Merhaba! (Hello)
Today was a holiday for Turkey. On this day in 1922, Atatürk led the Turkish army to victory in the war for Turkish independence. Everyone had the day off from work and I was watching a performance on television with my host parents. There were dancers dressed in traditional Turkish clothing and performing Turkish folk dances. There were also fabulous singers who were singing traditional Turkish folk songs. My host mom was singing along with them, it was cute.
I just looked out the window, and there was a marching band (or rather a sitting band, as they were all sitting in a truck) right outside my apartment. My apartment is right next to a main road, so you can always hear cars driving by. This band was part of a small parade that consisted of them and a few trucks draped with Turkish flags. Yesterday, when I was walking through Afyon, I saw some dancers dressed in traditional clothing performing outside, it was really cool.
Last night, I went with my host parents to an Afyon fair. It was pretty small but really close to us, so we decided to go. There were rides and lots of food stalls set up. There was also a building for businesses to set up stalls and advertise their products. It kind of reminded me of the Montgomery County fair, except that it was much harder to get inside and find a place to park because there were so many people. There were not only a million cars, but a bunch of people running all over the street. After being in crowded places in Turkey, crowded places in America will seem like nothing and the drivers in New York will seem very careful.

Hello again!
This weekend I went with my host family to Istanbul. We went because we had to take my host sister, Aslı, to the airport. She is an exchange student and will be spending the next year in Long Island.
I was only in Istanbul for a night and a day, but I saw enough to know that it is absolutely beautiful. It took 7 hours to drive from Afyon to Istanbul, but the trip was completely worth it. It was a funny experience to be able to travel from Asia to Europe but remain in the same city. We walked around some when we got there and it was neat to see people from all different races and to hear all different languages (in Afyon, the only language you hear is Turkish, and me trying to communicate in English).
One of the differences between Turkey and America that I have noticed, is that in Turkey there are mosques everywhere. I have yet to see a church or a synagogue, but from the window in my room alone, I can see 3 mosques and if I were to walk down two or three streets, I would be able to see five other ones. When we were driving to Istanbul, we saw many small towns and villages, but it didn't matter how small the village was, it had at least one mosque. From the apartment where I live, I can hear the muezzin chant the call to prayer five times a day. It sounds beautiful. In Istanbul, because there are so many mosques, it takes a good five minutes for all of them to send out the call to prayer.
In Istanbul, there are two bridges that connect the Asian and European sides of the city. We took a boat ride that went between the two bridges and went up the European coast and then back down the Asian one. The trip was at night, so the entire city was light up and we could see the palaces and mosques and all the houses, it looked beautiful. There are two really old (as in, built in the Middle Ages old) castles on the coasts of Istanbul, one on the European side and the other on the Asian side. I didn't get the chance to go inside them, but I could see them from the boat. I wanted to go inside the palaces that I could see from the boat ride, but Aslı said that when I go back to Istanbul on a Rotary trip, I will get the chance to do so. I can't wait!
On the way back to Afyon, instead of driving for 7 hours, we took a ferry ride. It was the kind of ferry that you can park your car in and then go sit somewhere. This ferry trip took us from Istanbul across the Aegean sea to Yalova. From there, it was only a five hour drive back to Afyon.
A few days ago, it was Afyon's independence day. Modern Afyon is 84 years old, although there are parts of the city that are much, much older. On that day, I saw a small parade going down one of the main streets and at night, there were fireworks.
I have had numerous people tell me that I look Turkish. First my host family told me that, then one night, we had some of Aslı's former teachers over for dinner and they all told me that I look Turkish. When I was with Aslı and some of her friends at a café, some university students came over and asked me to take a picture of them. I didn't understand what they wanted, but one of Aslı's friends jumped up and said that she would do it. Aslı then told me that they had thought that I was Turkish. This also happened when I was on the ferry, someone asked me a question in Turkish and my family had to answer for me. I find it very amusing that people think that I am Turkish, and it is nice that I look like similar to everyone else, but I wish that I knew what people wanted when they come up to me.
One of my favorite things about Turkey is how friendly everyone here is. When people come over to my house the first thing they do is kiss me on both cheeks, even if I am meeting them for the first time. I think that this is a wonderful way of greeting people, and to me it feels much nicer and more personal than just shaking hands.
Well, that's it for today, I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Hi everyone!
I am finally in Turkey! My journey seemed to take forever, but I am so glad to be here! My host family is amazing! My sister's name is Aslı, my mother's name is Semra, my father's name is Fettah, and my host brother's name is Can. Aslı and Can speak English pretty well, so I talk to them and they translate for their parents. I have already met so many people here. The first thing we did when I got here was to meet Aslı's cousin, Özge. Özge was also an exchange student, but she went to Japan. She also speaks English.
I have also met a lot of my host family's neighbors. I met one lady who is a teacher at the school that I will be going to. I have also met other neighbors, Fatımah, and her son, Bora. They brought me flowers and they made me cookies! Bora is 12 and speaks English really well. He (along with everyone else) is teaching me Turkish. He also said that when Aslı leaves (she is going to America to be an exchange student) he will be my translator. Today I also met 4 of Aslı's closest friends.
Everyone here is very friendly and nice. My host mother, Semra, is an incredible cook. She keeps feeding me more than I can possibly eat.
Turkish is a very complicated language, but I have already learned some just from hearing it all around me.
I am living in a city called Afyon. I think that it is amazing, but when I say so, everyone looks at me funny. To them, Afyon is very small and boring, but for me, it is exciting and not small at all. You can walk absolutely everywhere and there are so many shops and cafés, I think that it is beautiful. However, when you are walking, you have to be very careful, the drivers here are absolutely crazy. I am so glad that I am not allowed to drive here, I would crash into someone in an instant. There are rules, but I get the feeling that they are only half followed. Plus, there are a million people always in the street. If anyone thinks that drivers in New York are bad, here they are way, way worse.
I am really glad to be here, but I really want to learn Turkish as fast as possible. It is so hard to communicate with people without knowing it. I feel like I am being really quiet, but it's only because I can't say anything to most people! But sign language/pointing and dictionaries work really well, and I am sure that I will learn Turkish soon enough.
Well, that's about it for today. Have a good weekend everyone!

Hey everyone!
Welcome to my blog. I started this so that I can share stories of my fabulous, crazy adventures in Turkey! I will be leaving on Wednesday, August 23rd. If you need my address, just email me at: pippibenzion@yahoo.com. I will be living in a city named Afyon, which is in the southwestern part of Anatolia. I hope I get to see/talk to everyone before I leave, but if I don't, have a wonderful year!