Merhaba from Adana, Turkey!
What a beautiful city and an exciting time I was blessed to have in Antalya. Although it was sad to leave the city, and the beach (which I admit, I quite enjoyed), it was an exciting trip to Adana, and I know more exciting events will come! We took a bus from Antalya to Adana. Twelve hours most of which were driving through the mountains. There is no straight road from Antalya to Adana, but rather the bus lines follow the coast. The roads were slightly nerve-wrecking as they were made of packed dirt and many times there was nothing between the bus and the drop off into the sea. The sights were absolutely stunning, however watching the sun rise above the mountains and merely looking over to one side to see the beautiful sea. The further we traveled into Adana, the more we traveled into a more "classical" Turkish mentality. Adana, though the city seems metropolitan, has an Eastern Turkish mentality. There are many more women wearing head coverings although not as many radical muslims.
The city itself is something of a wonder in terms of landscape. On one side, the sea and on the other, mountains. Therefore, the weather is incredibly humid because the humidity, or nem in Turkish, rises from the sea and travels to the mountain only to be stopped by a "wall" that is much cooler. This makes the soil and landscape very valuable as it is exceptional for farming.
I have noticed, especially within the last week, that my Turkish has taken an interesting turn. In Germany, I went through a period where I could neither speak nor hear German as well as I could before I I came to the country. It was incredibly frustrating. About three days ago, I realized that I was understanding conversations and television programming even when I was not actively trying. Although my vocabulary is still limited and I may not be able to answer, I can understand about 80% of what is going on. This is a significant amount considering I have not studied the language except upon arrival to the country. I must admit, knowing how the verbs work, conjugation and otherwise, has made the situation much easier and the entire educational process much easier. Although there is still far to go, good progress is always an exciting!
More exciting information to come!
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