We made it to Turkey!!

My sweet husband and I just moved to Turkey for military purposes. It was our first choice of location and we feel very excited and blessed to be here! I have been asked by many to keep of blog of our Turkish adventures and therefore this is Chapter 1 of the Applejunk’s Turkish Adventures!

We arrived here around 10pm last Tuesday and I am happy to say that we had absolutely no difficulties in traveling! We had about 30 hours of travel time and were very exhausted and surprisingly nothing went terribly wrong. We were met by a welcoming group of people who made us feel instantly at home. 

We stayed in a hotel the first couple nights, and we were able to move into our house on Friday. This was a pleasant surprise, because we were told that we might have to live in the hotel for a month or so. We were really hoping to get in a new schnazzy house…but alas…we were placed in an old, not-so-schnazzy house. We are trying to count our blessing though! Each day that we live here we find more that we like about the place.  Our household goods have not yet arrived, so we are loaning some furniture for now. I’m sure it will feel much more like a home once our stuff gets here!

It has been very hot and humid here, and despite how much I despise air conditioning…I have succumbed. Wearing makeup is impossible, because it just melts off my face. This little Pacific Northwest girl isn’t used to this kind of heat! It’s very pretty though and the base is full of palm trees and flowers and bushes.

We have ventured off base for dinner the last couple of nights. So far we are in love with Turkish food! It is a land full of delicious fruits and vegetables! We are being adventurous with our food choices and everything has been so good. Yesterday we were able to go to the Sunday market. We bought a RIDICULOUS amount of fruits and veggies for $15. And everything is sooo delicious from growing in the bright never-ending sun! When we first got here we were warned of the “Turkish trots” that we would inevitably develop from the food…but so far both of us have been surprisingly trot-free!

Jordan has impressed the Turkish people with his language skills. They are shocked to find out he has only been here a couple days. They are just thrilled when you even attempt to speak to them in their language. All the Turks we have met have been so kind and hospitable! The other day we were speaking with the owner of the restaurant and he whipped out his iPhone to show us pictures of his son’s circumcision! Fortunately the pictures weren’t graphic (although being a nurse, I kind of wished that they were haha).

Our jeep shouldn’t arrive for another month or so, so we have been walking pretty much everywhere. Fortunately there is a bus that runs on base every 20 minutes. We took a trip to the BX to get basic supplies, and we are limited to buying only what we can carry. I think we are finally starting to get an idea of where everything is located. The base is very small, but it sure seems large when you have to explore it by foot in 95 degree weather.

Our sponsor family has been very kind to us! They are Christians too and we are so blessed to find some good Christian friends immediately. I was so excited to find out that there is an active church and Bible studies here. As most of you know, Jordan and I feel that God has sent us here for a reason. Although our primary reason for coming is not missions, we both believe that we were sent here to share the Gospel. We are praying for opportunities to do so. It’s a bit more complicated here, because this is a very Muslim country. We are hoping to start by becoming friends with some of the locals.

Well that’s all for now!  Here's some pictures of our life in Turkey so far!

 "The Alley" right outside the base. This is only about a 5 minute walk from our house.

 This is the family room in our house. So...friendly...isn't it?

 Our kitchen. It's actually bigger than my last kitchen, so we are excited about that!

 The dining room...this is where I am right now!

 Our bedroom. It all kinda looks the same, I know.

 My least favorite thing about our house...the bathroom. Any ideas on how to spruce it up??

 Jordan looking handsome next to our banana tree!! That's right! We have a banana tree. And it has bananas on it!

 We had a Turkish feast in Adana with some of our new friends. That food wasn't for just us, don't worry! See that look on my face? That's jet lag!

 Colored chicks at the market. What the...?

 The market! Fresh fruit and produce as far as the eye can see!

 This is a cabbage! They grow 'em big here! It costs about $1.50 for one head. We did not buy one.

My love and I enjoying the market! I was SO hot that sweat was running down my legs.