Spring Is Here! Sort of.

      We have been having a good time in Turkey lately. Kendall's class has been celebrating springtime. A student brought it some ducks and they had a little tub of water for the ducklings to swim in while all her kids stared and yelled. She had a class "zoo" where the kids all made masks and dressed up as animals. To be honest, it sounds cuter than it was. In fact, it was the stuff of nightmares. Evidence:

We're not just willing ourselves to believe it is spring.The weather has improved from 0 - 15 degrees Fahrenheit to somewhere between 30 and 50. It feels like summer comparatively. On Saturday afternoon I went outside and chilled on one of our balconies in the sun for a few hours. I read a book I picked up at the new bookstore (which rules), and sat in a little ikea recliner that I drug out there. It was excellent.

         Speaking of which, I am reading a really good book titled The Cove by Ron Rash. I have had a bizarre experience with this author over the past few years, and it has gotten super weird here. I read his book One Foot In Eden for a Appalachian Lit. course at UTK (if you don't know, southern and appalachian lit are my jam). Then I started reading his poetry, and then another book. I decided I liked the guy, but he was less well known (aka his books were hard to procure and therefore expensive) ...so it was tough on my college wallet. I hadn't really read any of his stuff in the last few years and had meant since he was becoming more widely known. Oddly, the school had a used book sale and I found a hardback copy of one of his books for 1TL (50 cents) and immediately gobbled it up and read that bad boy. This experience was more meaningful to me than one would think: I felt a connection to home, the south, and knoxville that was really invigorating. Well, the other day I go check out this new bookstore, and there in the small English section among literary giants like Dickens and Shakespeare is a lone Ron Rash book, his brand new novel. I bought it immediately, paying a hefty chunk for it this time, but it was worth it. Rash is haunting me here, but in the best possible way.

       Well, I read outside and finally experienced that feeling of sun-baked tiredness. So, I decided to take a little walk, and to my surprise a true marker of spring was right outside our front door. New life! Yay! More dogs! Crud!



Kendall and I topped off a great Saturday with a trip to the mall. We both saw The Hunger Games, which came out here in English on opening weekend (awesome). Then we just did mall stuff.

"Kindo" got some coffee and found a really great skillet.

We went through some shops, and I wanted this comfy desk but Kendall said it was dumb.

How can it be dumb? I mean, look how comfortable and practical it is! 

He is looking at that screen with such ease!

We decided to eat some "American" Food while out, so we went to the mall where you can get fast food which has the intent of being Burger King / McDonalds / KFC but fails somewhere in execution. Regardless, we are so glad we decided to eat there since it enabled us to see one of the oddest things I have yet to experience in Turkey. We were eating and all the sudden loud music came on and there were kids everywhere doing crazy stuff. Just watch.



I was complaining towards the end about my itouch freezing. I was just afraid that this video might be lost, and it is far too precious to lose.

Stuff has been pretty good lately. We are both tired and ready for a break. This Friday is the end of the 3rd quarter, which is nuts because it means we are 3/4 of the way through this year. It is kind of surreal to even think about that. Luckily, Friday also marks the beginning of Spring Break. We can't wait to have some time off. Our kids need a break from us and vice versa. Hopefully we will have a week full of sunshine. Unfortunately, today this happened:



Oh well...

Dr. Seuss Day

Last Friday we had a Dr. Seuss reading day. The lower elementary kids got to wear their pajamas to school and enjoy a day of reading. We made Cat in the Hat hats and bow ties to wear for the day. We read many Dr. Seuss books. My students also got to bring in their favorite books for me to read to them. We listened to some books on tape and watched some movies. The first and second graders came to our room to read their favorite books to my students. It was a fun-filled day, and I must say I got to practice my reading skills ALL day long. Bo also got to practice his reading skills because he was kind enough to come and read. He read once as Mr. Knox, and then made an appearance as the Cat in the Hat at the end of the day. My kids loved it. I also got to wear my pajamas to school, but my kids were not impressed with my pajamas. They kept asking me all day why I did not wear my pajamas. I am sorry to say I left my footie pajamas in America. At least I will be prepared for next year.

Here they are in their pajamas and Cat in the Hat gear.

Mr. Knox reading during snack time.

First grade reading to my students.

Second grader Irvin reading to Tudor (please note the "Rock Out" Star Wars pajamas). Also, Irvin is not wearing his pajamas because he said, "I cannot wear my pajamas. They are only for night, and I am at school in the day." What a professional second grader.

More second grade reading.

First graders reading in the "reading nook".

In other news, we finally had our first warm day yesterday (and by warm I mean 45 degrees). I refuse to wear my heavy coat to school anymore, but I was not even cold without it. I think I am acclimating a little too well to this weather. Today was even warmer, a sweet 50 degrees, and I have a bit of a sun burn because after school I just sat in the park staring at the sun until it went down. It was so lovely. I might even wear sandals to work tomorrow if I am feeling daring in the morning. I am so thankful for sunny days again. We only have one more day of snow in the forecast for this week, but hopefully it will go away. I do not think I could stand one more ounce of snow. It was nice for a few snow days, but now I do not want to see any for a very, very, very long time.

We only have one and a half more weeks until Spring Break. I am so excited. I know I am ready for a break from my kids, and I know they are ready for one from me. I am hoping this weather keeps up until then, so I will not be a ghost for the break. No one wants to have to look at my see through legs! Well, I will say good night, but we will have more posting to do over the next few days. We love you and miss you all so very much.

A picture from our weekend trip to Cappadocia. Hopefully the last time we take a picture in the snow with winter gear this year. At least the sun was out.

lots of love,

K and B

Crazy Morning

It's back to school after a nice long weekend. We took a little day trip a few hours south to see an incredible site. Taking a hot air balloon over the Anatolian region is well known. I actually saw it recently on the "100 Things to do before you die" list put out by Times. We didn't go to ride, since it is pretty pricey. However, we did get up at 5am and were pretty stunned at the site of 50 balloons floating across a terrain so alien that is was the inspiration for Star Wars' sets. We'll be back with another post in the next 24 hours.

Sakintepe

There's something to be said for the carefree nature of expat life. You measure your things by how much they weigh and how easily you would be willing to part with them, not how nice they are or how much sentiment they carry. It is a trained response to the craziness, the surprises that come our way regularly.

Well, Sometimes those surprises are really awesome. We were in class on Friday with about an hour of school left when we received an email from a school affiliate saying that he had some cabins free for the weekend and that anyone willing to make the trek up to Bolu could stay for practically nothing. A few hours later Kendall and I were bouncing along a snow covered interstate on a bus. Our friends Brittany an Michelle came with us and we're enjoying our impromptu trip. 

                          

This place is run as a sort of retreat run by an expatriate from Montana and his wife, who grew up as an MK in Iran. They are super friendly and were nice enough to pick us up in town and haul us a couple thousand meters up into the mountains. We are enjoying the view, which is smothered in about 3 feet of snow and loving the cabin which has this bizarre turkey meets mountain west charm. 

Arriving Bundled

Nice dogs are a definite bonus here. 

Brittany showing us some thigh-high snow.

Their place is amazing and overlooks this nice valley. You can't really tell here because depth perception is skewed because of the snow, but this is a really massive expanse. 

We went tubing down the hill. It was amazing.

Action shot.

Dogs like to tube too!

Kendall decided to take a nap in a snow bank. 

You can see the amount of snow the night before on the picnic table.

A great place to just relax. This is where I blogged this from.

The sun came out and it was beautiful.

Unfortunately, I am not a talented or smart man. I fail at tubing and the ground taught me a lesson. 

I will have to make up a gnarly story to tell my students. 

We miss all of you and hope to talk to you soon! -b+k

What happens when it snows in Turkey.

This is video from the GOP area of Ankara (which is 20 minutes from us in the city) from snow this month.

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.