First week or so

Well, I’ve been here  for about 11 days and it’s sure been interesting.  There’s roughly 16 million people in the city, which is four times the population of the great state of South Carolina.  Istanbul is certainly the largest city I’ve even been in, much less lived in.  I’m beginning to learn Turkish, but Çok az Türkçe konsuşuyorum (I speak very little Turkish) so far.  I’ve got a bit of the grammar down but learning the vocab is going to be tough.

The food here is great (and cheap)!  It’s mostly roasted lamb or chicken with different sorts of bread and spices but it’s definitely better than Mcdonald’s.  At night on the streets they have guys set up little portable grills where they roast and sell sheep innards and serve it as sandwiches that are LOADED  with spices.  Honestly, it tastes pretty good.  It’s like the Turkish version of Waffle House.  There’s all kinds of American fast food places too: McDonald’s, Burger King, Dominoes, Little Ceasars, Arby’s, Pizza Hut, and my favorites here KFC and Krispy Kreme.  That’s right they have several Krispy Kremes in this city!  The first time I saw one I seriously thought I was hallucinating.  Generally, I eat turkish food for most meals, which is good because it’s much cheaper and a lot healthier.

Our fist football practice is Wednesday night at a private university overlooking the Black Sea (it’s really nice).  Be praying that I can start on a good foot with the team.  I’ve already met the leaders and I’m meeting a few times a week with some of the high school guys on the team to teach them some basics (like how catch, stances, routes, etc).  Check out the numerous pics I put up of facebook.  I’ll be putting up more very soon.