October and November

So I have officially been in Turkey for over 10 weeks. I am now more comfortable here. My host family and I are getting along really well, I am starting to carve out my niche at school, I am learning more of the layout of the city and can navigate with public transportation, and even feel comfortable venting about Istanbul’s TERRIBLE traffic! I have been told that my Turkish is good, but communication continues to have barriers. I am still working on building my vocabulary, and mastering the suffixes, but people seem to appreciate my effort. My host Rotary club loved that I made my short introductory speech in Turkish! I am also complimented often on my pronunciation- some people do not realize I am not Turkish until they say something to me that I don’t understand. My Turkish friends like it when I speak Turkish- especially when I get the verb tense and suffix right! Many of them speak to me in English. I would prefer people to speak to me in Turkish, but I know that it can be frustrating to get me to understand and many of them like to practice their English as well! I REALLY appreciate those people at school who try to speak to me in Turkish. I know for certain that if I want to establish stronger relationships with my Turkish friends (and be able to laugh at the lunch table!) I HAVE to get better at Turkish.

Before I continue with my report, however, I want to apologize for the long gap between my entries. I was very busy with college applications, and it was consuming a lot of my time. I am really thankful for my host family’s patience, especially my host mom because she tried to be as understanding and accommodating as she could, even though she only vaguely understood the process of U.S. admissions. I realized how radically different the admissions process is in the U.S. compared with other parts of the world. In Turkey, an exam, the OSS, determines your admission to University. Prep work for the exam starts in high school, and then senior year students enroll in classes after school and do intense studying to prepare for the exam, which is in the spring of their senior year.
So, because so much time has passed since my last entry, I am going to list some events that have happened since then.

September 11th – 13th: Rotary Youth Exchange Orientation
All the exchange students spent a weekend at a hotel playing games and going over Rotary rules. It was the first time we all met each other! We had a tour of the historical city on our last day. We went to the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, and a Cistern. To conclude the weekend was a host family dinner, where the exchange students put on a very entertaining talent show. I was really happy that I also had a chance to meet Irem’s parents, the exchange student who is currently in Rochester.

September 14th – September 30th: Turkish Language Course
All the students on the Asian side and all the students on the European side split into two groups and attended Turkish classes for two weeks, then were sent off to start school on November 1st!
September 26: Day trip to Buyuk Ada (one of Istanbul’s Islands) with my host parents and our family friends!

October Events:

Ataturk Lecture sponsored by one of the Roteract clubs.
All the exchange students met in Taksim on the European side of Istanbul and attended a lecture about the history of Ataturk, given by one of Turkey’s premier historians and University professors!

Exchange Student Trip to Buyuk Ada sponsored by Rotex
I got to go to Buyuk Ada for the 2nd time! It is beautiful there. If you climb up the island a little, you can see an AMAZING view of Istanbul and the Marmara Sea. My favorite view was looking out to the Marmara Sea. You can see the greenery and forest trees on the island, then it is just crystal blue water all the way to the horizon! You look at that view and forget all your troubles. We had a great time, except for the bikes that we rented to bike up the island were complete trash! So many of them broke, or were just barely working. The only transportation options on the Island are bikes, walking, or horse carriges. There are no cars!

International IB Theory of Knowledge Conference at Eyuboglu High School
Every year, my Turkish high school hosts IB students from different countries for a weekend IB conference. Students and teachers present on a variety of different topics. Schools from places like Norway, Sweden, Jordan, Dubai, Ankara (capital of Turkey) came and were hosted by some of my classmates for the weekend. I was actually assigned to do a presentation as well. During my first Theory of Knowledge class, my teacher assigned me to a group and told me to prepare my part of the presentation using the “Theory of Knowledge” principals. I said “Sure, but what ARE the Theory of Knowledge principals?”
My group’s presentation went well, but we presented it to our friends from school, so there was a lot of fun, laughing, and jokes. On the last day, we all went on a historical tour to the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar.

Ankara Trip (November)
All the exchange students went to Ankara (the capital of Turkey) for a Rotary-sponsored day trip to visit the Ataturk Mausoleum, the modern Parliament house, and the old Parliament house. We tagged along with over 1000 other Turkish elementary school students from schools from all parts of Istanbul. The Ataturk Mausoleum was the most beautiful monument I have seen in my life. Set on a hill overlooking the city, the mausoleum had a stunning view of Ankara; and its wide open square seemed to be soaking up all the sunlight. It was really beautiful. We got to watch a small parade of soldiers march up the Mausoleum steps and lay flowers on Ataturk’s tomb—the entire square of students, teachers, and Rotarians were all respectfully silent. After that we went to the museum part. I think the younger students were just as interested if not more interested in us exchange students as they were in the museum. Some would ask us to take pictures with them, and others would just do it paparazzi style and try to take pictures of us when we weren’t looking. Our Rotary blazers, with their myriad assortment of jingling pins, flags, and other decorations, which we were wearing were definitely an object of fascination for the younger students as well. After spending the whole day touring these historical places in Ankara, we slept the whole evening bus ride back to Ankara. In all, the trip was a lot of fun!


I have to say that I am happy in Turkey. I have a really nice host family, and we have got to the point where I am no longer a guest, but becoming part of the family. I am even sternly told by my host mom what chores I have to do! (And of course I do them. ) I am sometimes called “Chiaracim” (pronounced Chiara-jim) by my host mom and her best friend/family/neighbor, Layla. It is a sort of nickname that means “My Chiara”. I feel more relaxed and more of myself around my host family now. It feels good!

When I first arrived in Turkey, I thought to myself, “Turks are really not that different from us!” Well, in part that is true, but now I am beginning to notice more and more differences that suggest to me just how different Turkish culture and society is. For one thing, the family unit seems a lot stronger here. A lot of time is spent with family, and this also includes extended family members and close family friends. And a lot less time is spent “catching up”, because they see and talk to each other so much that they know how one another are and what has been going on. When I first arrived, I sometimes wished for some more time with just my host family…but now have really started to love how “family time” for the Turks includes many members outside of the nuclear family. I realize that this is very similar to Italy, but I guess I never spent enough time in a Mediterranean culture to actually feel the difference. Another thing I like is not seeing one thousand commercials about diet pills, exercise machines, and fit women in bikinis after they’ve been on Jenny Craig when I watch TV! I just noticed that a few days ago, and I thought “I am going to be so aggravated when I go back to watching TV in the U.S.”

So for now….I am starting to get a little more homesick (it’s a curve that all exchange students follow), but continue to enjoy life with my host family, to make an effort at school, and to try to soak in new things every day. (Yesterday, my host mom was teaching me how to iron collared shirts!) I am not going to say that it is always easy, because is most definitely is not. My three month benchmark is coming up soon, and I have realized that I have given up everything to come here. I have left behind everything that I love and am familiar with- my family, friends, dance, school, body (direct hint at my weight gain!)- all to live a year in a different country. At times it does not seem like such a big deal- I am only living a normal, every day life here. But then it strikes me how brave I am to have chosen this, what a big thing I am doing, and what a monumental life experience it will turn out to be. I stop and think, “Hey! I am really living life in a different culture!” So the times where I am missing home the most, when it starts to hurt the most, I think of how much perspective and personal strength I’ve gained by being here just 10 weeks. And I think how that will be times a thousand or more by the end of the year. And then I take a deep breath and say to myself “Yup, I still want this.” And as long as I know I can make it until tomorrow, I’m good….because there’s always a tomorrow after that! Thanks to my Grandpa Bob for those words of wisdom. And that, is how I can say that, in spite of everything, I am happy and I LOVE BEING IN TURKEY!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, and love to all,
Chiara