UPDATE FROM REVNA!

Kocaman bir seneyi ardımızda bıraktık....
Lara Amerika'nın Charleston adlı kasabasında kocaman bir AFS deneyimini tamamladı.
Ve şimdi biz iki arkadaş, tekrar güzel şehrimiz İstanbul'da bir araya geldik !
Ve tam gaz keşiflerimize devam ediyoruz!
Ancak Charleston ve İstanbul arasındaki yarışa bir son verdiğimize göre o zaman bir zamanlar
İSTANBUL VS CHARLESTON adı altındaki blogumuza yeni bir ad verelim dedik: Ve bizim blog oldu bir CHARLISTANBUL !

Ve bundan böyle CHARLISTANBUL'da  BERABER yaptığımız kesiflerimizi ve de mutfak maceralaramızı paylasicaz :)

We have just left a huge year behind us...
Lara has experienced an amazing AFS experience in this city called Charleston in the USA.
And these two best friends met each other again after one whole year in their great city ISTANBUL!
And we are just keeping discovering !
But as this funny competition between the two cities has come to an end, we decided to change the name of our blog ( which used to be CHARLESTON VS ISTANBUL ) to CHARLISTANBUL !

From now on  in CHARLISTANBUL we are gonna share our new discoveries and kitchen adventures which we do finally TOGETHER in İstanbul ! 

UPDATE FROM LARA

Let's make a little update !

Hey guys ! How are you all doing ? It's literally been for ever that I haven't done anything !
I am sorry for not keeping track on our blog ... Anyways it's always good to start from somewhere..
I returned back to Turkey this July, It's been almost 4 months (OMG) when did it pass this quickly ?
So during my summer I was in Bodrum with my family and friends. It was fun times.

Awesome people in the tournament 

Then  I worked for an organization near the ending of August . It was an International Sport Tournament in Didim. The game that they were competing with each other is called Korfball. Its the only game in the entire world that both have female and male as player in the teams. It's similar to basketball but the rules are different . I put a link below if you want to read about it more. Anyways I was the team responsible for foreign teams . I made all the translation work :) It was really fun to work with such a great team and wonderful people .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korfball

Ops! I almost forgot !! Guess who came to visit me in Bodrum this summer ?? KALIN CAME ! I still can't believe it ! I was the best week of mylife. We did a lot of things . We went for an boat trip,clubs,concerts and more other things. I can't even describe how happy I was ! I miss him :( I wish everything could be just like in Charleston :(


Then I spend my last weeks of vacation in Bodrum again  and I returned back to Istanbul at the beginning of September. My school started 10th and I think its been a month. I am still struggling with the school work cause it's really hard to adjust myself to this system again. My school is an foreign school. It's a French High school that's why we do everything in French and it's pretty hard after not doing any practice for a year.


But it's getting better.

And the  important part! Revna and I we start  A NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL!! we are going to put a video every week. I hope it will turn to a nice project :) Now that we are reunited we are ready to explore new things again :)

FOLLOW US ! AND SUBSCRIBE PLS :)
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqEWNUtU_KYM9LlE2oDirMw

Dear friends from ALL OVER THE WORLD ,

I am writing in regards to my country Turkey. As you might have seen in the news in the last 48 hours a civil war started in my country. The protest is against the destruction of Gezi Park (the only green spot left in the center of Istanbul) for the construction of a shopping mall instead, but it was never only about the park.The park became a symbol for everything that the government is tearing down, the trees they cut down, the history they destroyed, the rivers they polluted, the seas they filled with cement, all in the name of economical growth, and of course the laws they have enacted to attack our private lives.. Now, in Turkey the police (known as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's army) are using guns, force and chemical products to stop the riots. The riots are being caused by the violence of Turkish police. While all these things are happening Turkish media is trying to ban everything including Facebook,Twitter, newspapers, etc. so I am asking your help please don't ignore the ruthlessness and cruelty of the Turkish government!! Thousands of people are on streets all over the country protesting, and yet the police are gas bombing the unarmed protestors! No offical has made any attempt to stop this violence! 

AFS EXCHANGE STUDENT LARA TELLI

I have been writing this letter to all the local news around Illinois State ! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ! THE ONLY WAY IS TO SPEAK UP 

CHS 2013 Graduation

Once  American author, Carl Sandburg said: ''Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.'' He was right, time is something that we could never exchange with anybody or we can't buy. 

You have only one chance to use it, you can use it wisely or waste it. 

And if you even want to correct your mistake there is no way back. Briefly If you do something wrong you are screwed. Btw TODAY WAS MY GRADUATION DAY !

Its been 9 months that I've been in Charlie High. I made wonderful memories and made awesome friends. Today showed me that , I made the best decision with joining this program. If I didn't get in this program, I would never have chance to met all these wonderful people. I would never know there was a town called Charleston. I  am thankful to my exchange program that they made me replace with this town. I will be happy for the next /future exchange student who will end up with Chuck town. I remember the first day I came, I was horrified and I wanted this year will be over soon. 



It looked like the longest journey that I could ever make in my life. But it wasn't right. This year was the funnest and sadly shortest year of my life. Everyday was a journey, new words, new tastes, 
new people,new experiences. It amazes me that how things have changed even in 9 months. 


When you are a newbie, you don't understand what is really happening around you. But with time you 
get into the routine and once you found people like you, it changes all. Nowadays , I am done with school and it's really anticlimactic.

 I feel like I need to do homework or I feel sad that now it's sunday because I need to be wake up for  the morning to go school. But it's over and I am leaving in thirty-six day. Thirty six day ! It's nothing ! I am sad, I don't want this to be over, I am not ready yet. Our graduation was at Lantz at EIU. 



The ceremony was almost 3 hours long. Best part was Linnea's speech and the song that we sang with choir for the last time. Linnea gave a really good speech about graduation, It was hilarious. And with choir we sang Seize The Day by Newsies Musical. Newsies was the show that we watched at Broadway when we went to choir trip in spring break. 



My plans for these following weeks are to do my workout almost everyday. I need to loose weight for summer. I gained a lot of weight during my stay in America. Because of all these fast food and grace but I will loose them again. This time I am more determined. Well thats all for now.

Love Lara 

Jacks Coffee Shop

This time I will start my post with my favorite place in town Jacks coffee shop , I am here almost everyday . It's a wonderful place for hang out , read your  book etc. and also the best coffee of course  ! They have also a little stage which I gave my first concert there last Thursday . I singed a French song called "battez vous" by Brigitte , it was the first time that I sang all by my self at front I people ! It was a real new experience for me I had lot of fun :)


I love jacks it's my favorite place with all their delicious coffees their concerts and all exhibitions ! This month Dave's artworks covers the walls . You should definitely come and see them ! They are SO COOL ! We are also gonna have our first concert with chorus in20th . That's gonna be a concert for the trip to NY :) me and our quartet  we are gonna sing whistle the happy tune by king and don't miss our concert! Support CHS chorus , be with us :)

Love Lara

Herkese tekrar merhabalar ;
Bu seferki kısa yazımda size bu küçükcük kasaba da en çok gitmeyi sevdiğim yerden bahsetmekj istiyorum . Gerçi gidecek başka bi yer de yok Jack' s coffee shoptan başka .... 



Okuldan eve  , evden coffee shop a dayalı bir sirkülasyon içersindeyim hergün . Ama mutluyum kültür şoku yaşadım mı ? Belki çok az , yaşadığım şokta kocaman bir şehirden , Kadıköy'den bile küçük bi kasabaya düşmek oldu. Kadıköy demek de çok büyük kalır bağdat caddesi diyelim . Okadar küçük bi yerki ne zaman Istanbul'u düşünsem çıldırcak gibi oluyorum . Okulda yaptığım aktivitlerle kendimi mesgul tutmaya çalışıyorum bende.  Jack's e gelelim burda hayatımın en güzel kahvalerini içtim gerçekten çok güzel kahve yapıyolar . Bu mekanın bir güzel yanı ise her ay başka bir sanatçının parçalarını duvarlarında ağırlamaları bu ay Dave 'inkiler var bende bu sene sonunda resimlerimi burada segileyeceğim. 

Aynı zamanda Jack's küçük bir sahneye de sahip , burada haftanın 4 günü orttam tercüme alama olarak canlı müzik oluyor. Geçen perşembe "Open Mic" gecesiydi , açık mikrofon dersek sanırım tam tercüme etmiş oluyorum bende ilk konserimi verdim . Brigette'den "Battez-Vous" adlı parçayı söyledim . İlk denemem olsada yeni bir tecrübe oldu . Ekim 'in 20 sinde de koro konserimiz var , New York gezimiz için vericeğimiz bir konser olacak . Benim de içinde bulunduğum 4'lü grubumuz "Whistle A Happy Tune" adlı parçayı söyleyeceğiz (King and I) bu hafta parçamızı hazırlıyoruz . Ikinci konserim içinde çok heycanlıyım :D Bu postu hazırlarken tabikide Jack's de oturmuş kahvemi yudumluyorum alın size en güncel resmim :) 

Lara

WE ARE EXCHANGES !

Hi everyone again , (attention for readers It's gonna be a long post hope you will enjoy it )

I know that I haven't been writting for a long time . I am sorry for the delay . But it wasn't because of me you know that I have been waiting for Revna ( Just kidding ) So Revnoş I read your lastest posts about Vienna and I am so jeoluos girl !! I wanna do these with you again , promise me when we will do Interrail you are gonna take me these places ! If you are challenging me about Vienna I will challenge you about Charleston .

SO Get ready :D     

Herkese merahabar , (okurlara uyarı uzun bi post oldu bu , uyarmadı demeyin )

Uzun zamandır birşeyler yazamadım blogumuza ... Revna'yı beklemekten ! Aşırı kıskandım kızım seni hele o Avusturya yazısı işte o beni zayıf noktamdan vurdu . Beni de götürcen bi daha ki sefere anlamam ... Eğer sen Avusturya diyosan bende sana Amerika diye karşılık vermek istiyorum şimdi .

Now these are the lastest changings in my life :

We are not 3 echanges in Charleston High School anymore . Absa came 3 weeks ago . She is so nice and she is from Senegal. But Kalin and Absa they are YES Program students , I am the only AFSer in our school we also have an Rotary Student , his name is Heng and he is from Taiwan . They are all awesome people ! 

Şimdi gelelim ne değişiklikler oldu neler yaptım onları anlatmaya ,

Çok değişiklik oldu çok . Herşey güzel gidiyor artık Charleston High School'umuz da 3 exchange değil 4 kişiyiz . Geçen hafta sevgili Absa da aramıza katıldı taa Senegal'den gelerek, fakat Kalin 'le Absa YES öğrencisi tam AFS 'li değiller ama iki programda kardeş sayılır . Sadece vizyonları biraz farklı . Birde Rotary'li Heng var unutmadan :)  

I don't remember if I talked about Kalin with you . He is from Bulgaria and he is my best friend here. He is so nice and helpfull . I'm so lucky to have him here. He is the best !

So if we came to the activities that I am involved in school . 

I am doing ;

Speech and Drama ,

Advanced Chorus , 

Interrackt and

Gay Straight Alliance.

Size Kalin'den bahsettim mi hatırlamıyorum ama oda Bulgaristan'dan bir exchange öğrencisi . Kalin burda sağ kolum herşeyim ... sanırım o olmasaydı çok zor zaman geçirebilirdim ... Dertleşebileceğiniz sizin durumunuzdan anlayan biri olması okadar yardımcı oluyor ki anlatamam . AFS arkadaşlıkları özel olur diyolrardı gerçekten de öyle, çok özel yeri var benim için ...

Gelelim yaptıklarıma ,

Speech ve drama klübüne katılarak kendimi bile şaşırttım ,

Advance korodayım ,

İnterackt grubuna girdim ,

Birde GSA ( Gay Straight  Alliance ) grubundayım , 

Last night we played our first show . Our play clalled “The Histoy of Television” . It was a comedie which makes fun with the TV . I love speech , and in chorus we are singing beautiful songs !! I really enjoy being in chorus .

Şimdilik okulda yaptığım aktiviteler bunlar . Tiyatro 'ya daha çok alışamasam da , koro gün içersinde en büyük heycanla beklediğim ders . İleri derece olması beni zorluyo çünkü korodakilerin sıkı bir alt yapıları var bende onlara yetişebilmek için kendimle yarışıyorum . Parçalarımız kolay parçalar değil fakat çok güzel parçalar .

Söyleyeceğimiz şarkılar :

The Battle Of Jerico , ( en sevdiğim)

Dixit Dominus ,

O Mistrress Mine , Where Are You Roming? ,

Water Nights ,

In My Eyes, 

Ve dün tiyatro grubumuzla ilk gösterimizi gerçeklestirdik . Oyunumuzun adı “The History Of Television”du  . Televizyonun bir derece tarihini anlatan bir komedi diyebiliriz . Biraz kara mizah dersek sanırım daha doğru olacak . Oyunumuz gayet güzeldi seyircilerden olumlu yorum aldığımızda çabalarımızın nasıl işe yaradığını gördük . Çünkü bu oyunu hem çok kısa sürede hemde büyük bir çalışma ile ortaya çıkardık :) 

Amerika 'da hoşuma giden bir diğer şeye gelirsek , ARABA . 16 yaşında herkesin arabası var tey allahım küçükçük veletler araba kullanıyo valla beynim almadı ahahha . Araba olmadan burda yaşamak çok zor size şöyle açıklayayım benim en yakın markete yürümem 25 dakika sürüyor gerisini siz anlayın ...

Yürümeyi seven bi insan olsamda her yere yürüyemiyosunuz işte sorun orda .. Hafiften soğuklar başladı artık kışlık birşeyler almanın vakti sanırım bakalım nasıl bir kış beni bekliyor ?

Another thing that I liked in America is the permission to get your driver lisance at the age of 16 . Isn't that so cool ! I wish I had car too but according to the AFS Rules ; We are not allowed to use cars :( Thats really bad beacause car is so important . Distances are so long and Americans are not used to public transportations.

2 weeks ago my school in Turkey opened its doors for another year . It was a strange feeling because I was far far away from my friends . Truth is I am missing them like crazy .But I like being here too . I met wonderful , wonderful people ! I am really enjoying being here because everybody is so nice and this is a lovely town ! BEST !

2 hafta önce İstanbul'daki okulum açıldı . Nasıl değişik duygular yaşadım anlatamam bi parçam İstanbul' da bi parçam burda yaşıyor , ruhum bölünmüş gibi . Ben akşamı yaşarken siz sabahı yaşıyosunuz tabi ...

Akşam Nur'la konuşurken o bana ilk gün törenini canlı canlı aktardı . Uzakta olunca herşeyin değerini anlarsın derler ya gerçekten öyle okulumu özlüyorum , evimi , ailemi , arkadaşlarımı hemde çok özlüyorum . Az özlüyorum diyemem çünkğ her saniye aklımdalar . Sadece fazla düşünmemeye çalışıyorum unutmaya çalışıp unutamamak gibi . Enternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 'imi yaşıyorum anlayacağınız . Ama üstünüzde burda olduğundan pişman olan bi insan görüntüsü çizmek istemem . Hayır burda olmak bana her saniye yeni bişeyler katıyor . Kesinlikle yine sorsanız ne olursa olursa bu deneyimi , burayı seçerdim . Bence herkesin bi kere denemesi gerken bi deneyim bu... 

Ve son aktivitem ; 

Ilk defa kendi paramı kendim kazandım . Nasılmı ? Koromuzun araba yıkama aktivitesine katıldım. Yıkamadan kazanılan paralar koronun finansal bölumüne gitti . Peki bu yardım projeleri ne ? Amerika'da devlet okulları çok cuzi bir fiyat olduğu için her klüp kendi parasını kendi kazanıyor , gerektiğinde konser düzenliyor , çikolata satıyor , futbol sahasını , okulu temizliyor... Bu aktivitelerden gelen para da kulübün ihtiyaçlarını karşılıyor, öerneğin grup gezilerinin paraları , tshirtler gb..  sonuç olarak benim için çok çok yeni bi deneyimdi :) Şimdilik bu kadar 

Sevgiler Lara 

Last week we done our first foundrasing for chorus. All clubs are doing foundraising for their clubs We washed CARS ! I think this is amazing like in Turkey we don't have these things . It was a totally new experience for me .  

That's all for now 

Love Lara 

Ps : I missed you Revna <3  we need to do skype today's wasn't enough for me !