Futbol, Cliff Diving, Sweet Convos & Job Opportunities

Merhaba! (Hello!)

Wow, there is much to mention from the last time I've written. It has been extremely exciting being here during the Euro Cup (soccer/futbol for those who don't know)!! Disclaimer: Read this paragraph for the play by play of the Euro Cupor skip ahead to the Summary section if you don't care. The first game was disappointing because we lost. Then, we beat the Swiss which was exciting, but not mind blowing. Last Sunday we were playing the Czech and we were predicted to lose. It was 0-2 and was not looking good...but then in the last 15 min, we scored 3 goals! It was amazing and, consequently, it was difficult to sleep at night. Car horns were our lullaby to such a sweet win. Then, we watched the quarterfinals game against Croatia (again, we're the underdog) at our mid-project retreat in the middle of the town we were at. There was a projection onto a screen and a few hundred people. It was so intense and then Croatia scored in the last minute (or so) of the game. People immediately started to file out. Then, in stoppage time we scored and it went into 2 overtime and we won in penalty kicks!!! Summary: We're one of the last four teams in the Euro Cup by winning at the last minute for some sweet upsets.

Needless to say, the atmosphere here has been very positive. People are coming together because the national team is doing so well unexpectedly! It is a good conversation builder to have when talking with new friends and I hope this week I'll get to watch this game with two of my new friends who love futbol.

This past weekend we took our mid-project retreat. We went to a more secluded part of the city and we basically hung out at a hotel on the Black Sea. It was good for relaxation and rejuvenation. One highlight of the weekend (besides the game) was swimming over to a small rocky island where we climbed up the rocks so we could go cliff diving. I don't have pictures yet, but it was amazing. The jump was about 30 feet and it was scary but exhilarating once I got the nerve to jump. It was beautiful to be swimming amidst God's wonderful creation since we don't see so much of that here in the heart of the city. It also built trust between teammates to be able to climb the rocks and trust that we would clear the ones below as they did...even though it didn't seem totally realistic!

Besides a few cool events going on, the normal routine of life has been good too. We have been making a lot of friends on campuses, in parks and in cafes. One day recently was pretty hard. My friend and I were pretty exhausted at the start and unmotivated to initiate any conversations at all. So, we sat down to talk and pray in the park before we headed out. Before we could even pray for our hearts to be motivated a girl sat down nearby and kind of in front of us. So, we both say hi and ask if she knows any English. She said she does and we started talking from there. The conversation was wonderful and we discussed a lot of spiritual topics. One of the big hot topics here is whether or not college students should be able to wear headscarves on campuses (right now it's illegal to). She is a covered woman who goes to an American university so that she can wear her headscarf there! Now that's commitment. She also prays five times a day in the mosque (which is rare to find here amongst university students) and so while we had tea with her, she invited us into the mosque (The Blue Mosque!!) and she showed us around telling us about her religion and explaining what people were doing. So we went inside and put on scarves so we could pray with her. It was quite an experience! And all of it happened while my friend and I were weak. God sure does like to show Himself strong - and He loves it when we're humble. He definitely humbled us by showing us that it's not by our efforts that the church will by built here - but by His will alone.

Lastly, I have been considering teaching here in the future at an international school. I don't know which one or even if it will work out, but I'm starting to seek it out. I'm getting names of schools and even Wednesday I took the afternoon to visit one of them. It may be possible for me to start there at the end of January. I would appreciate your prayers in this matter, especially because it's so soon and because I wasn't thinking about living abroad for a few more years. Six months is a lot shorter than 3-4 years! Plus, I don't even know if this is the place where I should invest my time or not long term.

Oh, one more thing. I want to thank anyone who has been praying for us as a team and for me. I have grown a ton in prayer (my mentor is always praying and I'm learning a lot from her) and I want to keep growing. Please be praying for me to be fervent in prayer, depending on God in faith for everything.

Euro Futbol

Okay so it's really cool to be here during the Euro Cup while they're playing. It was most disappointing when they lost on Saturday...everyone left (we were at a bar) when Portugal scored the second goal. It emptied out quickly and everyone went home. I'm hoping tonight they will win and if so, I'm sure I won't sleep until the wee hours of the morning. Usually honking can keep me up since we're in the city and honking is just a normal form of communication. I really want them to win and go into the single elimination time so we can watch more games with our new friends!

Settling In

My time here has been very full. It's been exhausting getting acclimated to a new culture and I've learned a ton of things. Language learning has been slow, but many people speak English so it's okay. The biggest problem is not knowing numbers, so eventually I learned those so I could pay for meals and groceries. I do know how to say "Take care of yourself" and I usually get lots of hugs and kisses when I say it :-). They greet and say goodbye to people they know well with a kiss on each cheek and a big hug. They are a very affectionate people, including men and friends hold hands in public. However, with their close affection comes a lack of desire for personal space. We've found ourselves really close to people on the streets and in the trams or buses - we protect our purses well in those times!

I'm really starting to get to know the area well. I get can around the neighborhood with ease now and I can generally eat out without too many communication issues. There are vendors everywhere and we call streets by their most prominate vendor...like book street, wedding gown street, shoe street, fish street, etc. and 2 other big streets are busy street and boys street (they sell only manly stuff). We live in a nice neighborhood that's known to be safe, and it's also located by the sea as I mentioned before. I go down the the sea nearly everyday and it's beautiful. There are parks down there and huge rocks to walk on. You can see the European side and you can see some nearby islands. This Saturday we're going to one of the islands to go bike riding, enjoy the view and talk with some of our new friends! I'm really excited and I plan on taking pics.

In general, our day schdules goes like this: in the morning we usually have something with our group - time to learn language, worship, or receive training. Then, we go to campuses and make friends starting convos with them at cafes or in parks. In the evenings we have Bible study, time with God, time with new friends, and coffee houses. The days can be pretty packed but they're lots of fun too. I don't feel terribly busy, but at the end of the day I'm always exhausted (in a good way) from going so many places.

Fun Facts for Friends

I've been thinking about you guys and here are some things I think some of you would care about:

On the flight from Germany to this city, we had fika! It consisted of coffee and a wonderful German chocolate bar.

The country director is australian. The interns have a list of words that they need translating for...I want to see that list :-)

Futbol stuff is everywhere and I SO can't wait for the Euro Cup. It's going to be awesome here.

Church was international and very very charismatic (but not usually this charismatic I hear).

Whenever I try to think of the language in my mind, I usually first think of the French that I know.