Hi, I'm Christian.

Some random things about myself that I am sharing with you. Feel special.

1: No, I'm not Asian. Or Middle-Eastern. Or Mexican! I'm just...Latino. I'm Mayan. Of this personal attribute, I am very proud.

2: My natural hair color is actually very dark brown, almost black. Not blue.

3: Why yes, as a matter of fact I DO laugh at my own jokes. The lamer the joke, the harder the laugh =P

4: Rain fascinates me to no end.

5: I. Love. Africa.

6: I am a dancer. And as a matter of fact, yes I am straight. And yes, it's possible to be a straight male dancer. Just cuz Satan's twisted and perverted the Arts, particularly dance, to such an extreme doesn't mean there aren't a few of us left still fighting against the flow of society. Dance to me is one of the purest forms of worship, and it's sickening to see how twisted it's become as an "art form". It's nearly impossible for a guy to claim to be a dancer without being assumed to be gay and accepted as such from one group of people, and receiving judgemental scrutiny and degrading attitudes from another. Whoever says dancers aren't strong...how wrong you are, haha, in so many ways. But to me, dance is the purest form of worship. I love all art forms very much, but there's just something about dance. I think it must give God so much pleasure to see His children using their entire bodies to praise Him, and give back to Him the gifts He blessed them with.
...and that's why I dance.

7: I love sugar. Big swirly rainbow lolipops are my life. And cake. And...blue Mtn Dew :choir of angels:

8: When I get hyper, I get crazy. Well, even more crazy than usual. And it's contagious. Which is awesome.

9: I read slower than a snail can walk...or...snail...slosh? slug? slither? Well, whatever snails do. I'm pretty sure a snail could actually walk across a page of whatever book I'm reading faster than I could read it.
...however that may be partially due to the fact that I would be SO fascinated by the snail that I would forget to read.

10: I have never been to Boston in the fall.

11: It takes a bit of time to figure me out completely, but if you just count on never knowing what's coming next, you should be all good =P

12: I am a big Tim Burton fan. If you have a problem with that or don't know who he is, that's okay. I shall love you just the same.

13: Making new friends is one of my favorite things to do. Which is good considering my family's lifestyle =P

14: I have trouble coming up with things to say about myself. This took me about an hour to come up with.

15: I am Aladdin.

16: I am the March Hare.

17: I have always wanted colored eyes (as opposed to just the brown/black color they are) and wavy hair.

18: You know that silver lining people talk about? Well, to me it tends to look more like a DOUBLE RAINBOW ALL AWAY ACROSS THE SKY!

19: My favorite color is yellow. Well, and purple too. Just in case Buddy the Elf was asking you for that information.

20: I hope the music in heaven sounds something like the 6th track in the Avatar soundtrack. Yes, I know it's Avatar, but still. Dancing around the throne would be a breeze with music like that playing day and night. Sigh.

21: I sleep like a rock.

22: I can't play sports. Not that I don't like to. I can't. Yes, I know I'm a dancer so I should have great hand-eye coordination, and I actually do...I just have no reflexes. None. Whatsoever. You throw a ball at me: oh, I won't even see it till I've caught it with my face.

23: The line "Altogether now!" always makes me crack up. No matter who says it, I always just crack up. It's funny.

24: I still can't touch my toes.

25: Wow, you really read all that? Hi-five!


"So I like that about myself, and I like myself, and I have a lot of other great qualities as well." - Marcel the shell.

Christian

A Photograph Plus A Few More

These pictures don't really show you anything about the city =P but I just like them a lot. Haha, so here are some pictures (finally) of the city...that don't help you envision the city at all. Hooray! =P



I can't remember if this is Europe or Asia. I'm pretty sure it's Asia. Let's just pretend it's Asia ;)





Taksim Square














One of the two magnificent bridges connecting the two continents.














A random train.














A random set of stairs.





The exit to one of the Old Train's stations.





Welcome to İstanbul
:)






Christian

A Short Interlude

Grey skies.

Fog.

Rain.

Welcome to winter in Istanbul.

Actually, I don't mind it at all. In fact, I really like it. I would much rather have cloudy grey skies than bright blue ones. Not that I'm a depressed teen! I'm a very joyful little me! I just...don't prefer it bright outside =P

Life goes on and on. What an incredible blessing it is to be able to create art. Thank you, God, for the human ability to imagine and create. And thank you for creating us with the ability to eat food. Hallelujah.

Christian

Oh The Jitter! Oh The Bug!

What do you get when you cross a porcupine with a balloon?

POP!

I just got back from Wizard of Oz rehearsal. Feel free to assume I made it. But yeah, we're working on the Jitterbug now (which I keep typing out as "Kitterbug"...don't ask me why). And yeah, it's definitely my favorite song in the show! Let's see, what else. Ah! I'm also a crow with my wonderful little sister and another girl, and it's so much fun. They're letting us basically do whatever we want for the dance...=D...which makes me happy. So yeah, we're pretty awesome crows if I may say so myself =P And I'm a tree! In Munchkinland. I guess I always got out of being a tree in elementary school plays so now I have to pay. Ah well. So that's basically what's goin on with that.

Yellow cars don't exist here.
I think I've seen two since we got here, and they were right next to each other...which is kinda weird.
But yeah, there are NO yellow cars here. So sad.

Halloween this year was kinda boring :-\ The highlight of the holiday was painting faces at a Halloween party (which was actually like a week and a half BEFORE Halloween =P). But oh well, if you're gonna miss out on any holiday, miss out on Halloween =P Amen? Amen.

Last week we didn't have dance classes. So? Just a week, right? I mean, how bad can that be?

Very.

I am very much sore. Modern was a killer. But so much fun! Our teacher is so awesome. Have I already said that? Well, I say it again. She's simply the best. And I'm really amazed at how much I'm learning. Our teacher's are fantastic! My ballet teacher has me doing arabesques just above 90 degrees, and my modern teacher has me doing all kinds of crazy kicks (some I can get my foot to the level of my mouth) and turns and whatnot. And for a guy who still can't even touch his toes...yeah, that's kinda cool. I can't wait till we get all our boxes officially unpacked so I can start dancing at home too.

Christmas!

Hallelujah!
Really, the Christmas season is SUPPOSED to start in the middle of September and drag on till Easter, but I don't know, no one else seems to remember that. They keep trying to tell me it doesn't start till AFTER Thanksgiving. Ha. Where did THEY learn their holiday seasons?! But oh well, at least now the world is beginning to join me in my celebration of the birth of Jesus! Wow. What an incredible moment. God...born into the world. Wow. There's so much to say about that. But if I get started, I'm afraid it would take 3 days to read this, so for your sake, I won't =P I love Christmas. It's my favorite time of year.

Christian

Adventure Is Out There!

I went to bed Friday night with a feeling that Saturday was gonna be one interesting adventure.
...I was alive right. (The opposite of "dead wrong").

First of all, I was taking the PSAT that morning at 7:30. Okay. But I was taking it on the Asia side. Okay, so what does that mean? It means waking up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning, that's what it means. Yay!
So that part of the day I have very little recollection of becuase...well I wasn't actually awake. So I'm just gonna skip to after the test.

So after the test, my dad and I had to go back to the European side cuz I had an audition for the Wizard of Oz ensemble. But we had an hour to get there...and it takes just about an hour to make the trip. So we had no extra time. So of course we were gonna be late! But umm...there's uh two campuses for the school where the audition was. And of course neither of us remembered to ask anyone which one the audition was at. And of course we went to the wrong one first. And of course the one we were SUPPOSED to be at was about a 30 second walk from our apartment.
...I'm not actually why the location of the campus makes it any more of a dumb situation, but for some reason...it just did.
So we ended up gettig to the audition late to say the least, but it was okay, everything still went fine. And I would tell you how it went...but that's another story for another time.
Oh! But I will say that I met someone I'll never forget.
She's a 66 year-old woman.
Her name is Christian.
She had never met another Christian before.
Of course, leave it up to God to have ME be the first Christian she had ever met =P. Haha, a great representative I am =P. But no, I'm so glad I had the chance to meet her. And she was British! So that just made it that much better!

But anyway! Back to the story. So then after the audition we were going to head BACK to the Asia side for a carnical at the school where I had taken the PSAT earlier that morning. So we tried to catch the same bus we had taken to get back to Europe. Makes sense. Of course it does. Don't worry, it DID eventually come. After a long long time. So we hop on, and get going at last, and we're about to get on the bridge when BAM! This random truck hits the bus! =O Gasp! Oh no! Yeees. So the bus and the truck stop. Just stop. In the middle of twenty lanes. Well, twenty lanes going ONE WAY. There were another twenty on the other side going the opposite direction. And there we were just stopped there in the middle. Woohoo! It was practically a party! So we were sitting there for at least 20 minutes, it felt more like a half hour though. But finally the bus starts moving again, and crosses the bridge, and then stops again, and everyone gets out, and I'm so confused, and everyone just stands there on the side of the road I guess waiting for another bus to come pick them up.
My dad and I are those kinds of people who would prefer to be going the wrong direction than not moving at all. Of course we weren't going to just stand there. So magically we got a taxi...in the middle of the highway...and were on our way again.

But then.

We were ALMOST there, and BAM! No, not another accident, silly you! Traffic. Everything was completely stopped as far as we could see. Cars at the end of the line were literally turning around on the highway and driving back the way they came. (If you aren't following, that would be back towards oncoming traffic). So we sorta kinda decided to walk =P
So we get out of the taxi and are just kinda walking around in the middle of a highway.
Yeah.
Now THAT was a party.
So anyway, we eventually walked off the highway and started walking towards the school. And yes, we eventually did get there. And then, the rest of the day was pretty normal after that =P.
You know, reading this over...it was a lot more fun and exciting in the moment...just letting you know =P But oh well!

Welcome to Istanbul! =D

Christian

Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!

The big shipment of our things arrived a few days ago, so there's still boxes everywhere! (We bring some things with us in our suitcases when we move, then there's a small shipment of things that arrives just a few weeks after we do, and then there's a really big shipment that usually takes a few months after we get to our new post to arrive). I'll admit, it's rather exciting unpacking everything since these are the things we haven't seen in about 14 months. Yes, I know you're thinking "Oh, it's just like Christmas! =D", but it's not. Christmas gifts are just that...gifts. These things are our lives. You can find our family's whole story in them. They're the one thing besides us ourselves that remains constant post after post. For me, it gets me a bit down having all these memories come flooding back just by looking at some old toys, or a certain shirt, or especially letters and cards from great friends who, by now, I can't say for sure where they are, or how they're doing, or if we would even recognize each other if we did meet again. But sure, at the same time it is rather exciting. We always use the arrival of this shipment as a sort or marker to announce that we are officially in our new home. Haha, it almost feels like the point of no return! So once we get everything in order, this should feel very much like home for the next two years. Wow, seems like such a long time to be in one place, haha.

On a bit of a happier note, I have met the Cheshire Cat! No, really, it's actually him. Except his name is Alex. =P But seriously! The first time I met him, he was in a neighbors living room, and all I could see was his eyes. Yeah, not even a silhouette or anything, just eyes. And they're about as icy blue as eyes can get. And then as the lights came on slowly, the rest of him started to appear. And no joke, he smiles sometime. Actually smiles. It's a bit unnerving, sure, but SO AWESOME! And yeah, he disappears and reappears randomly. And he's identical to the Dinah/Cheshire Cat in Alice (SyFy).
So yeah...he's my favorite.

On Friday I visited one of the International schools here because there were several seminars concering college applications, and how to choose which colleges to apply to, and the college essay, etc. So my mom made me go. Anywho, the seminars for juniors were only at the beginning and end of the day, so for the middle of the day I just shadowed one of the girls that goes to the school. And so the first class I went to I remembered: I'm in a school...I should probably turn off my phone
...
Smart.
Of course it was only AFTER I started turning it off that I remembered the 30 second long song that the stupid thing plays whenever it turns on and off.
...
Dumb.
At least I didn't trip and fall on my face at any point during the day. Even though that would've been so hilarious and awesome.
So yeah, it was an eventful day =P But actually it wasn't all that bad. I met at least 7 people that were just Turkish versions of people I already knew, which was kinda weird and cool. I hope I'll get a chance to see some of them again, they were all pretty cool.

I'm taking my PSAT on Saturday. That's really all I can say about it, though. I'm about as unprepared as you can get, but I'm still not really worried about it =P What I AM worried about, is that on the same day I'm going to be auditiong for the Wizard Of Oz (yes, the same one that was SUPPOSED to be in September...then October...then November...and now in December =P). They're going to be using the same cast as the last time they did the show, so I don't actually have a chance of getting into the main cast, but hopefully I can make the ensemble. I just really need to do a show. I'm getting restless not doing anything.

Oh, and there's a new student in our modern class. She's a very quick learner, and she's also in one of my ballet classes, but I'm not sure if she'll stay in that class or if she'll take a different one. Speaking of dance class...
I've been constantly sore for the past month.
Yes, I say this in total sincerity.
Ha. Kinda sad, but oh well =P

...oh, were you waiting to find out what the title of this post had anything to do with anything? I'm sorry, I really don't know. Have YOU any idea why a raven is like a writing desk though? Yes, I think I just made my point.

Christian 

She's Got Tentacle Hair!

I realize I haven't posted for a while. Mostly, that's just due to the fact that...well, there hasn't really been anything to say. For the most part, life has started to fall into a cycle, but I could still do with a little more excitement and action! Here's a basic summary of a normal day in the Life of Christian as of right now: Wake up later than my mom would like (because I was probably up till midnight talking to friends back home), start school, get distracted, keep doing school, get distracted, school, distraction, school, distraction, lunch!, school, distraction, school, very early dinner so I can get ready for dance, dance, get home for second dinner cuz the first one was too early, finally finish school, check to see if anyone's online before I go to bed, bed. And then you know what I get to do the next day? =D...the same thing all over again! Yay!

But on a more positive note, I'm finally starting to peace about being here. God's been doing all sorts of great things in my life since we got here, but that's definitely been one of the most apparant. He's been helping me feel peace and contentment about being here. And I've begun to feel, ever so slightly but feel nonetheless, a real love for this place. I mean, I won't say that I never want to leave ever, but I'm starting to feel the smallest little tug at my heart for this city, this country, these people. So basically, I'm just starting to feel...okay with the idea of being here, and that makes me really glad.

Modern. Modern dance class finally started. Yesterday. So I had ballet on Tuesday, modern on Wednesday, another ballet tonight, and on Saturday I'll have another modern class.
...I am tired.
But it's good! The modern class is mostly contemporary (for those of you who don't know what that means...it doesn't really matter anyway), which is one of my favorite styles so that's really great. But yeah, and our teacher's awesome! For any of you awesome enough to watch So You Think You Can Dance, she's basically the Turkish-French version of Sonya. She's got somewhat short bangs that just kind of sit there on her forehead, then both sides are different lengths but both really short...they're just different shortnesses, and then the back of her head is...I guess shaved at the bottom, but it's really long and looks kind of like tentacles (like Ursula's hair in The Little Mermaid on Broadway). And somehow...she just makes it work, haha. But yeah, she's really awesome, and the class is so much fun! Right down my alley!
So that's that news...what else is there?

Oh.

Abu has a girlfriend. He hasn't actually met her yet, but he knows her nonetheless. And he says he wants to start writing her love letters. Her name...is Emmy Rose. (Thank you, Kylie, for managing to find the cutest little sock monkey on earth). But yeah, he's quite stricken by her.

Oh, and there aren't any stink bugs here. :P

And now it is very late so I need to finish up. Goodnight!

Christian