Bake me a cake as fast as you can! October 31, 2008

I have been really enjoying the beautiful weather here in Istanbul. Starting on Republic Day it has been sunny but cool.  It is supposed to last through the weekend which is great. Republic Day was a wonderful day for me. I left in the afternoon to go to Istiklal (the big shopping street). I was meeting my friend Sharon and, a little later, Murat. I decided to take the bus instead of ferry because I thought it would be faster. I do not know if it was, but everything I saw on that ride was beautiful. I think it was one of those rare times when the light hit everything just so and you caught everything at the perfect time. To give you and idea…I happened to see a very beautiful apartment building I had never noticed. In the field next to it was a street dog, but it was sitting so regally and watched as a butterfly flew by. The sheep being fattened up for Kurban had a nice neon pink and green hair style going on. On the stairs under the overpass was a homeless man who was leaning back and covered head to toe in what looked like soot. It was breathtaking in an artistic sense, but sad to think of that mans life. We drove past the cemetery next and it was in full bloom and full of trees of every shape and size. As we crossed the bridge from Asia to Europe, a giant carrier ship was passing underneath. The every building in the following commercial area was draped in the biggest Turkish flags you have ever seen. These are just the things I can remember. I arrived in Taksim feeling like I was on cloud nine.

I met Sharon for a Chai Latte at Ara, and then she accompanied me on my mission. I had discovered a Turkish company that sells therapeutic quality (the only kind to use essential oils. They do not sell to individuals but did give a list of suppliers in Istanbul. Yippee!!! I was beginning to give up hope, and ordering from the US is too much money and hassle. The store is called Ambar and it had EVERYTHING! Well, there were out of a few things, but they will get them in next week. They even carry rare and hard to find oils. I was able to pick up a few I was missing, and then met up with Murat for lunch. We decided to catch a flick, and the only non-Turkish movie, other than Saw 5 (isn’t it enough already!), was Max Payne. It was so-so. I was hoping it would be more like Constantine, but was disappointed by the less interesting story and very cheesy acting. We decided to make it an early night because Murat was feeling a little ill and we had to work the next day.

Thursday was uneventful, but today I made two cakes . Chocolate Biscuit Cakes to be exact. We cook something with the kids at school every week. It was super easy and lots of fun. Let me know if you want the recipe. I would maybe use a little less sugar but it was delicious! Here are some pics of me and the kids (you can click on them to see them larger I believe):

Arda D.

Melting butter

Adding the egg

Crushing the biscuits

Sude

Zeynep

Republic Day October 29, 2008

History lesson of the day: today in 1923 the Ottoman empire was officially dissolved and the Republic of Turkey was born. YAY! This means I have the day off of school today. HOORAY! I will be meeting up with Murat on the European side to look for essential oils and watch a movie (his turn to pick).  Having a day off is especially a luxury for Murat because he works 7 days a week! He is such a great teacher that all the students in his course want to have extra lessons with him. The other teachers in his course do not explain things as well in the group lessons, so all the students need Murat to be the real teacher. Hopefully this will not go on forever and Murat can have a normal 6 day work week (it is normal in Turkey). Until then we will cherish our holidays off together.

I am feeling so much better finally. My cough is gone and I am waiting for my stuffed up nose to follow in suit. I am more than a little annoyed though that it looks like I do not get to cast my vote in this election. I mailed my absentee ballot request form before the cut off, but I have not received anything yet. I was afraid this might happen. I really wish they had a system where you could request a ballot on-line and get immediate conformation of it being sent. I do not need to vote on-line, but I would like to know if I will be getting  the chance to vote. Who knows if my letter even left Turkey! In the absence of a ballot I will be praying that the supporters of my candidate will go out and vote in full force I can’t believe it is only days away!!!

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring… October 26, 2008

It has been raining all day long today. Needless to say I have stayed inside and enjoyed the warmth of my apartment. I am feeling healthier today than I have felt in a month. I am still coughing and do not have 100% of my strength back yet, but better is better. While it may be cold and dreary outside, I am quite content and happy inside. The only thing to make this a perfect day would be some hot cocoa with marshmallows on top. Alas, I have neither so I make do with my Kış Çay or “Winter Tea”. It is quite delicious though an contain Echinacea, rose hip, hibiscus, ginger root, cinnamon, black pepper corns, and licorice root. Good stuff.

I have just started a new book called The Last Testament by Sam Bourne. I enjoyed his first novel (The Righteous Men), and this one has started out pretty good as well. It is a murder, international mystery, suspense, etc… bringing in the Israel and Palestine conflict. I needed something a little lighter (literally) than the one I just finished, Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers is a 700 page brick of a book. I was super excited to have found that one here in Turkey. I loved Moers first book as well, The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. Rumo, from the very beginning, was a far more gruesome and dark tale, but I loved it nonetheless. I would not recommend it to the faint of heart  or to young adults (unlike Captain Bluebear which I highly recommend to everyone!).

By this time you may be asking yourself “why did Charlotte start yet another blog?” The answer is quite simple my dear friends and family, my freedom of speech is being suppressed by the government of the country I currently reside in.  It is not just me though, but everyone living here. I woke up the other morning to find this message when I went to access my blog:

Blogspot has now been added to the list of websites (along with YouTube) that I can not access without a cloaking website . This is quite easy for Turkey to do since there is only one internet provider for the whole country. The reason remains a mystery but usually have to do with one of three things: bad-mouthing Ataturk, Armenian genocide, or PKK (Kurdish terrorists). I love Turkey, and living here is on a whole wonderful, but sometimes I wish they would worry about bigger issues like the overcrowding of schools and the poverty in the east instead of shutting off access to blogspot. Let’s hope I may have better luck with this new site.

In other news, Murat is great and work is going well. I had to miss a couple days last week due to being ill but I am looking forward to being back. I miss my kids. I am afraid I gave them quite a scare last week. Kezban, my afternoon partner, was ill and did not come to school on Wednesday. I was alone all day with the kids. They were great but having to speak all day did a real number on my throat and cough.  By the end of the day I was pretty bad. I started coughing so hard it was difficult to breathe and it made my eyes water. That evening a parent called my principal to ask why Kezban had quit. My principal informed them that Kezban was just ill and had not quit. The parent then said that her daughter told her Miss Charlotte was crying, so she assumed Kezban was gone . My poor traumatized kids!  I will make it up to them this week by being extra happy . Not much else new and exciting here. I hope all is well and will be using this website from now on. You can check out my old blogs at: turkishliving.blogspot.com , charbar137.blogspot.com , and blog.myspace.com/charbar137.