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Our arrival in Izmir was bittersweet. We were so excited to meet our new host families, and yet, we knew that we were only four days away from leaving our new friends. Little did we know we were in for a treat! The wonderful people of tbe Güzelbahçe (or Beautiful Garden) Rotary club treated us to another fabulous seafood lunch with some of our host families, and then whisked away to visit the Izmir High Technology institute.
At the Technology Institute, we met with several faculty members – including a professor who was originally from near Roanoke, Virginia. After visiting the campus, and a short break for çai and the rolled pastries called borek that we have come to know and love, we shuffled luggage between the cars, and headed for our new homes.
Keith, Ted and Cindy were all staying in the same neighborhood, with families who were good friends. Their host families decided it would be more fun to dine together pot-luck style. So, that evening, they gathered around the barbeque for good food, good conversation, and – thanks to Mehmet – good music. Since the barbeque happened to coincide with the Football World Championship game, half of the guests headed for the television to watch Barcelona beat up on Manchester United after the meal, and the other half stayed outside for an impromptu jam session. The jam session was so successful, that Mehmet, Filiz, Şehnaz, Keith and Cindy worked up a short surprise performance for the next morning’s meeting.
The next morning began with the Güzelbahçe club meeting. We gave our presentation and then the band performed a Turkish piece called, Üsküdara, and St. Louis Blues. It was very interesting to hear the mix of the Sas – a traditional Turkish lute – an acoustic guitar, and a davul – an hour-glass shaped drum.
We presented our flags, finished our breakfast, and then headed out to the restaurant’s patio to drink Turkish Coffee and have our grounds read. We were relieved to hear that our futures all look very bright!
From coffee, we went home to change clothes, then went to lunch. Since the meals are so long and relaxed, it seems to be perfectly normal to go from one meal to the next! This time, our meal was in a little surf shack in the town of Alaçantı (pron. Al-a-chan-tih). It was just a quick bite of Menemen (soup made from eggs, tomatoes and green peppers) and then off to the ocean for our windsurfing lessons. Before we got on the water, we made a bet that the worst surfer would buy a round of drinks. We never held them to it, but the boys definitely tied for last place!
When we had thoroughly exhausted ourselves, we headed to Çeşme for a bit of window shopping, before it was time to head home. That evening, the Rotary club was hosting their “Father’s Day” party – so the boys went and enjoyed the festivities. So as not to feel left out, the women prepared an amazing party of their own. There was music and dancing, a few libations, and more food and desserts than you could shake a stick at.
Finally, feeling very contented, we said our goodnights and went home to repack our things for the penultimate time.
The next morning, our Güzelbahçe families took us to meet our Ege families for the first time. It was very strange to be standing between the families we already loved, and those we knew would soon grow on us. It was even stranger to think that after this exchange, the next families we would be staying with would be the ones waiting for us in the States.
From our meeting place at the Swiss Hotel, we headed off with our new families to visit the Izmir Kiz lisesi. No longer only a girl’s school, the Kiz lisesi was founded in the early 1900’s, and has been encouraging students towards greatness ever since. Since it is a boarding school, students are able to come from all over Turkey to enjoy the benefit of studying here – though, the majority of the students are from Izmir.
We were fortunate enough to be guided around the school grounds by a few of the English students. They did a magnificent job, and we were glad to learn about Turkey, and America, from the perspective of the next generation.
After our lengthy visit to the school, we headed to the Izmir University of Economics where Laura’s Host Mom, Mine, was the Dean of Students. We were awed at the sheer magnitude of the school – both in physical capacity and in the educational excellence it was striving for. We saw everything from science labs, to an amazing library where most of the materials were electronic, and a fashion design studio that would rival those in New York and Milan. We ate lunch at the cafeteria which would make the mouths of students all over the world water, and then headed to Mine’s office for – you guessed it – çai.
When we were full of çai, we headed to the local mall so Carole could pick up some Poppy wall art from Ikea and Cindy could pick up some CD’s from her new favorite Turkish band – Yuksek Sadakat.
After such a full day, it was nice to go home for a minute before dinner. We came back together again at a beautiful outdoor restaurant where we had beautiful meze (the starter course) followed by delightful main dishes of chicken, fish and lamb, and a beautiful dessert tray.
To end the evening, we walked a few blocks to a club that Mine knew of. The moment we got inside, we knew we would have a good time. The club was full, and the live band was playing a wonderful mix of Turkish and American Music. We all danced and sang all night. Keith and Cindy even earned a smattering of applause when they cut a rug to “Blue Suede Shoes.”
The next morning, we all met at Kemeraltı – the large Grand Bazaar of Izmir. We picked up the last mementos for ourselves and our families. As we traversed the winding streets, we were overcome with emotions. Thoughts of home would creep to the forefront – what would it be like to shop in a regular grocery store? Would we ever be able to find anything at Target again? What would people back home think of “evil eyes?” How would we ever eat Ranch dressing?
When we were laden with gifts, we turned back towards the city center, hopped a cab, and went to the Medical Museum. We grabbed a quick bite on the way in, and then were guided by the Museum director around the incredible exhibits spanning centuries of medical innovations.
We were so enthralled by the museum, that we were too late to visit the other things we had planned for the day, like the visit to Pergamum and to one of the oldest Christian churches in the city.
We meandered for a few more blocks, then some of us went home. Ted and Nikki and their host families decided to go sit in a café and wile away the afternoon with good conversation and conjecturing about the upcoming football match between Beşiktas and Denizlispor for the Turkish Super League Championship.
We came back together that evening for a beautiful farewell dinner. We were a little shocked to find that we were sharing our festivities with one wedding party and one engagement celebration, but we all had a superlative meal, and enjoyed the live band and dancing. We felt a little sorry for the Brides that they had to share their revelry with a bunch of “Crazy Americans” but we figured there won’t be another wedding video in Turkey like theirs!
Ever the practical jokester, Nikki chose this evening to get all of her team mates in turn. Earlier in the day she had purchased a pack of trick gum that snaps the fingers of the unsuspecting victims. Carole just stood there, Laura scoffed at it, Cindy jumped and burst into laughter, and Keith – who had, by far, the best reaction – looked at the stick gum attached to his thumb, said, “Not like I’m a guitar player or anything?” and then headed off to try to find a band-aid for the sake of pity points.
Near the end of the evening, there was a ruckus outside the restaurant. It turned out that Beşiktas had won the football game, and were the Turkish Champions. Cindy was thrilled, Keith and his host father pouted… just a little.
The next morning, we met one final time on Turkish soil. We checked our luggage, said our goodbyes, and headed off for the wild blue yonder.
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