I was just sitting here looking at some post on Facebook and saw another person went on to be with the Lord that went to school there. I did not know him, but I think he may have been there after I left Izmir. Everyone that lived in Izmir during that short time became friends with someone, or several someone's. I know I had several friends while I was there. I lived there from 1972 until 1974. I was in the 7th and 8th grade while I was there. Those were some of the best times of my life. It was so different living there. We lived in an apartment not far from most things. The apartment I lived in was about 2 blocks from the school.
Our school was all together with the high school. We had the 7th to the 12th grade going there. I remember I felt just like I was in high school (basically I was during that time) and I changed classes just like the older students did. We participated with the high school students whenever they had something going on. We went to dances, games, PEP rallies, and more. I use to walk to school everyday. At lunchtime I would either go home for lunch, get a sucuk from the little stand on the corner, or sometimes go to the cafeteria at the bowling ally.
In the Summer when we didn't have school we would go to Bayrakli Park and swim, and play in the park and have picnics. I remember my younger brother being on a football team and going to the park to watch him play. Both my sisters were cheerleaders for his team. My youngest sister was the mascot. I believe the name of the team was the Mustangs, if I'm not mistaken. Those days were so much fun.
I remember when I was in the 8th grade we had an earthquake. I want to say it was a 2.something, but it was scary. I remember Dad and Mom jumping out of bed and coming to check on us kids. Dad went downstairs to see how bad things were. It didn't seem to bad at that time, so we all went back to bed. The next morning we got up as usual and got ready for school. I walked to the school like normal and there was a lot of people standing in front of the building. They were telling the students to go back home until they could figure out something. Our building had got really messed up from the earthquake. After they figured out what to do, we ended up splitting classes and some going in the mornings and the rest in the afternoons. I think we ended up doing that until the end of the school year, but I am not to clear about that.
These are a few of my memories from Izmir. I have so many more, but that would be for another time. Those were some of the best times of my life!
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