Life is picking up

Life here is quickly and suddenly going to take a turn for the crazy, stressfull, busy life I thrive for. Yay! Already life has begun to pick up. This past week has mostly been a good one. Sunday was probably my favorite day of my exchange so far.
It began when we went for coffee at a friends house. These people are the people who told my host family about YES, and currently have a daughter on exchange. I really enjoy them, and am glad when we get to spend time with them. The mom (I feel silly because I cant remember their names) taught me how to make Turkish coffee! Its known to be an art, and I was learning from the best. They used to own a coffee shop! Following that we went to a local village. I was already in a good mood from the coffee lesson, but driving to the village- through the rolling golden hills of Turkey, above the sea- made me feel so giddy. At the village I was pleased to be welcomed with the double kiss and treated like family! This village had the same feel as the ones in China, only this time I wasnt a unwelcome tourist, but family. They took us to their garden where we picked fruit and visited. One villager even gave me a beautiful flower. After they served us tasty fried cheese things, even though they were fasting. The day continued as we went to pick up Granny and take her to dinner and ice cream. She was the exact image of how a grandmother is depicted on TV!! The poor woman- Sude kept pulling off her headscarf and jumping on her- quite overwhelming for granny. At the little Ice cream place, It was pretty funny because they were playing very obscene English music. Everyone was completely oblivious except me.

The next few days I spent a lot of time just sitting on the hammok, relaxing, trying to enjoy the out doors before we move to the winter house and high paced life begins. Twice Ezgi, 'family' of ours, invited me out with her. Once just her and me, once with her friends. She is only a few years older than me- It was veryyy nice to be around some teenage energy. She showed me all the best cafes and hang outs around the city. She went to the school I will be attending, so she told me all the about the uniform, and how to break it. She also showed me this food called Midye that is sold on the streets of Çanakkale late at night, after the fishermen come in. It is basiclly calm with rice and lemon juice served in the shell. Ohhhh so tasty!!

Culture note- Turks are always weirdly scared of getting cold and always worrying that you may be cold. AFS had mentioned we would see this, and it is proving true with every person I meet here. ' No, Sude, I promise I will not catch a cold if my hair is wet while I watch TV.' Or the importance that I wear a jacket in 70 degree weather, but also zip it all the way up. After all, I may catch a cold ;)

Missing you all lotsss, Amber