Here is an interesting tidbit...the Turkish language has only one irregular noun, su (water), and one irregular verb, dmek (to be). Words are formed by agglutination, meaning affixes are joined to a root word. I began language class yesterday and İ'm trying to pin down a similar moment during my schooling when İ've felt so engaged. The language itself is very fluent. My Turkish professor (Hacam is a Turkish term of respect used instead of a first name) came into the classroom and just began speaking basic Turkish phrases, like hello (merhaba), my name is (Benim adım), what's your name (Senin adın ne?), welcome (Hoşgeldiniz), American (Amerıkalıyim), nice to meet you (Memnu oldum), and many others. Since there are only 6 of us in our class, we are getting lots of practice. The language class goes for 3 hours everyday for the next two weeks until regular classed begin. After a few days in Ankara knowing absolutely no Turkish, the language I've picked up so far really goes a long way.

So I have some time before our language class begins so I'll give you a little snap shot look at what I've been up to.

There are 12 other students from the states in this program (CIEE) with me. Our resident director Kathryn and program assistant Ezgi have been helping us become acquainted with our new residence. Both are very friendly and knowledgable. ODTU, the university I am enrolled at, is a very large campus compared to St. Kate's. Instead of a pond and woods, there is a lake and 3043 hectares of forest area. There are currently about 23,000 students attending school here. It is one of the most competitive universities in Turkey and it is considered a very prestigious thing to attend. From campus you can take a mini bus to Kızılay, one of the busiest area of Ankara. Our language school is in Kızılay so this has been our main hang-out areas the past few days.

Yesterday we met with a group of Turkish students learning English at the language school to talk about our cultural perspectives of Turkey (and theirs of America). This was quite humorous, with many references to pop cultural figures like Brad Pitt, NBA stars like Jordan, and McDonalds. My friend Riley and I got to explore some areas of Ankara with a few of the Turkish students last evening. Highlights included an aerial view of Ankara, iskender (döner kepap on pide wıth yogurt, melted butter, and tomato sauce) DELICIOUS, and lots of needed practice of Turkish. I also tried liver (çığer), though I'm not sure if I will eat it again.

That's about all for now. I'm having a wonderful time so far! Hope all is well back in the states. Keep me updated!