Welcome...

to our NEW threeturkeys photo website!!


Dear Friends,
We have have found a way to both consolidate all of our photos and continuously update you with the new photos we are taking now and have yet to take. We have done this by creating a photobucket.com account. The account name is: threeturkeys. If you would like access to account please email, facebook, or tell us any of us and we will share the password with you. We are doing it this way just to make sure that only people we trust have access. The site is organized so that there are themed sub-albums that you can look at. We will continue to update the site and create more sub-albums as necessary.

We love you all so so soo much,
Jessica Susan

Today in Istanbul had record-breaking high temperatures. 42.2 degrees Celsius, which to me means nothing. But thanks to DoganApartmani (a turkish variation of google homepage) I understand that to be 87 degrees Farenheit with 61% humidity. The last few nights have been hard to sleep through because there has been no breeze, but tonight is looking up.

The Turkish Language and Culture program has been taking up more of our time than I had anticipated it would. We pull some long days, sometimes 9am-5pm even. And then we have homework on top of that. By the time all of our school responsibilities are accomplished we have just enough time to eat, shower, and get a little bit of computer time. Overall I have felt pretty disconnected from my life back home considering I sleep about 15 feet away from two friends' computers. I long to write posts much more frequently than this on both xanga and the threeturkeys.blogspot.com site, to post pictures of these amazing places we've been seeing, to email and skype and everything, but there's just not enough time.

Satan has been on the move. He's trying really hard to spoil our adventure with irritation, discouragement, physical and linguistic discomfort and so on, but we're wise to him. One thought that's really been on my mind is this: Satan wants nothing more than to isolate us. From Turks, from the people involved with our program, from each other. The fight between heaven and hell is real, my friends. I'm totally convinced of that. I feel it. The war wages inside of my very body! Anyway, I'm really thankful that our eyes have been graciously able to see through some of this stuff. We're praying against it and you're more than welcome to join us in that.

I've been putting some of my energies towards creating an online photo album in which all of our pictures are consolidated. It'll be ready for viewing in just a couple of days, I hope. (Insallah!) And we can continue to add pictures to the album as we take them throughout the next 7 weeks.

It is SO good to be here. The campus is beautiful. We walk right by the Bosphorus every day on our way to class and I say, sometimes aloud and sometimes just in my head, "Gunaydin Bogaz..." (which means "Goodmorning Bosphorus") I am so blessed to be here and to be sharing this experience with my two girlfriends.

I
am
alive.

Ben var!

Really, this is mostly an entry to assure you that I actually did come to Turkey. I'm not sure how much more new information I am going to update you with - I just need to let Jessica and Anneliese off the hook for once.

Perhaps the most "shocking" effect of any culture shock I've experienced is learning how similar Turkey actually is to the world I know. Istanbul, at least. There are key (and sometimes blaring) differences, but really, this is just another neighborhood in the global community. Traffic is terrible, teenagers huddle together wearing black eyeliner and t-shirts of their favorite melodramatic bands, and students gossip between classes. However...

Differences:
Lira. YTL is the currency in Turkey, into which all of us have changed at least some of our money. It honestly took us about a week to stop treating lira like tokens or monopoly money and truly grasp that we were spending real cash, and need to respect it as such.

Time. We are a little under half a day ahead of most of our friends and family, and though most of the time that fact doens't really affect us, communication via Skype, etc. has been surprisingly complicated to arrange.

Language. Did you know they speak a whole different language here?! Just kidding. :)

PDA. Yes, that's right, public displays of affection. But maybe not the difference you'd expect. I actually really like this difference: it is totally socially acceptable for men to touch eachother here. I have seen lots of guys walking down the street with one arm around the other's shoulder. Everyone kisses, too; one on each cheek. It's beautiful.

Worship. We went to a Turkish church on Sunday. It was very similar to what I'm used to in many ways, but during worship people waved flags! Just silk scarves fastened to wooden poles, but they are as integrated into the worship as clapping or tapping feet. It, also, was beautiful.

...

Enough for now I think, now that I've proven I know how to write an entry. I hope they will improve with time, for your sake...

Buradayım! (I am here!)

I made it. Safely and Soundly. Thank you all for your many thoughts and prayers that kept me the entire way from Phoenix to Detroit to Paris to Istanbul. This is the longest journey I have ever made alone and it was definitely an adventure...

Once in Detroit, I connected to my international flight to Paris via Air France. I was fortunate enough to be assigned an emergency exit row seat, so that I had a lot of leg room. I sat next to a sweet lady from Dublin, Ireland. She was good company. As for resting, even though I had a sleep mask and ear plugs, I hardly slept at all. One interesting thing I noticed is that every single one of the flight attendants (all of them French) was extremely attractive! I recall my mother telling me a few days ago that when she and my dad were in Paris, she noted that most of the Parisians were fashionable and attractive. Maybe something in the French water?

Once in Paris, I experienced the craziness and complications of the Charles De Gaulle airport while only having about an hour to make my connection to Istanbul. I was on an airport shuttle for almost 45 minutes total! I had to be taken from my plane to the complete other side of the airport to reach my new terminal. Then I wandered a bit until I found my gate. Once there, the plane was delayed 45 min. Then, our entire flight had to be taken from the terminal to our new plane via shuttle. I think that the driver was a new guy---because we drove for about 30 min while he tried to find our plane! I guess it didn't help that there are a gagillion Air France planes in Paris. Once on the way to Istanbul, I grew very hungry as I had not eaten since dinner towards the beginning of my previous flight. I could not wait to get to Istanbul so I could get something to eat, since I did not care much for the fish they served on the plane.

Then, to my relief and joy, I arrived to Istanbul at about 3:30pm Sunday afternoon. All I could see from the plan window were scores upon scores of high rise apartments! Such a dense and large city. It has also been shock to see signs only in Turkish. It has been good practice to figure out what they say. After getting my luggage (which is sooo heavy) and exchanging my dollars for lira, I took a Havaş airport ötöbus for a 15 min commute to Bakırköy (a neighborhood on the European side of Istanbul). From there, I took the denizi ötöbus (sea bus/boat) across the Bosphorous strait to Bostancı (on the Asian side of Istanbul). Meanwhile, I received several odd stares as I lug my heavy bags around town. When I arrived in Bostancı, my dad's lovely friends, John and Mel Kittrell, graciously picked me up and took me to their place about 10 min away by car. I must say, I applaud John for his amazing Istanbul-driving skills!! You have got to be nearly insane to want to drive in the city...it is pure madness. As John said, "the Turks believe that if there is ever a space available on the road--no matter how small--they will try and fit into it!" This mindset resulted in several close calls, complete disregard for traffic lights and laws, and an exciting ride! Also, I have heard my dad say that a taxi driver once told him that the traffic lane lines were only there for the foreigners! It is going to be a fun summer, transportation-wise...

The Kittrells have been such a blessing to me--wonderful hosts. They fed me, told me great stories, encouraged me, and let me sleep as long as I wanted! I found out that John was involved in InterVarsity when he was a student in the 50s. That was neat. He and Mel have also visited Bear Trap Ranch in Colorado where I recently attended IV chapter camp. He was also president of his chapter like me! God must have a reason for us being able to meet...so cool! Last night I slept for a total of 14 hours (a record for me) and woke up at about noon. I was exhausted and slept so heavily that the hustle and bustle of the street outside my window and the crazy rooster down the street didn't even wake me!

All today I am relaxing and trying to review some Turkish...I have been out of practice for so long. The Kittrells are wonderful company. Tomorrow morning I will pack my things again and set out for the boat again which will take me to Kabataş on the European side. Our awesome tour-guide friend, Gurkan, will pick me up and take me to Boğaziçi (the university) by taxi. Inşallah (hopefully), I will make it by 11pm so I can meet Chelsea and Jessica in front of our dorm! I cannot wait to see their faces...it will be such a relief. I am so grateful they are spending this summer with me. They should be arriving around 11 am Monday night and staying in the airport hotel for the night.

Well, this is about it! Jessica, Chelsea, or I will update you all when we are all reunited and hopefully I will have pictures. May you all be blessed back home...

PHRASE of the DAY: Iyi Yolculuklar!! = Bon Voyage/Happy Traveling!

with love from Istanbul,
Anneliese

Farewell Arizona...

Well friends, here goes. The first turkey is off and onto Istanbul!! My flight leaves at 8:30 this morning. I must admit, I have been quite busy and stressed a bit trying to pack for two months. Thank goodness for my mom who can compact luggage like no other!

I am antsy in anticipation to leave, but also saddened by the fact that I will be gone from my family for two months (the longest I think I have gone ever!). Please pray for peace of mind. Also, this is my first international flight taken alone. EVER. Please pray for guidance, wisdom, and discernment while I am on this adventure.

Here is my itinerary, fyi:
Phoenix to Detroit (8:35am)
Detroit to Paris (7:05pm)
Paris to Istanbul (10:05am)

Once I land in Istanbul (on the European side), I will take a bus to a hydrofoil boat, which I will then take to the Asian side of the city to be picked up. My dad's good friends will be picking me up there and letting me stay a few days with them. How wonderful, eh?

Well, I need to leave for the airport now. Thanks for supporting me always and loving me well!! I will send an update as soon as I am safe and sound in the Old City, Istanbul. Love you all!

blessings,
Anneliese

Write us!

Anneliese flies out on Saturday and Chelsea and I fly out on Sunday. I myself have been battling with the stress that Mimi mentioned in her comment to us, feeling overwhelmed by all the details and feeling as if the WORLD has to be accomplished before I can leave town. However, I am encouraged that I have been able to see through the stress, to see that Satan wants nothing more than to steal my joy, and that it's really rather ridiculous that I haven't been able to simply be excited about what lies ahead. I want to be excited, darn it! :-)

If anyone is interested in writing us snail mail this summer, we would LOVE to hear from you! You are all so beautiful to us! Here is our address at school:

Chelsea Claire Scott/Anneliese Knox/Jessica Wright
Turkish Language and Culture Program
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
The Language Center, TB522
Boğaziçi University
34342 Bebek, Istanbul, Turkey

Keep in mind that it may take a few weeks for us to receive your mail.

Love, love, love,