Donnerstag, 24. Dezember 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!


its christmas eve and i sit here at the office, well right now its like in the morning but still its CHRISTMAS and we actually celebrate the 24th in germany so thats whatwe will do! Lots of volunteers will be coming over today! and we will have a nice christmas dinner, Glühwein and some Christmas music :)
So iam already excited, laura and i were walking down the streets with our Santa hats today, everyone was looking at us hehe
SO all i can say right now is: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! even though its not the right country its still what you do what it depends on so we will enjoy christmas very much, because we realized that you miss it more if you dont have it and we got the real thought of what christmas is about since also miss our family and friends very much!!!
but with some christmas cookies the right company and some music it will be just great and our friends back home might even think about us and giveus a call??? you never know :)
Right now iam dealing with my litte accident yesterday lol i almost cut off my fingertip while cooking, iam just a bit clumpsy, but it just hurts a bit and it only means that someone else will have to do the cooking :D so smart move , right?
Iam sure it will be awesome! and i will never forget this christmas- this first one i was on my own :D
and iam so glad i got Laura and my other volunteer friends!
So i wish you all the best for christmas and i promise you i will spread the christmas spirit here!!!
Love, Greta
P:S: just because its christmas and on christmas you tell the truth!!! hoho

Montag, 14. Dezember 2009

My lovely trip to Germany


I also should write about my lovely short trip to Germany!
great idea GRETA!!! ich dachte mir nur die ganze Zeit was für eine Schnappsidee!!! and i was right!
Iam so broke now cause i got to Istanbul at like 10 pm and wanted to board my following plane but guess what that did not work, because iam in Turkey for more than 90 days not without having received my residence permit yet! So i was like "shit"! When Rasmus went to Georgia he had the same problem, so i already knew what was going to happen. They asked me to pay a fine of fucking 340 TL!!! Otherwise i wont be able to enter the country anymore! I tried to explain to them that i live here and have to come back but they did not exactly care and took me to some room, i was kinda scared and no one really spoke english except for the people that told me to pay the fine.
Well and in the end i was paying of course, i just wanted to go home and leave that city behind! WEll but guess what! THEY DONT TAKE damn credit cards so i had to withdraw money! nice really just expend the amount of money on my credit card cause i got it right? well i dont have any money anymore. So i met those guys while i was taking out themoney and i just told them all my lifetime story and they were just cracking up and i could not even be mad at them because actually its quite a funny story if it not would have been my money or at least not as much!
What the hell are they even going to do with my money???

Well so i boarded my plane and was soooo happy to be out of there! Landed in Berlin at 2.30 am great time to get on a 1h bus ride. Then i had to take another one, walk through the woods to my house- since i did not have enough money anymore to afford a cab! And finally made it home! Crashed on the couch and slept until my parents woke me up in the morning wondering why iam not in Turkey!
Cause i surprised EVERYONE , steffi was the only one that knew i was coming! :)
Elena too freaked out, i´ve also seen, Luise, my old clarinet teacher, Sara (she cut my hair lol) Charlotte, Astrid, Max and my other Florida friends! i love that place!
And the main reason why i came! The AFS CAMP!
i must say Turkey is really good for me iam much more relaxed now and i dont freak out anymore because things dont work that great anymore, its all about non-formal education its all up to them what they get out of it, if they want to participate and gain something they can if not well not our problem!
So i actually had fun even though they could have driven me nuts and kinda did :) but it was nice to see them how they changed from the beginning and how their german got better or not !

well all in all it was a stupid idea to come to germany but nice at the same time, i mean i had fun, i´ve seen some of my friends and family and got in the christmas mood, so what else do i want? it was my CHRISTMAS present i bought myself it just got a bit more expensive than i thought, and the fine was even more than i paid for the ticket that is kind of ironic! but oh well!

Now iam back in Turkey and i did kind of miss it! Since Laura and i have so much fun here! and spread the christmas spirit around!!! We are even going to have a christmas party in a bar later this month!!! AWESOME!
Der 27. November war ein besonderer Tag im Leben der beiden offensichtlich, nicht türkischen Mädels, Greta und Laura.
Geplant war der Kurztrip nach Mardin, einer schon von vielen Leuten gehörten, sehr schönen Stadt im tiefen Osten der Türkei. Um 16 Uhr verließen wir Ankara: Vor uns lag eine 14 Stundenlange Busfahrt, viele interessante Bekanntschaften, Desinfektion am laufenden Band und schließlich eine Ankunft in einer Stadt, die man nun nicht gerade „Metropole“ nennen konnte!
Wer uns beide Mädels kennt, der weiß, dass wir nicht gerade das Ebenbild von zwei Türkinnen sind: Beide mehr oder weniger blond, jedenfalls hellere Haare, nicht unbedingt die stillsten eine von uns ziemlich groß, also im Allgemeinen recht auffällig. Nun, das haben wir auch bei so ziemlich jeden Stopp gemerkt. Sobald wir aus dem Bus stiegen folgten uns die Blicke nur so und wir fühlten uns auf Schritt und Tritt beobachtet. Bei einem Halt, war es tatsächlich soweit, dass sich zwei Kerle durchgerungen haben uns anzusprechen. Der Clue in der Türkei: Wenige Tuerken können Englisch. Irgendwie fragt man sich da natürlich auch, wieso sie einen ansprechen, wenn es höchstwahrscheinlich zu keinem Gespräch kommen wird.
Nun, Greta hat es doch mit ihren vereinzelten Türkischkenntnissen geschafft ein kleines Gespräch anzufangen. Als sie nach ihrer Nummer fragten, erwiderte sie nur „ihr kriegt sie später!“. Die beiden lachten wohl etwas, doch klein Greta schien dies nicht weiter zu irritieren. Sie waren wohl auch auf ihrem Weg nach Mardin.
Später im Bus, erzählte mir Greta um was es in dem ganzen Gespräch ging und war schon fast etwas beglückt, dass wir ein paar türkische Kerle in Mardin kennen, denn dies kann durchaus sehr nützlich sein. Bedauerlicherweise musste ich ihr mitteilen, diese beiden schnieken Burschen seien nicht Teil der Passagiere unseres Busses. Nun, das war der Punkt, an dem sie realisierte, wieso sie lachten als Greta meinte sie würde ihnen ihre Nummer später geben.
Tja, in dem Moment schien es nicht weiter dramatisch, aber später wären wir doch über ein wenig Hilfe erfreut gewesen…
Die Türken scheinen es mit der Sauberkeit, zumindest in Bussen sehr wichtig zu nehmen. Ab und an gibt es was zu Trinken oder auch Süßigkeiten, aber vorher müssen die Hände jedes Mal, so schien es zumindest, noch desinfiziert werden und der Lufterfrischer darf auch nicht fehlen.
Wir haben also ca. 14 Stunden nach Mardin gebraucht und kamen gegen 6 Uhr morgens dort an.
Nun, erwartet hatten wir: Eine schöne Stadt, mit netten Leuten und leckerem Essen.
Angetroffen haben wir: Eine tote Stadt, nicht gerade atemberaubend, ein Haufen Vieh, dessen letzte Stunde geschlagen hat und ein Polizeiauto, welches uns schleichend folgte.
Ja, das war ein Spaß. Im Prinzip hatten wir ja keine großen Vorstellungen von Mardin, jedoch schien uns die Situation etwas suspekt: Der Busfahrer lässt uns irgendwo an der Straße raus, kein Busbahnhof in der Nähe, wo wir vielleicht hätten schlafen können, um dann schließlich ,zu einer humaneren Zeit, nach essen zu suchen.
Unsere Verzweiflung machte sich übrigens immer durch große Lachausbrüche mitten auf der Straße bemerkbar.
Das war der Punkt, als wir uns Achmed und Jamal zurückgewünscht hatten.
Wir entschieden also einfach den Berg hochzulaufen. Kurz darauf machte sich ein Polizeiauto bemerkbar. Es schlich an uns vorbei und wir hofften einfach nur es würde weiterfahren, welches es auch von Zeit zu Zeit tat, aber von Eile war da nicht die Rede. Ab und an blieb es auch stehen und wir entschieden unauffällig an ihnen vorbei zu laufen, aber wie gesagt, bei uns war von unauffällig nicht die Rede! Wir schafften es im Endeffekt trotzdem, dachten wir zumindest, bis sie uns wieder einholten. So ging es eine Weile und ganz wohl war uns dabei nicht. Nun, schließlich hielten sie irgendwann an, fragten wo wir her seien, wir antworteten natürlich ganz freundlich und schon war der Spaß vorbei. Sehr strange….Zunächst waren wir also nicht ganz so angetan von dieser angeblich so schönen Stadt Mardin, wobei die Landschaft rundherum tatsächlich sehr schön war, aber was uns die nächsten Tage erwartete, war einfach der Hammer, zum verzweifeln und zum wegschmeißen.
The first week that Laura in Turkey was! NO time for her to relax and get to know everything because Ramus B-day party came up. Her second day in TUrkey and what can i say except for full house???
But before we ended up at his party we had to go to a cocktail from our work, that was hilarious actually!
So many people showed up in a location called the Drunk Pub, but it was an awesome bar and we met some interesting people and some of our lovely volunteer friends showed up as well!

Auch am Montag und Dienstag wurde noch viel darueber geredet und so ziemlich jeder eingeladen, der je, mit Rasmus, Greta oder jeder anderen Person die noch an der Party beteiligt war, in Kontakt kam, so kam es mir zumindest vor.
Nun, im Endeffekt kam es fuer mich doch anders…
… Greta und ich mussten zunaechst noch an einer Art Empfang teilnehmen, waehrend Rasmus befreit war, um seine grosse Party vorzubereiten. Nun, bei dem Empfang gab es kleine Snacks, Freigetraenke, Musik und jede Menge Zeit mit neuen Leuten in Kontakt zu kommen. Waehrend einige die Freigetraenke nutzten, unterhielten sich wiederum andere mit internationalen Bekanntschaften und viele schwangen heftig ihr Tanzbein.
Nun, ich gehoerte zu denen die ihr Tanzbein schwangen und so traf ich auch zugleich zwei sehr nette Maedels, mit denen ich den Rest des Abends zu „pretty Woman“, „Mambo No. 5“, „Butterfly“ und lauter anderen Liedern tanzte, die mich an meine Kindheit erinnerten.
Nun, ich blieb laenger als gedacht bei dem Empfang, waehrend Greta sich schon frueher zu der eigentlichen Party von Rasmus gesellte. Ich tanzte lange mit den Maedels und mit ein paar Bekanntschaften, wie dem so genannten „Mr. Magic“, mir schon bekannt aus Gretas Erzaehlungen und anderen Tuerken, die man dort so antraf. Inzwischen war es zu spaet, noch zurueck in die WG zu fahren, da sich die Party inzwischen schon in den IF Club verlagert hatte. Daraufhin ging es also mit dem Taxi auf zum Club, wobei die roten Ampeln fuer die Autofahrer eher eine Art Dekoration war, die eben in den Strassenverkehr gehoert.
Im Club gab es erst einen DJ, spaeter kam noch eine live Band.
Irgendwann war es dann aber Zeit und es ging nach Hause, aber wie wir wissen ist Greta sehr kontaktfreudig und hatte somit noch 5 Kerle im Schlepptau, die alle bei uns pennen wollten und dies auch mehr oder weniger taten.
Nun, also zusammenfassend kann man sagen, meine ersten 3 Tage waren sehr anstrengend, aufregend, spassig, im Endeffekt also: voller Leben, wie die Tuerken auch!

Donnerstag, 19. November 2009



One Day Antalya!
Better than nothing and one day of sunshine is still enough to be happy!
Then coming back to Ankara where itis cold and rainy is not very nice! But it feels like home lol!
So Cem, a volunteer from our friends organisation came with me since Rasmus was sick and stayed at home. I was not feeling that well either and i still dont but well someone has to sit at those stands right?
So we left friday night (13.11) and arrived after a 9 hour busride in the morning. Had to find our way to the hotel A 5 STAR HOTEL! with an amzing view!
We did have some time so we were sitting in the sun enjoying the day and talking and listening to Seksandört lol
there was even a nice little waterfall near by!!! in the middle of the city lol!
So the rest of th day we spend at the hotel talking to people asking them to sign up for a student exchange there werent many high school students around so we mostly talked about EVS and a lot of them were really interested!
Then i met Earl and the nice councelling lady again!
"Even the flags are happy-happy flags" i love Earl he is so funny i hope he will send his kids on exchange maybe to Turkey?
So after the fair we took a look at the old part of town, ate , walked around and slowly it got a bit colder and then at like 9 we took the shuttle to the otogar and left at 10pm ... back to Ankara.
Not before i was told my brain does not properly works lol but thats just cause we were really tired and just could think straight anymore! lol Nach Müde kommt Albern!!! so true, so true!!!

Montag, 9. November 2009

IZMIR!!!

Last Thursday and Friday i spend in Izmir, it was quite fun, we went there for an Infofair in the Hilton Hotel in Izmir.
And a stand in Miriams High School!
Well i start with Wednesday night, we went to Mr Magics birthday party in a bar called qube or something in Ankara, our bus left at 23.59(yeah iam serious iam not kidding), but since it was a birthday party and lots of alcohol were passed to us, i was not feeling to great on the bus, but still managed to get some sleep it was an 8h ride to Izmir!
Too bad, that we had to leave the party, then we got to Izmir at 8h in the morning and were wondering where our friends was, who was supposed to pick us up, we called him and apparently woke him up !!! lol cause he was still sleeping.
Then Rasmus and i walked around Izmir a bit, walked along the shore and drank a coke, hung out in the Atatürk park and enojyed the sun. It was sooo great, it was freakin cold in Ankara when we left and then we got to Izmir and the weather was just right, so we were sitting on a bench in the park, hanging out, and felt asleep and even got a bit sunburned... in NOVEMBER!

After that we went to the Hilton Hotel, quite a fancy place, passed out flyers, talked to high school students about exchange and walked around the fair a bit too. I met this very strange turkish guy that apparently loved Amerika that much that he wants to stay there for ever even though he was promoting a very expensive languagecourse/university exchange...just for the sake of the money not for the youth exchange-wrong intention!

well anyways, after that we went to the friends friends place and later to a bar, quite interesting... listening to 80ties and 90ties music and later changing to turkish 80ties music! But i must say that iam not a very big fan of that music lol!

So the next day we went to Miriams school, built up the stand and hung out at the school until after the lunch break. Miriam was sooo excited to see us and we were too and she basically dragged all her friends to our stand to make them intersted in YFU! she is very good at promoting!!!
After lunch we left, since we did not manage to put a workshop together a bit unorganized the whole meeting.
Then we did some more sightseeing! And a bit of shopping until we tried to go back to the appartment and pick up our stuff, but we just could not find it, so some guys showed us the way, but since they did not know where to go either they were walking through the streets with us searching! very nice guys we finally made it!
got our stuff and went to the otogar! where out french friend was waiting to go on the bus with us back to Ankara for the International Drinking Seminar!!!
Taking place in Ankara! That was about it -my Izmir trip!

Montag, 2. November 2009

Cappadokia

I just came back from Cappadokia the next between Halloween and the 1st of November and i must say considering all the places i have been to so far in Turkey this was one of the best! The landscape is just amazing, i have never seen anything like that before. You felt like you took part in one of the LORD of the RINGS movies! And i have even been to Minas Tirith lol!
We spend three days in Cappadokia which is actually quite a short time but afer awhile of seeing rocks and caves you kind of need a brake of that even though it really looks beautiful so i would say 3 days was just perfect!
We spend the nights at this artists house. We know a friend, who knows a friend who helped us to find this place. So we stayed in his atelier where he does his paintings and art stuff and it was quite a comfortable room for the 5 of us, and it was for free!!!
The only thing to complain - well iam German and we always complane so dont take this in a negative way! Would be that we only had a woodstove so we always - to keep the heating going - had to put new wood on the fire and of course all of us were asleep during the night so when do we wake up? - at like 5 am because of the cold lol! But it was an experience i dont want to miss !




And we did not exaclty have a bathroom until the second day when our host let us use his shower! But that is another story!
We have been to all kinds of places-and we had a Lonely Planet! Which is just the best guide i ever had! So if you wanna go somewhere my only advice is to get a Lonely Planet!
We went to an underground city , where Christians and later other People hid in the mountains. And for the first time in Turkey i went to more Churches per day than mosques!


There are quite some pretty churches around in Göreme which is a world heritage site in Turkey! And it is beautiful but sooo crowded because that is the place for Tourists to go!

And who did we meet there? A group of Rotari guys - some of them we already met in Ankara.
That was and interesting coincidence!
We hung out in the little village we stayed in ( Ortahisar) and drank wine, tea and consumed others stuff - plaing traditional board games with the locals.
We even had a live concert in our little room. Our host and one of his musican friends came over at night and asked if we would care for some traditional turkish music, and of course we would love to hear it.
So they came in we drank some wine and they played and sung for us. Very nice people but the thing was all of teh others fell asleep very soon so i was the only one left awake and me too i was sooo tired

but i thought it would be very impolite to sleept too since they were kind of my guests. So i stayed awake lol. They got the hint that i was freakin tired to so the thanked us for letting them stayin their own house hihi and left!

This was a very special evening!


Other than that we drove around, got lost a couple of times, went to a very nice lake in güzelyurt which means(nice countryside or something like that) and i just could have hung out there all day, it was an old church ontop of a hill and we had a great view down on the lake and there was a herd of sheep down there it was like a painting very idyllic!

But we had a tight schedule and had to move on to the next site. i really dont remember all the places. BUt it was was something very special this place !
And Linda and Rasmus even rode on a camel! If that is not something else then i dont know!
The last evening we spend in Göreme Restaurant in Göreme of course lol
and ate - and as if the coincidence earlier was not enough some of our volunteer friends from Ankara walked in! That was just hilarious! Later that night we went to a Halloween party in a bar called Fatboy! Very intersting people there! But we moved on and met a real Flintstone decendent in Flintstones Cave Bar!
So that was a great end to a great trip and we ended up taking a bus at 1 o´clock going back to Ankara. Me sitting next to a very nice guy - a tourguide and he asked me if i want to join him on a trip to Syria , well up until then i thought he was quite nice but now i dont really know!
Well we got to Ankara at 6 am and all i could do was go to bed and had a good nights sleep!