We are the champions my friend...

Tonight was the biggest night of soccer in this country in 2010!!  

This little ditty has been stuck in my head since about 10:15pm this evening... you may be familiar with it:  It is a popular song circa 1977 by Queen.  As one of their most famous and popular songs, it has since become an anthem for sporting victories!

"We are the champions-my friends.  We'll keep on fighting to the end... " And so it goes.. But this is the synopsis that led to the continuous singing of this song in my head.

4 TEAMS

2 GAMES



1 CHAMPION

Bursa has their own team and has been on the road to winning the championship all season long! Well tonight was the night.  There were two possible scenarios that would leave Bursa the champion...

1. Bursa would be Beşiktaş (besheektash) and Fenerbaçhe (fehnerbache) would loose to Trabzonspor


2. Bursa would be Beşiktaş (besheektash) and Fenerbaçhe (fehnerbache) would tie to Trabzonspor.


Around 10:15pm I began to hear constant honking and thought... "I wondering if the Bursaspor game is over" About 2 seconds later,  I got a text message from my friend and she said, congratulations! Bursa won! Go celebrate!   So I knew the had beaten Beşiktaş but I had yet to learn the score of the Fenerbaçhe vs Trabzonspor game.  Arond 10:30 another message came that said Fenerbahçe had tied.. which left Bursa the winner!


I'm so proud of my city! Small but mighty! Out of the main and most popular teams in Turkey Bursaspor is small but growing in popularity and skill! So excited to be here tonight!

Though as I sit here at 11:47pm and still hear the blaring horns. I do hope they stop soon so I can get some rest! 

Mexican night in Turkey

Last week we had a friend over who has spent a lot of time in the states.  We asked her what types of food she missed from America and one of them was Mexican food.  So I made a tex-mex meal for her and chocolate chip cookies as an extra.  

Despite not having everything I needed for things, it turned out great!

The salsa was delicious: tomatoes, onions, green chilies, and some spices!

The finished product! Yum!

Confetti salad! It was supposed to be black bean but I couldn't find any so it's white bean confetti salad.  Beans, corn, red and green bell peppers, onions, a bit of garlic.  For the dressing: honey, olive oil, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper.  So easy to make!

Chicken Tostadas! Perfect!

Dessert was Polvorones de canele (Cinnamon cookies).  I'd never made these before, but they were a delicious light dessert! A perfect end to our tex-mex night!

Flying pests

Our apartment is on the top floor in our apartment building.  And in Turkey some streets aren't that far apart.  One side of our apartment faces another apartment building and the space between the two seems very small.  Our place is one level higher so when we look out our windows or the balconies we see the roof.  In the beginning of the year we noticed a man who would stand on the roof and walk around.  We had a lot of speculations as to what he could be doing.  He could be the gardener for the mini-potted gardens on the roof.  He could have been checking the chimney's, making roof repairs, retired and nothing better to do than to stand on the roof

Well one day we saw Him running around and flailing his arms.  We were so curious and a little concerned about his actions.  We went to the balcony so we could see better and we realized he was chasing pigeons!  He was a pigeon man who's purpose on the roof was to keep pigeons off.  He would chase them, they'd fly away then come back to another part of the roof, so he spent his time running from one end to the other.

This went on all fall and started again in the spring when the pigeons came back.  One day as I was washing dishes I saw the man had two pigeons in each hand by their feet.  He walked over to the edge and threw them off the building only to have them fly right back on top of the awning where he couldn't reach them.  How futile and frustrating for him, but fairly entertaining for us.

Well two weeks ago I noticed a cat on the roof with a little kitten following her.  The man or apartment building had purchased a cat to keep the pigeons off the roof which seems to be a lot more effective and efficient.  But that ended our conversations and updates of pigeon man and his tactics!

Everything

I have mentioned this video to many friends, supporters and faithful prayer partners as well as used it in ministry.  I wanted to share this video with you.  Whenever I watch this I'm astonished at the lengths God chose to go to in order that we may have a right relationship with Him once again.  The love of God as seen through Christ on the cross is truly amazing and daily I want to preach to myself the need of the gospel, the need of Christ's work and Praise God for what He's saved me from.  I hope this touches you and reminds you of who God is.

EVERYTHING SKIT