Oh man, I'm so glad I'm staying with a family! I met them on Sunday - it's a mom and her daughter, who's 22 and goes to METU and speaks really good English. The mom's really really sweet but doesn't speak any English at all. It's definately not awkward to be living with a family, but it is a little frusterating to be set up in this situation that is supposed to be so close and intimate, but also be unable to even say the simplest things. Imagine not being able to communicate with your own mother, when you're in the same room. There are so many things I want to learn, but I can't say more than I want this or I like that or there is such and such. Meh. I got Gozde (my host sister) to teach me the simple present and the present progressive and the past tense last night, but I still don't know many verbs. I wish Active English didn't have such an aversion to teaching us anything useful!

We went to Ataturk's mausoleum yesterday, and now I understand a little better why the Turks love him so much. He definately did a lot for the country, and he was a pretty classy guy. One of my friends was talking about a speech he made to the Australians after Gallipolli, I think, where he says something like "Our country is blessed to have your sons and daughters buried on our land." I think that's pretty awesome. I still don't know how I feel about his means to Westernize the country (seems like it was mostly through banning symbols of Islam), but my opinion continues to change every day. My brain hurts from all the higher thinking.

We went to this pretty boring lecture today on migration in Turkey, which was held in a stuffy room with tiny, wooden seats. It was still useful information, though, and the teacher was in the process of telling us the different waves of migration and settlement communities when some stupid European dude raised his hand and cockily asked, "Excuse me, what is the point of this lecture?" The (German and female) professor first asked him whether he was provoking her, and when he answered, basically, that he wasn't here to listen to stories, she basically started to ramble off facts, proving that she knew her stuff. At the end she said something like, "So, if you are here to be entertained, I suggest you leave. I guess I am telling you a story. Fairy tales are a different matter."

It was awesome.

Also, we taught our Turkish teacher the word crap today. Only she says craps. Its hilarious.

Tea time!!