field trip!

today we went to ramalla with all of the kids from the school and the boarding section. i wasn't too excited about the day because i was told we're going to a park. and i really like a lot of the teachers, but when the kids are on the playground, they just sit around and talk to each other. so that's what i was picturing all day and the houseparents having to take care of all 30 or so kids. not fun.

but i was wrong. it was an amazing day. we actually went to a (sort of) amusement park. it was more carnival type rides, but the kids LOVED it. the houseparents just hung out with the kids from the boarding section, and we all kind of stayed in a group, which was really fun. most of the kids loved the rides, i think all except for nabil and sheda. i made nabil go on a spinney ride with me and he was terrified. then i made him go on the ferris wheel, which i thought would be less scary, but he was still scared. poor kid. i made sheda go on a different spinney ride and she wouldn't hang out with me the rest of the day near rides because she was afraid i would drag her onto one. although i did trick her into going on a "roller coaster" (a very small roller coaster) at the end of the day, which she didn't mind too much. the highlight was definitely the bumper cars. all of the kids and houseparents went at the same time and we were the only ones in at that time. it was great. all the kids loved it and i think all the houseparents got to take out some aggression on the kids. i slammed into sheda's car a lot.

the bus ride was also an adventure. the kids were surprisingly well behaved and sat most of the time. it was quite the party bus though. fida brought a drum so we could sing and clap and dance in our seats the whole way. and if she wasn't playing, the driver had music blaring. it was fun on the way there...annoying on the way back. no concept of sleeping after a long day like that.

i took a few pictures, but then our batteries died, so when i recharge them, i'll put the pictures up.

Turkey Pictures!!

The Blue Mosque. There were tulips everywhere.

Inside the Blue Mosque.

The Blue Mosque

Jason and Sarah

These guys were really funny. They played "Que Sera Sera", "Satisfaction (Can't Get No)", and a wired mix of other songs.

The Aya Sofia

Inside Aya Sofia

Whilring Dervishes at the Sufi Monestary

Bospherous Cruise. (Although my friend April pointed out that it's not really a cruise if they don't give you free food. So really, the Bospherous Boat Ride.)

The Harem in Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Palace

Sarah and Nana at Topkapi

Suleymaniye Mosque

Inside the Suleymaniye Mosque

From the Mosaic Museum. Notice the blood dripping off the antelope.

Istaklal. An estimated one million people walk this street every day. We were two of them every day were were in Istanbul. Because we're that cool.

The view we woke up to every day. Topkapi is on the left, then the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. The waterway is the Golden Horn and behind the monuments you can kind of see the Sea of Marmara.

and there's more pictures from turkey, as well as a bunch from christmas break and new ones of the kids in our photo album. check them out.