2 months in 5 minutes or less.

It's difficult to motivate oneself to write after procrastinating for so long. It seems too much has happened to write about it all. So, this may be more of a list of things that has happened to us in our first 2 months here in Istanbul than an actual post. It would make sense to start at the beginning, but I've lost track of the order of events. So, here are the last 2 month's highlights and things of note.

-Finding jobs was not all that difficult, choosing which to take was. We had offers from two different schools, both which wanted us to start immediately. We chose to go with one telling the other we where taking another job. We went to a school that was still being constructed for primary school kids and we felt that it was the right fit us, and told them so, essential quitting. Then, we sheepishly asked the other school that we had just turned down the day before if the job offer was still on the table. It was, and we have been teaching there for the past six weeks. Jess is teaching English to a variety of students including a woman who presented a project at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona two weeks ago. While I'm preparing students to take TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) which is required for most international students to be accepted into an English speaking university.

-We have moved from Beyoglu to Beskitas; we only need to pay for utilities, it is closer to work, we can see the Bosphorus from our bedroom window, and there is a wonderful park very close by. 

- We have been able to do a few touristy things like; the Bosphorus Cruise, a day trip to Princes' Islands, walking up and down Istiklal Caddesi, visited the Blue Mosque, took in some art exhibits including Body Worlds, went down into an underground cistern built in 4th century, and spent some time in the Grand Bazaar.

Byzantine Fortress Anadolu Kavagi

The Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque

- We are not able to get to church nearly as much as we had hoped to. Our jobs usually require us to work on Sundays.

-Jess has befriended multiple stray dogs.

-Peter has returned home and we wish him well in his endeavours back in Canada.

-We still don't know very much Turkish at all.

-We've come to enjoy Borek and Pide, some quick traditional turkish food that is also quiet cheep.

-We've eaten our fair share of baklava and lokum (Turkish Delight).

-We also miss certain things about Canada but mostly our friends and family back home... and burgers from the Toad.

Taksim Square Bomb; or news about another event in Istanbul

What started as a peaceful day was disturbed by someone with explosives. I didn't hear the blast, my building didn't shake, but I felt the shock. The lasted reports are saying 22 people have been injured by a suicide bomber in Taksim Square. We live in such a place where this news is not entirely uncommon. Taksim Square is no stranger to bloodshed. On the first of May in 1977, extremists shot from a rooftop into a crowd of half a million demonstrators in Taksim Square killing 36 of the people gathered below. Sadly, there have been other deaths and many more wounded in Taksim Square, one day of which has come to be known as "Bloody Sunday" in Turkey. Today's bombing marks yet another outburst of violence in Taksim Square, this time seemingly directed at the police stationed in Taksim, who have been placed there because of events just like the one that took place today.
I have referred to what has happened today as news, I've also called it an event. I'm somewhat amazed at the import of words as mundane as "news" and "event". We keep these words as generic signifiers of things we don't have the fortitude to consider for more than a moment. I feel as though I betray all the pain and fear wrapped up in what has happened today when I call it an event, or say "Have you heard the news?" Yet, I have have grown accustomed to having all the horrors of the world being brought to me by words just like these. So, when something like this "hits close to home" I'm trying not bury it with a mass of signifiers as thought it is just news about another event. But I don't have a TV and the news here is primarily in Turkish, so I have a cushion of ignorance which helps with regulating the news of such events. I'm reminded of all the headlines and anchors informing me of the bombings that happened all across the globe, and how many I discounted them as soon as I turned the page or the commercials break came up. I hope I wont do that any more, but my deepest hope is that peace will be all we hear of one day.

One week down (post by Jess)

To think that a week ago today I was lying destitute on a bed in Adam's room (my room was not finished yet) as all the guys go out to explore the city, all the while cursing my inflamed/bruised sprained ankle.... Now we have explored a lot of our area (specially Istiklal Cadassi which is one of the most amazing and touristy areas in Istanbul), have visited the Grand Bazaar and have journeyed to the Asian side of Istanbul with a Canadian friend that we have met at the church right by our house. We have had over 7 job offers with 5 interviews under our belt AND a pretty legit job offer which consists of playing English games with children at  private schools. 

It really seems that God has brought us to the right place. Yesterday was the first night that we could spend on the balcony that was renovated in Landon and my room, so we just sat there smoking our pipes and drinking a Turkish drink called Raki reflecting on a week gone by. Life seems really good here. The only down side is that while we love it here we definitely could be paying a lot less for rent. That being said, we don't really want to move because we have made this place our home....

Another very confusing thing for me is that as a woman, it is expected that I don't look men in the eyes or be overly friendly. I have realized this week just how hard it is to follow these cultural norms based on the fact that in Canada just the opposite is the norm. However, I am determined to be as culturally sensitive as I can! 

Today our grand plan is to walk to the fish market by the Golden Horn and to go across the Galata bridge to the Old City side to look at the Spice Bazaar. Hopefully my sore ankle is up for the journey! The pictures are taken from the ferry.

Local Parish

This morning Adam, Andre, Peter, and myself met Engin (the pastor of the Turkish church here in Istanbul that we are have been connected with through St. Margaret's Anglican Church in Winnipeg) outside of the Swedish Consulate where his parish used to gather inside the chapel. We walked along Istiklal Caddesi where he pointed out different Christian churches and told us a bit of the history about the buildings and the congregations. As we walked along we where getting closer and closer to the street our flat is on. We arrived at the Armenian church that is no more then 50 feet from our front door. It takes as much time to descend our spiral staircase to the front door as it does to go from our front door to the church's steps. Jess had stayed at home because we thought we where going to be doing a lot of walking and her ankle was still hurting, but I quickly ran over to get her when I realized how close it was. It was really great that she was able to be there since she had been missing out on a lot of things these last two days.

The entire service was in Turkish, of which we know very little. Some of the songs where recognizable, and I recognize the some parts of the liturgy, like the Apostles Creed and some parts of the Eucharistic prayers. But for the most part everything that was said I could hardly understand. One thing Jess understood, was "Bir ve uc"which translates to "One in Three". We may not know how to say much but we have a robust Turkish vocabulary of the trinity.

Istanbooya!

View from kitchen window (photos courtesy of Adam).

Istiklal Caddesi

We are here, kinda settled after two days of sight seeing. I'd be lying if I said that nothing has gone wrong. First the airport misplaced one of our bags (which we luckily recovered). We got to the apartment to find that we would have to spend the next couple of nights in another apartment, away from our friends, because our room was not finished. However, that being said the reason that they were making sure our balcony was usable. Then whilst walking, Jess sprained her ankle pretty badly.

Night view from kitchen window.

However, besides all that has not gone according to the plan, this trip has been pretty amazing! We arrived safely and actually have an  great apartment to go home to. Istanbul is absolutely beautiful! The food is fresh and amazing, we only have to take a few steps outside our building to get to our local grocer. The buildings crowding the city converge on each other, with modern facades sandwiched between the ornate and dilapidated. The streets are cobbled and winding. Cars and pedestrians go where they please. We pasted a chandelier district on the way to our flat, where two blocks are entirely devoted to storefronts specializing in elaborate indoor lighting.

Once Jess' swollen ankle recovers we will be back out, looking for jobs and enjoying the sights along the way.

The Genesis of our Journey

We have thought long and hard about where to go after we finished our Bachelor's degrees from Canadian Mennonite University. No kids, no money, and no worries seemed to be the perfect recipe for traveling abroad. At first we thought that we would go to Tokyo, where Jess had taught English before; however, no doors seemed to open. Alas, where to go? 

We were interested in going somewhere that would be rich in culture, yet would not be completely foreign to our own - the Mediterranean! We were interested in Greece, but all of our dreams of Greece we saturated in thoughts of high white stone buildings, numerous stairs to climb to a cliff side villa, and beaches (so many beaches). Realizing that we did not have money, we realistically conceded that we could not really afford this lifestyle. 

So how did we decide on Istanbul? No, our minds did not drift across the shores of the Mediterranean to Turkey, but instead came from an action movie at Cheap Seats in Winnipeg, The International (rent it today!) In the last fight scene Clive Owen runs after a bad guy on the roof tops of Istanbul, and we turned to each other and said, "What about Istanbul?" 

And thus began our journey. Three days after this decision a good friend of mine was back in Winnipeg after a 6 month stint in Turkey, and raved about it (and consequently, dissuaded us from thinking of living in Greece). The next week we had a meeting with our pastor and mentioned in passing our interest in Istanbul. It just so happened that a woman who spent ten years in Istanbul starting a Christian school went to our congregation, and our pastor connected us not only with her and her friend, but also with a congregation that we are partnered with in Istanbul. Not long after that we found out that the pastor of that congregation was coming to Winnipeg and wanted to meet with us. 

By this time, two of our close friends (Adam Klassen and Andre Forget - read their blogs too!) asked to come with us. And shortly thereafter Peter Nighswander joined us to make the perfect quintuplet of travelers. 

So after a year of planning and meetings and research we are a week way on an adventure of a lifetime! 

Stay tuned as we continue to share our Erb endeavours!