A Trip to the Center of the...Country

This past weekend I decided to shake things up a bit and...get out of Ankara. Wait. For me, that really isn't shaking things up a whole lot. This I admit. I get out of Ankara on a regular basis. I have to say that this frequent trip out of Ankara business does make you love home when the bus rolls back into town, though. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

I have friends and co-workers in Kayseri who are currently without other co-workers in the city. They also just had a baby in March. Woohoo! I get mixed reactions to traveling outside of Ankara. Some friends do the same and understand. Others are jealous, but at the same time love to brag about how much their foreign friend has seen of the country. Still others worry for me while I'm on the road. Make that all of them. All my friends worry for me when I'm on the road, while I'm living alone in Ankara, when I get home late...basically my friends worry. A baby is a reason to travel that is 100% normal. I've found the way to travel! Now if I can just convince all my friends to continually be having babies.... I think I'll just have to settle with being weird for a while.

Hop on the bus Friday afternoon (bought the bus ticket Thursday - I love the last minute convenience of life in Turkey!) and 5 hours later was in Kayseri. Met my friends at the bus station, went out for birthday dinner and then proceeded to have one of the most relaxing weekends I've had in a long time. I would love to give you all my impressions of Kayseri culture, but alas, I spent Saturday chatting it up and flipping through American magazines. And Sunday? Two friends from America showed up right around breakfast (this is not exactly normal - a great surprise!). Sat around talking to them until it was time to go to fellowship in the afternoon. Great teaching from Heb. 11 from a nat'l brother. Back home. Pizza and a few rounds of Master Chef Australia. So as far as special Kayseri "events", I didn't do a whole lot. Wait - I did eat pastırma Friday night. My dictionary says it's "preserve of dried meat", "cured spiced beef" or "pastrami". My friend says "dried garlic meat." None of these are quite as appetizing as the real thing, I assure you. Kayseri folk are quite proud of their "dried garlic meat", so she says.

Yesterday, off to Kapadokya to meet up with a group of students here from Liberty. Again, no camera because I was feeling lazy. Yes, I went to thousand or so year old historical sites and did not take pictures because I was feeling lazy. You know you live in Turkey when...

Caught a bus last night at 6:30 out of Nevşehir and was in my house by 11 pm or so. And I did buy the bus ticket at the counter that afternoon. As I rolled into Ankara, in between waking and sleeping, I thought, I love my city with all of its ministry buildings and government offices. Yes, sadly, this did come to mind. But it is home. And I do love it.

The Day of Unpreparedness

So today was going to be a quiet day. I was going to study, find a pack cover for tomorrow's hike (the forecast declares rain in our future...again), and teach my friend Gizem to ice skate. The studying happened - love Tchibo and their 2.95 filter coffee (although it would be nice if they had a bathroom...but then again, a bathroom in a store sort of promotes shoplifting). The pack cover was found and purchased. In the purchasing process I also may have stumbled upon one of the only cross-country skiers in the entire city. Winter is only a few short months away, folks!
And that is where all good planning ended. After I first left the house I realized I had left without my umbrella. This is not a good situation to be in when the clouds are looming black overhead. So I turned around and headed home to pick up my umbrella which was no where to be found. I have to admit, the first thought to enter my head was not a charitable thought. I assumed that someone had stolen my umbrella the night before. Nothing to be done, I would simply have to buy an umbrella while I was out. Which I did, from a toy store (first mistake) for 5 lira (second mistake). The third mistake of the day, I left home without suitable long sleeves. Not only was I something to stare at in my bright blue shirt, I was possibly going to be very cold later. So into one of my favorite stores I tromp and buy a new, very pink hoodie for 15 lira. Yes, we are at 20 extra lira here, people. After coffee and on my way to skating I popped into a cosmetic shop to buy a nail file. I assumed that such a thing would cost a lira or two. Wrong! Got to the counter and I was so surprised that I did pay the 19.50 lira for a package of 6 and walked back out the door. Yup, this is now up to 39.50.
To skating I go. And, oh, wait - a hockey game has appeared. No more sessions today? Guess I'll go home. Maybe to the market first. Catch a bus as it starts to rain. Good thing I have my new 5 lira umbrella. Well, we get to the station, I hop off the bus, open my umbrella and the handle completely separates from top! Too bad I bought a hoodie and not a rain coat. I dash off to the nearest covered area where a gentleman asks me what happened to my umbrella. Thank you very much, it appears to be broken (we have a lovely tense in Turkish for such appearances).
I wait until the rain lets up before I run to the taxi. A taxi from the bus station to my house is 5 lira. We're now up to 44.50 in unpreparedness money. As I'm in the taxi digging for my house keys, what happens to be sitting in the bottom of my bag but my umbrella.

On Shepherds

My language helper and I are working on describing John 10 in my lessons. The Good Shepherd. Of course, it helps to know a bit about shepherds when one wants to describe a passage on shepherds. I grew up in Juneau, Alaska which means I have not spent a large portion of my life observing sheep. My helper, on the other hand, spent part of her childhood in a village on the southern coast of Turkey. She has had the chance to see and observe sheep.
Sheep must have a shepherd. Without a shepherd they don't know where to go, don't know what to do. They're standing in the middle of the road, a car comes along and they don't move. In a standoff between a flock of sheep and a car, the sheep win. Sheep will eat their way off a cliff.
The shepherd truly does know the sheep and the sheep truly do know the shepherd. They will follow him, they will run to his voice. When a stranger comes into the fold, he can say whatever he wants, but the sheep will not hear him.
Ah, but she made an interesting comment. If a stranger comes into the fold and beats the sheep into submission, they will follow him. But it is not out of trust that they follow. Instead it is out of fear.
So, what have I learned? I've been thinking about this off and on for the last several days. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. We really are like sheep. Yes, I know I've heard this uncountable times before. But I've gotten a little closer to it in this process. And...those who come to kill, steal and destroy? They really can come in. But it is only the Good Shepherd who we will follow in trust.