Turkey: The Saga Continues

So we last left our young hero having just landed in foreign territory, his energy and dollars both spent. What will he do next?!?

Sleep.

I slept. In a bed. For the first time in two months. It was nice. After 18+ hours of travel, I could have had a rock under my head and had a wonderful night's sleep. But I took the road most traveled and went with a pillow. The next morning began easier than expected. My body, still unaware of the changes in surroundings, responded quite well to the early morning alarm and breakfast meeting. Jobs were delegated. I drew a long straw (maybe the short one to some) and got placed with the kids aged 2-6. Perfect. Perfect because I am generally 4 years old when going through daily actions that don't require any higher level of maturity. It was play time.

These kids were awesome. I mean super well behaved, and as obedient as their age could allow. I can work with short attention spans. And coloring. And Legos. That's me. My youthful spirit was on display for all to see when climbing through tunnels and whizzing down slides, with kids clinging to my various limbs repeating "Again! Again!" as if learning the word for the first time. I loved every minute of it. We watched Veggie Tales and built towers, knocked them down and drew on our faces, tried to scrub it off and splashed in the water on the sand. Piggy back rides were free of charge. "Catch me" was the game of choice. Crying was kept to a minimum. Dancing was strongly encouraged. Even Mulan made a guest appearance. I call these: The Glory Days.

A few days in, Mister Ryan began to tire to a degree. Call it jet lag. Call it an eight hour time change. Call it not actually being four years old. Call it what you like, I got fatigued. But it was a good weariness; one that allowed my indefatigable insomnia a relieving respite. I slept at night. At the same time as everyone else in the country. For the first time in years. It was nice. What was also nice was hearing a high-pitched squeal of "Ryan" wherever I went. Instantly uplifting any tiredness I may have been feeling, it was wonderfully enlightening to know that these kids were having fun. They liked their teacher. That alone was worth an indescribable amount to me. 

Parents constantly flocked to their kids' caretakers, offering us unwarranted gratitude and blessings. They thanked us endlessly for providing little more than your typical daycare service. It was clear that this meant the world to them. Once I began opening up and having meaningful, intentional conversations with the parents, I knew immediately that this was more than worth it. We were here for a reason. And it became increasingly apparent that that reason was not limited to taking care of kids. Sure, that service was invaluable to their parents, but I knew God had much more in store. How much more? I could never have fathomed...

Turkey: The Early Years

So I just got back from the other side of the world, and let me tell ya, it was a trip. See what I did there? Trip? Anyways, it was nice to travel somewhere and finally get my sea legs, in this case, my Aegean Sea legs. Now that I'm ashore again, I'm still getting my feet back under me. But that's not what I'm writing about..

Let me just preface this by saying two things: one, I don't write nearly as often as I should. Hopefully this is a watershed moment and that begins to be remedied. Two, God is so good. Like sososososooo good. Like for reals.

So six weeks ago I was about two hours from home, in Normal, Illinois for the week. My current situation involved helping my cousin Megan drive around town while her license was...out of order. It was cool. I was planning on going back home to Naperville for the remainder of the summer and hang out with my friends and family until early August. Then I would return back to Texas to gear up for the start of school. It was a quaint little plan. But it was not His plan.

While in Normal, which is a misnomer at least in my case, I received an unexpected Facebook message asking if I would like to go to Turkey in a month. I promptly called my parents and within the hour had support en route to my house, a flight changed, and passport permission acquired. It was cool. Our God is a God who provides.

I was to fly into Texas three days before I would venture out into the unknown. My mom cried. Skipping past the superfluous preparations, it was time to depart for eastern lands. Uncharted waters were being mapped out on the globe in my mind, almost as clearly as on the digital map embedded in the screen of the seat ahead of me. Anticipation seeped through my veins, like the caffeine I wish I had consumed, prior to this flight that was to last half a day.

Alright. Enough of this unnecessary, boring, pre-flight micromanaging, overly excessive description. So we made it to Turkey. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Or imagined. But I will stop for a second and tell you that what I mean by that, is probably not what you think I mean by that. Because we didn't get to actually go out and see Istanbul, it really was just another airport, only with a little less English. We then flew south to Izmir, and drove even further south to Kusadasi. By this time, we were exhausted to the point of delirium, but thankful that both us and our bags had made it without a hitch. Sorry Will Smith... 

Tune in again this time tomorrow to find out what happens once our young hero and his pals finally step foot on foreign soil!