I wanted to wish Clare Bear a happy 23rd birthday! Clare's birthdays were always the best because we could celebrate Halloween and her birthday at once! Turkey unfortunately does not recognize this holiday so we were without trick or treaters or scary costumes. If anyone has extra Halloween candy don't hesitate to send it this way!:) We still felt the need to be scared tonight so a lot of the team went to see "Saw 4" in theatres. They movie is in English with Turkish subtitles. If you have a weak stomach, I don't recommend watching it. It was quite bloody and usually not the type of movie I would want to see, but I guess we needed some sort of scare for Halloween.
We open up Turkish league play this Saturday against Besiktas. They are a team from Istanbul and are quite good. They have a couple of post players from the WNBA and a great Turkish post player so they are a big team, too. We went to a dinner last night and watched them play on television against another Turkish team. We are looking forward to starting the season. As I'm looking forward to Stanford starting theirs this Saturday with an exhibition game. I will be following them every step of the way and rooting them on for an NCAA championship. Go Card!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Photo Albums
Just wanted to let you know that I've added a page exclusively for my pictures. I've posted two albums so far. Just go to knewlin.shutterfly.com. I will let you know in my blogs when I update them.
Today has been a pretty lazy day. I slept in, went grocery shopping, cleaned up the apartment a bit, and posted pictures for you to see! It's days like these that I'm glad I have access to American television through my slingbox. I can actually watch, change channels, and record shows directly from my t.v. at home. Great way to keep up with Grey's Anatomy and America's Next Top Model!! I've also discovered podcasts through itunes, thanks to Clare and Brooke! I can download the news and other things to keep me updated on things back in the states.
I'm also trying to figure out meals that I can make with the food they have available in the grocery stores. They have pasta noodles, but no spaghetti sauce or any other sauce that I can cook up. They only have tomato paste. Does anybody have any suggestions on other things that I can make to put on pasta? Or any other way to spice it up? What about simple meals I can easily make? Any suggestions would be welcome. Teshekular!
Today has been a pretty lazy day. I slept in, went grocery shopping, cleaned up the apartment a bit, and posted pictures for you to see! It's days like these that I'm glad I have access to American television through my slingbox. I can actually watch, change channels, and record shows directly from my t.v. at home. Great way to keep up with Grey's Anatomy and America's Next Top Model!! I've also discovered podcasts through itunes, thanks to Clare and Brooke! I can download the news and other things to keep me updated on things back in the states.
I'm also trying to figure out meals that I can make with the food they have available in the grocery stores. They have pasta noodles, but no spaghetti sauce or any other sauce that I can cook up. They only have tomato paste. Does anybody have any suggestions on other things that I can make to put on pasta? Or any other way to spice it up? What about simple meals I can easily make? Any suggestions would be welcome. Teshekular!
Friday, October 26, 2007
I told Titch that I would post another blog today, so as promised here it is. I'm sure you live for this Titch! We just got back from Kayseri where we played four games in four days. Needless, to say I'm a little tired. Our team lost 3 games and won one. We were playing against decent teams, and never lost by more than eight. So although we lost, we hung tough. The game today was against the top team of the tournament. They had won all of their previous games pretty handily, but we actually took them to overtime. I was really proud of our team for fighting and being scrappy. We are much younger than them and this team (Mersin) has very experienced players and a couple WNBA players. Carmen hit a three to send it to overtime with nine seconds left. We are getting better with every game we play. Our team also signed another American post player over the weekend. Her name is Lisa Macchia and she graduated from Boston College in 2006. She had only practiced with us for a day and doesn't know all of our plays yet, but she still played great. So now we are officially done with the "friendly" games of our season. Starting next weekend, we start league play and Euro Cup play.
If you all have been keeping up with the news, I'm sure you've heard about the Iraq-Turkey tensions going on right now. After the dozen Turkish soldiers were killed by the Kurds, the city changed overnight. Cars were driving up and down the streets honking their horns. We see Turkish flags everywhere and banners showing the face of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He was the founder of the Turkish Repulic as well as its first president. All the televisions in the restaurants are on the news. The people here are definitely reacting to what is going on in their country.
I've also been trying to keep up with the So Cal fires. I'd been keeping in touch with my teammate Kish who goes to Pepperdine now and was thrilled to learn that she recently was able to get back on campus. And teshekular (thank you), Nana, for letting me know my cousins in this area are also fine.
If you all have been keeping up with the news, I'm sure you've heard about the Iraq-Turkey tensions going on right now. After the dozen Turkish soldiers were killed by the Kurds, the city changed overnight. Cars were driving up and down the streets honking their horns. We see Turkish flags everywhere and banners showing the face of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He was the founder of the Turkish Repulic as well as its first president. All the televisions in the restaurants are on the news. The people here are definitely reacting to what is going on in their country.
I've also been trying to keep up with the So Cal fires. I'd been keeping in touch with my teammate Kish who goes to Pepperdine now and was thrilled to learn that she recently was able to get back on campus. And teshekular (thank you), Nana, for letting me know my cousins in this area are also fine.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Merhaba (Hi!) everybody! Great to hear that the blog will be useful to a lot of you. I will do my best to keep it updated as much as possible.
Botas is one of four teams that is in or close to Adana, so Carmen, Chrissy and I have befriended the other Americans on the Ceyhan team. Chrissy actually knew one of them (Crystal Smith) from her WNBA training camp this past year in Phoenix. The other two are Kristen Green and Tasha Mills. Kristen and I discovered that we have the same middle name as well! At least we thought that was pretty cool. The six of us went to Incirlik, which is the big American air force base here in Adana. It's only a 10 minute drive. We went out to a bar and were pleased to be able to speak to many Americans. It had been a while since we heard so much english! Of course we are trying to engage ourselves in as much Turkish culture as we can, but it was nice to be able to communicate easily again. Following that we decided to go to a salsa club. I never would have thought my first experience with salsa dancing would have been in Turkey, but it was still a lot of fun.
We had today off from practice so I thought I would do some exploring. I don't know if our apartment is neccessarily in the downton part of Adana, but there are definitely a lot of shops, restaurants, etc. within walking distance. I went into a convenient store and saw some packaged food that looked like chocolate. At least that was what the picture looked like. So I bought it and it was delicious! B.G. our sports marketing guy then took Carmen and I to a huge nearby mosque. I learned that it is actually the second biggest mosque in the middle east. We have driven by it plenty of times and I wanted to see the inside. Before we could enter we had to take our shoes off and Carmen and I had to put on a long sleeved shirt and a scarf to cover our head and neck. They were provided them for us at the door. The inside was absolutely magnificent and beautiful. Arabic writing of the Koran was on the ceiling and huge lights strung down. I took plenty of pictures and as soon as I figure out how to post them on here I will. We saw many people kneeling and praying and B.G. encouraged us to join. Carmen was a little hesitant, but I decided to try it. So trying not to disrupt anyone I quietly knelt, but B.G. quickly tapped my on the shoulder and said that I was facing the wrong direction. You are supposed to be facing east towards Mecca and there were even arrows on the carpet that pointed that way for everyone to follow. Woops! I'm so glad that I was able to see it though and I'm sure I will go again some other time.
I've realized that I haven't even discussed the basketball part of Turkey. I still can't believe that I'm getting paid to play the same game that I grew up playing with my brother and dad in the front yard! We have a very young team. I'm actually one of the oldest. But our coach expects us to compete with all of the WNBA veterans in our league. We have had a few friendly games which means they don't count towards our record. We have done ok, but there is definitely room for improvement. We actually have a "friendly" tournament this week in Keysari. We leave the day after tomorrow so hopefully when I return I will be able to blog about our great games!
Botas is one of four teams that is in or close to Adana, so Carmen, Chrissy and I have befriended the other Americans on the Ceyhan team. Chrissy actually knew one of them (Crystal Smith) from her WNBA training camp this past year in Phoenix. The other two are Kristen Green and Tasha Mills. Kristen and I discovered that we have the same middle name as well! At least we thought that was pretty cool. The six of us went to Incirlik, which is the big American air force base here in Adana. It's only a 10 minute drive. We went out to a bar and were pleased to be able to speak to many Americans. It had been a while since we heard so much english! Of course we are trying to engage ourselves in as much Turkish culture as we can, but it was nice to be able to communicate easily again. Following that we decided to go to a salsa club. I never would have thought my first experience with salsa dancing would have been in Turkey, but it was still a lot of fun.
We had today off from practice so I thought I would do some exploring. I don't know if our apartment is neccessarily in the downton part of Adana, but there are definitely a lot of shops, restaurants, etc. within walking distance. I went into a convenient store and saw some packaged food that looked like chocolate. At least that was what the picture looked like. So I bought it and it was delicious! B.G. our sports marketing guy then took Carmen and I to a huge nearby mosque. I learned that it is actually the second biggest mosque in the middle east. We have driven by it plenty of times and I wanted to see the inside. Before we could enter we had to take our shoes off and Carmen and I had to put on a long sleeved shirt and a scarf to cover our head and neck. They were provided them for us at the door. The inside was absolutely magnificent and beautiful. Arabic writing of the Koran was on the ceiling and huge lights strung down. I took plenty of pictures and as soon as I figure out how to post them on here I will. We saw many people kneeling and praying and B.G. encouraged us to join. Carmen was a little hesitant, but I decided to try it. So trying not to disrupt anyone I quietly knelt, but B.G. quickly tapped my on the shoulder and said that I was facing the wrong direction. You are supposed to be facing east towards Mecca and there were even arrows on the carpet that pointed that way for everyone to follow. Woops! I'm so glad that I was able to see it though and I'm sure I will go again some other time.
I've realized that I haven't even discussed the basketball part of Turkey. I still can't believe that I'm getting paid to play the same game that I grew up playing with my brother and dad in the front yard! We have a very young team. I'm actually one of the oldest. But our coach expects us to compete with all of the WNBA veterans in our league. We have had a few friendly games which means they don't count towards our record. We have done ok, but there is definitely room for improvement. We actually have a "friendly" tournament this week in Keysari. We leave the day after tomorrow so hopefully when I return I will be able to blog about our great games!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Well, I've finally gotten my act together and decided that this blog would be a great way to let all my friends and family know of my adventures here in Turkey. Although it's a fantastic problem to have so many people interested in how I am doing and what I am doing over here. I'm truly blessed. Of course I will still try to keep up the personal e-mails to you, but hopefully this will cover my experience a little more in depth. And props to Blake for suggesting I do this!
I've been in Turkey for a few weeks now. For the first week and a half, we were about an hour from Adana, right off the Mediterranean Sea. We stayed at the little community of Botas (pronounced Botosh) which is our team name and sponsor. We were able to go down to the beach for an afternoon and it was beautiful. The water was so warm, something I'm not used to from norther California. And it stayed shallow for about 50 meters out. I had to quickly adjust to the food as they were serving us cafeteria food and it was eat that or nothing at all. So either I got used to it pretty quickly or just got so hungry that anything would have tasted deicious. Now that we are in Adana, we can do our own grocery shopping and cooking, but I've tried to make a point of venturing out and trying new foods. My two housemates, Chrissy Givens and Carmen Guzman, thought I was crazy for eating something I had never seen or heard of. But most of the time it has been ok.
Chrissy and Carmen are the other two Americans. They are both my age so we are all experiencing this for the first time. The language barrier is something I've never had a problem with before. But it has actually been quite a fun challenge. For example, our landlord doesn't speak english and I had to tell him that we had no hot water. So I showed him a glass of water, said "Yok" (no) and started fanning myself. And then let the faucet run from the sink and shivered. He then led me outside our apartment door and showed me a switch, and just like that...hot water!
Fortunately, a couple girls on the team speak enough english to communicate with and both of our coaches can speak decent english. My head coach, Ceyhan (prounounced Jeyhon) and Olcek (pronounced Olgey) have been very welcoming as well as the other girls on the team. They have all gone out of their way to make sure I feel at home and have accommodated me in every way that they can. Our team went to a dinner last night, and it's so fascinating how all of us can enjoy each other's company and laugh together without knowing each other's language.
I haven't had much of an opportunity to explore Adana, since I've been a little sick this whole week, but I will be sure to let you all know of that when I feel good enough to wander. I hope this blog will be useful to a lot of you. Thanks for all the support back in the states and I am always in the mood for an e-mail! Talk to you again soon.
I've been in Turkey for a few weeks now. For the first week and a half, we were about an hour from Adana, right off the Mediterranean Sea. We stayed at the little community of Botas (pronounced Botosh) which is our team name and sponsor. We were able to go down to the beach for an afternoon and it was beautiful. The water was so warm, something I'm not used to from norther California. And it stayed shallow for about 50 meters out. I had to quickly adjust to the food as they were serving us cafeteria food and it was eat that or nothing at all. So either I got used to it pretty quickly or just got so hungry that anything would have tasted deicious. Now that we are in Adana, we can do our own grocery shopping and cooking, but I've tried to make a point of venturing out and trying new foods. My two housemates, Chrissy Givens and Carmen Guzman, thought I was crazy for eating something I had never seen or heard of. But most of the time it has been ok.
Chrissy and Carmen are the other two Americans. They are both my age so we are all experiencing this for the first time. The language barrier is something I've never had a problem with before. But it has actually been quite a fun challenge. For example, our landlord doesn't speak english and I had to tell him that we had no hot water. So I showed him a glass of water, said "Yok" (no) and started fanning myself. And then let the faucet run from the sink and shivered. He then led me outside our apartment door and showed me a switch, and just like that...hot water!
Fortunately, a couple girls on the team speak enough english to communicate with and both of our coaches can speak decent english. My head coach, Ceyhan (prounounced Jeyhon) and Olcek (pronounced Olgey) have been very welcoming as well as the other girls on the team. They have all gone out of their way to make sure I feel at home and have accommodated me in every way that they can. Our team went to a dinner last night, and it's so fascinating how all of us can enjoy each other's company and laugh together without knowing each other's language.
I haven't had much of an opportunity to explore Adana, since I've been a little sick this whole week, but I will be sure to let you all know of that when I feel good enough to wander. I hope this blog will be useful to a lot of you. Thanks for all the support back in the states and I am always in the mood for an e-mail! Talk to you again soon.
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