Today’s Adventure: Ooops, I Saved Your Life

I was sitting in class with my 8^th graders last week. We were done with the lesson but still had 10 minutes and they were on very good behavior (for some reason) all lesson so I told them I would show them some pictures of my trip to Turkey. I thought about showing them from the computer from the front of the class but I decided they might as well cowd around the teacher’s desk in the front of the room.

So they all got up and surrounded me and we were looking through the pictures. Then, not a minute after they’d all gotten up, one of the old, crappy light fixtures from the lights in the ceiling crashed down, making a gigantic BANG and hit directly where two of my students would have been sitting is we were not all looking at pictures.

I asked the kids if that happened often and told them I was sorry their classroom was so old and falling apart. The two girls who would have been struck by the light fixture, however, were standing right next to me and said, “Miss Lindsay, we have to thank you. Your lesson has saved our lives.”

I guess even if they don’t learn to wash their hands properly I saved at least 2 lives in some way 🙂

Noapte Buna!

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Istanbul

Sorry for the delay!

For Christmas break this year I went to Istanbul for 6 days. Istanbul is an ancient city and has been run throughout the centuries by the Byzantines, the Romans, the Ottomans, and the Turks, which means it’s super rich in history. It’s also the second largest city in the world, so naturally we were excited to try out the variety of cuisine that a city that large has to offer. Frankly, we were probably the easiest to impress of all the travelers that were moving through Istanbul that week because we were sated with anything that wasn’t Moldovan food. Breaks are nice J

There were a bunch of volunteers there and we were mostly all together for New Years Eve to rain in 2012. Beyond that, we met up with different combinations of people the whole time, mixed and matched groups and ended up having a blast.

Like last year, I’m going to include my highlights with pictures to keep things simple rather than giving you a play-by-play. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

1)     Marveling at Aya Sofia, one of the oldest churches in the world. It was constructed originally in the 300’s by the Roman emperor Constantine but subsequently burned down (shocking. Not.). The current building was reconstructed in 532 by the Roman emperor Justinian. When the Ottomans came they liked it so much that they just pulled all the Christian stuff down and made it a mosque. Now it’s a museum and they are working to try and restore as much of the holy writings and paintings of both faiths as possible. Pictured from the outside is actually the Blue Mosque but same idea. The light was better 🙂

2)     Walking through the old Roman cistern under the old town. This is where the ancient Romans stored their water supply in case they were attacked by an outside power and had to hole up in the city for months. The water was trucked in via aqueduct. Two of the columns are held up by Medusa heads, placed upside down and no one knows why. Creepy….

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3)     Going apeshit at the spice bazaar and buying about a kilogram of fresh loose tea. The kinds I got range from pomegranate, apple, cinnamon, “Love Tea,” jasmine (with a real flower that opens in the hot water) rose hip, mint, Turkish black, white, orange, and lemon. The bazaars are bustling places and while the grand bazaar was a little touristy, the spice bazaar was heavily populated by locals as well as tourists, as evidenced by the leeches they were selling for medicinal purposes outside….

4)     Turkish Coffee. Chocolate Baklava. Oh. My. God.

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5)     Heading down to the pier where the Bosphorus Straight meets the Golden Horn river and the Sea of Marmar. Under the Galata Bridge down there are shops, restaurants, hookah bars, and places selling tasty fish sandwiches with lemon juice and vinegar, fresh caught and most assuredly not Moldovan. We sampled some while taking in the long line of fishermen that come every day to throw their lines over the railings of the bridge to catch small, hand-sized silver fish from the river.

Overall, a wonderful trip!

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