Back home!

I have been home for all of 24 hours, and I have given some thought to what I missed when I was in Turkey, and what I miss now that I am home:

What I missed when I was in Turkey:

• Cold milk to have with cereal. The milk they serve is tepid.
• Having a washcloth! They do not provide those in hotel rooms.
• Air conditioning!
• Having the freedom to wear what I wanted.
• Having set prices for items. It was tiring to bargain.
• My pets....not just mine, but knowing that cats and dogs are cared for as pets in the US, and not just running around around with nobody to care for them.
• Beds that were higher than my knee. I don't know why all of the hotels had low, low beds.

What I miss now that I am home:

• good canned ice tea. Here we have Nestea, but in Istanbul, they have marvelous canned Lipton tea, in all sorts of flavors.
• the amazing pastries and desserts.
• All of the recipes that had eggplant in them. Yummy!!
• being able to walk down any street and see people just "hanging out" together, playing games, just talking.....everywhere. There is never an empty street.
• The kindness of the Turkish people - it's amazing how welcoming and generous they are to Americans.
• All of the recipes that had eggplant in them. Yummy!!
• The amazing views. During my trip, I took 1200 pictures. Areas of Turkey are so beautiful that I just kept taking pictures to try to capture that beauty. The great thing is that we are lucky to have amazing places in the US also - the Grand Canyon, the Carolina coast..

What a great opportunity I have had. I am thankful for the support I was given by UCPS and the World Affairs Council. Not only do I get to share my trip via the blog, but I was also provided the means to purchase items from Turkey to share with students in a "culture kit". This kit includes clothing, music, arts and crafts, historical information - all sorts of things that children can look at and study and gain more of an insight into Turkish culture. I look forward to sharing all of this with our students!

Religious sites

Turkey has a secular government, meaning the government does not support one particular religion. However, different religious beliefs are evident throughout the country.

Here is part of the "Blue Mosque" in Istanbul where Muslims come to worship.


Christians visit this site, known as the "Home of the Virgin Mary".

Christians and Muslims alike visit Topkapi Palace, as it contains relics important to both religions.

Turkish handicraft- ceramics and tile

In addition to rugs, Turkey is well known for the ceramics and the textiles they produce. Here's several samples of ceramic and tile we saw in a local shop.

Meeting with a school leader

In Union County, we have roughly 50 schools. Each has a principal, and the principals report to the superintendent. He is the "one in charge", making sure all 30,000 students are given the best education possible.

In Istanbul, the arrangement is different. Each public school has a principal, then there are associate directors, and other positions going up until the "manager". The Manager of the school system is responsible for the education of 3.2 million children. He said that his main responsibility was to pass down mandates from the Ministry of Education and facilitate completion of these.

Obviously, this man had a busy schedule but was eager to meet the educators from America. He answered all of our questions and was very gracious. At the end, when we exchanged gifts, he gave our group leader a gold plate embedded with crystals. He then turned around and said he wanted to give something else - and that "something else" was his old football (soccer) jersey. He had been a pro football player years ago, and his team had won the championship one year. This jersey he gave our leader was the one he had been wearing in the championship game. Just another example of the kindness and generosity of the Turkish people we met...

The Hagia Sofia

It was a church, then it was a mosque, then a museum. What makes this interesting is that when the Hagia Sofia became a mosque, all of the Christian mosaics were covered and the crosses removed. Now that it is being restored, you can see a great mix of the presence of the different religions.

The end of the trip

Right now, I am sitting in an airport in London - I've hit the last few minutes of my online allotment. However, this is not the end of the blog - I have many more pictures and learning points to post!!

Proper attire in Turkey

Before I went on this trip, I was instructed to only bring clothes with long sleeves, long skirts or pants, and a scarf. For most of our trip, we have travelled to areas that are influenced by Westerners (meaning that they dress like we do in America). However, we did hit some areas that were more conservative, especially for the women.

Here is one family we had dinner with. Notice all of the men are wearing long pants.....shorts are never seen. Also notice what the mother is wearing - a head scarf and a very long jacket. We saw a lot of this.

Here are several ladies walking into a mosque. Notice the head scarves and the long jackets.

In this picture, a woman in wearing a burqa - a covering that covers the body from head to toe, only allowing for the face to be shown. Some only allow for eyes to be visible.Here I am in one of the mosques. Notice the long skirt, the long sleeves, no shoes, and the headscarf. I am smiling. I was not smiling after 15 minutes because I was so hot, and I couldn't wait to just get the scarf off of my head. How do these women do it?