Turkey - Comenius Project

"büyük ayak...büyük SİK (Eyvallah Kardeşim Sağol !!!)"

And that is just a sample of all the wonderful things I learned about turkish language...

Yes, I have been to Turkey . And guess what? For free! Sponsored by the EU! Yay!

It was a Comenius project. Partnership between european schools. Turkey-Italy-Belgium. And this was one hell of a project meeting I can tell you. One-week-long stay in Turkey, hours of fun, happiness, and no stress save for some matters related to... erm personal security.

We were treated like VIPs. Big parades, paparrazzis, events, newspapers, the whole lot.

Turkish food is so nice.

And the people. They are amazingly amazing. GO TO TURKEY! NOW!

So, here are the serious(arguably) pictures. Those related to the project. The others are, of course, related to the project, but you'll have a hard time noticing :)


Manisa Mehmet Akif Ersoy High School, in Manisa.


the teachers with... officials


Juliette superstar


Back to business

You see, we did work. Oh yes. After a sleepness night and day of eventful visits through the Gallipoli region, I had to sacrifice some hours of sleep off my next night to translate then study a presentation I had never even read. For the next morning. Oh joy!

But it was fun. And it went well ;)


And there we're having a drink, after the presentations... :) You can see the paparazzis



But as I said, it was only arguably serious... ;)

Turkey - Comenius Project - People I

They made the whole trip worthwile. Thanks a mil guys!


FIRST NIGHT
Greated like kings, dinner with show, then shisha bar...



A fun show they put on. I enjoyed it :)


So, you see, my future husband took me out to this very special bar...


...with his best man. Of course :)


Some of the students from the project. From left to right: Aura (?), Aysel, Ogulcan, Sema, Burak (if I get the names wrong, sorry :s I suck at names and I can't see the picture ^^°)


Again, with some change in angle ^^


Belgian intruders, sshhhh


We were having the yummiest sweet tea ever. I'm not sure about what they put in there but it made me happy


And well, some tried the stronger stuff :p

Turkey - Comenius Project - Manisa

But of course, I can't not talk about MANISA, great city, the place we stayed, there where the school was located ^^

Sooo... here we go.

There's the town center, quite modern, really developping and growing, full of life and contrasts, and different people...


It's located right at the feet of some impressive and beautiful mountains


This is some playground/school/something


TAKSIS of course

Then there's the older part


Little girls out there in the streets...


Some building, my memory is failing me but I suspect it to be a mosk. Anyway, the point here is to see the moon right in the middle of the day, up there, in the middle, the white spotty thing. Yes.


Kids in the old Manisa. We bribed them with sweets to take a pic :p


A car and women. This is just picturesque. And you can see some parts of old Manisa too

Of course, not too far away from town, there are some impressive archeological sites


a very impressive old... library, I think. Anyway, just let your mind be blown away by its magnificence and don't worry about what it is.


Of course, where would the fun be if we didn't profanate these sacred monuments?


But well, we always repent, like good Christians.


You would almost feel sorry for walking there...


No need for words


I don't even know what it is but these Greeks sure had gusto

And then, there's the mountains around it...


You see my tiny husband there running.


A native. They seem dangerous but they are actually very nice. These dangerous-looking black artifacts they carry around their necks are only ritual gifts to celebrate manhood. They love to show them off.


And finally some random places



Breakfast in a "park" of some sort. A restricted animal-friendly area :p


See above


A market place


My vital source of vitamins


Well, that's it friends. I have more pictures but I was too lazy to make them smaller and go through the whole post-prod process...

Turkey - Comenius Project - People II

Friends...

OTHER DAYS


Geraldine in the mountains near Manisa :)


Same place, more people: Emre, Burak and Dge


Me and my little husband. Hehe.


On Monday evening, a party at a teacher's, looking biiiig (büyük....)


Some traditional turkish dancing... That party was awesome :) Hear me laugh lol


Juliette and the Seventh Wonder

Turkey - Comenius Project - Places

We did some cultural stuff too. Like visit some places and see some stuff...

No honestly we did mmh absorb lots of new information.

There was the 24hr-long trip to GALLIPOLI and around
I did not sleep. Maybe 30 to 40 mins but well, these were more like heat-induced conscienceless moments. And the bus was overheated compared to the outside (30°, can you imagine), which resulted into turning me into some human-shaped singing jellyfish.
But it was fun :)


The essence of the trip from my point of view: starring out of the bus window in a vague state of awakeness, trying not to die melting


I visited Troy, I did.


I even wandered near the ruins but I got caught by the Trojan horse and never made it into the city


Then there was IZMIR, not far from Manisa, but closer to the sea... Second city in Turkey or so they told me. We went shopping there :)


Izmir airport, our first steps on turkish land...


Izmir at night


And finally EPHESUS with its worldwide reputation...


They say the wine is famous... I was told it wasn't amazing. But well =)


Now, this is one of the 7 Wonders, so behold


It was a lot bigger but i didn't take the time to photograph every other corner of that huge village-like temple

Turkey - Comenius Project - People III

More friends...


LAST DAY



It started with our teacher's BIRTDAY party. =) So sweet!


Haaapppyyy biiiitthdaayyy tooo yoouuuu



Having fun


Merwe and Bubblegirl ;)


Friends again!


And a proper group picture...


Emre and Burak. They should get an award for gentlemanness ;) If such a thing exists :p


And well, that's it, sadly! I had the greatest time ever, you are all wonderful. Can't thank you enough!