Monday, October 26, 2009

School

Many people have been asking me to write about school and what it is like. So here goes. First of all, I teach third grade English. Just the same as being a Spanish teacher in the states. Third graders get 11 hours of English a week, plus an additional 40 minutes a week of English Club. In club we are putting on an English production so they are learning songs and lines to a play. Classes are 40 minutes a day and they have to back to back lessons in a row with a five minute break in between. Considering for how long they sit for, the kids are very well behaved (in class). Right now we are working on proper present pronouns and before and after and time. besides my teaching time I have regular duties during lunch and recess and have provide after school tutoring once a week. The Turkish class day is very long and kids spend an enormous amount of time in school. They get out of school around 4:30 and start at 8:20. The also arrive to school by private service buses, often leaving their house an hour or so before school starts. Many kids are very excited to learn English and speak very well. But like in any classroom there are mixed abilities and some kids know very little. Overall I find their comprehension and spelling very good. Their spelling is better in fact then some of their English native speakers!

The school campus is beautiful. The school has been running for over 100 years. The campus is huge with olive trees and beautiful meandering pathways. Our building is five years old and each classroom has smart boards and a sink. However, the entire educational system is set in accordance with the Turkish Ministry. They set the dates, what we teach, changes and it is not very modern. Teachers are expected to carry these huge "black books' which are to be signed every period. This includes recess duty, attendance and what is taught. Also teacher's have to turn in weekly lessons plans for the ministry. This leaves very little room for emergent or alternative education ideas. Probably my least favorite part of the job. there is no changing it as it a old system and all the school administrators are acting in accordance to the ministry.

The students are great and fun. They are hard workers and have very high expectations for themselves. They talk to me a lot in Turkish. I can get the idea of what they are saying but usually it is lost in translation. A huge difference among them and their American counterparts fall around food. The Turkish cuisine is what they eat and there is very little variety in it. Lunch is provided everyday and made by a wonder chef. Kids sit with their classes and eat. They eat whatever is in front of them. They eat off of real plates, glass cups and use real silverware. For example, lunch today was lamb and chickpea stew with rice and a side of yogurt. They rarely serve dessert and when they do kids still eat their entire lunch and then dessert. Salt, spices, lemon, and olive oil are on the table and students add it to their food to their liking. They even pour water from water pitches into their own glass! It is eating with the kids that I notice the biggest difference between them and other kids. They are very independent.


Overall, I am very happy with my job and my teaching partners. If I could I would change many things. I am guest in their system and am in no place to questions rules and regulations as it has been working for them for many years. They will slowly change to their own accordance in time to come. The kids are kids and some things do not change no matter where you are. They laugh, run, play kitty and need their teachers attention as much as the next kid. I just hope I can lean all their names in the next weeks. That has been very hard! The pictures I have included are of my classroom , the cafeteria, the library (including one of Gary's five birthday chairs he painted), the common hallway  (on my floor) and the outside of my building.
Let me know if you have questions. Love, Rena



 

Monday, October 19, 2009

Naber! (What's up!)





       Doors are starting to open as opportunities knocks. The last few weeks have fairly busy. I went to meet  an new friend, Oya, at the Fine Arts Facility (Güzel Sanatlar Fakültes) at Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi. She is a ceramic artist completing her masters in ceramics. How did I meet this artist? Thanks to Rick Mahaffey in Seattle and the open arms of the ceramic world. Rick met Oya in a few different countries at ceramic seminars/ symposiums and told me to contact her when I arrived in Izmir. Now here I am, and after settling in, I gave her a call and she invited me to tour the ceramic department. I spent the day at the University checking out the kilns, wheels, clay and meeting a few of the professors.I am soon going to talk to the head of the ceramic department in hopes of being
allowed to use the facility, for an exchange of knowledge and labor. I don't know if it is a possibility but I will propose the idea of an artist in residence. It would be fantastic if this works out. I didn't know how much I'd missed that mud..."ya don't know what ya got till it's gone." 

       Oh! On that note. I purchased my first Turkish pottery. It is a extremely simple, functional country casserole pot of terracotta, unglazed and very soft bisque from a pit fire. I made a delicious lamb stew in it and I'm ready to season it with many meals. I highly recommend you get one for your kitchen. 


         Then, I met another friend of a friend who knows this family with one year old. The family wants to teach their daughter to be multilingual. So they started from birth talking to her in English and Turkish. They have hired me to play and talk with the girl for an hour a day, three times a week, to develop her vocabulary and speech. Her name is Gülse, which translates as Smile or Rose, and she is all smiles, just  about to walk, with a great personality. She can go from place to place holding on, or she'll walk holding hands.  Her Birthday is this Wednesday. Yes, another cool Libra!  I am excited to attend my first Turkish family celebration and meet the whole family. It's a great "job".
     So that's my recent news. Other than that I keep house, cook, clean and such. I study Turkish 1-2 hrs a day,  meet my pal Veysi at his pastry shop to talk and been working on some sketches and one painting on the easel. 

Time to hit the market for tonight's meal. 
 Sonra! (later!)


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Sirince's Wine Festival

      It's harvest season in the old greek hill town of Sirince, celebrating an annual wine festival. By bus, its about an hour plus trip in a dolmus with final jaunt up the steep cliff road. We went with two friends from school. Sarah the librarian from New Mexico and Brant a fourth grade teacher from West Texas are great traveling companions!

      Sirince is a white wash town built on the hillside near the city of Selcuk, and Efesus. The homes of stone and terracotta roof tiles that has been functioning and preserved for hundreds of years . The stone road is well worn and polished from ancient footsteps. You should see the fantastic construction of the homes. Walnut branches uses as trusses on a stone or terracotta wall construction, washed white walls and tile rooftops. Fantastic buildings in the simplest forms and function.

      We stayed the night at the Nisanyan Pension. We were picked up at the entrance of town and driven to the pension, where we were greeted with a chilled glass of local fruit wine as we sat on the patio with a marble fountain loaded with flowers. Imagine little houses on the (600 yr old greek hillside) prairie! Charming, cozy, extremely comfortable and unbelievable. Our cottage house was on a hilltop road with a garden patio, fireplace and a marble fountain to wash your feet before entering. This two story cottage has a kitchen, with all the amenities including a private large open marble hamam style bathroom.  In a tranquil garden, on the top of the hill, overlooking the valley sits the spring fed marble pool . The kind of place were it's common to have a horse or donkey wander past.














 






   Then it was off to the festival.  We strolled down the narrow stone road passing local bread ovens and goats. We roamed the hillside town stopping to see the renovation of St. John basilica (1839) with its wooden vaulted ceilings and fresco remains, and a cold beer in a garden cafe overlooking the town and valley below. Finally, we arrived at center of town for the festival. The town is full of local artisan, oya craft (hand lace),  pottery, wine shops and the finest olive oil soaps for purchace. There was local street theater performance, parades with the sound of drums and clarinets echoing traditional Turkish folk music. The festival was small, but we shopped a bit, tasted some wine, and ate a camel sausage sandwich for lunch and enjoyed the celebrations.





     Dinner at the pension was outstanding. After Kahve in the garden patio we headed back to the festival to experience the wine. Returning to our cottage we drank Raki, played tavla and talked to the wee hours of the morning. Obviously we slept in with a relaxing Sunday morning. We had been given a basket of fresh eggs, cheese, jams and sausages and village bread for a relaxing breakfast in our cottage, and yes, Turkish coffee. Ahhhhh!!!
     Heading out of town we grabbed some fresh olive oil, ceramic bowls and a clay cooking pot before heading down the mountain to Selcuk for another adventure.

Friday, October 2, 2009

An American Cook in Turkey


             Thank Allah I like to cook!

It's a great way to learn language and get positive reinforcement. There are a lot of challenges in any kitchen and here I have a few extras. Our kitchen is small. Two people is tight! We have the minimal pots and pans.  No gadgets. No measuring devices. Everything is metric. Don't forget to turn the water heater off to use the oven, or you'll blow the main fuse and remember to turn it on or you"ll regret the cold showers in the morning.
       Don't get me wrong. A small kitchen means everything is in reach! We were stocked with plenty of dishes, cups, silverware and essential cooking pots, pans, and utensils. There was even beer in the fridge when we move in! The Turkish double tea kettle is a pleasure to use and the glass tea set presents Turkish tea so well we've quit coffee. There is plenty of
cupboard and counter space. We cook have a great gas range with an electric convection oven. So we  were good to go.
     A good chef knife and cutting board were purchase right from the get go;  Ya just can't cook without then.  So cooked for weeks without any additions. Of course, as the cuisine developed, I picked up a few more things. For instance, a screen sieve for cleaning rice, a small glass square casserole dish and 2 loaf pans for baking.   I love the minimalists approach so much I am reluctant to get measuring cups/spoons. You are encouraged to use common sense and approach recipes a bit more organically. This common sense approach applies to the markets too. As an illiterate,
I rely on smell, color, and taste to learn "bu ne?" (what's that?) and I'm thumbing my translation dictionary constantly.  It's been great learning. At the end of the day I look forward to  sit on the kitchen balcony and look down on the men playing tavla (backgammom) and I simmer up some strategies as I saute.
    So that's our kitchen life....ya..big deal right?! So what's cooking????  Stay tuned.