The Birthdays

Hey so this week was my 21st birthday as well as my little sister Elinas birthday! She turned 19 today! Crazy they grow up so fast!
i love that girl to pieces. my sister elina has one of the biggest hearts of anyone i know. her really does care so much about other people. She is always there when i need her and if i need anything at all she offers it without hesitation. she is my sister, my friend. i love you elina!! happy birthday!


now to tell you about my big day....
well i woke up spent the rest of the morning on facebook answering the numerous birthday posts. It always interests me who will write on my wall or not. Then i read and relaxed until we went to the beach. This was one we have not gone to but it was way cool. the sea was beautiful and it was a much more "hip" (i cannot believe i just used that word) beach with chill music, big pillows to sit on, umbrellas, and lots of different activities. one such was a sand football (soccer) field which made me realize once more that i am in Turkey. if i was back in California it would be volleyball, which i would have loved to do on my birthday. but we later did find a volleyball court, it was just in the back corner of the place, hard ground, and plenty of spiky weeds. in face my game with the kids was cut short after Derin stepped on some goatheads and i had to carry her to safety. My host dad kept kind of teasing me since it was the big 21 (in the states, Turkey the drinking age is 18) and i dont even drink. he asked if i wanted something to drink and i said water but he said you can go all out, its your 21st! he ended up ordering me a strawberry smoothie which was delicious! Later the kids were getting ice cream and he said i was welcome to get one too, it was ok to got all out and crazy on my 21st. it was fun. The place sold cool t-shirts since it was a music centered place (they have concerts there and stuff) so they got me a few shirts which was way nice. They also got me a cake! it was tasty! i will put up pics of it all later. They had been invited to dinner but Berfin said that us girls could go out to dinner, so she took me to this great place she used to work out in the village. It was so much fun and it was great to get to know her better. she is a great girl and i want to become friends with her. we had fun and Derin was so funny, this girl is incredibly talkative with this amazing imagination! she was the entertainment of the night. they also basically forced me to pick out something they could get me. so they bought me two bracelets that are adorable! i will post pics later. it was really sweet. my host family made it alot easier to be away from my family and friends on my birthday. all in all it was a good birthday. The celebration does not end there either, when i get back Engin and i will celebrate our birthday together and some of my amazing friends back home want to celebrate with me when i get back to the states as well. I really cannot complain about much i mean i spent my birthday on a beach in Turkey! way cool! even though it was hard at times i can look back at this and only smile :) so goodnight folks, i have to wake up early tomorrow since we are going to a Greek island for a few days!!! eeeekkkk!!!! i am super excited! :)
take care!
Ana