We'll be here for the next few days before flying over to Izmir and finally meeting our host families. The purpose of this orientation camp is for us to get a grasp on the language, which of course means intensive Turkish lessons from 9:00am until 4:00pm...Obviously with a few breaks in between. So far the class is fun and I definitely will learn a lot in the next eight days. None of us are allowed to leave the hotel premises so we've been hanging out by the sea, talking in our rooms, and playing volleyball on the beach.
An interesting experience that we had the chance to see was a party for a young boy who had just recently been circumcised. Here in Turkey it's a big, cultural right-of-passage for boys so at our hotel there's been music and dancing all night. The young boy dresses up in a "costume" and is treated with utter respect..at least that's what I saw. It's all very interesting as I said.
Here's a photo from my room balcony of the event..
Although I am still tired from the 40 hours of travel, I'm able to appreciate the beauty here. Turkey is much greater than I had imagined. It is truly everything I've wanted and have been waiting for. I'm so happy to finally be in Turkey.
Here are a couple more pictures:
Thanks for following :)
Lydia