Snow Daze

We've had a lot of snow over the last day. It's really piling up and forced the school to have 2 straight snow days. I went over to school today and took some pictures and some video on the way. I noticed this wild dog was sitting in the middle of the road, and when I came back by an hour later he was still just chilling out. Even with cars skidding by, he just sat there being a dog. I got up close and snagged a shot and he just looked at me sort of confused. Goofy dog.

Our parking lot. It actually doesn't look too bad here. 

Luckily they sell these stylish vinyl suits for sever weather situations. 

Whoa Y'all. It's snowing.

Did I mention that we have had snow on the ground since before new year? As in....I havent really seen any grass since last year. It's about to be March. It looks like things aren't changing anytime soon. We got out early today because of snow, and tomorrow is already cancelled. We're supposed to get somewhere between 10 inches and a foot in the next 48 hours. Also, there my is this little storm cell smashing down on eastern Europe / Turkey. If you need me, I will be inside researching how to warm the earth.

All those colors are snow.... and stuff.

Just Chillin' with K5

Friday we had a school wide dress-down day. We have an ongoing partnership with a local church to provide food for refugees from other countries. Once a month we take up food and then one of the grades goes for a service project day and helps to distribute food to the refugees. The kids who bring food get to wear whatever they want to school that day. In kindergarten this freedom becomes an adventure, with little girls basically dressing as ballerinas and little boys looking very "accessorized". On Friday I went to Kendall's room to help read to some of the kids during their center period and we decided to take some pictures.

Being cute.

Being less cute.

Back to being cute. 

Me teaching them the infamous Knox neck-squish face.

Attempt 1.

Attempt 2.

Emma decided to wear a track suit today.

She is a speedster.

And Tudor somehow got some John Cena WWF slippers. Who knew they still existed?

Another day in Kindergarten! Tonight we have winter formal....ooh la la! More pics to come.

Oh school....

One of the hardest part of our job is dealing with kids who are growing up. This means puberty, awkwardness, hormones, and all that comes with it. Admittedly, it is one of the best parts. We are never in short supply of funny growing-up situations to giggle at. Today I caught an awesome one. Winter formal is just around the corner and two of our teachers are helping out by giving dancing lessons at the school. Their goal is to have the kids swinging and waltzing by the time the dance rolls around. The girls are doing alright. The boys however.... well they are a project. I am loving it, and these guys are good sports.



I love it. These kids are a ton of fun. I am currently sporting a mustache, and when I started growing it back some of my favorite 8th grade boys decided that they would also wear them. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all.

Yo it is Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day! We just wanted to tell everyone at home that we love them and miss them. I wish you all could come to our K-5 party today. It is the 100th day of school as well as Valentine’s Day, so we are having a big party. I promised the kids I would make cupcakes with pink and red frosting for the party, but I could not find cupcake tins for less than 40 TL (about $28) so they will have to settle for cookies instead. I think they will get over it because I even added sprinkles. I am not sure about how they will taste because I had to make my own icing (and we know how well I can cook). I tried to make Bo taste one of the cookies with icing, but he was a little reluctant (probably because I tasted the icing and said “YUCK!”). Ela also tried one (she managed to get it off the table where I was icing the cookies), and she immediately hit it away from her. O well. I will just have to hope that my kindergartners do not have refined taste buds (or any at all for that matter).

Anyway, it will be a fun day no matter how the cookies taste. We made mailboxes (pocket papers) to put on the backs of our chairs today, and the kids were so excited. They can not wait to “deliver” their valentine cards to everyone. It reminded me of Valentine’s Day as a kid and how my parents would always get us a giant cookie sent to school. I loved those cookies! I also loved giving and getting Valentine cards, so it is really fun to see the same excitement in my kindergarteners. I was going to try to make them 100 cookies for the 100th day, but I quit after 40 because who needs that many sweets anyway. The kids are going to bring in 100 little things from home (like cheerios or candies or nuts), and we are going to mix them all together to make trail mix. I am looking forward to having that for the next few days ha.

Well, I wish we could tell you all “Happy Valentine’s Day” in person, but at least we can still tell you. We love you and miss you so very much. As of today, we will be home in exactly 4 months. That is not very far away. WOOHOO!!!
Lots of love,
K and B

Skype Dates

We would love to talk to lots of you. Unfortunately due to the time difference (we are ahead 8 hours), it is difficult. So, we would like to go ahead and set up some potential skype dates for next weekend. If you are interested, then we are interested. There are lots of good friends that we are drastically "behind" with.

So, next Saturday we will be on skype the whole night. Those of you who want to, lets us know when you can get on and we'll make sure to be on. We really miss you all, and would love get in touch and reconnect.

If you want to skype, leave a comment saying what time on Saturday you can do it. (For example: Hey, its us... we can do noon) and then we will know to be on at 8pm. Also, you can email us at knoxesinturkey@gmail.com to set up a time. We're hoping to do this more often, so that we can be really intentional with our friendships. So, hope to talk to you soon.

Three Day Weekend Y'all!

       We got Friday off because of a snow day. Yes, we still have snow on the ground. Going about 2 and a half months strong at this point. Friday was nuts though: the temperature dropped drastically right as school was getting out. A ton of people got stuck in their cars, and actually one of our school buses was in an accident and was hit by another bus. Luckily everyone was alright, but several students and even some families got stuck at school. We divided them up and sent them to various teacher's houses.
         That is something I really appreciate about this school. There is a familial vibe, but it is more than that. It is an evolved family, because we love each other and are like minded about why we are here, but also because we need each other. Cigdem is turning into a bit of an expat ghetto. There are tons of American families that have moved into the area. At times its frustrating because I would love to live deeper in the center of the city, rather than in the southwest corner near the forest. Still, this is a great place. There is this bizarre dichotomy in play here: We live a massive, fairly modern city in a foreign country....And yet I see this idyllic neighborhood community that is reminiscent of classic Americana. It reminds me of the stories my Dad tells about growing up as a child in the 60's, where you could just go out into the neighborhood, meet friends and goof off. It reminds me of the movie "The Sandlot" where the narrator talks about how perfect summers were. That is Cidgem, and to be honest, that reality is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. We have beautiful parks here. Kids are allowed to leave their homes in the morning and stay out for hours. I might mention that the advent of cell phone culture has changed what it means to be "out on your own" as a kid, but still. I see kids who are 4 or 5 years old walking across the neighborhood with their older brothers and sisters, who might be 9 or 10. I never fear for their safety. This is a great place. I just have to admit that its so strange, but a wonderful surprise. I never thought when moving to Turkey that I would walking to my neighbors houses to borrow things, something I would never have done in southern suburbia. We all get together and have dinners, or play board games at each others houses. Sometimes all the teachers and their sons will get together and play video games one night in the computer lab. It is a blast. When the sun decides to bless us with its presence, we will all go out into the park and just hang out. Throwing footballs, frisbees, going for walks in the forest will be a norm.
       I must say that it isn't an American thing either. The whole community here (Americans, Turks, and other foreigners) all live together extremely well. We are greeted kindly on the street. The Turkish people in our neighborhood are very accommodating with my language inadequacy. On Sundays I feel no hesitance in walking a few kilometers, past our neighborhood mosque,  with the good book in my hands. It is a good place to be. We are content here. Sure there are things that are hard. Sure we take precautions. Still, we are very blessed that we are here and I honestly believe that we are intended to be here and no where else right now. It's a nice peace to have.

Newsletter Time! - Support Report February

We are jumping for joy now that we are in our second semester and completely legal Turkish residents. So, now we will be sending out newsletters via email. If you are interested in receiving these, please leave your email address as a comment and I will make sure that you receive the letter. Thanks so much!

*Also, instead of commenting you can send me an email at knoxesinturkey@gmail.com to be put on the list.

Hello. It's February!

Hello everyone. It is now February, and it is a beautiful time to be in Ankara. We still have a ton of snow on the ground (it has been here since we got back....the entire month of January). We are surviving though! Kendall, who is no fan of cold weather, has been a trooper. We bundle up and go for walks even when its freezing. This morning is was -5 Fahrenheit when we woke up. Luckily our building has pretty awesome radiator heat, so it is toasty. Additionally, we got ourselves an itouch for Christmas since it is a perfect travel companion. The great thing is that I now have a camera on me at all times to take pictures of good things and ridiculousness.

Turks love tweens. Actually this is a brand, but I think it is too funny. 

Tween Tween Tween Tween Tween Tween Tween

We both freaked out when we say honey nut cheerios. It's funny how much we value things like this now. We don't have as many options here, so it is always exciting when we find something awesome. 

Like this Schlotzsky's menu. Chipotle Guaca-Beefsky. Beefy Smoke Cheezy. Philly Dilly. 

Seeing those menu items, we decided to go out on a nice date to Hacıbaba (pronounced Haji-Baba).

Please note the stylish waiters behind my beautiful wife.

I got some döner , which is oh so delicious. 

Kendall rocked this. I can't remember exactly what it is, looks like kofte. 

Just getting some post-meal çay (pronounced chai) which is traditional Turkish tea.

Kendall in front of a beautiful assortment of Muslim prayer beads.

Kendall's room at the end of the day. 

She is past the letter R now. Please note her artistry.

She is also punny.

This is us AT THE BANK. It might not be a big deal to you, but it is huge. We are now fully documented and legal in every way and can now have a Turkish bank account. Also, hot tea everywhere, all the time. 

These are photos from some class projects my 8th graders completed in Character class. Character is a Bible alternative in which we use books and other things to discuss what makes strong character. These dioramas are showing scenes from our book Teknon and the Champion Warriors which we have been reading since the fall. The kids love it since it is a coming of age sci-fi tale, and it is honestly very fun to teach. Each of them got a scene and had to write a paper explaining the scene and the character trait being shown. It turned out really well. 

Troll baby Teknon. 

Some androids and the champion warriors on the Ergonaut, which is in the sea of Perasmos. 

Teknon and his father having a run in with the Harpax gang and their evil leader, Rhegma. 

Ouch. Rhegma down. 

I wish you could see how fluffy and powdery the snow is here. It sits on top of the branches in the marshmellowy clumps. It's really fun to smack a branch as someone walks under it. 

We've had a ton of snow. Here is an alien-snowman that is dwarfing David. 

We helped dog-sit last week. It was great, and a really good excuse to take some walks through the forrest. 

Kweezy and Seydi (Sadie).

That's like 8 inches deep.

Here is Kendall being a red-carpet model. They put these anti-slip carpets everywhere so you don't fall.

We went to a new restaurant near us on Saturday. It was really delicious, and they have these (literally) 40 foot tall umbrellas outside on the porch. I can't wait til it is warm so we can go and eat breakfast outside. 

Food here is always as beautiful as it is delicious. 

This is a little nod out there to my buddy David. David is not the most organized, and does not have the best handwriting. However, he is one of the most diligent, hardworking, and creative people I know. See this lamp with a ruler duct taped to it? It has a camera taped to it. Dave uses this to project in real time on his wall. It is easier for him to write things and graph things from his desk. It cracks me up but is super great. The kids love him, and so do we...since he teaches 5 straight math courses in the day. 

His projector hookup on the roof. 

This is a poor shot, but I wanted to tell everyone something we are doing. It's silly and embarrassing, but also really fun. We've joined a dance class (taught in Turkish) and are learning salsa, tango, and other dances. It's pretty hilarious since we are not the best dancers, plus the language barrier makes us look even more ridiculous. Still, it is really fun and we are going with some other teachers once a week. I would like to now put a shout out to my brother: "Look out. There is a new dancer in the family."

Our class full of Turks. 

This was at the dance studio, but I think I am gonna wear it to winter formal. 

This is a movie poster I saw here. I just think its funny and makes a statement about the world and movies.

Regardless of where you are in the world.... fat man + ridiculous situation + annoying family = hit movie. 

AINT NO SUCH THANNNGG. This was on a tshirt, but reminded me of something Jeff and I would say.

Also, my brother in law has a store here.

    We miss you all and love you very much. We have some funny stories to tell and will be updating soon.

 Remember: Keep cool. Don't lose your heads.

Love,

B+K