Batagor and Elementary School Visit

Assalamualaikum! 

‘Yarın saat 12.15’te Bafraya gideceğiz. Bafra’da bir okulu ziyaret edeceğiz. Onlar 9 veya 10 yaşında küçük öğrenciler. Onlarla sohbet edeceğiz. Bafra’da pide yiyeceğiz. Üniversitenin otobüsü ile gideceğiz ve döneceğiz.’ 

What a sudden exciting news came from my teacher as we would visit an elementary school on Thursday! Two months passed and.. well, I can say we all understand Turkish, a little bit. Can you imagine learning Turkish language with Turkish explanation? Yep, here we are. But the teachers are all so nice; eventhough they explain things in Turkish, they always try to make some simple examples and daily-related topics. Çok güzel! 

My last Thursday began with an early morning trip from my dorm to Atakent. Using bus and tramvay, I went to Samsun Produktif ‘market’ and bought a portion of Batagor. Samsun Produktif sells lot of Indonesian foods and snacks. It was already known within all the Turkey region, go check their Instagram for more detail! 

So why am I randomly spending 15 TL for a portion of Batagor in that early morning?

One of my class project these weeks is having all students from all different places to present their own city, country, and food; as well as the steps to make it; within a powerpoint presentation. 

Well.. why not also bring the ready-to-eat food instead?

Really glad to find that my friends and teacher loved the Batagor taste! Even though some ingredients (like tofu, kulit pangsit, sweet soy sauce) are a bit hard to find in Turkey. Well, you guys can always buy it at Samsun Produktif. 

But I was sad knowing that in the same time as I explained about my city, Bogor, a heavy rain and tornado occured there :( One person died, and the property damages were awful. Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun. May she rest in peace, and the other damages could be handled very soon. Amiin. 

Time passed, and we all went to the elementary school in Bafra at noon. It was.. surprisingly surprise (?)! A whole school; teachers, staffs, and students, were warmly welcomed us. We went to different classes and even met another surprises; more ‘welcome’ signs, gifts, and pictures. 

Beyond all of that, the students were very nice, cheerful and sweet. With only limited Turkish, we tried to play and make some conversations. Turned out that even some of them could answer our questions with English! 

As we asked “Ne olmak istiyorsun?” ((What do you want to be?)) They also had lots of big dreams and hopes. 

I believe the children are our future 

Teach them well and let them lead the way 

Show them all the beauty they posses inside 

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier 

Let the children’s lather remind us how we used to be 

(George Benson)

Thank you for reminding us; that living as a pure human being, with unlimited dreams and hopes, is indeed a very good thing. When all the fears and obstacles can always be outdone with smile and joy. That it is clearly written in the Qur'an that; 

"Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity." 

and 

"Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease."