pictures 10-106. warning there are lots of ones that need to be deleted, i was 'trying' different camera modes.
here we are with the marines, all of the active duty ones except the one who looked 12, minus their girlfriends/dates:
yeah, there wasnt very many :-( we both assumed there would be more. sighwe decided that there werent really any stationed here in Ankara cuz
A. there isnt really a need for marines here, and
B. everyone is next door in Iraq or in Afghanistan
i had a hard time finding a wardrobe ensemble and though i ended up pretty casual, lots of people were all decked out to the fancy nines, i felt comfy with those i was there with, they were all more on the casual side too. if i had been in sistys prom dress like i originally intended i would have felt out of place at my table and too dressed up. i felt very jackie O-ish- classy, clean, straight lines, and sophisticated. plus, black and red, you cant go wrong there!
i dont feel up to going into too much detail- it was a fancy dinner, we all know how those go, plus i have all the pics of the food, the table, the 'ceremony', etc. but i will elaborate a lil about the things that stuck out to me.
~i met the US ambassador of turkey and other important dignitaries from other countries
~ceremony - there was a small ceremony and speeches from various marine people, they talked about tradition and what it means to have served in the marines, they paid tribute to the oldest and youngest marine in attendance, the youngest looked 12. serious. the oldest is in this picture.
~tribute video for fallen marines - beautiful- had to hold back the tears. the song was sung live and music was played on a guitar, it was hauntingly touching, a letter from a soldier if youre reading this, im already 'home'
~a special cake cutting tradition with the sword. the cake was kiwi banana. gross.
~the black table - pics 58-65 -to represent all those that have died in service, the purple medal of honor, the nameless dog tags, the candle, a place set for one, it was really pretty and very symbolic, and i love me some symbolic sentiments.
it was really neat to be apart of the celebration, they have a marine ball 'everywhere' there are marines/embassy, so its very cool to say that i experienced it here in turkey! i met a lot of embassy people, i wondered how many of them there were secret CIA peeps, i met a lot of the other teachers at kristins school from america and canada, erin and tim taught in longmont CO my (and kristins) hometown, at silver creek high and westview middle. crazy huh
yes there was an open bar, no i did not get drunk. dinner was pretty good, although nothing scrumptious. dancing was fun, but like all dances, after awhile they start to play the same dumb long song with the same undanceable beat over and over again. i was sad that there was no one to ballroom dance with, cuz that would have been stellar! all n all, it was a very fun night!