Pilates and a Cheer for Team Boudreau!

Week 17 (Feb.7^th-14^th)

On Tuesday Haley made the epic voyage out to Gaziemir  to come with me to an aerobics class. Before heading out, we finished the movie “But I’m a Cheerleader” --that we had started a few weeks before on a Turkish dance day--which was hilarious. After the film, we walked over to the community center and went to the floor that holds the aerobics classes. Once we got there,we were informed that classes were cancelled for the week because the teacher had gone on vacation. The lady that told us this, then explained that they did have a Pilates class one level down and that we were welcome to join in. Both Haley and I had never taken a Pilates class before so we jumped at the opportunity.

The class was insane. The teacher looked about 8 months pregnant so explained everything verbally. Haley and I had to watch all the other ladies before being able to figure out what exactly she wanted us to do.  The class used these huge balls and incorporated a lot of stretching and low body movement but after the class both Haley and I were aware that the next morning would hurt a wee bit.

On Thursday,  we went to all of our classes including drama class with the 7^th graders. They are getting ready to perform “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in April.  Haley and I have been able to help out quite a bit which has been fun. The play is in English, so we normally help out with pronunciation and, as well, we both have one line in the actually play. We get to be fairies and are dead set on being the best English speaking fairies the school has ever seen.

Thursday night, I spent making apple crisp for a sleepover at Annie’s house planned for Friday. Back home, I tend to bake quite a lot and now that I have finally gotten used to the oven and know where all the ingredients are, I am hoping to be able to do it more often.

My Anne making borek (light dough filled with spinach and cheese)

On Fridays, school gets out 40 mins early and we all head down to the main court yard and sing the national anthem. This is also the time that any important announcements and awards are giving out. Normally, Haley and I cannot understand a word of what is going on, so we were both completely taken aback when both our names were called to the front stage area. Susan quickly ran over to us and let us know it was for the soccer tournament. The other girls from our team came up too and we all stood up and got our medals for being the 1^st place team in the school.  I was also given a second medal for scoring the most goals and was named MVP, which honestly has never happened before so I was super ecstatic about it.

After school, I headed to Alsancak to catch the ferry and head over to Annie’s house. Once I got to Bostanli (which is the name of the ferry station on the other side) I found Annie and she said that the other students were meeting in Alsancak for coffee. So we headed back and met up with Emily (New York), Maggie (Oregon), Haley (Wisconsin), Alfonso (Mexico), Hannah (Indiana) and Diana (Mexico) at a café that serves the best hot chocolate in all of Izmir.

We brought out the apple crisp and spent a few hours just chatting before heading home and watching the BBC version of Sherlock Holmes. Annie has started to get all of the exchange students completely addicted to the series and honestly I must  say it is really not bad . 

On Saturday, we ended up sleeping till noon and then headed to the mall close to Annie’s house called Ege Park and had Subway for breakfast. I was super surprised to find a Subway in Turkey and although it’s a bit different , it tasted fantastic. After breakfast we went back to the house and watched more Sherlock Holmes (like I said, addicting). At around 5, we headed to Alsancak to meet up with the other students for dinner at the Hilton hotel to celebrate Emily’s 17^th birthday. I only ended up staying for a little while because I had to head back home to celebrate my host dad’s birthday as well.

We had all of our family over and had an amazing meal made by my Anne. After dinner, my host family Skyped their daughter, Ahenk ,and I Skyped my mum.

On Sunday, we had  my host dad’s brother and wife over for breakfast and then we spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. In the evening, we had our neighbors, Can, Nurgule and their little daughter Eylul over for dinner. We normally have  neighbors over for dinner at least once a week which is a lot of fun because we all get to talk and it makes our apartment building feel more like one big home.

Yesterday at school, I was able to see a different class that I normally don’t attend on my schedule. During a free block, we had the geography teacher come in and show us a movie. The class that Haley and I are in is considered to be the math and science focused class so we don’t get geography as a class. After the movie, I got to talk to the teacher and realized that I might actually be able to understand some of his class because I took geography last year and my Turkish is slowly improving. I asked him if I could sit in on one of his classes and he said I was welcome, so that is my plan for Wednesday afternoon.

After school I went to the gym and then came home and made cinnamon buns. Since today (Tuesday) is Valentines Day, I thought it would be nice to bring something special to school for Haley and I, as well as the other students.

Today, Haley and I have both been trying to catch up on our blogs and munching on cinnamon buns, which actually turned out pretty fantastic. Since our class has a big math test today, we are spending the afternoon in the canteen and planning on having a bit of a Valentines Day party with everyone there.

I would also like to send big positive thoughts to Jody Boudreau from everyone here in Turkey.

We’re all thinking of you today and hope for the best.