My new family

I have officially become a member of another family. They are the Özsoy's, and I already feel like I belong here. But I should probably start with the story of how I moved families...
It all started one dark and not really stormy Thursday night when Vedat (my first host father) came home and I was watching the Discovery Channel. Or maybe national geographic; I’m addicted to both. He sat down and just said "how would you like to go to another host family on Saturday. I was a little shocked about this because Saturday was only 2 days away. I told him sure, but I was a little concerned about why such short notice and he told me that there were personal issues and he had brought up this situation at the last rotary club meeting. The Rotarians here were very supportive and from what I heard about 4 families immediately volunteered that night. By some weird stroke of unfortunate luck I was auctioned off to the family that lives the farthest away. It’s a half hour trip into Bodrum and twice as far as Torba. But despite my doubts, I was surprised when I got here. Vedat drove me here in his car and took the scenic route to my house. The road winds around the gentle curves of the huge hills, staying just a few feet from the sea. There is a dolphin marina between Bodrum and my new town of Güvercenlık (pronounced goo-verge-in-lik) and I can see fishing boats, sailing boats, and rowing boats as we cruise along the Aegean. I’ll take a video of it one of these days and you can see what my daily commute is like. I live on the first road of our town, but Vedat took me to the other side, turned left and went down to the seaside. Riding along I could see the little shops, a few restaurants, and a barber or two on the left and the sea going out to blue mountains in the distance. The seaside winds around for a good half mile before we stopped at my house. My new host father Okan was there waiting for us. I grabbed my bags; I am unfortunately required to use 4 bags to transport my stuff, I’m becoming such a girl, and shook hands with him and exchanged the usual Turkish greetings. He is an average looking man in his 40's, but with a distinct pride that comes from growing up with a soldier father and a past that's full of self reliance and independence. Plus he speaks both English and Turkish perfectly. He guided me through a garden which he told me belongs to the neighbor, but we are fine to walk through it any time we need to. So the answer is no, I don't live next to the sea, but I live within 50 feet of it, and that's good enough for me. The house that we live in together is a 2 story house, but the odd thing is, everybody live upstairs. There are 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen, dining room, living room that just blend into each other. The downstairs is deserted. I met my new host mother that day, her name is Elvan and we have gotten to know each other very well, because the second day I was here Okan was called to Istanbul because his grandfather had a broken hip, and he took my host brother Kemal with him. This gave me time to get to know Elvan very well, and she is a really cool host mother. She insisted that I watch the "Kill Bill" movies back to back, she cooks excellent meat and while making it clear that I am going to pull my weight around the house, she is still willing to help me with anything I need. At this point Kemal, who is about 13, was very quiet, mostly just watching and listening. This is because my Turkish is so bad that we had to all speak in English and while Kemal is learning English at school and at home, his level is still rudimentary. Vedat stayed with me for a while as we got to know my new host family. He has been an excellent host father, and continues to help me even though I have moved out. Any Rotary problems, any school problems, any transportation problems, all I have to do is send him an email, and he is completely willing to help me.
After getting to know my new host family, they showed me my new room. This consists of the entire downstairs. I have my own bedroom, guest bedroom with 2 beds, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and living room. It’s exactly like upstairs, only the ceiling is higher and I don't have much of a view. It gives me a total sense of independence, and I have my own space. Despite all this freedom, I still of course spend as much of my time upstairs with the family as I can.
The first night I was with my new host family, they took me out to a restaurant near the house. It was fish, and back in the states, I didn't like fish. But the difference between FISH and fishSTICKS is total and absolute. It’s like the difference between McDonalds and The Pier, or the Salvation Army and Macy's. We had some new appetizers which I enjoyed a little, but for the main course was a large foot and a half sea fish, freshly caught. I never really believed people when they told me there was a difference between the body of a fish and the cheek. Okan told me that I had to try the difference and when I did I was totally blown away. The cheek is actually sweet meat, almost sugary tasting to me, and surprisingly juicy, but he could not persuade me to try the fish's eye. I'll work my way up to that. We went through the list of family questions and rules, and while I have to do things like keep my room clean, make my bed every day, take out the trash if it’s full, it’s ok with me. I have more responsibilities, but I feel more like a member of the family, instead of just a person living in the house this way. Besides, it’s probably not good for me to live too long without any responsibilities.
I was afraid that first night that Kemal would get angry or jealous because we were only talking in English, and nobody was paying much attention to him, but he took advantage of the situation and went to talk to the chefs that work there. He has turned out to be a great host brother. Even though I speak very little Turkish and he speaks very little English, we still try to communicate and we both learn a little each time.
Since moving in, I've encountered almost no real problems, besides rain every day, and Okan, Elvan, and Kemal have been really welcoming. Kemal and I continue to try to communicate and we both like video games. Elvan has excellent taste in movies and is really understanding; even when I forget to call, or leave the door open. She also cooks amazing and is trying to hook me up with her niece in Izmir. Okan and his brother in law co-own a 21 foot sailing boat, and has promised to take me out sailing soon. He even wants to go out for a 2 or 3 day trip sometime soon to see some of the islands around Bodrum. I honestly can't wait to experience some of this sea life I've been told exists around here.