Here’s a rundown of my last 24 hours. Interesting day:
11:00pm: I get home and talk to Enes. He has a friend getting married tomorrow afternoon at 3:30. He says something about leaving at 1ish or something, Do I want to go? Sure, as long as I have time to do my Turkish home work. I’ve never been to a Turkish wedding before. (It’s a government ceremony) What do I wear? Enes says wear normal clothes. Ok.
11:30pm: Trying to go to sleep. Can’t. Finally sleep comes. Yea!
6:00am: Alarm goes off. Ahhh. Why? I hit snooze for at least 30 minutes and then roll myself out of bed.
8:15am: Walk to the bus stop and wait for bus. Yes, it pulls up immediately. No waiting today.
9:10am: I walk into my Turkish class 5 min. late. Thanks bus.
9:12am: I realize that I forgot to do part of my homework the night before. Thanks brain for being forgetful.
10:15am: Break time. I go find a table, drink some coffee and sit and talk with my new Polish friend that is in my Turkish class with me.
10:35am: Back to class.
10:37am: I realize yet again how much I have yet to learn and have to talk myself out of the hole I’m digging myself into.
12:15pm: I come to the conclusion that I hate doing Turkish exercises where you have to pick which word goes in the blank. Despise is the word.
12:35pm: It finally clicks in my head that Enes didn’t say we would be going anywhere at 1, he said the wedding would last 1 hour…Ohhh…. (Yes, I’m a little slow.)
1:08pm: Class is finished. I walk to have lunch at the Cultural Center where Enes works.
1:35pm: I arrive. Enes says we have to leave by 2:30 because the wedding time as been changed to 2:45. (Yes, everything ALWAYS happens last minute here) He looks at what I’m wearing and chuckles. (I’m wearing my nice jeans, a black sweater and a scarf.) Great, I’m freaking out in my head that this isn’t the “normal” he was talking about.
1:45pm: Eating and Homework.
2:30pm: Enes and I leave to go the wedding on one of his friend's motorbike because we’re running late.
2:40pm: We get to the area of town where the wedding is and Enes informs me he doesn’t know where it is? He just knows its around here somewhere.
2:45pm: We find the government building, park, run inside and up 3 flights of stairs. I’m still not sure if what I’m wearing is ok, even though Enes said its great and I realize I don’t know even know who it is that is getting married.
2:47pm: We walk into this huge room with lots of chairs, heart decorations everywhere, pictures of people getting married, a little stage at the front with a table with 6 big chairs on it and a huge picture of Ataturk and the Turkish flag behind it. ( The table had 2 on each end and 2 in the middle facing the audience.)
2:48pm: I see a woman wearing windpants. Whew, I’m in the clear.
2:49pm: Some people walk in and go sit down on the end seats of the table up on the stage.
2:50pm: Music starts and bride and groom walk down the aisle. This is when I realize that the groom is the same guy that came to the rescue in the green Hallaleighua car about 3 months ago. I laugh.
2:51pm: Bride and groom go sit in the 2 middle chairs at the table on the stage. Everybody claps.
2:52pm: One of the people on the stage says some stuff. The groom says “Evet” (yes) and everybody claps. The bride says “Evet” (yes) and everybody claps.
2:53pm: Everybody on the stage signs this big huge book. Everybody claps.
2:54pm: Bride and groom exchange rings. Everybody claps.
2:55pm: Bride and groom leave the room. Everybody follows and is going through a line to congratulate them.
2:57pm: Its my turn to offer congratulations and I realize at this point that I don’t remember the word for Congratulations so I’m hoping that I will be able to hear Enes but I don’t so instead the bride and groom get an akward smile from the girl they don’t know at their wedding.
3:00pm: We’re leaving and going to wait for the bus because it is now raining and someone else will drive the motorbike back and we won’t get wet. Yea!
3:30pm: Homework.
4:00pm: Homework.
4:30pm: Homework.
5:00pm: Reading.
6:00pm: Enes and I are going to have dinner with a friend of his and his friend's mom. Enes is cooking. Life is good.
6:30pm: We arrive. Enes and his friend cook. Me and his friends’ mom talk a little and watch television.
7:00pm: We eat lentil soup, these little fish, and sauce that goes on top that is lemon, oil, garlic and pepper, bread and salad. It was soooooo good.
7:30pm: I am stuffed and we haven’t even had dessert yet.
7:45pm: First this little dessert that is traditionally eaten after you eat fish. Its kind of tasted like peanut butter to me. Then something like baklava.
8:00pm: Coffee
8:05pm: More listening to everybody talk a million miles an hour and wondering what these people think as I fumble through talking and hardly understanding what they say when they’re asking me a question.
8:10pm: Convincing myself its good for me and that this is all helping me learn. My brain is tired!!
8:45pm: We leave and head to the bus stop in the pouring rain…
8:50pm: Listen to Enes practice saying" Whatcha doin' ya'll?" in his best Texsan accent as we're riding on the bus.
9:45pm: I get home and my eyeballs are floating. I was afraid to ask if I could use the restroom at the friend’s house before.
10:00pm: Deciding this a good day to write about, so random but everyday is like this in one way or another.
10:30pm: Write. Still really full.
11:00pm Roll myself into bed. Sleep and will start over tomorrow.
