Hello Everyone,
I made it to Turkey on Saturday, I really enjoyed my trip over and got to sit by some wonderfully nice Turkish people on all my flights. The first cool people that I met was this group of politicians from Iowa. They were all going to Istanbul for some politcal exchange thing. They were all very nice, some from Marshalltown (knew one of my good friends) and also from Carroll, IA (they wanted me to tell you Shellie Moseman hello, i wrote their names down and can't find the paper now). Anyway, they were very nice and there tour guide was helpful on getting me to the right connection and my visa all figured out.
Next was the older man, Dundar on the long 10 hour flight. Which I ended up getting an exit row thank the Lord!) He was very kind, but spoke very little english. He tried to teach me some words and even gave me his pocket dictionary and a little converter (like a palm pilot) and you can type in the english word and the turkish one pops up. He was so kind and it was fun to try and communicate with him. I saw him reading his Koran several times (in case you don't know the Koran is the the holy book for the Muslim religion). It was very interesting to share a little bit of my faith with him, but very difficult with the language barrier.
On to Istanbul. Well i didn't see anything besides the airport, and that was nice. I stood in line to get a temporary visa to get past the passport control. The lady wasn't to please when I gave her my credit card but that was all I had. Then on the to next flight. Scored another exit row then too. I sat by these flight attendants, Derya, Onder and Duhan were there names. They were on a rest from there last flight and they were so kind and friendly. They were fascinated that I played ball and they said when I am in Istanbul they would come and watch and that they would show me around the city. At the end of the flight the nice flight attendant lady sitting next to me, Derya, gave me a beautiful clip for my hair and a pin with the famous leader of there country on it. She was very excited when I put it on and wore it out of the plane.
Getting to Adana airport was interesting, saw a few men with machine guns just hanging out at the airport. One man was kind and showed me where to go to claim my bags. I was picked up my the manager of the team, Suat. We then rode back to Mersin which is about a 45 minute to 1 hour drive. I was so tired at this point but forced myself to stay awake and talk with him.
That night he showed me my apartment which is very nice, all pink walls but very nice furniture and such. Well the Internet wasn't hooked up so I stayed with the other two Americans, Mistie Williams and Stephanie Raymond. I got there, checked my email unpacked a bit, called the family and went to sleep. The first night I slept great, a ful 10 hours!! The next day, Sunday I had an individual practice with the coaches and some of the younger girls on the team. I will fill you all in on that in the next email!! This is enough to read I am sure!! Sorry no pictures yet, I will try and take some at practice #2 of the day tonight.
Please pray for me and my patience. They are very slow on getting my apartment ready for me and found out that the fridge is not working, so I am trying to eat well and get good rest but have no place to keep food and no Internet. I am trying to be firm with them so things will get done, but also be patient and show Christ-like behavior at the same time. Also pray for Suat, we have had many great conversations comparing the Christian faith and Muslim faith. Very cool guy and just wants to learn more. Practices have been very fast paced because our coach likes the fast game, so I am trying to learn the plays and be sharp at the same time, so also pray for my transition into the team.
Ok I am going to get some rest before practice. Thank you for all your love, support and Prayers!!
Love, Britt<><
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