Learning Through EdX

I am a nerd.  There, I said it.  I was that kid who always had her nose in a book, whose idea of a good time during road trips was to play trivia and study the road map as we drove, and who got excited when a new encyclopedia showed up in the mail every month.  I went to space camp for crying out loud.  And I liked it.

So when we moved to Turkey and I realized I would have a lot of spare time between my sporadic workload and weekly Turkish lessons, I thought about what I could do to fill my time.  Then I read this article and I thought, why not?

The article reads, in part:

"Over the last year, elite American universities have raced to stake out a place in the new world of free online courses — and now, universities around the globe are following suit...

Meanwhile, edX, a nonprofit venture started by Harvard and M.I.T., is doubling its university partners to 12, adding Rice University, the Australian National University, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and, in Canada, McGill and the University of Toronto...

EdX, which began with a single M.I.T. electrical engineering course taught by Dr. Agarwal, now offers about two dozen courses, a roster that will grow to 50 to 100 next fall.

EdX expects to serve a billion students worldwide over the next decade on its open-source educational platform, Dr. Agarwal said. About 700,000 individuals are using the platform now, he said, with more than 900,000 course enrollments."

College courses offered online? For free?  Sign. Me. Up.

I finished college.  I finished grad school.  I'd never planned on going back for another degree because I didn't want to pay any more than I already have (and still pay) in student loans.  But to have the opportunity to learn and take interesting college courses without having to pay for them?  Yes please.   

EdX.org's course offerings are limited right now, with only a handful of courses offered from various universities in the United States.  But the organization is growing and hopes to offer at least 100 courses within the next year.  

With the cost of earning a college degree getting more expensive every year, it will be interesting to see if this sort of learning phenomenon takes off, or if it does, if it has staying power.  Because I'm sure there are millions of people out there like me who like learning, but don't want to pay the high cost of doing so.  

I have already registered for my first course--Ideas of the 20th Century, which is offered through UT Austin and provides a review of how philosophy, art and literature helped shape the last century.  The class doesn't start until fall, but I am really looking forward to it.  If it goes well, I can see a lot of courses like these in my future.   

Oh, and did I mention it's free? 

Snapshot Tuesday: Turkish Coffee

Let's Go To The Mall

Our attempts to get back to the beach have been thwarted two weekends in a row.  Mother's Day weekend brought rainy and unseasonably cool weather, so we were forced to stay close to home, much to the disappointment of me, Mom, and E, who had been walking around the house with his pail and shovel for two days saying he couldn't wait to play in the sand. 

Then yesterday, S was called into work unexpectedly and by the time he was home, it was too late to pack up the car and go. So we decided to spend an afternoon at the mall instead.

There are two malls here in Adana.  One is closer to our apartment, but it is multi-leveled which makes it a hassle to enjoy when schlepping a large stroller around. The elevators are extremely slow and always crowded, and the escalators just aren't wide enough to fit our BOB.  (Yes, I am that mother who puts her stroller on the escalator).  So, we headed to the other mall that is only one level and more stroller-friendly, and also has amazing play spaces for kids of all ages. 

The Turkish people as a whole love kids, and it is rather common to build malls, restaurants, and cafés around children’s needs.  Every nice restaurant has a playground for the kids to enjoy and the wait staff acts as babysitters while parents sit and enjoy their meals.  S and I haven’t quite gotten used to this luxury because we still get up to monitor E’s play wherever we go, only to be shooed away by a waiter telling us he will be okay.  And he is, so we try to chill out and go with the flow.

Anyway, this particular mall has not one, but two arcade/Chuck-E-Cheese-type places inside, as well as two trains that travel around the corridors and several random bumper car stations and carousels.  E had never taken interest in any of these places before, mostly because they were extremely loud and crowded and I think they intimidated him.  But yesterday?  Yesterday was the day he finally asked to go inside.  So we did.  

He drove a little electronic car...

Then tried his hand at piloting an airplane, before getting completely freaked out by the sudden jerks and lurches, and demanded to be removed before he flew into a full-fledged tantrum.

This was just before the meltdown.

So we walked around for a bit to let him check out the rest of the chaos fun activities before settling for a ride in this cool boat.  Of course, he demanded that Daddy ride with him.  S was more than happy to climb aboard.  In fact, it was hard to tell who enjoyed it more.

Check out the bumper cars in the background.

The fun-zone also had an entire trampoline section, which was composed of several mini-trampolines divided by nets so the kids could jump and not fly into each other.  It was very interesting, to say the least, and even though E really wanted to jump, the line was too long to wait.  So, we got him a balloon and headed for the  nearby Starbucks, where yes, there is a play area for kids.  

Don't worry, it's only milk.

**And just so everyone isn't totally confused, there are actual stores at the mall.  In fact, there are some really good stores, with very affordable clothes.  Marks & Spencer, Mango, GAP, LC Waikiki (a Turkish store similar to Old Navy), DeFacto, and much more.  Turkey is a great place for affordable clothes.  

A Typical Day

Pardon the radio silence, dear readers.  This household was recently derailed by the evilness of a nasty, ruthless bacterial infection that had me, in particular, knocked on my @ss for the past week.  But all is good now, thanks to the wonders of antibiotics. Score.  

Now where were we?

Recently an old friend reached out to me on Facebook to ask, "So, what are your days like there?  Like, tell me about a typical day."   To which I responded, "Well, it's pretty much how it was back in the States." 

And this is true, to an extent.  But then I realized I should elaborate a bit more, and what better forum than this here blog.

Humans, by nature, are creatures of habit, and we are no exception.  We have our routines, and just like we did in New York and D.C., we follow them.  It may sound boring, but when your husband is working 5 days a week, you, for the most part are working during the week, and your kid is in preschool 5 days a week, you tend to fall into a routine and pretty much stick with it.  A typical day for us is pretty simple--wake up, work/school, run errands, walk the dog, family dinner, maybe a tantrum here or there, go to bed. Rinse and repeat.

See, it's a pretty typical routine.  Just like in the States.  Except, we're not in the states.  Because there are always the little obstacles that stop and make you realize you're living in a different country.  Besides the language barrier, there is  for example, the journey to E's school where I have to walk in the middle of the street because the sidewalks here are used for parking cars.  I just listen for the roar of an engine behind me and jump out of the way before a car, or bus comes barreling by.  Or there's my afternoon walk with M-dog, where for example I use the Call to Prayer from the local mosque as my queue that it's time to take her.  Or that picking up food for dinner involved me standing in the aisle at the store for 10 minutes trying to remember the Turkish word for "chicken" while attempting to locate chicken broth. It's all those little things that add a little spice to the routine and make it unique.  And I like it.  I think we all need our routines, and we tend to create them wherever we are.  They're important to function, especially when you have children.  But you also have to adapt to your surroundings, which is what we have done.

Now weekends, on the other hand, are a different story.  Sure we stick to a running routine, but for the most part, we are always off on some adventure or another.  The beach, hiking, visiting archaeological sites, castles, you name it, we do it.  The weekend is our time to explore this amazing country that we get the privilege of calling home for 2 years.  

But then again, deciding we will explore every weekend is another routine we've perhaps fallen into?  If so, we enjoy it and wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Birthday To E!

Two weekends ago we celebrated E-Man's 2nd Birthday.  Where those two years went are beyond me.  They seem to have flown by.  I mean, wasn't it just yesterday that we were taking him home from the hospital, me fussing at S to "drive slow!" as he swerved to avoid hitting the crater-sized potholes of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn?  Weren't we just yesterday trying to figure out the whole bathing thing, paranoid he would slip out of our hands?  Wasn't I just waking up multiple times a night to feed him and rock him and lull him back to sleep? 

 

It seems like yesterday, but yet it seems like a lifetime ago.   I know he is only two, but he has grown so much.  When people say cherish these years because they go by so quickly, they weren't kidding. 

 

Our sweet boy is no longer a baby.  He went from a helpless, cooing bundle of smooshiness who could barely hold his head up, to this precocious, curious and rambunctious little boy.  He can count to ten in two languages.  He can say water in three, yet he still prefers his first learned word for it, "Agua."  He loves to draw and paint, and will go to the ends of the earth for a chance to blow bubbles or play with a balloon.  He loves to "cook" with mommy and sit on daddy's lap to read books every night before bed.  He loves to run.  He dances with the enthusiasm of ten kids and will drag you out of your seat if you are not participating.  "Dance mommy!  Dance!"  He sings at the top of his lungs and is quickly getting over his shyness, as he gravitates towards everyone these days, including our doorman whom he shouts an enthusiastic "Merhaba!" (Hello) to every morning.  He loves the slides on the playground and listening to music in his stroller while S and I go running. He is quickly learning the rules of soccer and will jump at the chance to "kit da ball" down the hallway with daddy.  He is our little dude with a bright, vibrant and gentle personality.  And we love him.  Happy Birthday Easy E!

 

Photos from his birthday party. 

 

Snapshot Tuesday: Moving Truck?

 

 

Boston

I am a runner.  S is a runner.  Between the two of us, we have completed 7 marathons and 18 half-marathons.  I say this because all totaled, there are at least 25 instances where S and I have stood at a finish line, sometimes with E, waiting for each other to complete a race.  Where we worried about things like, will her leg cramp up or will he run a new PR?  Will he want water when he crosses the finish, or would he prefer Gatorade?  Or beer?  Will she be sore?

Where we stood waving homemade signs of encouragement and support not only for each other, but for all the runners who were racing to the finish.  Where we shouted and clapped and cheered for everyone who had just completed what felt like a super-human feat of running 26.2 miles.

 

Where not once did we think we were risking our lives in fear of a bomb. 

 

For anyone who has ever run a marathon or even stood on the sideline in support, you know what it feels like.  The adrenaline is palpable and the energy electric.  The volume of support during a marathon is unrivaled.  In fact,  Katherine Switzer, the first woman to ever run the Boston marathon in 1967 once said, "if you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon."  Truer words were never spoken. Because it is at a marathon where the best of humanity comes out.  Where people stand for hours cheering, handing out water or candy or orange slices in an effort to not only boost a runner's energy, but their self-esteem.  To give them the mental and emotional lift needed to get over the wall and finish the race. 

 

I have never run Boston.  I am not that fast and would never qualify.  But S and I have both run the NYC marathon and just like Boston, I'm sure, the crowds who gather in support of the runners are amazing.  Whenever anyone asks me what it's like to run a marathon, I always say it's great because of the spectators.  You would be hard pressed to find a runner anywhere who doesn't smile at poster board signs that read, "You made it to the start, you WILL make it to the finish," or "Run like you stole something."  The old woman banging a cooking pot in her bathrobe and yelling, "y'all better run!" had me giggling for the last three miles out of Brooklyn.  And in fact, I am 100% certain that the gentleman handing out tootsie rolls on Fifth Avenue at mile 24 was the reason I finished in my personal best time.  I timidly took one, but  he  pushed the whole bowl at me saying, "take more.  Take as many as you need.  You can do this."  And that's all it took.  I shoved five more tootsie rolls into my mouth, and the candy's sugar combined with that stranger's words of support propelled me through Central Park and past the finish line.

 

What happened yesterday in Boston broke my heart.  To know that mothers, fathers, husbands and wives, and 8-year old boys were out there on a beautiful spring day supporting their loved ones, only to lose their lives or be severely injured because of it, just makes my stomach turn.  And to think that some of the injured were runners who had already completed the race, who had doubled back so they could watch their friends finish as they had probably done many times before, is truly gut-wrenching.  Limbs were lost in the explosions.  Those people may never run again. 

 

The finish line at a marathon is supposed to be one of celebration and joy.  It is a time to be proud.  But yesterday, that was stripped from innocent men, women and children, and the running community as a whole.  My heart goes out to those runners and their families. I hope the injured can heal and the running community can recover from such a tragic event. And I hope we can all work hard to erase the fear  by returning the finish line to a place of excitement and good cheer once again. 

 

My next run is for Boston.