A Little Trip to the Village

I had the exciting opportunity to go with some friends to a very small city in our country. While there, we hosted an eye clinic during the day and visited homes in the evening. I helped translate, assemble and distribute glasses, and I even made dinner one evening for one of the families! Here are pictures from the trip:

These are the hotel rooms we stayed at. They tried to fit two queen beds in a room that had one foot of walking space around the edge of both beds... In the second hotel it felt a little like we were in someone's house. The comforters and towels were not coordinated, and you could practically take a shower while on the toilet!

We flew to one city, then drove a while, took a ferry, and drove some more. On the way we stopped by the river and drank some tea. Oh, and I think at one point we were by the Euphrates River, I am just not sure when!

 Some of the materials and preparing for the eye clinic...

The first day of the clinic, the governor happened to come in town for the first time in years, so there was a big ceremony outside of our building, men dancing in lines, as well as tanks driving all over the place!

At one of the visits to a home in a village of about 5 homes, I saw these shoes outside! One of the ladies had somehow acquired a pair of fake TOMS all the way out in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes the world seems so small... Here they are in the kitchen preparing tea for us. The following picture is the home, and then the view from the village.

Assembling some glasses

I think the idea of this is so gross, but they actually don't taste that bad!

The two ladies that made breakfast for us almost every day. It was delicious.

One day we had lunch with the mayor of the city!

I made a new friend! She helped us with the eye clinic and translate for most of the week.

More pictures from visiting villages, including a lady making flat bread, and a lady beating wool (I got to pretend like I was helping her!). The last lady was making a quesadilla-like food and I bought some socks and a scarf from her.

Miscellaneous

One of my dearest friends just left and I am going to miss her so much! We have had such fun times together during the past year, and everything will be so different without her...

This is a cake the girls made that says "cok iyi" which means "very good".

The other day we played a game of Apples to Apples. Our friends said that whatever green cards you end up with describe you. Ronnie got "disturbing" and "unbelievable". I got "masculine"...

Also, we have a place here called the "Shake Shack". I don't know if it is in the states, but if so I have never been there before. It's pretty good. They make custard concretes, and I had my first one!

I love breakfast!

As one of my birthday celebrations this year, we went to one of our favorite places that serves a traditional breakfast. Some friends came along!

This is the breakfast...

The boys went exploring and kept bringing us flowers. I put them in my hair. Ronnie tried to put them in his too.

 On the way back as we were driving across the bridge I saw this cool car...

On Sunday at church they also made me a birthday cake. I took the last picture because I was so happy to have lit my fall Bath and Body Works candle! That one has since run out and I am working on my "Spice" one.

Henna Night and Wedding

A week ago, I went to my first bachelorette party here! It is called a "henna night". 

The bride gave us favors of these purple flower headbands, and mustaches and lip props.

While I don't have other pictures of the bride, she changed outfits 3 times during the night. This is the traditional "henna night" outfit. She wears this and a specific song is played which is supposed to make the bride cry (I think it is about moving far away and leaving her family). They dance and wave a tray with candles above her head (the feathery thing in the picture), and they put a blob of henna on her palm with a gold coin in it from her mother-in-law. Then everyone takes some henna from the tray and puts in on their palm. It leaves a not-so-beautiful blob shaped stain on your hand.

Later that week, we went to the wedding! It was a very nice wedding, and it was actually pretty similar to receptions I have been to in the states. The biggest difference is that they don't really have a ceremony. Their version of the ceremony is a 2 minute signing of the license and stating of vows. Then they have dancing, eating (at least at this wedding they had food), and a ceremonial cake cutting - except the cake is a 10-tiered plastic cake that they pretend to cut with a large sword while fireworks go off in the background.