Forgetting and Remembering

Sometimes I have a hard time focusing on the Word as I read in the mornings. When I find this happening, I pull out a certain journal I use. I let my Bible app read the passage to me and as I listen I write down the words I hear. Obviously the app reads faster than I can write so I only write every 5th or 6th word. I find this helps me stay more focused in the passage. I also find that I sometimes notice things I would have missed if reading. I also am more apt to notice patterns or repeated words. Below is a picture of what my journal looks like. If a person was to pick up the notebook, they would think it was just a bunch of nonsense. Well it is but it has served as a tool for me.

Recently I did this for Psalm 106. I noticed some patterns and decided to go back and read it since my mind was more engaged. Here are some things I noticed and my thoughts on those things are in italics:

106:1 - God is good. His love is unwavering and unending. 

(May all my days begin with this anthem over me. He is good. His love for me is good, unwavering, and unending. This remains true even when things around me seem to be crumbling.)

106:2 - There is not enough time in the day to speak of all of his praise.

106:6 - I have sinned. I have been wicked. 

106:7 - Israel was wicked when they forgot God’s works and his abundant love. 

(I am wicked when I forget. I’ve been forgetting a lot lately. “God, are you even working here at all? If you’re working, I can’t see it.” This is wickedness.)

106:8 - YET God saved them, not for their sake but for the sake of His name. He saves us too.

106:12-14 - They praised him for a bit but soon forgot this saving. They turned to cravings instead. 

(How often do I forget that through my saving, the fullness of God is mine. In my forgetting I turn to my cravings that cannot fill. This is wickedness.) 

106:15 - God gave them their cravings to show that those things would not fill.  

106:20 - They exchanged God’s unending glory for a hunk of gold with eyes that could not see and a mouth that could not speak. 

(What is the hunks of gold in my life? What are my powerless gods?)

106:21 - They forgot again.

106:24 - They didn’t enter the promised land because they did not trust God’s word. 

(He told them he would give them the land and drive out the inhabitants. They said, we don’t think you really mean it. Didn’t I come to this place for the purpose of setting up his house here? Yet, lately I feel like he is asleep at the wheel. He’s not really a keeper of his word. I have come to this conclusion because I can’t SEE how he will bring this about.)

106:25 - They had complaining hearts instead. 

(I am guilty.)

106:28 - They united themselves to yet another fake powerless image.  

106:34 - They didn’t destroy the traps of the land (the people) but instead became like them. 

(What traps of this land do I need to destroy?) 

106:36 - They sacrificed to those fake powerless images.

(How much time and thought am I sacrificing to fake powerless images? To Facebook, to food, to the idea that a spouse would fill me?) 

106:39 - They became whores.

(What a harsh word. In high school, that identity was the worst insult. And yet when I stray from God’s glory in search of lesser fake gods, it is an accurate description. My pride says I’m not that bad.)

106:40 - God abhorred his heritage.

(How often is my wickedness so bad that the unwavering love of the Lord is provoked to hatred?)

106:43 - Again and again he rescued them, rescues me. And I continue to rebel. 

(His unwavering love will always rescue me. Even in his abhorring, he will not fully abandon me. He will not dust his hands and say, I’m finished with you.)

106:44 In spite of this, he sees when I am in hot water, he still hears my cry. He doesn’t ever abandon me. 

106:45 - He remembers. I am a forgetter but he remembers his covenant. 

(Oh may I be a rememberer!)

106:45 - He relents from utterly destroying me. Why? Because of his unwavering love. 

A Week in the Life Episode 15

If week’s had theme’s this week’s would be called “Striking Out.” I struck out when I attempted to make the nicely glazed pineapple chicken meal and it turned into Pineapple Chicken Stew. I struck out when I arrived at the post office too early to pick up a package. I struck out when I tried to visit or make plans with 5 separate friends in a single day and then another 5 folks on other days. I struck out when I tried to make new friends. I actually did get a little time with Sandra but our time was awkward and I sensed that she wished I was not there. That felt like a strike. 

In spite of striking out, there were some good parts of the week. J and I went to see La La Land in English. The movie theater showing it is relatively new so this was my first time going to that one. I found it to be much nicer than the other one. The area outside the theaters felt fancy. Inside, all the seats were correctly numbered and the reclining seats made it feel a little more luxurious. The other theater is accessed through a food court and then after walking down a plain corridor, you arrive at your theater. The seats in the other one were cloth and my road had about 6 seats all numbered 16. 

The movie was listed as starting at 5:15. We arrived outside the theater at 5:10 and found it to be roped off due to cleaning. We were allowed in at 5:13. Rather than previews, there were five minutes of commercials and then the movie started. All movie theaters here give an intermission halfway through the film for a bathroom break. I love that part of movie experiences here. 

I stopped by to see CFS one day only to learn she had quit! I was so shocked and a little sad to lose this regular hangout spot. I called her to get the scoop. She in turn invited me over for dinner. We had fried anchovy sandwiches, tiny bones and all. I think I would have really liked the meal were it not for the tiny bones. 

I wanted to add a few more pics from the week. One day I wanted to try to make some new friends so I visited some of the shops in the city center. I found a myriad of weird things in a jewelry store. I am clueless as to what the purpose of these things are.

In Turkish, the letter c makes a jeh sound. So if someone is reading my first name, Rebecca, it sounds like Reh-beh-jah. In addition, Turkish does not have a -th sound which means locals can’t make that sound, it often comes out as a tee sound. Finally, it is rare to see two consonants together. When they are together, as in the case of their word for sport, spor, they pronounce it as see-poor. Or they pronounce plan as pee-lahn. 

All this means that when the postman drops a package off for me, he asks if I am 

Re   be  cca Can  da  ce  S   mith

Reh-beh-jah John-dah-jeh See-meet.

Of course, when I saw this sign for Granny Smith apples the other day, I had to have a good chuckle. 

A Week in the Life Episode 14

The city has been working on a new road by my house for months. In fact, they started a week after I moved into my new place. It made crossing the road difficult for months. Then one day, I saw a break in the wall of construction and that folks were passing through the construction site. I followed suit. They finally finished the road part several weeks ago. 

The road is complete and currently being used, but the city is still trying to finish up the sidewalks. One day, I went to my insurance place and found 3 old concrete steps stacked on top of one another. This left another 2 feet or so to the entrance level. I had to climb into the building. Going in was a little easier than leaving because there was only a 2 inch ledge on the other side of the door and the door swung inside rather than out. With only a 6” deep step 2 feet beneath me, I ended up having to prop the door open as I sat down and slid out of the building. Perhaps you can make out the stacked steps in the picture below.

I returned to the insurance place a few weeks later. The city had finished the entrance into the building. They had put in a 1:2 slope ramp up to the door ledge. With everything so dusty here, the slope was also dusty and I had to be careful not to slide down the ramp while standing. I’ve noted else where how the sidewalks are rather wavy or else will be quick to break within a few months. These are the kinds of things that ensure I could not continue in my field here.

J and I have been trying out new restaurants each week to determine which ones have the best food. We tried out a cafe that serves the local version of the waffle. The waffles were great but we decided to try out their real food. We both ordered pizza and each of ours was pretty good. Mine had a special kind of grilled cheese, green olives, peppers and eggplant. It sounds pretty weird but I thought it was tasty. Afterwards, we had one of their yummy waffles.

We visited a nearby city one day since the weather had warmed up a bit and J had a break from school. We ate at a restaurant there and tried some new local dishes. We each had a stew type dish cooked in a clay pot. We also ordered a side of fried meatballs. They were mediocre but lacking in flavor. Often, restaurants provide some free sides such as bread and their version of salad. This place also provided a side of pickled items. They pickle everything from cucumbers to cabbage to carrots. These pickled things are slowly becoming something I love.

As we had bussed into town, I noticed they had a McDonald’s. In America, I was not a big fan of the Golden Arches but my lack of access to it here, makes me want it more than normal. It had been almost a year since I had eaten there. J and I made it a priority to eat there before heading back to our city and it made me happy. 

If you remember, I wrote about my puzzle difficulties several weeks ago. J and I not only finally completed the puzzle, we also finished coloring it. We chose to use watercolor paints to color it. Below is a picture of it nearing completion.

Dreaming and Swimming

Some say that when a person begins to dream in their second language, it’s an indicator of their fluency in that language. I’m not sure I agree because I remember having Turkish words show up in my dreams in those years of merely visiting the country for a week at a time. Nonetheless, friends back home often ask if I dream in Turkish. The truth is that sometimes it’s hard to tell. I understand everything going on in the dream but can’t always differentiate which language is being spoken. The only times I’ve noticed Turkish was when I had to make a switch from one to the other in the dream. For example, once I dreamt I was visiting a local family. They had adopted a little girl from China who spoke English but not Turkish. In the dream I switched from speaking Turkish with the family to speaking English with the girl. 

In a more recent example, I dreamt I was visiting America. Somehow a Turkish restaurant was there too. The boss looked at me and asked if I intended to work that night. I looked at him and said, “I don’t want to.” Only I said it in Turkish with my city’s accent. The correct way to say this is ‘istemiyorum and pronounced [ee-steh-mee-your-oom] but I said ‘istemiyom’ which is prounounced [ee-steh-me-yohm.] My local friends laughed pretty hard when I told them how I pronounced the word in my dream.  

I still wouldn’t call myself fluent but I do understand most of what is said around me. I can also get my point across most of the time, even with deeper subject content. I may go the long way around to say something or use some incorrect suffixes but generally they get the point. I call these victories. The reality though is that I still have a long way to go and don’t want to settle at this level. I did see a post called 12 Signs You’re Fluent in a Foreign Language. Most of these are pretty good descriptors of where I am in Turkish. 

One day I made an appointment online to finish up my paperwork for my residence permit. Or so I thought. When I arrived I realized the appointment had not been finalized. Apparently I had missed a step. They explained I must have quit the appointment process too early. Oops. “What should I do?” I asked. They said they could take care of it from their office. This was a grace because I have watched them delay people and send them away for similar mistakes. They created the appointment for me and then finished the paperwork right away. 

Afterwards, Sherry invited myself and J to hang around drinking tea and chatting with her. This was also a gift because she had told me before that she generally wishes people would move along after their work has finished. As we chatted, she invited J and I to go swimming with her the following night. Later, Moses, the director came in and told all the employees that they need to be more strict on giving visas in circumstances exactly like mine. He looked at me and asked if it was inappropriate to be discussing this in front of me. Sherry said it was no big deal because they had already agreed and given me one for double that amount. In other words, I was not one of the ones to cause them concern. 

The next day, J and I went with Sherry and Rose to the community pool/thermal pools/sauna/bathing house. I have written about my first experience visiting the pools in the summer time. We went on the discounted day and paid less than $3 for entry. 

The pools are about 20 minutes out of town. There are buses that go out there but so far I have been lucky enough to ride there in a car with friends. As you walk in, there is a connected cafe on the left where one can buy snacks and more importantly, a glass of tea. The main entrance has a desk to pay the entry fee. The first time I went, on a hot crowded summer day, there were ladies shoving each other to pay the entrance fee. On this cool, dark winter evening, the place seemed empty. With a $1.50 deposit, you can get a locker for your clothes and things. With returned keys, the deposit is also returned. 

Once the entry fee was paid, we veered to the right to enter the women’s side of the place. I think some days are women only days but there are separate thermal pools and locker rooms so men can be there on the same day but never in the same areas as women. The locker room area has lockers, changing rooms, toilets, and showers. Past the locker room, there is the hamam (or bathing area), a sauna, and a salt room. On the side of the hamam is a prayer room for locals to do their ritual prayers. 

After the hamam area is the thermal pool area. The pools have varying water temperatures. One pool was 100°F, one was 92°F, and the coolest thermal pool was 84°F. Past the thermal pools is an indoor pool but there is a portion of the wall that is open to the outside pool. As you can imagine, that pool was much cooler at about 68°F. No one was out there swimming.

After some time swimming, we sat in the sauna to do some sweating and loosen up our dead skin. Afterwards we went into the hamam area to scrub all the dead skin away. Sherry’s friend was there and she offered to scrub me down. Most women were sitting around topless wearing only their bathing suit bottoms. Some women weren’t even wearing those. As Sherry’s friend scrubbed my back, she was having a difficult time scrubbing underneath my bathing suit top. Following the footsteps of everyone else, I took it off. I later realized that Sherry and her tribe of friends took the more modest approach and did their best to scrub while still clothed in their swimsuits. Face palm. I’m sure they talked about my eagerness to undress afterwards. 

After scrubbing the dead skin away, we bathed ourselves. We returned to the locker room to dress and dry our hair. One does not go outside with wet hair for two reasons. The first is that it is assumed that a woman with wet hair has just finished having relations with a man. The second is that you will catch your death cold with wet hair. After the obvious glass of tea, we walked outside, heading to the car. Sherry and her friends asked where our hats/hoods were to cover our heads. Even with dry hair, it seems everyone covers their head upon leaving. They said we would know better for next time.