably most important, to me at least, is that they completely remodeled the whole place. Before it was a grungy, college bar-type place with old Coke ads on the walls and wooden furniture. This time it was a bright red and white plastic hell. Atmosphere is so important in a restaurant and they totally ruined it with the renovation. While letting our lunch settle, we strolled by the Orthodox Church.

The church has Peter on one door and Paul on the other as well as above the doors in a painting showing each of them offering the church up to Jesus.
From there it was off to St. Peter's church. My visitors and the Botanist were troopers and braved the tunnels above the church. This is the same place that we almost lost a few team members back in the spring. After crawling through these super short and sometimes pitch black tunnels, you pop out in a well that's probably 20 feet straight up. There's just a few small hand and foot holds on the way up. It's doable, but a bit intimidating for anyone I think. I have to give some major props to Ally for being the first one up (without any help from our Turkish guide that went up before her) and a lot of credit to everyone. Everyone made it up and no one really had any trouble.

Not that great of a picture, I know (but not because of the ladies). I didn't have time to take many since we were on our hands and knees most the way and then hanging on to the slick rock walls for dear life at the end.
After that adventure, we made a pit stop for some kunefe (awesomely sugary desert) that came out warm with a good glass of Arabian tea. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. The ride back was pretty chill, with some hot jams getting the van jumping from time to time. When we got back to Adana, the two guys made me proud by ordering yet another Adana kebap (their second in three days). They enjoyed their grilled meat perfection while we all watched one of the greatest films of all time... Tombstone.

And before I wrap this up, let me say GO TIGERS!!! I can't believe the score was as close as it was. It seemed like we did everything we could do to lose the game. Despite being able to move the ball almost at will, grabbing turnover after turnover, and blocking two punts, we still had to kick a field goal on the last play of the game to win it. But Buckholz redeemed himself, after missing two field goals earlier in the game, by nailing the game winner. There's no way to describe the joy I get from seeing us beat USuCk. To go into their house and do it makes it even sweeter. To know that it really hurt their bowl standing (and maybe whether they get a bowl at all) is very satisfying. And honestly, the tease we gave them, letting them think they were going to win, though it aged me beyond my years, made the victory all that more sweet for me, and all that more sour for them. Way to go Tigers! 9-3 and looking at a real good bowl and a chance to win 10 games for the first time since 1990. I love Clemson football.

AK80 (Aaron Kelly), who missed the game winner against BC last week, came up huge. His two biggest catches were the 14 yarder on 3rd and 18 and the 12 yarder on the next play, 4th and 4, that set up the game winning field goal.

Speaking of game winning field goals... Mark Buckholz had already missed two very makeable attempts earlier in the game, but came through when it mattered the most.
Enjoy a few more random pictures from our Antioch trip.

Rickety old bridge over the gorge. A truck drove across that old thing as we were approaching.
The Anti posing on the nice bridge over the gorge.
Looking out the mouth of the tunnel.
Well, I am a haus, but...
Almost out.
MC graduate-miş. These are the people I am forced to work with.
Another shot of the Necropolis.
Peter and Paul on the doors of the Orthodox church.
And finally, the streets of Antioch.

Sweet Times with Steve and Ally, Great Birthday, Merry Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T04:07:00.000+02:00

The group from Istanbul had to split up on Sunday. The couple that came are not believers and did not want to attend church, so they took off for the coast. They had a nice day visiting the Chasm of Heaven and the Pit of Hell, the Girl Castle, and the great city of Mersin. But, thankfully, Steve and Ally follow Christ and were excited about seeing what church is like down here in the village.

I had had that rough conversation with the White Guy the Friday night prior. That was the background for a rough Sunday for me. The first thing the White Guy said to me when I walked in was, "Welcome Chris, how are your Kurdish friends?" It really caught me off guard and angered me greatly. It was extra hard for me because we stood shoulder to shoulder playing guitar in the worship band. Not only was it hard because I was angry at him and knew the hate in his heart, but I was convicted about how filthy and sinful I am at the same time. I'm tired of being so mediocre. This was what I was thinking about when the pastor asked me some question during the sermon. Of course I was off in la-la-land and looked like an idiot because I had no idea what he was asking. Add to that another awkward Kurdish conversation with the White Guy and the Shark telling me that I look "bigger," and you can understand why I've had better Sundays. Special K wanted to get everybody together at our house, but honestly, I didn't want to be there.

Not with Steve and Ally, but a good pic of the best döner place in the world.
So, Steve, Ally, and myself headed for a little cafe for dinner. We had a pretty average dinner, unfortunately. I was a little disappointed in my cafe there. But what really made the meal was the conversation afterwards. These guys were so gracious to let me blow off a little steam and to really open up and spill what was on my heart, which really wasn't that pretty or encouraging at the time. They were both full of wisdom and grace during the whole conversation. We shared some things from our lives and, to me at least, really seemed to connect. It was a great time to sit around, relax, and have some good, deep, emotional conversation. It was exactly what I wanted and needed. From there, to brighten up the night a little, we headed over to the V house. It's always warm, welcoming, and LOUD there. With four boys in the house, there's always something going on. We had a great time. Unfortunately, Tom Tom got caught by the Yeti and may have gotten a bad case of the cooties. But besides that, it was a wonderful evening.

Thanks to everyone who made this birthday special.
You da man Gouge.
I have to give a shout out to all those that made this birthday really special. I hope I have thanked you all already, but I had to throw this in here. I got a package from my boy Gouge recently and it reminded me again of why I miss that guy so much. He knows exactly how I think. He included an awesome Dave and Tim at Radio City Music Hall DVD, two good, challenging books, a stack of old magazines, a nice pair of wool socks, some tasty candy, and some quality cigars. It was awesome. I really enjoy my Peru pants and picture collection that came all the way from South America. I also really appreciate the entire fall wardrobe I got from my local friends. I don't mean to take away from you guys by saying this. But Robbie Gouge, you did good my friend. It was great to get that package and I miss you something fierce at times bud.

And finally, a great big Merry Thanksgiving! (that's for you Ding Dong) My favorite Ethnographer came over for Thanksgiving this year. Having him around really made for a great holiday. But it wouldn't have been Thanksgiving without the incredible feast the ladies prepared for us! The turkey was great, all the fixins were incredible, and whatever that secret ingredient in the rolls was, it was perfect. I ate till I couldn't eat any more, then we waited for a couple hours, and had desert. I had some amazing apple pie, some tasty and unique pumpkin pie, and a little sliver of chocolatey goodness. Yes, three slices of pie. And since everyone was in the holiday spirit, the Anti-Girlfriend sacrificed some of her Starbucks for us to enjoy. I think I drank 5 cups before it was over with. All in all, it was as good of a Thanksgiving as I've ever had. An abundance of good food, great friends, lots of laughs, and a little splash of American football made for a Thanksgiving to remember.

A Team from Istanbul Came to Play Here

2007-11-19T00:01:00.000+02:00

That's the explanation one of my Turkish buddies gave to the official at the rec office when he was trying to get the lights turned on for us. With it getting dark around 4:30, we don't have much time to play ultimate anymore. But that's beside the point. The point is, friends from Istanbul came!!!

What a great host! I wasn't at the bus station when they arrived and made them wait as I took pictures from across the street.
Some of the gracious people from Turk Kasi came down for a little Southern hospitality last weekend. They wanted to see some of the sites of the Mediterranean coast and get a taste of why this area is, according to people more qualified than myself, the culinary capital of Turkey.

We took the first day to see the city of Adana. Some great friends were having an open house and we got some good food there before heading out on the town. There's really not a whole lot going on in this town, but I tried to make it as interesting as possible. We saw the Stone Bridge, built by the Romans a long time ago. It's amazingly long for a Roman bridge and is, for the most part, still structurally the same as when it was first built. From the bridge, you can see the new and large mosque and the Hilton, both built by the same man (and both bear his name), which stand opposite each other on the shores of the Seyhan River.

He gives the Adana tour a big, bronze thumbs up!
From there we glimpsed some of old Adana, including the Big Clock, a clocktower built in the 1800s that serves as a symbol for the city. It is ironic to me that this clock would be on the city emblem when it doesn't even keep time correctly anymore. We saw an old church built by the Crusaders that is now a mosque along with the Catholic church in town.

"Old Adana" could use a fresh coat of paint.
We also spent a few minutes in the ethnography museum (which is also an old Crusader church). Unfortunately, I found one more English word that I have a hard time pronouncing. Why exactly do we change pronunciation so much!? (ethnography-ethnographic, or photograph-photography)

The gang checking out old clothes, tools, weapons, and some interesting under garments from days gone by.
But I saved the best stop for last. For dinner, we had an Adana kebap from my favorite new place. For the equivalent of about $6, you get a wide assortment of salads (lettuce salad, tomato salad, cucumber and yogurt salad, raw onions with spice, grilled onions and tomatoes, and fresh mint and parsley), a nice, tall, frosty mug of ayran (think salty buttermilk), and an Adana kebap (which is something that you will just have to taste for yourself). Not only were they blown away by the taste, but coming from Istanbul, the price really just caught them off guard. The place we went to was just your average, run of the mill, kebap place. The price was middle of the road. But a meal of equal taste and quantity would easily cost you twice as much in Istanbul. I was so proud of my city. We found some baklava and made our way back here, to my apartment, for some tea and conversation. It made me so glad to have these friends here, in my apartment, sharing my life. It was nice to relax with some people my age and have some fun. It was a good first day, and things just got better. (More to come...)

Things I Hate, Tapping my Foot, Closing in on a Championship

2007-11-14T20:50:00.000+02:00

If I had to make a quick list, off the top of my head, of the things I hate, it would look like this:

1. Injustice
2. Indecisiveness
3. Rude People (that includes myself)
and tied for fourth, Cold French Fries and Warm Pepsi

Ok, that's just the things I hate at this very moment, but let me explain why this is even on my mind. Friday night, after a wonderful prayer meeting with believers from all over the city, the White Guy came back to my place to eat and chill. Myself, Special K, the Canadian, and the White Guy had a ton of laughs. We talked for a couple hours and never stopped laughing the whole time. That is, until the topic of the Kurds came up. The White Guy has been known to lean towards racism. I have been known to get incredibly angry when confronted with racism. Friday night was no different.

I said a lot of hard and harsh things, none of which I am sorry for. I meant it and I don't think I said anything that couldn't be backed up by scripture. I was angry, but I don't think I let myself fall into sin, despite my anger. But I did tell the White Guy what I thought. I don't think you can continue in that sort of mindset and call yourself a Christian. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness, says 1st John 2:9. Racism is hate. If you won't let go of prejudices based on skin color or ethnic background, then you are going to have a hard time reading the whole book of 1st John. You will never understand how Christ could die for all the world. No people group is inherently better than any other, not even God's own "chosen race," the Jews. Paul opposed Peter to his face, according to Galatians chapter 2, for this very thing. Jew or Gentile, White or Black, Turk or Kurd, we are all sinful, in need of God's grace, unable to acquire it by any good deed of our own, but offered it freely through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is also clearly stated in Galatians 2 and 1st John 2, among a myriad of other places in Scripture.

I went to bed pretty upset that night and the feeling would come back on Sunday when the White Guy's greeting at church was, "Hello, how are your Kurdish friends?" Not a great way to start the day after making a regular butt of yourself just two nights before. It was especially sickening when you consider that not only were we at church, but we were getting ready to lead the church in worship. That's right, me and the White Guy stood shoulder to shoulder, playing guitar, leading the worship service, just a few short minutes after he made such a show of his prejudices. It was hard for me to swallow and lingered with me most of the day after that.

All of us have prejudices. I'm willing to say that most of us are racist to some extent. We judge entire people groups by the small interactions we have with them. I am as guilty as the next man. I pass judgment and talk bad about Turks all the time despite the fact that in my short time here, I have met a small, small fraction of all Turks. We all do it. It's human nature. It's sin nature. As Christians, we must see it for what it is and fight it. We can not passively just let it control our thoughts and attitudes towards others. Growing up in the family that I have, it would be completely normal, natural, and understandable for me to hate blacks. After all the crap I've taken over the past year, the horrible stories I've heard from some dear sisters of mine, and watching three brothers get slain here, it would be really easy to write off all Turks as barbaric. These are easy and natural feelings. We must, as Christians, fight them. We are commanded to love all people. It's not easy nor is it natural, but it is what we are called to. With that in mind, I still love the White Guy, but God knows how angry he made me this past weekend.

Secondly, I'd like to throw some recommendations out there for all of you. I went on a small shopping spree and downloaded some new music over the last week or so and wanted to share what's been on my iTunes a lot lately.

First of all, Michael Buble.

A very cool friend of mine dropped this name to me a while back and I finally got around to trying it for myself. He's a crooner. It's jazzy, big band stuff in the style of Sinatra. It's classic music that really gets you tapping your foot and snapping your fingers. I've had it stuck on my iPod and in my head ever since I downloaded it. Songs to try: Everything, Lost, The Best is Yet to Come.

Secondly, I have found comfort in the sounds of The Fray.

These guys came out back in 2005 and are from the Denver area. Somehow, despite me living within a few miles of where they met and started playing together, I never heard of them until recently. They are a piano based band, which lends itself to a softer sound and more relaxed feel. To my knowledge, they only have one CD out at this point titled "How to Save a Life." If you are just looking for a song or two, try Over My Head (Cable Car) and the title track "How to Save a Life."

And lastly, changing directions totally, I found some smooth jams and some music that really makes you want to get up and dance in the Gorillaz.

The Gorillaz are best known for their extremely strange animated videos and the fact that they are to my knowledge the only "virtual band" to make it in the mainstream. They are not real people, but cartoon people. The music is made by a collaboration of artists under the guise of these cartoon band members. Despite that, or maybe because of that, the music is great. For some good chill music, try Tomorrow Comes Today, 12d3, and New Genious. If you want to get up and dance, try the feel good grooves of Rock the House and (one of my personal favorite songs now) 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix).

And to close things out, let me say that your Clemson Tigers are one win away from going to the ACC Championship Game. We absolutely destroyed Wake Forest this past weekend to set up a winner take all game with Boston College Saturday night.

It's been a long, long time since we have had this type of a game in Clemson. It's in the Valley, at night, on ESPN2, which means it will be rocking. I hope my boys can see this golden opportunity for what it is and not let it slip by. BC is coming off two straight losses and they are in a rut. We, on the other hand, are soaring, playing our best football of the year. Though I have to admit to being a bit hesitant in this prediction (I've seen us come up short one too many times), I am too blindly optimistic at this point to even care really. I'm saying Clemson 41 - BC 16 and we are going to Jacksonville!

The Ups and Downs of Life

2007-11-05T14:10:00.000+02:00

After my visit to Germany with the Istanbul team, I came back to Adana determined to at least try and get a team of my own together. I love ultimate, I am here for another year, there's a large university just a short bus ride away, it all made sense.

Unfortunately, all of my friends are working people. They can't take off to play frisbee. So the first week back, it was just me and another American throwing the disc. The next week we got a boost when one of the Istanbul players was down and another American showed up. We had two random guys walk up and join us to give us enough for a small game of 3 on 3 hot box. It was fun and it gave me hope that we could build something from that. The next week I got in touch with some Americans I know that are doing some sort of exchange program on campus to see if they had people that'd like to come. Man, did I hit the jackpot! We had close to 20 people show up, with only four of us being foreigners. It was exactly what I was hoping for. Everyone seemed to have a good time and I had hope that maybe they'd keep coming back. Then, this happened.

Over the next weekend, a terrorist group called the PKK attacked and killed a dozen or more Turkish soldiers in the southeastern area of this country. That led to people taking to the streets. They were denouncing terrorism, praising nationalism, and showing their support for the troops that are trying to keep them safe. I can support that. On the other hand, there was a streak of racism throughout some of the protests and a growing feeling of distrust and even hatred towards America, since we were telling Turkey not to pursue the terrorists into Northern Iraq. Those are things that I can't agree with.

We were forced to cancel ultimate due to protests on campus. Obviously, at that point, frisbee was not the most important thing going on. It's just a small picture of how frustrating it is at times to feel like you have something going or find someone you think may be interested in what you have to say, only to have it blow up, turn sour, or be canceled due to a thousand different reasons.

I got to hand the Bartender a New Testament and then I leave for a week and have not talked to him in a month. I find a guy (the Barber) that I really enjoy talking to, is a serious, religious man, and is willing to discuss things in a friendly manner, yet he won't take a Bible at all. I meet a guy to have tea and we do the usual small talk stuff. As soon as the conversation starts to go towards some deeper, more serious issues, the house band decides to start playing. I start teaching English at our church, in support of a local NGO, and then our church leaders decide that it's not safe to have the classes there. I get invited to help lead worship at the church on Sundays and then am forced to sit on the front row and play my guitar sitting down because the pastor is afraid it would make a fuss to have an American up in front of the church during this difficult time.

Just when I think the frisbee game may become a weekly staple, politics postpone it a week. This past week, there were only 5 of us again, 2 Americans, and the 2 original Turks that came with a friend of theirs. Maybe this week we'll get back on the upward swing of things. But even as I type this, rain clouds are gathering. The way things are going, it wouldn't surprise me if we ended our 6 month drought with a deluge that washed out the field before tomorrow afternoon. That's the ups and downs of life in this country.

Ey Türk Kası, sen çok yaşa...

2007-10-25T14:43:00.004+03:00

I made my international debut in Ultimate a few weekends back. A group of mixed foreigners in Istanbul have been playing twice a week for about the past year. It was started and is led by a small group of Americans, but they have drawn a fairly large crowd of Turks and other internationals from the big city. They traveled to their first tournament this past spring. They went all the way to Austria, only won one game, but had a blast doing it. They had so much fun, they decided to enter a tournament in Germany this fall.

That's where I come in. I met some of the players this summer and they mentioned the tournament to me. When it became obvious that the EU and some injuries were depleting the team, I was presented with the opportunity to play with the team in Germany. Of course, I jumped all over the opportunity.

We flew out of Istanbul late one Thursday night/early Friday morning. Everyone was in high spirits, but a delayed flight out of Istanbul bit into the enthusiasm a bit.

A rocky landing woke everyone up when we landed in Frankfurt, but we were all pretty tired. We drove for a few hours to a town called Heidelberg. Heidelberg is famous for being the place where the Heidelberg Confession was written. It has a cute little old town and a fairly well preserved castle overlooking the city. It was our first stop and we took the opportunity to walk through the old town and visit the castle.

It was a great time for team bonding and for disc tossing. For those keeping score at home, I think there were half a dozen buildings hit,

a few road signs,

two parked cars, two moving cars,

one river,

and no tourists hit (though it was close a couple times).

Heidelberg loves a hammer!

From there we drove on to the town we were staying in (I don't remember the name). It was a quaint little German town and we had a wonderful and very gracious host. We had a very good meal of sausage and sauerkraut in a restaurant that just dripped with personality (or sausage grease). Our meal was interrupted by this man though...

He came into the restaurant and sang a little song before going on a monologue in German. Come to find out, he was just giving out the evening news to the local shops. Why he needed a battle axe to do that was beyond me. After a good night's sleep, the tournament started up!

It was a cold, cold morning. Coming from Adana, where the highs are still over 90 some days here in late October, having lows in the single digits (Celsius) was hard to deal with. But all the excitement of finally getting to play some ultimate kept me warm.

Andrew teaching me end zone plays with Oreos.
As did my snazzy ski cap, which bore the marks of good hustle, and thick chalk lines.

You can't teach heart.
We played extremely well, if I can speak for the team. Everyone was hustling and playing smart. Our offense ran smooth, relying on short, precision passes for most of our scores. This was mostly due to the wind we had that first morning and the fact that one of our handlers (me) was very rusty. Though the team played well, I felt like I was out of the flow of the game for most of the day. I was always a step behind on defense, out of position on offense, and my throws just did not do what I wanted them to. But, despite my poor performance, we were 4-0 at the end of the day. Enjoy some pics from day one.

Everyone is cold, but happy.
Our cup resulted in two Callahan's the first day.
Good hands resulted in lots of points.
Rock resulted in the destruction of scissors.
Which led to victory.
Which then led to drinks for all.
Which led to everyone's Türk Kası (Turkish Muscle, aka Beer Belly).
The best part of the weekend was the camaraderie. Not only did our team really bond well, but we bonded with other teams as well. There was a team from Germany made entirely of native English speakers named Mother Tongue that we really hit it off well with. After an emotional feeling circle and throwing down on the dance floor for a while, we all got cleaned up and headed out for a nice dinner of sausage and sauerkraut with Mother Tongue.

You played well today Matt, please don't cry.
Yes, over 30 years later, it's still ELECTRIC!
They should've drank more.
I say that because Mother Tongue was our first game on Sunday. You would've thought we were the ones hung over by the way we played. We got crushed by them, and by the Junior National Team, and by Dreisden. That's right, after going 4-0 on the first day, we got beat pretty soundly by all three opponents on Sunday. We were all very tired, having left it all on the field Saturday. But in our defense, the only three teams that beat us were the #1-#3 teams in the tournament. We played the Junior National Team in the third place game and they came away victorious leaving us in fourth place. 4-4 and taking home 4th place isn't bad considering that most of the team had only been playing for a year and that their last trip to a tournament only resulted in one win. We were a little disappointed, sure. But in the end, we were very happy with how we finished. We played hard, we did our best, and we had a BLAST doing it. The pictures just can't capture the perfect weather, the festive atmosphere, or the incredible bonds that were formed during that weekend... but I'm going to put a few up anyways.

It seems that Dreisden was watching when we ran our cup.
But no cup can stop this.
We'll play anybody, anywhere, anytime.

After another great feeling circle, a shower, we hit the road headed home. We ran into some nasty traffic and had some fun tossing candy to a car-full of Mother Tongue players.

3 out of 4 ain't bad at that speed.
Yes, we lost to them.
We also passed time by playing fun car games. After a weekend being together, having a ton of fun, and toughing out some grueling games, I was not prepared to hear some of the stories that came up (Sorry Ken, but you just don't have the legs to be wearing a dress).

The smiles on our faces cover up the pain in our legs.
We arrived at the airport just in time for me and Ally to sprint through to the check in counter and catch our plane before it took off. Special thanks to the kind Turks (aren't they all) that helped us in the airport. But that was when the greatest tragedy happened. They wouldn't let me bring my twelve pack of Dr. Pepper back with me. So what is there to do?

Here's to you, crappy airplane laws.
Share! They wouldn't let us take it on, so everybody grabbed a can and toasted Germany for such a wonderful weekend.

Crappy airline laws kept the desk worker from enjoying the moment with us.
We made it to the gate just in time to toss the disc around for a few minutes and climb on board. All in all, it was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long, long time. It was great to meet all the guys and gals from Türk Kası and share the field of Ultimate with them. Friendships were born and memories made that will last a lifetime. Hopefully this is not the last time I get to toss the disc around with the fine folks from Türk Kası!

What you've all been waiting for... for a month now.

2007-10-25T14:37:00.000+03:00

Exactly one month later, I'm updating my blog. I'm afraid I've lost most of my fan base by now, but hopefully there are still a few of you out there.

As usual, travel was the first thing that threw me off. It always gets me off my usual schedule. Then, a sudden surge of motivation prompted a lot of work for me here. And lastly, a group from America showed up for a few days, took up all my time, and ran me in the ground.

But I'm back, and I hope to catch you up on the all the latest excitement in my life here.

"Technologically Advanced" and Three Things I Never Thought I'd See Here

2007-09-25T02:41:00.000+03:00

Supposedly this is how our mayor described our city to some journalists recently. He was asked why he had stopped the traditional morning drums for Ramazan. Back in Ottoman times, drummers would roam the streets before daylight to wake the people so that they could eat their mongo breakfast before the sun came up and their fast started. This tradition has been kept to the present day, as witnessed by the lighter sleepers on my team. However, our mayor wants to make it a thing of the past. He says now that most people use these new fangled things called "alarm clocks" that people don't need the drummer. We're technologically advanced now.

And since this man obviously knows that you have to back up your words with actions, he made sure to prove just how advanced we are...

See what I mean? What? You don't see it? Well look closer. That's right, we now have line markings on our streets! We're definitely on the cutting edge of all the latest technology, trends, and fashions. Just days after proclaiming our modernism to the world, we finally put some physical markings on our roads. Unfortunately, though this picture was taken a few days after the markings were laid down, you can still see the lead car straddling the center line. Apparently the people are quite sure how to use all the new technology that we have. Maybe the mayor better keep those drummers going after all.

And finally, three shockers from the past week...

First of all, just hours after I noticed our newly painted roads, I also noticed a shining red Ferrari parked just down the street from my house. It was parked in front of a really nice desert restaurant, and, of course, had it'd blinkers on. Apparently that's the technologically advanced way of not getting a parking ticket. Putting on your blinkers is like a force field that protects your car from all traffic police. Unfortunately for some of my coworkers, that device hasn't been installed in our company car.

Secondly, it rained today. No, I mean for real, there was water actually falling from the sky for a good half hour or more. It was amazing. I can't remember for certain, but I think this is the first time it's rained since Paul's second journey. I could be wrong though, I never can remember if that boating accident he had was on the second or third trip.

And lastly, one thing that I wish I had pictures to prove, because I don't think anyone will believe me until I can show it to you, but I was actually in the praise band at church this past week. By "praise band" I mean the Korean girl on her keyboard, the Shark beating on the drum, and I on the guitar. The Pastor called me up Friday night at 10 and asked if I was free Saturday afternoon. I was, so he asked me to come to the church. He wanted me to play guitar with the Korean and if we were good enough, we would play on Sunday. I guess I auditioned well because after about an hour of practice, the Pastor left and said that he would see the next day up on stage. I won't lie, I pretty well stunk it up. On the loud songs, the drum and the singing was so loud that I couldn't hear myself play and therefore I had a hard time staying on beat. I flubbed a few chords while I was playing and the Korean threw me off once by going back into the verse when I thought we were going into the chorus again. But we ended on a song that I not only really like and know all the words to, but one that I can play really well. So even though we were sloppy through most the set, we really had a great encore to finish the day. And yes, as far as I know, I am going to be a permanent member of the praise band, believe it or not.

Mixed Bag of Thoughts

2007-09-15T12:21:00.000+03:00

First of all, Ramazan is here. It's the month when Muslims don't eat from sunup to sundown. This really doesn't affect me a whole lot. For starters, there are a lot of people that don't keep the fast here. All the cafes and restaurants are still open during the day and no one really thinks a whole lot about a foreigner chowing down. It's fairly obvious I'm not a local (see the Hawaiian shirt picture). The only pooper is that at night, if you go out, there will be people at the restaurants waiting for the go ahead to eat. It kind of forces you to wait too. So even though it's only an hour or so later than I'd normally eat, it is a little bit of a hassle.

On the positive side, I'm hoping that this month of heightened spirituality will spawn more discussions about sin and the need for repentance. That's what I'm praying for anyhow. There are a handful of people here that I have had the pleasure to spend significant amounts of time with and, therefore, share significant portions of the Gospel with them. It's really nice to hand someone a Bible who has more than likely never even seen one. It's also really humbling to know that without a miraculous work of the Spirit, they won't receive a word it says as truth. So I'm hoping the Spirit of the Lord will be moving in this place over the next few weeks and that I'll be faithful in my preaching of the gospel of the grace of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

I jammed my finger pretty good playing basketball this morning. It's already swelling and turning colors. I've avoided major injury since I've been here, and for that I'm very thankful. In fact, with the exception of Stevo going through the window, our whole team has been spared serious bodily harm over the past year. We've been sick and had colds, but no one has really gotten hurt. Praise God for that and pray for those that have been given a different cup to drink from.

It's nice to be in decent shape physically. I say decent because I have a long ways to go before I'm in "good" shape. I'm starting back up at the gym and hopefully getting on a running schedule soon. I want to be in good condition for life in general, but specifically for an ultimate tournament I've been invited to at the end of the month! I met some guys and gals from Istanbul that are taking a team to Germany to play in an ultimate tournament and I've been invited to join them. Not only is it going to be a great weekend to play some ultimate and hang out, it's really inspired me to try and get a game going here in town. Maybe the next time there's a tournament close by, I can take my own team.

And speaking of teams... HOW BOUT THEM TIGERS!?! 2-0 with two pretty solid performances. We dominated FSU in the first half and the defense stood strong to preserve the win for us in the end. Last week was a long scrimmage against University of Louisiana Monroe. Our offense was clicking a little better while our defense showed signs of fatigue and lack of emotion. This weeks opponent provides us with the same problems, and one that I never thought I'd see.

We're playing 1AA (I refuse to use the new names) Furman University. Furman is a wonderful little school that is only maybe 45 minutes from Clemson. It's really hard not to like them. Yeah, they're stuck up rich kids for the most part, but it's a Baptist college. It's hard to hate a school with a mascot like the Paladins, mainly because no one knows what a Paladin is. Plus, they've always kind of been like Clemson's younger brother. They're a solid 1AA team, and because of that, they have the support of most the state. But they're just not on the same level with us, and have always, and will always, take a backseat to us. I'm sure the defense will hold their own, but I would not be surprised if we come a little flat again. I don't see Furman being able to hang with us in the long run though. We will win, and win soundly, somewhere in the 55-20 range.

But the thing that really hurts my heart, that I never thought I'd have to worry about, ever, is this... there is a chance that both teams could come out in purple today. That's right, a few years ago the boys started mixing in purple jerseys and purple pants into the uniform rotation. It was, for the most part, bearable. However, last year, with GameDay on campus, on primetime ESPN, hoping to make a statement, we came out in this:

Now picture that on the field with these guys:

And what you have is the recipe for a full fledged technicolor disaster! But hopefully we'll be up big by the second half and we can get some of our backups some reps in a real, live game setting.

Desert Bar, He's going to marry, and a Fashion Faux-Pas that Worked

2007-09-12T21:52:00.000+03:00

First of all, let me say that the Kantepe stories could continue forever. I could tell you about almost taking Peterman in tennis, though I had never actually played tennis before in my life. I could tell you about a fun game of Presidents, which may be the worst game ever invented. (I say that because I couldn't win) I could tell you that I am still undefeated against my friend Adem in tavla, but then I'd also have to tell you that my goutlu friend from the West Coast pounded me like a cheap lamb rump roast from Migros. I could tell you about all the new and good friends I
made. But the thing that seems to be sticking with me the most is the desert bar.

Oh how I miss thee! Thy high towers of cakes and thy great plains of baklava. Thy soft, white, puffy clouds of creme floating in a sea of chocolate goodness. Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways...

But seriously, I miss that sweet little ending to every meal. And since the rest of the food was pretty crappy, it became the majority of every meal. I don't think I ever left that cafeteria without eating at least two different desert items. I'll remember you fondly.

So tonight I go down to the barber shop to hang out with the Barber and the Hawk for a couple hours. I figured that I would get there just in time for chai, which I was, and get some good conversation, since tomorrow is the start of Ramazan. I got what I was hoping for and a lot more. The Barber was giving a guy I know a haircut. The Barber told me, "He's getting married." Well hot dog, congratulations. But, it's a little late in the day for that isn't it? Come to find out, he's not getting married yet, he's just now meeting his future wife. His family had picked him out a good'un and he was getting to meet her for the first time tonight. He was getting the full treatment from the Barber and then there was a long discussion about what he should wear, whether he should wear cologne or not, what the best smelling cologne is, how much should he wear, when should he put it on, etc. It was an interesting discussion and a cultural experience. I knew that's how marriages worked around here, but this is really the first time I've had any first hand experience with it.

And I think I broke some fashion rules tonight. First of all, I've heard from people in the past that wearing Hawaiian style shirts overseas is a clear cut sign that you are definitely a tourist. Given my desire to fit into the culture, I figured my flowery shirt days were over (I don't remember them ever starting honestly). But one day I was at a store here that I check from time to time for cheap clothes and they had a good looking Hawaiian shirt for 6 YTL (a little over $4) and I couldn't pass it up. I've worn it a few times and hadn't had any bad "look at the foreigner" moments yet. But tonight I was stretching it, by wearing a summer shirt in mid-September. Granted, the highs are still in the 80s around here, but it's noticeably cooler.

So why did I wear it tonight? It's a mixture of my laziness and bad luck. I haven't washed clothes in a week or so and today, when I had some time to do just that, the water was out (actually it was out the past two days, so I have an excuse for not showering this time!). So I was out of short sleeve, collared shirts. I wore it, bravely, and charged right into the barber shop without looking back. And wouldn't you know it, I got a compliment! I know I sound like a girl gushing over a compliment I got from a guy on the sidewalk in front of a barber shop, but in a culture where criticism is considered commonplace, getting a compliment is a golden moment. It's even better when you feel like you're taking a risk and it pays off.

100th Post is a Sad One

2007-09-11T00:35:00.000+03:00

If I was thinking, I would've planned things a little better and had something a little more cheery or light hearted to post on my 100th. But I can't overlook the biggest thing that has happened recently.

Crack and Miss Kitty left today. They took another job that I'm sure they will not only love, but really excel in. It fits Crack's giftings and abilities perfectly and it puts him in a situation where he will be able to positively influence a lot of young men in a very critical stage in their lives. Miss Kitty will, of course, just be a magnet for any and everyone around her. I have no doubt that she's probably got some chai on now for some sweet little neighbor lady. She'll never get unpacked because every sister, friend, girlfriend, mom, aunt, and cleaning lady that's near them will be at her house wanting to talk.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some of their stories soon, since I'm sure it won't take them long to start making friends, sharing life and the Lord with them, and having a ton of fun at the same time. It was hard to see them go. They've been as good to me as anyone ever has. Their house was always cool (thanks to the AC) and their hearts were always warm (thanks to Jesus). They'll be missed incredibly.

Kantepe

2007-09-09T00:31:00.000+03:00

I guess I ought to explain why this place got it's name as "Blood Mountain."

The place is called Kartepe, which translates as "Snow Mountain." It was a quaint little resort that is probably pretty nice in the winter. However, in the summer, it takes on a more imposing appearance.

Just about every evening, and some days, the place was shrouded in a thick fog. It's up on top of a hill (obviously) and the wind would whip through, making it slightly chilly, even in the heat of summer. And with it, it would bring this thick fog that would turn the quaint ski resort into something that looks like it should be featured in some sort of horror movie.

And that's when it hit me. With a slight play on words, a small budget, and a good imagination, we could really make an awesome horror movie up here! Turn Kartepe into Kantepe, which means "Blood Mountain," and you have the perfect name and location for a good horror film. The fog set it off perfectly. Plus, we had a perfect assortment of characters that are fit perfectly for the different stereotypical horror movie roles.

First we had BC, the Mexican, who fills the role of "minority who will be killed first." We had a couple of candidates for "computer nerd who gets whacked playing video games." Adem and Peterman, that'd be you, sorry. Then we have the loving, good looking, morally upright, suave, and debonair star, me. For some reason, there were a lot of people putting in for the role of mass murderer. Apparently there is some pent up rage among a lot of my friends. Watch what you say to ex-pats in Turkey.

Of course, like in all good horror films the mass murderer finds creative ways to take out the entire cast, save for the stunning lead character and his beautiful and faithful costar. Unfortunately, interest in the stunning costar role was extremely limited. So, due to budget restraints (we had none), time restraints (had none of that either), script problems (didn't have one of those either), and the lack of a full cast (one more thing we didn't have), the filming never got off the ground. I still think it would've been a hit and brought back the slasher genre from it's long hiatus. We'll never know.

It was totally worth it.

2007-09-06T19:38:00.000+03:00

Write this down, because you won't hear me say this very often, but a meal that cost me almost $9 was totally worth it.

Since it would cost a small fortune to get the entire V-family up to our vacation spot, they decided to drive the V-Van all the way up there, the entire 10 hours. That means that we had to cram two adults, 4 children, me (the awkward man-child), and all our luggage for the week and a half that we'd be gone into the van. Luckily, Big Papi had that covered. He bought this snazzy canvass luggage holder thing for the top of the van. After filling it up and strapping it down, we were ready.

We left at the butt-crack of dawn, at an hour when I'm not even a Christian yet (stole that line from Mark Driscoll, hope you don't mind). With four boys that always want to hear a story or joke, I knew I'd have to be ready to talk at any hour of the day, even if I wasn't totally conscious. But honestly, it was really a great ride. The boys were, as usual, extremely well behaved. And to make things better, they brought this monster pillow that I quickly bear hugged and collapsed on for the entire drive to Ankara.

And that's where the heaven's opened their gates and let the blessings come pouring out... all for just $9. Arby's. God bless that man, or woman, that invented the roast beef sandwich. It was worth every dime I paid for it.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, but enjoyable. You could feel the excitement building as we climbed the hill to Blood Mountain.

Kickoff in Death Valley

2007-09-04T02:56:00.000+03:00

I just want to say here, quickly, that I am so excited that I've already had to run to the bathroom once and feel almost sick to my stomach because of nerves. Clemson is about to kickoff the 2007 football season in Death Valley against Florida State.

Optimism is high. Expectations may be even higher. With that in mind, and knowing my mental state, I'll have to say that this is probably not the most well thought out post I've ever put on here, but it's probably better than the one after the BC game last year.

I'm saying it now, we BLOW OUT FSU tonight. 37-17. You heard it here first.

We also go undefeated and beat USC 120-3 in the national championship game, but that's for later.

GO TIGERS!!!

Blood Mountain

2007-09-01T13:30:00.000+03:00

I spent this past week at a place that I'll affectionately, and fearfully, refer to as "Blood Mountain." That's not it's actual name, but if you could've seen the fog rolling in on it's cold breeze, you'd understand. It wasn't a place for the faint of heart.

Besides the eerie cloud effects on almost a nightly basis, you had the food. There is only so many ways that you can prepare chicken and rice, and trust me, this place tried them all. We also had packs of wild dogs that roamed the premises. Big dogs, little dogs, short legged dogs, long haired dogs, we had them all. And as bad as the main dishes were, the desert line at this place was phenomenal. I put this in the "dangerous" section because of the impact it may end up having on my dental hygiene and body mass index.

On the positive side, we got some great time to fellowship with people from all over the country. Seeing old friends and meeting new friends was by far the best part of the week for me. We also got some solid teaching from our leadership, which is comforting and challenging. Singing songs in English, especially some classic hymns, is a blessing that I don't get very often. And the wonderful people from the States brought cookies and snacks that you just can't get anywhere around here. Oh, and don't forget about free afternoons! Time to nap, chat, and play should be a part of every day.

I need to get out of the house and go visit the Barber and some other friends. But rest assured that there are plenty of stories to be told. Tonight, as I hopefully listen in on the beginnings of the college football season, I will try to pass on a story or two.

My Stats For the Past Week

2007-08-20T23:38:00.000+03:00

In the past week, I've had some great and some not so great times in the sports arena.

First of all, soccer. My teams were 2-1 this week, with one big win, one close win, and one bad loss. I had a single goal in the first game, two goals in the second game, and a single goal in the third game. I will say that there were a few near misses. A few that just missed the post or hit the post. There were also a few other near misses, as in, nearly missing the ball entirely. I have heart. Unfortunately, you play soccer with your feet, not with your heart. And my feet just don't do what I tell them to sometimes. I feel like I am beginning to understand the flow and strategy of the game, but I have yet to find the skill to implement the great ideas I have. Because of that, I think my turnover to assist ratio is a little off at the moment. But despite my short comings, I continue to give it a 110%

Basketball was a different story this week. I was wore out! For some reason last week, I just did not sleep good. Every day last week I was either up late, waking up early, or both. Come Saturday morning, I had nothing left in the tank and it showed. I'm usually about a 75-80% shooter from the 15-20 foot range, but I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn this week. We played three "halves" and the first and third halves I was ice cold. I did hit a streak in the second half and saved my stats and got our team back in the game momentarily. But in the end, it was just too much. Not enough sleep on my part, good ball movement and hustle on the other team's part, and a lack of defense and conditioning on my team's part proved to be too much to overcome. In the end, despite having a one man advantage, we lost.

In other news, I was 5-1 in backgammon last week and undefeated (3-0) on XBox football on my last trip to the V house.

And since I've been talking sports for the whole post, I thought I'd include something for the ladies. Here's looking at you Lane Marie.

The Big Anniversary

2007-08-14T13:47:00.001+03:00

As of Sunday, August 12th, I've officially been in this country for a year. To sum up how it feels, I will steal a little from a guest we had.

We had a volunteer group come to visit our church for a while. The big group left and four people stayed behind, three girls and one guy. The guy stayed here in our apartment. Last week, as their time was winding down, I asked him how he was feeling. This was his reply:

"I'm tired, HOT, and bored. I don't feel like we've done anything the whole time we've been here. This language is hard. The people are hard. I've been sick on and off the whole time. I'm the only single guy and I am staying way over here, apart from the group. I'm lonely and I just want to go home."

You know, unfortunately, that's the way it is somedays. I ain't going to lie and say that everyday that I'm here I'm just juiced about the opportunities I have. Some days I would gladly trade them for a little AC and a chalupa. Our guest really summed up how I feel a lot of times.

But unfortunately for our friend, he doesn't get to see the other side of life here. He didn't go with me downtown Friday (though I offered) when I got to share the Gospel with the Bartender. He asked for a Bible, which I will take down there sometime this week. He never went down to the barber shop to see how the Barber and the Hawk like to goof off when nobody's in the shop. He never got to the point of juggling four or five suffixes on the end of the same word. He didn't go out to eat with me, the Anti-girlfriend, Miss Kitty, the Botanist, and Crack the other night. He didn't have a family like the Vs to go hang out with.

You can spend days listing things about this place and this time that have been hard, discouraging, uncomfortable, and just plain unwanted. But you can spend just as much time listing things that I would've never seen, heard, said, or experienced anywhere else.

I would've never sweated through 130+ degree weather without an AC. But I also would've never put a Bible in the hand of a man who has never even seen one. I would've never eaten a steady diet of lamb meat. But I also would've never been given the name Mustafa. I would've never been as lonely as I've been here. But I wouldn't have found the family I have found here either. I would've never seen men weep for their brothers who have been killed. And I would've never shared those tears. In short, I would've never become the man I am today.

The list could go on for hours, but I will stop. I have to go share a message that I'm not sure I will ever fully understand, in a language that I am sure I will never fully understand, to a man who has never heard anything like it. After that, I'm going for a nice juicy kebap with a dear friend and his Turkish buddies. It doesn't get much better than this.

Now that's a good question.

2007-08-06T22:15:00.000+03:00

Here's one that I don't get asked very often...

This past Saturday I went to teach at the language school where I have been working for the past month or so. It was mid-afternoon when class ended and I walked across the street to the bus stop. Since the temperature has been up around 130 degrees recently, I found the only shade around. It was just a small tree and there was already an older man standing in it, but you know what, it's hot dang it. So I jumped in there with him. For reasons I'd rather not explain, I was softly singing a song by The Police to myself. The old man turned and gave me a head nod to say hello. He looked at me for a second longer and asked, in Turkish, "Are you an Arab?"

Now granted, all he knew was that I was singing a song in a foreign language and that around here, Arabic is a lot more common than English. However, he did know one other thing. He could plainly see that I am 6'3", pale as a ghost, and that I have a red beard. Any one of those three would be enough to make you question my Arabness. But there was something, and God only knows what, that made this guy wonder.

Oh Sweet Jesus

2007-07-27T08:31:00.000+03:00

For some reason or another, most likely my tattoo, I have picked up the name "Jesus Christ" from one of the guys we play basketball with. He's a great guy who means no disrespect by it, which is hard to believe since he's a socialist and an atheist. But I genuinely believe him when he says that he respects us and respects Jesus and his teachings. It still doesn't take away from the comedy of it all.

And things reached a new level last weekend. It was hot as blazes in the gym, yet we still managed to play a full court, five on five game, to 131! It was actually two games, one to a hundred, then one to thirty one. But don't forget, it was FULL COURT and at least 90 degrees inside the gym. I'm not the best player out there. In fact, I may not have been the 10th best player out there. But I can hit a jump shot from the free throw line with amazing consistency. I just ask that you don't expect me to get any closer or any further away. But the really funny thing is that after almost every shot I made Sat, as we were running back down the court, our friend would say to no one in particular, "Oh sweet Jesus!"

That afternoon, I had a headache that put me down for a while. I headed to a friend's house to sleep in the AC for the night and got some medicine from another friend and got to feeling better. I've been fighting this same battle all week. It's so hot that any time outside robs you of all your energy. I've taken afternoon naps twice this week and have been successful in my attempt to stay inside between the hours of 12-4. Today that is changing. I'm using my day off to go do some advertising in another city. Hopefully I'll get the same response from some of them!

Friday Night Fights

2007-07-19T11:04:00.000+03:00

Actually, it was Sunday night, but the action was just as hot.

The story is that I was over at the V house playing all day Sunday afternoon. I went out with the V boys and some of their friends to have a little home run derby with a plastic bat and ball. I was pitching. I forget who was batting, but we were all having a good time none the less. I was in the middle of my wind up when a little red car came driving through the small field we were playing in. He was going a little fast and obviously not on the road. He passed us and went across the basketball court where a Turkish neighbor was shooting hoops with his boy. I saw the Neighbor give the Driver a "Hadi ya," which is the equivalent of, "Hey bud, what the heck are you doing?" The Driver parked his car in front of his house and the two started jawing. The Neighbor made his way into the street where they continued their conversation. Stevo prophesied, "They're going to fight." I assured him that it was okay, the Neighbor was a calm guy, and that's just the way Turks talk. They're a little high strung. A few pitches later and the Driver was inside his gate and the Neighbor was walking away. A few shouts later and the Neighbor was now inside the gate and they were talking again, just as heated as before.

Then it started. I heard something and looked over in time to see the Neighbor take a hard shot to the face. I threw the ball down and took off running. The Neighbor took the Driver down and they were out of sight, behind the Driver's car. When I turned the corner, the Neighbor was on top of the Driver and he was pounding him. I mean, he was really driving it home. I ran over, pushed the Neighbor off, and put the Driver in a hold that I hope my FBI Arrest Control instructors would've been proud of. It was then that I had to do the hardest part of all... start barking orders in Turkish. I told the Neighbor to go home and then told the Driver to go inside, sit down, and relax. After the Neighbor was out of sight, the Driver wanted to pick up the stuff he had dropped when the fight started. In the bag he dropped were three Efes Pilsen beers. He offered me one, but I politely declined the offer.

Later, the Neighbor thanked me for "rescuing" him. I had to laugh. "It wasn't you that I rescued. It was that other guy!" I replied. Even though I broke it up as soon as I could, the Driver still had a cut on the back of his head, blood on his ear, and what looked like a massive shiner building. Stevo wanted to know who was winning when I got there. I told him that no one wins a fight. Jesus said that those who love peace will be called Sons of God. Remember that kids. Remember that, and fear the beard.

Speedos, the 4th, Transformers

2007-07-09T23:37:00.000+03:00

Yes, I bought a Speedo. It's culturally acceptable here. I am a young man, in his early twenties, and in relatively good shape. I'm exactly the kind of guy that should be wearing a Speedo. I figured it would be better than wearing the American Eagle "gym" shorts that were given to me almost five years go. I don't have any pictures of me at the beach wearing my Speedo, so let this tag be proof enough.

I bought the Speedo because we were going to the beach for the 4th. I'm not a huge beach fan, especially here. I don't like the sand, the way people are instantly nastier at the beach, and the way salt water stings your eyes, gets in your mouth, and makes you feel gross inside and out. These things are all amplified here since: the sand isn't clean and stays at a constant 1000 degrees farenheit, despite being hairy myself, Turks can take hairiness to a whole new level, and the fact that the Med is ten times saltier than the Atlantic ever dreamed of being. Factor in the fact that we're on a Southern facing shore and you have taken away the best thing about the beach, the waves. There are no waves here, hence robbing me of my only joy at the beach. Plus, I was still peeling for the last time I went to the beach with my expensive bottle of Turkish sun "screen." I still say it is sun attractant, since the only place I wasn't burned was the only place I didn't apply it.

But anyway, I enjoyed the fourth. There were 30 of us foreigners there, if you count the children. We had a huge feast thanks to all the families. We snagged some tables from a local hotel and some umbrellas and before you know it, we had a real party going on. Mix in some awesome frisbee action, American pride songs, Nivea's SPF 40 Children's Formula sun screen, three paddle boats, and one sea turtle, and you have yourself a 4th to remember.

Then on Friday night, the moment we had all been waiting for arrived. It's their war, but it's our world.

The Transformers finally made it to Turkey! A little background for you real quick. I LOVED the Transformers growing up. Though everybody else talks about He-Man or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or whoever, my love was the Transformers. I loved the cartoons, I loved the toys, I loved the story. When I was a freshman in college, I downloaded the 1986 Transformers animated movie to my computer to watch it whenever I wanted. I loved, and still love, those things. BUT, I realize that not everyone shares my affection for those robots in disguise. In fact, I've come to realize that most of my "friends" here seem to look down on me for having a vivid imagination and wanting to relive happy childhood memories in my young adult years. So with that, here's my honest thoughts on the movie.

It was horrible. The acting was bad, the plot was as simple as any movie could ever have. The special effects weren't all that great. They changed too much. There were too many humans. The robots didn't have enough personality. I could go on and on. The biggest thing is that the changes they made in the characters were not necessarily for the positive. With the exception of Optimus, almost all of the characters, when transformed into Robots, looked horrible. In fact, I thought it was weird how they rarely showed the Decepticons in anything but fight scenes, where the action was too quick to really get a good look at them. Secondly, the draw of the movie is the fact that it's about the Transformers, not the humans. There were too many human story lines in the movie. Focus on the robots. That's what people are coming to see. If they wanted to see preteen love stories they would've gone to watch the next Olsen twins movie. Also, stick with the story line of the original series. You don't have to reinvent the story, it was good already. And the fact that you avoided what was probably the second biggest conflict of the whole series is disappointing. Besides the Optimus vs. Megatron feud, the next biggest conflict of the cartoon series was the relationship between Megatron and Starscream. Starscream's character was changed way too much, was barely mentioned in the film, and their story line was avoided entirely with the exception of a one liner from Megatron. Unacceptable. You're making a movie about a series that's twenty years old! You shouldn't change that much. If the story wasn't good, people would've quit watching and caring long ago. Stick with what you've been given. And I guess that's what bothers me the most. This movie was set up to be a huge success. There are TONS of fans like myself. Young adults that remember watching the cartoon as children and are nostalgic about the days of transforming cars into robots that defending the earth from the evil Decepticons. Everyone has that theme song memorized. Everyone knows what Optimus looks like. Everyone can still hear that high pitched squeal that was Starscream. We still try to imitate Shockwave's voice. Why was all this changed? Stick with the program and it would've been a cult classic.

But they didn't. The only thing that saved it for me was knowing that they weren't going to stick with the program months in advance. Thanks to Mark's ability to track anything down online (it's good to know an Asian), I have had some behind the scenes peaks at the characters and plot line. I knew it was going to be a disappointment. I beat my expectations into a pulp. Thanks to that, I was able to enjoy the good points of the movie. First of all, there were three things that were thrown in for the old fans. First of all, when you first meet Bumblebee, at a used car lot, you realize that they have changed him. In the cartoon, he's a yellow Beetle, but in the movie he's a Camaro. But he does pull up next to an old Beetle and slam it with his door. Nice touch. Then the human character uses a line with a girl where he says that she's "more than meets the eye." A clear allusion to the old theme song. And finally, the biggest treat for us old fans, was hearing Optimus Prime's voice. They got the same guy to do his voice for this movie as they had for the 1986 animated movie.

So as a final grade, I give it a C. If you weren't a fan of Transformers before, you won't like it. If you were a fan, you will be annoyed by how much they've changed. If you're past puberty, you'll find the subplots boring at best, stupid and aggrevating at worst. Maybe they'll do another one in a few years, stick closer to the original story line, do better with character looks and personality, keep the humans out of it, and really make a movie that the true fans can be proud of.

America, the Series- Part 3 "I've now been awake 48 straight hours."

2007-06-30T17:50:00.000+03:00

Friday around 8 am, we pulled into Memphis. It was a little anticlimactic, since we got lost within a couple blocks of my buddy's frat house. But once we made it, we said our hellos and our "I can't believe you pulled this off"s. Then we did the usual chit chat, trying to catch up the last year of life in fifteen minutes. But once the newness wore off, which didn't take long, unfortunately, for my friends who are used to sleeping on a regular schedule, beds were found. But at this point, I've already been awake for 36 hours, I'm excited to be in America, to see one of my best friends the day before his wedding, and to be able to speak English freely with anyone I meet. I wasn't sleepy.

So instead I volunteered to help Paul move into his new apartment. He already had everything loaded in the big Uhaul, so it was just a matter of driving over to the new place and moving the stuff in. The Turk decided to come too, for no apparent reason. After a short, maybe 20 minutes, panic, when Paul thought he had lost the keys to the truck and I had to find them for him, we were off. His new apartment was on the third floor and the Memphis heat and humidity had already descended upon us. It felt like we were moving furniture around in a hamam. Paul had to go do the paperwork on the apartment, leaving me as the only truly able bodied man in the group. It only took a couple hours, but in the heat, and with me being the only one really doing any heavy lifting, it went by slowly.

After moving, we hit the showers, and then we hit lunch! It was my pick, since I'm the foreigner now. Mexican or Chick-fil-a were my requests, and there was a Mexican restaurant nearby! It didn't take long to put away four baskets of chips, two bowls of cheese dips, four bottles of salsa, and four Dr. Peppers. That was before we ordered. The over/under was set at a dozen Dr. Peppers, for those placing bets on my drinking habits. I didn't quite make that mark due to the peculiar habit I've picked up from Turks of not drinking while you eat.

Once I was full on burritos and refried beans, we headed to the tux shop to pick up the duds. I'll just go ahead and admit, I was pimped out. I look good in a tux! If you won't take my word on it, the two ladies that worked at the tux shop will be sure to back me up. I was working it.

Friday afternoon I finally got to meet the bride as well. She was, as I expected, way out of Paul's league. She was nice, clean, well mannered, and good looking. All things my buddy Paul is not. How he pulled it off is beyond me. I was also introduced to the bride's maids. Usually I handle these things with style and class (they don't call me C-Love for nothing), but seeing as how I was on about hour 38 of not sleeping, I just tried to keep my mouth shut. Apparently I had been talked up due to the fact that I was coming from Turkey and because of my chosen profession. But having not shaved, nor slept, in a few days, lowered expectations immediately.

The rehearsal went pretty much as planned. I tried to deal with the fact that even though I came all the way from Turkey to be at the wedding, I was still relegated to being a second tier friend, not making the exclusive "on stage" club, but instead, pretending to be content with my "second stair from the bottom" placement. Thanks Paul, it meant a lot, you jerk. The rehearsal dinner was at an awesome restaurant. Steak with some sort of crawfish gravy on top. Made the whole trip worth it. We ragged Paul some, and tried to avoid any incriminating stories. It's hard to do with Paul, and I may have crossed the line talking about how he ran from the Pendleton Police and then broke in to my house through the window in order to hide from them. But you only get married once!..... hopefully.

We did go down to Beale St. afterwards, but nothing really happened. I had been awake for a little over 48 hours at this point. I think I reached the 50 hour mark before bed. But, Paul and I had a serious conversation while everybody else just goofed off. My mind had already focused on the task at hand: Making sure Paul actually went through with this thing.

America, the Series- Part 2 "I'm going to Graceland."

2007-06-19T19:49:00.000+03:00

Well, that's a lie, we didn't actually go to Graceland, but we did go to Memphis, TN! The whole point of this trip home was to ensure that my good buddy Paul did, in all actuality, marry the girl he told me he was going to marry. I had my doubts about the whole deal, but by the time I found Gouge in the Atlanta airport, it was too late to turn back. So to Memphis we went.

I thought the three of us, myself, Gouge, and the Turk, would be riding in a four door Ford Focus. Seeing as how we had to pick up a fourth guy, Hunter, in Chattanooga, it seemed like a decent option. However, the Turk thought it would be much better, since it's only $10 more, to rent a convertible. At time, I was just excited about being home. I was glad to see Gouge. I was glad to see black people. I was just glad to be there. But it became quickly evident that the convertible might not have been the best idea.

Clue #1- My luggage alone took up all free space in the trunk when the top was down, meaning that there'd be no way to get three more guy's stuff in there and still ride with the convertible open.

Clue #2- When I noticed that Gouge's knees were pretty much in the back of the Turk's seat. This worried me because I have Gouge by a few inches and because the Turk was the shortest one of us all, therefore his seat was the farthest forward. I knew that once someone else got in the front, and I was in the back, it'd be uncomfortable.

Clue #3- I was in the front seat, with no one behind me, and it still didn't provide adequate leg room. I began to miss my big red limousines immediately.

But the ride wasn't that bad. The Turk and I discussed Turkish politics, which is complicated enough to make most foreign diplomats suck their thumbs, Turkish culture, and all it's wonderful intricacies, and finally, Turkish cuisine. I had brought home a few bottles of Cukurova's finest salgam for everyone to try. It was a big hit. Kind of a like a left hook to the jaw.

Just west of Nashville we decided to stop for some grub. I was on about hour 20 of being awake and had eaten nothing but airline food in that time span. Needless to say, I was in need of some Waffle House!

That's pretty much what it looked like. Oh, the heart warming glow of that yellow sign! Oh, the smell of greasy foods upon greasy foods being cooked, served, and eaten! Oh, the slurred ebonics of our distinguished chef and hostess! I was finally, and truly, home.

Only one problem, they were cleaning the grill. No biggie, we'll all get a waffle, drown that baby in syrup, and drink Coke with free refills like it's going out of style. About half way through our dinner, the nightly entertainment began.

It seems that one big, fine woman was upset with her romantic interest and decided they needed to talk about it outside. Unfortunately, sometimes talking just doesn't solve all your problems. The lady threw down on this guy. She was wailing on him, throwing punches, slapping, and clawing. She threw her keys at the dude, her cell phone, her weave (well, maybe not), but you get the idea. When the poor guy finally made it into his car, she started to pound it. She gave it numerous, perfectly formed, mule kicks. And she left her mark. There must have been at least two or three big dents in the side of this guy's car. He had to leave with a couple hundred dollars worth of body damage to his car, a few days worth of scratches and bruises to his own body, and the knowledge that his boo was eating waffles with some other dude while he had to drive to IHOP with his tail tucked between his legs.

The waffle itself was worth the money. It was great to get free refills for the first time in a long while. And the after dinner show was more than I could've ever asked for. We paid our bill and hit the road before the real fireworks started. At the rate we were going, we would be pulling into Memphis just after sunrise.

Part 1 of the "America Series"

2007-06-14T09:11:00.000+03:00

I'm going to try and unravel the twisted chords that make up my trip to America. The fine details of international travel are hard to recollect in the moment, but careful reflection afterwards allows a person the opportunity to replay the scenes again and again in their mind in order to catch every small detail. It also gives me a chance to embellish it a little. So until something cool happens here that's worth talking about, I'll share some of my stories from my trip home. Enjoy.

So first, when I get to New York, I was greeted by two very rude people. In fact, the very first person I talked to on American soil was rude to me. It was the guy behind the customs desk. I am in the American citizens line. I slide the guy my American passport. I speak to the guy in American English. He asks me, again in his New Yorker English, "Where you from?" I respond, in my more refined, but very much Southern English, "I'm coming from Turkey." "Oh yeah," he replies, "you speak English?" "Yes sir, I do," you jerk. Does it sound like I speak English? I mean, I'm in the American citizen line, he's holding my American issued passport, and I'm speaking English with him in a perfect Southern accent. Give me a break. Then he reads my shirt. "Dave Matthews, who's that?" he asks. "It's a favorite singer of mine." "Oh yeah, do you sing?" "Not real good." "That's too bad," in his perfectly obnoxious New York accent. At that point, I was ready to turn around, get back on the plane, and go back to Turkey. Looking back, I should've expected it, being in New York and all, but it just ticked me off. Nobody in Turkey would've been that rude. Why are the people in my own country, that speak my own language, and understand my own culture the ones that are rude to me?

After I had made my way over to the other airport, I had to go through security again. Remember, I've already been through security twice. Once in Adana, which is pretty minimal, but then again in Istanbul, which was a pretty tight security check, since it was a flight into NY. They wouldn't let this one guy bring two beers on board the plane, so I watched him chug what looked like two 40s of some Russian beer right there in line. He was much happier a few minutes later. But anyways, I check my bags and head to the security check point. They run my two carry on bags through and say that they are going to inspect my black one. No big deal, probably just a random check or something. Well the guy takes out my tube of toothpaste and says he's going to confiscate it. "Why?" I ask. "Because you're not allowed to have liquids in amounts larger than 3.5 ounces in your carry on. Don't you fly?" "Sir, I don't even live in this country." "Well you can read our website, tsa.gov, it's all there." So the jerk took my toothpaste. Now, I'm sure that reading this it doesn't sound nearly as rude as it really was. Both of these guys had that harsh New York accent and were punks as they did their jobs. Plus, I was sleepy, since I hadn't slept hardly a wink on the flight and at that point, had been awake for about 20 hours or something like that.

I found out later that there was some terrorist plot to blow up JFK that same day. I guess I shouldn't complain too much, it could've been a lot worse.

So I get on the plane to go to Atlanta. We board right on time and start to taxi out to the runway. And we sat there. And we sat there. We were probably sitting there for a good half an hour before they ever said anything. Finally the captain came on to announce that there was a backlog of planes trying to take off and that we'd be coming up in about, oh, 2 hours! That's right, two hours. Luckily, we got off a little ahead of schedule, but we still ended up sitting on that runway for a full two hours. We sat for two hours when it was only a little over two hours to Atlanta. AND, since it was such a short flight and since airline companies aren't known for their service (maybe that's why they're all going bankrupt), we didn't get snacks on this flight. Nope, no peanuts and Coke during the two hour delay or during the two hour flight following it. It was pretty ridiculous.

So I'm two hours late getting in and I couldn't find Gouge anywhere in the airport. I walked around in circles carrying all my luggage. Finally I stopped, took out my laptop, got his number from my contact list, and started hunting down a pay phone. Luckily, before I found one, I found Gouge. He was standing near the exit with a sign that said, "Mr. C-Love." It was great to finally be there, to see Gouge again, and to be greeted with some hospitality!

Gettin while the gettin's good.

2007-05-30T18:33:00.000+03:00

That's right, I'm making a run for the border. The land of the free, the home of the brave, here I come!

Willie Nelson once sang, "Give us your tired and weak and we will make them strong." You know how they do it? Through a steady diet of Chick-fil-a, USDA Grade A Black Angus Beef, and all the Dr. Pepper a skinny little country boy can drink. I plan on gorging myself on all the pork, beef, and fast food I can stand. My blood pressure and blood sugar levels may be equal when I get back, and neither will be in the acceptable ranges for a human being.

So I hope everyone has a good week. I'll think of you as I'm driving down the road (able to read the street signs) and trying to figure out if I want ANOTHER Chick-fil-a sandwich or if I can find room for ONE MORE juicy steak.

Cheers!

What a Crappy Couple Days

2007-05-25T15:50:00.000+03:00

Pun intended.

I haven't been my usual chipper self for about a week now. Last Thursday I was tired, Saturday I slept most of the afternoon, Sunday wore me out, and I was exhausted Tuesday. All of that came to a head Wednesday night after the Anti-Girlfriend's birthday party. Let's just say that this is the worst hang over I've ever had without the help of alcohol.

I was bad sick for about five hours Wednesday night. It was so bad that Special K asked if I needed to go to the hospital. By that time though, I told him, I couldn't have a whole lot left in me, so it should be about over. It was, about.

But I'm feeling better. I slept almost all day yesterday and then a good portion of today. I've been up since lunch time and seem to be doing fine. The little bit I've eaten has stayed in and besides a pretty bad headache and some incredible soreness in my neck and shoulders, I am good to go.

I don't know if I'll be up for basketball in the morning or not, but I'm going to try a trip to the movies tonight. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is out and despite all the bad reviews, I feel like it'll be worth a look. I've already lowered my expectations in the hopes that it won't sting quite as bad if it's a total wash. But I need to be going. The only English showing starts at 6, so I don't have much time. The last thing I need given my current situation is to try and understand pirate talk in Turkish.

Which, speaking of Turkish pirates, I though I should note this little known fact. As some of you know, I carried the nickname of Redbeard through my time in CO due to a ill conceived plan of putting some personal ads in the Denver Post. I'll spare you the details, but let it be known that had the ads run, I would not be here alone right now. Anywho, the name Redbeard is a famous one in this country. It's actually a mispronunciation of a famous Turkish pirate's name. Oruç Reis and his brother Hızır Reis were famous pirates and in the early 16th century. Oruç captured hundreds of ships and raided dozens of towns in his time. His greatest accomplishment was taking Algiers for the Ottoman Empire. He was well known for transporting Muslims from Spain to safety in North Africa. They affectionately called him Baba Oruç, which means Father Oruç, but became mispronounced in Italian as Barbarossa, which means Redbeard. After Oruç died fighting the Spaniards, his brother inherited his position and his nickname.

King of Dodgeball and A New Vocab Word (Sort of)

2007-05-20T17:16:00.000+03:00

Today our church had a picnic. You've probably got this nice park, with green grass, lots of shade, plenty of fried chicken, and all the fixins.

Get that junk out of your head.

Think instead of hot, dry, and dusty ground that is littered with broken glass. The beat of a drum and the high pitched whine of a Shehnai type instrument (think Indian snake charming flute) is always about you. There is no fried chicken, but instead, a pastry type thing with lamb sausage in the middle. Add in songs such in a language that I don't understand and the pinky dance that accompanies these songs and you have a little bit better understanding of a "picnic."

With all that said, let me say... I love picnics. This is only the second one we've had since I have been here, but both have been a blast. We threw a frisbee that wouldn't fly straight if Jesus himself threw it. We kicked around the soccer ball, which is quite humorous for a man as white as myself. There was a never ending game of "volleyball" going on, though we had no net and there was never a mention of actually trying to play by any rules. There was some songs sung and some prayers prayed. We danced, as only Turks (and of a charismatic nature at that) would dance. Pinky locked pinky and we danced in a circle, kicking our heels out on the third and fourth beats, for the better part of ten minutes. Then we ate, and oh what a meal! The ladies really know how to do it up right. After the meal, we had a nice sit about on the carpet to let our food settle. It was here that I "learned" my new word. I hesitate to say I learned it, because I have no idea what it means. Judging by the acting job I got, it means either "grand mal seizure" or something to effect of "I'm exhausted." Sadly, it's not in my dictionary. Next time I see someone having an epileptic episode, I'll start screaming it and see if anyone understands what I am saying.

But after our sit about, we had a killer game of dodge ball. The rules: There will be two teams. Each team is made of about 6 people. One team forms two lines on opposite sides of the street. The other team is in the middle. If the team in the middle is hit by a ball, and the ball falls to the ground, the person hit is out. If the ball is caught in the air, you win an extra soul (direct translation here). Once you are down to just one person in the middle, you only have ten throws to hit them or the entire team comes back out. Past that, it is wide open. My team was on the outside first and we got everyone out in a fairly quick manner and hit the last person on the second throw. My team was in the middle next. I won a dozen souls for my team. We don't die, we multiply baby! It was almost half an hour before our FIRST person went down. Finally, they made the rule that your extra souls can only be used by the person who won the extra soul. Therefore, I was stuck with 6 souls, the Shark had 3, and everybody else was out. Sadly, I had three souls just slip through my fingers and I went down before the Shark. He made it for seven throws, but was hit on number eight, so we went back to the outside. It was here that I really came into my own. The Shark decided to just one hop the ball to me, to catch everyone off guard and to give me an awesome chance to nail one of them. Boy did it work. Six of their eight players were gone by my seventh throw. I was 6 for my first 7. I missed one guy a couple times in a row and he said to me as the Shark was going to get an errant throw, "I won't be as easy to get." Ok, old man. The very next throw he was out. One of his teammates won a soul from our weak link to bring him back on, but the very next time I got the ball, he took a seat again. We had their entire team out in a little less than 15 minutes and the last person only made it three throws. It was a dominant performance and I was named MVP. No one ever gave me a final answer as to whether it was awarded due to my soul saving abilities or my soul taking abilities. Either way, I'm your Dodgeball MVP today!