The Great Adventure Begins

 As of this writing, I am officially on my 4th day here in Turkey. Every time people ask me how I am, I just say so far so good. And that's actually how I am really feeling now. No very bad experience yet to make me hate the country and no ahah moment as well to make me love the country that much yet. Chill lang. :)

Since this is my first time to travel out of the country alone, this was such a unique experience. I am so proud of myself that I was able to breeze through all the airport and immigration drama and arrived in one piece in Istanbul. It was all so fast and I never had the time to miss anybody yet save for that moment when I was on the plane going to Istanbul. That 4-hour flight was crazy. Many thoughts entered my head like what the heck was I thinking going on this trip relegating 8 months of my life in this unknown country where I don't know anybody, I don't speak their language, I don't have the same religion and I am totally alone. But what the heck. The movies in the plane saved me from insanity. Thanks to I Miss You Like Crazy, Slumdog Millionaire and Letters to Juliet for keeping my thoughts at bay.

At the airport, it was interesting that I have to pay 1 Lira to use their trolley (and I have no Lira yet). I am so used to getting them for free that I was left wondering how to go about hurling all my things with no trolley. Thank God there were some nice ladies from other country with the same problem and we kind of figured out how to do it.

At the domestic exit, I found no AIESEC member holding a banner of welcome for me. I circled the area twice hoping that maybe I just missed it. Not yet panicking but getting a little disappointed, a young guy approached me and asked if I am Leslee. He is Burak Yilmaz and he is from AIESEC. I wondered how he learned it was me and he nonchalantly answered, "Oh, I saw your picture on Facebook." Yikes... scary what FB can do to you huh. Anyway, he was the one who will bring me to Kocaeli and I felt a little embarrassed at first with the tons of bags I brought. From the airport, we took the train going to the bus terminal to Kocaeli. The feel was no different from the Philippines. Freeway and buildings look very much the same. I caught myself smiling when we entered one of their small shopping area which looks very much like our version of tiangge.

In the bus, I was more than happy to learn that there was free wifi. I can already update my family about my whereabouts. There wasn't much long conversation with Burak since he cannot speak very good English. But he was very nice and polite. Alighting from the bus, we walked a good 1 to 2 km with all my heavy bags going to the AIESEC office. I swear, I thought I am going to die. Burak walks so fast and I don't have time to catch my breath. I am so shy to tell him to stop for a while because he seems to be in a hurry. He told me  he still has a class that day.

Bahrin and Saide met me at the AIESEC office and was quickly ushered to the house of my host family. They were thinking of walking again. Walking seems to be a pastime here. I begged them if we can use the cab. They agreed. Fee is around 20 Turkish Lira. I didn't really care about the cost anymore. I just don't wanna walk. In the cab, I tried computing how much is 20 Lira and it amounted to Php600!!! Whoa! Distance is only a good 3 to 4 km. Actually, our fare costed 28 Liras. Hay. Good thing Bahrin paid for it. I only gave 10 Liras for that's the only remaining Lira  I have. I paid 14 Liras for the bus from Istanbul to Kocaeli. That's Php420. Ang mahal!!!

Anyway, arriving at my host family's house, the real challenge began. So they really cannot speak English. I was welcomed by Seda, one of the school teachers of Arda Cocuk Evi. She was babysitting my host family's children for a while because Selma, my host mother needs to run errands or something.

Communicating with them was difficult since basic English words were totally unknown to them. Thanks to translator from the internet we were able to manage.

The following day, I found myself in the school observing and looking how they go about things. It's a good thing that the director speaks a little English and she served as my translator. All the rest knows no English. All the charade practice paid off. I get to act what I mean and I get to undersatnd what they mean as well.

This is a challenge, a welcome challenge, and I am willing to take and win it. :)

So far, the kids in the school are very adorable. They speak to me in Turkish and I just smile at them all the time looking like an idiot. Maybe the kids were saying how stupid I am without me knowing it.

They just wait. I will be speaking their language sooner than they expected.

Food was interesting. I have been eating a lot of corba (pronounced as chorba). It makes me smile knowing that chorba is a gay language in the Philippines. Other food were pretty similar and I think it is not going to be a real problem. I just hope that I will find an opportunity to cook my noodles soon. I am so shy to bring them out now. :)

Turkey is a very interesting country for me and I am looking forward to more things this place can offer. I am also looking forward to sharing a lot of things about the Philippines.

Right now, I am just excited to have a lasting relationship with this country I will call home for the next 8 months of my life.