Balıkesirian Adventures in March

First and foremost, let me start by admitting that I did not come up with the word "Balıkesirian." One of my students said it the other day at lunch and I thought it was great. Glad that's out of the way.

I haven't been too diligent with my blog maintenance lately, so I'll try and be better about it for the next NINETY-SEVEN DAYS! Ahhh! Is that crazy or is that crazy? Only ninety-seven days left in Turkey, given that I'm planning to go home on June 30th so I'm home in time for a) my wonderful mother's birthday, and b) so I can get home in time to celebrate the most American of American holidays! So pumped for fireworks.

So, what have I been up to in March? To be honest, I spent more or less all of this month in town, which was not a bad thing in the least, since I've been spending a lot of time hanging out with my students on the weekends. The results of these aforementioned meetups include becoming, once again, prolific at Guitar Hero, learning to drink (and like!) Turkish coffee, learning to read the future from my Turkish coffee, and soaking up all the good that my town has to offer. Also, Team Balıkesir hosted a very successful St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza, of which I took no pictures, and I attended a recent Balıkesirspor match with Russell and our friend Serhat. You'll be happy to know that Balkes won this game, which puts them in second place (I think), and gives them a good chance to put on their big boy pants and move up to First League.

They throw confetti in the air at the tenth minute, since
our city number is 10... Confetti is always something
I can get behind.

AND VUVUZELAS?! The fun never ends
in Balıkesir, boys and girls.

I've also managed to finally visit Balıkesir's historical sites... all three of them.

Clock tower... standard.

Zagnos Pasa Camii, nbd.

The tomb in the picture above is the tomb of Karesi Bey, the guy who basically founded the city. I'm aware that I should know more about the history of the city in which I city, thanks in advance.

Just sippin' on a little nar-elma suyu, the fanciest
 sauce in all of Anatolia.

Last weekend, I went to Afyon to visit the wonderful ETAs there and went to see The Hunger Games with Emily, Kara, and Jaime. I think it goes without saying that it was awesome, as was Afyon!

I'd say the highlight of my whole March was this past Monday though. Some of my students invited me to go on a picnic with them to a nearby park name Degrimen Bogazı. It was on this picnic, friends and family, that I had an earth-shattering revelation.

We, as Americans, need to step up our picnic game. 

I'm being serious. What's an American picnic, and I'm thinking in a fairly traditional vein here, some sandwiches, a couple bags of Doritos, and some beer? Granted, not everything in that equation should be altered, but let me let you into the world of the Turkish picnic, ladies and gentlemen.

First of all, let me mention that most of my students are approximately eighteen years old. Think freshmen in college. If I think back to what a picnic of my own organization would have resulted in when I was eighteen, it would have comprised of me and the other people in my hallway eating sandwiches from Yella's by the rat-infested stream next to Mimosa... and that's being generous. If I think back to when I was eighteen and hearing one of my fellow eighteen-year-old man-friends saying we were going to go grill something up for lunch, a) I would laugh, and b) I would doubt the fact that he would be able to turn the grill on, let alone grill anything. Not that I could grill anything at eighteen years old-- I could just barely manage EasyMac and scrambled eggs, if we're being transparent with one another. 

What I'm trying to tell you is that my students are champs. They grilled chicken, we had a salad, we had a sorts of seeds to munch on... we even had marshmallows! Are you impressed or are you impressed?

Let me mention that I am not as good at volleyball as
I need to be to live in this country.

Toasted to perfection! And strawberry-flavored too!

I'm just saying, friends and family still in America, get ready for some picnics come June. I'm just picnicking everywhere, and you're all invited. We're also going to engage in physical activity, which is something we probably need to do more of anyway, so you're welcome for that... especially now that I have a whole new arsenal of games to play thanks to my students. 

We're also going to hike stuff, so make sure you choose your footwear accordingly, because I did not.

Twelve-dollar slip-ons from Old Navy, also known as "not hiking shoes."

Regardless of my poor footwear choices, here are few nice views of my province! I live here! It's so green and mountainy! I think this is the farthest inland I have ever lived (read: this is definitely the farthest inland I have ever lived), and while it's going to get rough in a few weeks when I'll be a couple hours from the nearest body of water, this isn't a bad alternative.

Added bonus: I get to hang out with some of the best people Turkey has to offer. So life's far from being all bad in Balıkesir.

This was, however, one of the most dangerous things I've done in Turkey to date, since this watchtower thing was about a trillion years old and, as you can see, more than just a little rusted.

Not a bad bunch to spend a Monday afternoon with.

So my very first Turkish picnic was a major success and my students are already planning another one. Because this was the first time some of them have roasted marshmallows over a fire, I'm bringing chocolate and graham crackers to the next picnic. But unfortunately, there are no graham crackers in Turkey?

How will I manage to procure such goods, you might ask?

MY MAMA IS COMING TO TURKEY IN FOUR DAYS! Bonus: she's bringing me all sort of American goodies, like graham crackers, tampons (this isn't a joke), cinnamon gum, and real Amish pretzels. Also, she's bringing my aunt! So many great things!

So after I grade about a gillion mid-terms (read as: one hundred), I'll meet them in Istanbul for the first round of our Turkish adventures. I'm super excited to have them here and I can't wait to show them Turkey... they're even coming to Balıkesir, which is more or less like making someone traveling around the United States visit Glassboro, but whatever! Its's my own wonderful corner of Turkey, and I can't wait to show it off!