January 27, 2012

Merhabalar!

Ok, so I've been busy as you can see.. but I'm going to tell you what I did in this couple of weeks..

I went to Pamukkale:
Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Provincein southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water. It is located in Turkey's Inner Aegeanregion, in the River Menderes valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year.


We stayed with Rotarian families, my family was really nice with me, and they showed me a lot of things about Turkey.. some of them that I already knew.. but they tried to show me anyway. It was nice.


We also went to the "Cleopatra's pool".. yea.. CLEOPATRA.. so we took our things out.. and went inside this hot and nice water while outside you could see snow.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lyH0gTf6NU


I saw the snow for first time.. I went crazy of course.. and we played with the snow... enough time to get tired.. 

Yes.. that's me.. It was really cool when we just went out of the bus.. and we saw the snow.. 


We had a breakfast with Rotarians, and also we went to Hierapolis.. 
An antique Roman city 

It was awesome...

yup.. Awesome.

Then.. I had a role in the "English day" that my school has... 

And after that me (Alfonso Coyotzi) Haley and Emily .. we went to Greece.. 

                                 

                               

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53lKKQLlPlk

5 Months, What? 2nd Part

Merhabalar (Hi everybody)

Yesterday I posted about the exchanges students that are living in here as you know there's 17 girls and Churrito my friend from Mexico (he's name is "Luis Enrique" but he likes to be called "Churrito")
All of them make my exchange even better

We have every Saturday Turkish lessons at "International Izmir House" so after that we walk around the city, have waffles (the girls love them), go to buy something, have something to eat, and enjoy the time that we have together. But that's the present time, So I'm going to talk about what happened at the first camp.

We went to Cesme, to one of the beaches there, Cesme is about an hour far away from Izmir, that is not much
.

It was great, we swam (the water here is really cold, but we swam anyway) we had something to eat, we knew each other (but Michelle wasn't here yet, we had to wait more for her, she's from Canada) the committee told us some rules, he spoke about us a little bit, and we said what was different about here.

After the orientation camp we went to Ephesus and to the house of the Virgin Mary for the second camp. now with Michelle that came to Izmir a little bit late, and she arrived here a day before this trip.



This trip was awesome, we stayed in a nice hotel the first night, had the second orientation camp there, and at the next day we went to the Virgin Mary's house. That place is so peaceful, like in other world. A lot of people from all over the world goes there, when you go inside that place, is like everything that is bad disappear and inside your body there's just peace, it's an small house, at the bottom there is this water that goes out of a rock, "holy water", and also there is this wall named, "the wall of the wishes" where you write your wishes and tie it there and they'll come true. http://www.aboutkusadasi.com/ephesus/virgin-mary-house.html

After that, we went to "Ephesus" It's an ancient Greek city, It's big really big, we walked a lot there and we saw tons of things from years ago, It has a lot of history, I got surprised about all you can see in Turkey. Ephesus (Ancient Greek Ἔφεσος, Ephesos; Turkish Efes) was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era. In the Roman period, Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC, which also made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus

Cumhuriyet (celebration of the republic day of Turkey)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day_(Turkey)

The Republic Day of Turkey is one of the public holidays in Turkey, commemorating the proclamation of the republic in 1923. It lasts 35 hours, starting at 1:00 pm on October 28.
On 29 October 1923, Mustafa Kemal declared that Turkey would be a republic and renamed it as the Republic of Turkey.




We had a Halloween Party

Taksim, Istanbul, Turkey

And then I went to Istanbul when we had one of the Bayrams, that "Bayram" is the Turkic word for a nationally celebrated festival or holiday, applicable to both national (i.e. secular) or religious celebrations.
I stayed there the whole bayram, I went to a lot of places and everything just because of my family. Also I met Barbara Duarte that is on exchange there in Istanbul, I took all the transports of the city that I could ever take, I tried kokorec, and had a really good time

         

And then, we went to Ankara It was tiresome because of the train that we took from Izmir to there (15 hrs to get there and 15 hrs more to come back here.. yeah.. as I said tiresome, but we had a great time, I saw my friend Jorge Cordoba, we had a lot of fun on the train, we went to Anitkabir (the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) and to a different parliaments. It was a nice trip also 

And after that trip we went to Cappadocia,One more incredible place in Turkey  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia . The rocks formations and all the history that is in that place is amazing, It was cold, really cold, but It was a nice experience.  

Then I had my first Thankgiving we had food, a lot of food... and we went to Annie's house, It was an awesome night. 

And then Christmas and New year arrived

    For Christmas we went to a Church (Italian and not good, but anyway) we had a Christmas dinner we  we gave each other presents, danced, sang and had fun. For new year I went to Alacati to say Hosgeldin (welcome) to the 2012.

And that brings me here... Tuesday 10 of January 2012.. I've done a lot of things here, I met tons of great people, had a lot of fun, sad moments, weird moments, days where I can speak a lot of Turkish and days that I can NOT.. but I'm learning, working and growing up as a person everyday. I had to cut a lot of things, because of no time. This weekend, Friday 13 I have a trip to Pammukale, so I'll post more about it when I get back here, this Thursday is going to get here a new exchange girl from South Africa, and she's going to join us on the trip. 

Görüşürüz! (see you later) as we say here in Turkey     

5 Months, What?

Merhaba! (Hello)

I just totally forgot about this blog, Who ever is reading this (that probably nobody, or maybe me in the future) I've been in Turkey for almost 5 months, today is Monday January 9. 2012 , and I arrived to Izmir August 18. 2011, that means that in 9 days I'll have 5 months living in Turkey Izmir.

Tamam (ok)

While I was coming to this awesome place... I wrote the whole trip from Veracruz Mexico, to Izmir Turkey. So here it is

Today my exchange begins, I woke up relaxed, the time passed slow and fast at the same time,  I said good bye to my parents and family, walked inside the waiting area, took my passport and flight ticket out and go inside the plane after that. It's 16:39 and I've been here like 10minutes on the plane, everything looks small and easy to break from here. I arrived to Mexico city at almost 17:00. I saw my uncle, had some tacos (of course!) saw Churrito (a mexican friend that wanted me to go with him on the plane to Mexico city to Izmir, cuz he's living here too.) I met 2 exchange students from Brazil, and a guy from Norway that used to play basketball where I used to play to, ok now I took the next plane to Frankfurt, Germany... It's 21:15 and now I'm on my way there, 22:42 and I'm good I took a soda and I'm flying somewhere near "Corpus christi" in North America, anyway It's 00:16 and I just saw Kung Fu Panda 2, I'm flying near Atlanta and 35000 feets from the ground. It's 04:27 and now I'm near the Atlantic Ocean 1042km/hr. Now It's 05:39 and I'm watching Thor. It just finished Thor and I had breakfast 6:36, I slept a little bit. It's 6:41 and I'm really near to Frankfurt, I'm flying near Oxford at 39000feets, and now In the map I can see Turkey. It's 7:42 and I just land It was a great. I'm in the waiting room with "Haakon" the guy from Norway. It's 9:56 now I'm on the plane to Munich. I'm in Munich now, It's been a nice trip and I'm not tired so It's a good thing. 11:22 and I'm on the plane to Izmir "MERHABA" was the first thing that I heard on the plane. It's 14:42 and the air plane just stopped, I'm really excited for what's going on now, I'll found out!

And I walked from there to the bag place and from the other side of the door I my host dad (Mert Korur), my host mom (Ozlem Korur) my host brother (Omer Korur) and my host sister (Melike Korur), and then I met the Rotary Committee, and we had the first meeting with them right after the plane. Then my family drove me home but not before showing me a little bit of the city that I was going to live for a year

I went home and I found out that my house has a sea view

Kordon, Izmir, Turkey

My first Turkish breakfast

Saat Kulesi in Izmir, Turkey

That morning was the whole new world saying hi to me.
I was in a different country, different language, different culture, different religion, different parents, different brother, different house, different school, a total different life.



Now I'm in love with this place, the people, the culture, my family, the city, Izmir is my new home far away from home.
But I'll keep with the story until now...
August 20, 2 days after I came here my host sister went to Penticton Canada.

Alaçatı Çeşme

 and after that, because it was summer break, we went to Alaçatı Çeşme, where you can do wind surf, sailing, or just lay on the beach have something to eat, go to a bar, have a waffle, buy some souvenirs, swim, and more things to do.

I met my cousins , aunt, uncle my grandma and I everyday more and more family family they all are really nice persons, I'm very lucky


I attend Izmir Tevfik Fikret, It's a french school, so I'll go back to Mexico speaking Turkish and French... That's my goal

My family start getting bigger, when I went to the first orientation camp where everyone that is living in Izmir, Turkey in this exchange year 2011-12 in the district 2440 went. And there I met the most awesome, cute, nice, beautiful, smart, crazy, sweet, warm, and great girls that I could ever imagine to meet.

Haley Scott, Michelle McClusky, Amanda Germano, Emily Hooker, Karine Luciane, Letícia Sassaki, Annie Barksdale, Maggie Johanesen, Morgan Danis, Hannah Kimmer, Wendy Back, Zoe Lipetz, Mariana Rivas, Cristina Carballo, Vitória Regina, Giulia Rossi and Diana Gonzalez..

Yes you counted right 17 girls, from the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico.
But I'll write more tomorrow cuz I'm tired now.. hahah

Where am I going to live for a year?

Izmir, Turkey

İzmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entireIzmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010 making the city third most populous in Turkey (2009). 

İzmir metropolitan area extends along the outlying waters of the Gulf of İzmir and inland to the north across Gediz River's delta, to the east along an alluvial plain created by several small streams and to a slightly more rugged terrain in the south. The historical city was formerly known as Smyrna.

İzmir has a typical Mediterranean climate which is characterized by long, hot and dry summers; and mild to cool, rainy winters. The total precipitation for İzmir averages 706 mm (27.8 inches) per year; however, 77% of that falls during November through March. The rest of the precipitation falls during April through May and September through October. There is virtually no rainfall during the months of June, July and August.

In ancient Anatolia, the name of a locality called Ti-smurna is mentioned in some of the Level II tablets from the Assyrian colony in Kültepe (first half of the 2nd millennium BC), with the prefix ti- identifying a proper name, although it is not established with certainty that this name refers to modern day İzmir. The Romans took this name over as Smyrna which is the name that is still used in English when referring to the city in pre-Turkish periods. 

The name İzmir (Ottoman Turkish: إزمير İzmir) is the modern Turkish version of the same name. In Greek it is Σμύρνη (Smýrni), Իզմիր (Izmir) in Armenian, Smirne in Italian, Esmirna in Spanish, Smyrne in French, and Izmir (without the Turkish dotted İ) in Ladino.

Am I excited?, yes.. more than you can imagine...

"The beginning of my exchange"

My adventure started from my entry to a private school.

There I met a guy named Torfin, who lived in México for the year I was studying my first year

This guy told me about the Rotary exchange. 

After several talks with him about the exchange, I took the initiative to make an appointment with his Mexican Rotary parents, who talked with my parents and told them a little bit about the exchange. 

They contacted me with my district 4190. I went tor the first meeting to discuss the exchange, and my mom thought that I would be an small explanation about the exchange, but when we arrived, we realized that many people were already looking for the exchange. 

Many meetings later, it was time to start the paperwork necessary for my exchange, paperwork that my mom didn't help me because she works.. but I finished all that the best way.

In this paperwork had to put a number of important documents (birth certificates, school grades, medical charts, etc.) I had to write a letter in English about me and my family, as well as my family wrote one about me , fill data, and choose from 15 different countries ... sort them by preference,of which I remember was, Turkey, France, Australia, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Taiwan, Belgium ... those are the ones that I remember

As Rotary International is a worldwide organization of volunteer leaders from all areas. We formed the first Interact club in Veracruz.

Interact is an independent group, Rotary clubs do social work to help the community. My group and I had lot to do, we went to recycling, helping old adults... and stuff like that.

Now it was time to study for the test that "depend on" the country to which I go. Study about Rotary History, Geography, Mexico History and English were the topics.

It wasn't hard at all, long.. but not hard... After nearly 5 hours between the history exam, break, review of Rotary, another break, test in English, rest and 2 interviews, one  to me and one to my parents, the testing day ended

By 26 March 2011, I had my first look at what is Rotary, because I went to the RYLA ("Rotary Youth Exchange Awards" that is like a camp, with all the out-bounds in the district), we all were nervous about what were going to happen. 2 Days before this, my club told me that they were going to tell us about the country at the end of the camp (that was not true). The camp was GREAT. I made new friends, met people, had fun.. because it was perfect.

Thursday, 31 March 2011 at 8:45:48pm and after saw that everyone were getting their countries... I got a mail, where said... 

Hello Alfonso the time you've been waiting has come, I inform you that the chairwoman has given you TURKEY as your destiny!. This is going to be a unique experience and I invite you to get ready for this journey, search what you can about your host country, enjoy and put in he sky the name of Mexico. Congratulations!

And I was like OMG... because I didn't know anything about Turkey.. so I freaked out... But I started to search about there, and found out that It has lot of history, culture, and great places!

Right now I LOVE Turkey...

After the letter came, I waited for any news about my District or host family. 

Then after look for the Exchange Student group in facebook, Fernanda(a girl that is going to turkey too) and I made the "Rotary Youth Exchange Turkey 2011- 2012" group, where by the time, we've been talking alot, I like to help them in everything I can, and we are like a family(: 

Then I got an inbox where said. 

I'm host mum ...we are waiting to you :))))))))

And I got like crazy as never before... I was in the school and I jumped up and screamed "SHE'S MY HOST MOM!"

And everybody went like "what?".. and I told'em she contacted me.

After that my turkish family and I started writing each other, and some skype too. They are soooooooo nice with me...

They are Mert Korur (my dad), Özlem Bilgili (my mom), Melike Korur (my sister going to canada) and Ömer Korur.