Robert Craig Nall I

The newness of living here is wearing off, and the reality that I now actually live and teach in a completely different context is setting in. No more Birmingham. No more weekend trips home when I get homesick. No more being there to hug friends in the states when they need it most. No more meeting college friends at Rojo after work. No more being in/attending fall and spring weddings on the weekends. No more Dove Chocolate.

While living here instead of there definitely calls for sacrifice, it also has its perks.

1. Paprika Pringles, which my roommate now loves
2. We have a bakal across the street from school that sells double chocolate magnum bars.
3. I can go to the bakal during my planning time at school.
4. Chai tea after every meal
5. Yemeksepeti - an internet site where you can order pretty much any kind of food from any kind of restaurant in the area and have it delivered at no extra cost. It has anything from McDonalds and Schlotzsky Deli to most to the local Turkish restaurants.
6. My kids love coming to school each day.
7. I love going to work every day.

Thank you so much for your prayers and e-mails, especially this past week. It included a lot of firsts as far as living in Turkey goes, but I feel completely at peace and rest knowing I am exactly where God has called me to be. Who am I to desire to be anywhere else?

AND Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you very very very much! Can't wait for you and Mom to come visit :)

Merhaba, Bir Kisi, Iki Kisi,...

Dur, Dus, Tavuk, Taksi.
Hello, one person, two people, stop, straight, chicken, taxi... these few words are what have helped me survive the past month. While, yes, I now know many other words and phrases, no combination of which would form a conversation with a Turk, I am definitely learning. We have officially started language classes, so I hope to be improving in the near future.

This past weekend we traveled a little bit and went to Beypazar, which is a town about an hour and a half outside of Ankara. This town is known for their great supply of carrots and beautiful silver jewelry. FYI... carrot juice? Gross. Corn in a cup? Very tasty. I recommend getting it without jam, ketchup, and mayonnaise, though.

Week iki (two, dos, zwei, deux...)

Today was the first day of my second week of school! It's hard to believe I have almost been here four weeks. I am still in love with Ankara, and I am now completely falling for my kids. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to serve them and their families this year at Oasis.

My fourth graders are AWESOME. During the first week of school, I gave each student little "flags" for them to use on our classroom world map. Students each wrote their name on a blue flag, a green flag, and various orange flags. The blue flags represented their passport countries, and the green flags represented where they were born. The orange flags represented every other country they have lived in, other than Turkey. Some students needed five or six orange flags. By the end of the activity, we had flags reaching from Hawaii to South Korea. My students are literally from all over the world. I have students who are from Kosovo, Romania, Jordan, South Korea, Gambia, America, and Pakistan, who speak Arabic, Romanian, Italian, German, Turkish, Korean, and one language that I'm pretty sure they are making up for fun, but I'm still not sure. Time will tell :)

Below are a few pictures of my classroom BEFORE the students came last week. It's funny how a week later, it can already look completely different. I am still learning and rearranging. I have definitely rearranged a few students already :)

  

A few things that will soon be ordinary but definitely took me by surprise this week:
- We have recess. What's better than that you ask? RecessES. That's right. My students have two each day. Take that. At one point today, I was sitting in my classroom WAITING on my students to come back so I could actually teach.
-  Students using chopsticks at snack time. It's becoming a fun game for my students to explain what they are eating to me. They literally bring things to my desk and just ask for me to eat it. THEN they tell me what it was, nothing too interesting or disturbing yet.
- I was fortunate enough to be invited over for dinner at one student's home this past weekend, and his mom cooked for my roommate and me. They were a Korean family, but she didn't know how we would feel about real Korean food so she cooked a Vietnamese meal. It was a great!
-  My students are better at geography than me. Go figure.
-  Also, are you aware that there are now FIVE oceans? I had no idea. For those of you that still think it's only the Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Pacific, think again my friends. Say hello to the Southern Ocean http://geography.about.com/od/learnabouttheearth/a/fifthocean.htm Aparently, some countries refuse to deem it a real ocean, but most have. Who knew?!

I am definitely missing my Adamsville friends very very much. It's definitely a blessing to just have them an e-mail away, and I am taking advantage. God has blessed me with wonderful new coworkers at Oasis though. I will begin working with another teacher next week in leading our "Bible Club" which is an extra-curricular activity (ECA). Many students are not allowed to attend our optional Bible classes during the day at school, but we are asking that these students may have the opportunity to attend this ECA.

So thankful for the people in my life, and I am continually amazed at God's provision and faithfulness. Thank you for your continual encouragement, support, and prayers... miss you all very very much!