Host Family

Two nights ago I moved in with my new host family. I think it will be a "happily ever after" type story. There is a mom, Berna, who is thirty-three, and a teenage daughter, Bensu. The mom works two jobs, one out of her home that has something to do with import/export, and the other with a real estate company. The daughter is really excited to have me there, I think she's a little lonely. Oh, there is also a pet bird, a blue parakeet named Gigi. The apartment is in the same neighborhood as my old host family so it's nice to live in a familiar area. I have my own room, and even my own wardrobe, which is awesome! In the summer I think it will be really awesome, because the apartment has a balcony all the way around the outside; and it is also so close to the Saturday fruit and vegetable pazar. It's literally less than 1/2 a block away!!

The past couple of weeks have been a little crazy. I've been helping out with Aiesec matching and reception activities, which included a three day matching mania where we didn't leave the office. The past few days I've been trying to take care of extending my tourist visa and applying for a residence permit. I've been to the police station so many times, they recognize me there now, which I'm not sure if it's good or bad. I've even made a friend there, Fulia, who has been taking English courses for two or three months twice a week for a couple of hours. I sat with her one day and we had a conversation so she could practice her English. I also had to go to some building, I'm still trying to figure out what the hell it was and why exactly we went there, that they didn't tell us we had to go to until we showed up at the station. Anyway, the whole reason we did things this way was so I wouldn't have to fly back to the states just to get the special Aiesec visa, but I'm starting to think it might've just been easier and cheaper to do it that way. Everything seems to be in order now, though, and I'm supposed to go yet again to my favorite place, the 5-0's, to pick up all my stuff on Monday.

I'm also supposed to start my new job on Monday. I'll meet with my manager, Bülent, today to talk more about the job description. Afterward, Onur, Berk, Ufuk and I were going to have a BBQ, but seeing as how it's been raining all day today, we postponed it. The rain has really been making everything green, though. I'm really starting to see why this place is called "Green Bursa".