Home to California…and Turkish food! April 26, 2009

After 3 wonderful days visiting folks in WA, my mom and I flew down to CA. After waiting for a ridiculously long time at the rental car place (they tried to give us 2 cars that they had lost the keys to), we got our car and I drove to my dad and Terri’s house. We made a pit stop to In ‘N’ Out Burger on the way, and I had my hamburger animal style with no pickles *swoon*.

My mom headed to her friend’s house in Georgetown, and I got to see my other set of parents!!! We stayed up late into the night talking but thought we should get some sleep before our busy day. The next day I got to meet Hershey. He is the rescued horse that my parents took in. He is seven months old now but looks much smaller. He is so adorable and plays with a big fitness ball for fun. He kicks it and runs after it like any other football player . We also had the yummiest lunch at the South Pine Cafe. I had a nut burger *amazing* and split it with my dad who got the chipotle burger*spicy!*. I am excited to take Murat there this summer! We played with the horses, talked, watched a movie on TV, and did a little shopping. It was a lovely day. That evening I met up with my friends Jaron and Monica (who recently got ENGAGAED!!!!) and had a strawberry milkshake and fries with ranch at Denny’s (yummm…. comfort food). It was fun to catch up with each other.

The next day started with taking the horses out to Loomis Basin for a walk/run around. I really miss spending time with horses, and Terri is the best to do it with. She tells fabulous stories about her lifetime of horse adventures. Then it was time to good get ready to meet friends for a Turkish lunch at the Anatolian Table in Rocklin. For year (about six of them) I had whined about the lack of Turkish food in Northern California. I finally moved to Turkey and up pops a Turkish restaurant near to where I lived. And to make it more ironic, the owners are from the Kadikoy area of Istanbul! It is like we switched places in some Freaky Friday sort of way. It was wonderful to see some of my old Borders peeps (Dan, Monica, and Casey!), and the food was wonderful and made me feel right at home. The spices in my Adana kebap were fabulous and I really wanted to order a little of everything. I can not recommend this restaurant enough! Any of you who want to taste a little bit of the glorious food I get to eat on a regular basis should pop on by and say “merhaba’ for me. We stayed and chatted with Ertugrul and his wife Tugce, the owners/chefs, for long after the food was finished. Good company and good food are about the best combination I can think of. After lunch it was time for me to begin wedding festivities with Sarah, but that will be the next blog.

Now I leave you with a few photos (courtesy of Monica, thanks my dear)…

Turkish Carpet

Gözleme Plate

Monica, me, Dan, and Casey

Dan and I

Casey!

My dad and I talking to Ertugrul

Reverse Culture Shock in WA April 20, 2009

I finally went back to the US.  It had been over two years since I had left, and frankly, I was a little nervous.  What if I said things differently or spoke Turkish without thinking? I am happy to report that everything went very well on the outside, and all the weirdness was known only to myself.

“What weirdness” you might be wondering.  Well, every time I went anywhere I had to stop myself from saying kolay gelsin (may your work come easy to you) or hoş bulduk (I am welcomed) when I was greeted. When in restaurants, or walking on the street, it was strange to have the people around me speaking English when I have been surrounded by Turkish for two years. I think it is a hard feeling to fully realize unless you live somewhere foreign. It was strange to drive again as well, but pretty much like riding a bike. You don’t really forget how to do it .

I started my trip in WA. I arrived and headed for Taco Bell for some nachos and ROOT BEER! Man I love root beer and it is impossible to find. I sent the next few days visiting with my brother (who is so mature looking now, I can’t really describe it), my grandparents, mom, Bill, and the rest of my WA/OR family. We celebrated my grandpa’s 89th birthday too!

Stay tuned for more….

Siblings

Granny Goose

Mom and John

Grandpa

The Little Prince [9] and The Sublime Portal March 21, 2009

I apologize for being MIA recently but things have gotten so busy/crazy/insane around here! I am going to try to give a brief update of all that I have been up to. Here goes…

I decided to re-read The Little Prince as my first (and only) book of March. I just love the story and really do get more out of it every time I read it. This time I really loved the explanation of being “tamed”, and that when you “tame” something you are responsible for it. This was an aspect of the story that was totally lost on me as a child, but made far more sense now. I also got a kick out of the Turkish astronomer. No one took him seriously because of his funny hat (a fez). I have had very little time to read, but have been slowly working on a new David Baldacci. Maybe next week I will get to read more.

I joined a knitting group that meets twice a month here in Istanbul. We had seven ladies for our first meeting. They were all really neat and different from each other. Tomorrow is our second meeting and it looks to be growing already. I will post some pics from it (if I do not forget my camera again) and of my current knitting projects.

A few weeks back I found out about a forum for expats and repats living in Turkey called the Sublime Portal. It has been such a gem of a find. You can post a topic about where to find this or that, or really about anything, and you will get responses. I joined a walking group and our first trip was to the Prince’s Islands. I have been before, but the people in the group were fun and we did the long loop which I have never done before. After we had fresh fish and raki before heading back.

Also through The Sublime Portal (or TSP as us TSPers refer to it), I found out about the first Bollywood Night at the local Indian restaurant called Dubb. Needless to say, Murat and I were the first to RSVP. We dressed up and had a really fun time. They played my Bollywood music, had a dancer, and even some live Indian music. The food was spectacular anyway, but tasted even better since it was my first Indian food in TWO YEARS!

My old flatmate Tamara and her eight month old son Tao (Tay-o) came to stay for 4 days. It was so lovely to see her again and to meet Tao. He is so adorable and such a happy baby. All he did was smile and laugh the whole time. They were on their way to South Africa (where she is from) to visit her father and step-mom so they could meet the new grandson. I wish I could have spent more time with them, but work got in the way .

So that puts us up to date. In a week I will be in the US. I am really excited!!! My best friend is getting married and I will get to see my parents, brother, grandparents, and friends. Yipee!!! It doesn’t get any better than that. I may even have some good news of the professional kind, but that is all I will say right now. Here are some photos to enjoy….

The Little Prince

Beware of the baobabs

The Turkish Astronomer

Chickens in the cemetery

Buyukada

I want to live here…

Bollywood musicians

Bollywood dancer

Me doing my Bollywood thing

Hayatım, kalbım, aşkım…

Tamara and Tao

Tao!

Oh Happy Day! February 16, 2009

I am finally healthy again!  My prayers have been answered! No more cough, headaches, flu, cold, sinusitis, aches, or pains. They are all gone! So now what? I want more than anything to stay healthy. I dress appropriately for cold weather (including long-johns, cap, and scarf), keep my feet warm at home (since according to the Turks this is the cause of everything from a stomach ache to infertility), get enough sleep, eat healthy (lots of veggies and fruit), and have good hygiene. I do not exercise, but I am not overweight by any definition (5’4″ and 125 lbs). Other than the fact that “S” happens, I really should not get sick. If anyone out there in ‘cyber-land’  has any tips I would love to hear them. Please, do comment ….

In other news (better late than never), I had a wonderful time with my mom when she visited. I was still ill, and she was coming down with the same, but we had fun relaxing and doing little things around the city. We visited the Koç Museum of Transportation, bought head scarves in Eyüp, walked down Istiklal Caddesi, visited our favorite little painter in Ortaköy, and shopped for yarn at the Kurkcu Han. The rest of the time was spent in my neighborhood eating fabulous food, reading, and relaxing. Here are few pics from the trip (with my new camera!)…

Yeni Camii/New Mosque

The square in front of the mosque

Sun shining through…

Ortaköy Mosque

Me and my mom :)

The Voices of Marrakesh [7] February 2, 2009

“I came into contact with camels on three occasions, and each occasion ended tragically.” When this is the opening line of a very short travel narrative, how can you not be intrigued? The Voices of Marrakesh was written by Elias Canetti, the 1981 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. I am thinking I would like to read one of his novels now since I really enjoyed his writing style. His words seemed expertly chosen and his writing was so honest. The book was only 103 pages but he packed many stories and fascinating characters into it. There were the camels, the beggar children, and the “holy man” who sucked on the coins given to him to tell the denomination. I especially enjoyed his description the the souks. He may as well have been writing about the bazaars in Istanbul. I felt so at home there.  His words just rang true. It was a very quick, pleasant, and interesting read (2386 pages to date). Some times it is the smaller reads like this, and Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place about Antigua, that give you the best picture of a time and place.

America Daze and Kurban Bayramı December 12, 2008

I am a little behind on my blogging (sorry…) but things have been a little hectic. This week was a holiday (I’ll get to that in a sec), but last week we celebrated America in school. We watched a slide show, decorated American flags, ate American food,  listened to oldies and country music, and dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls to ride horses. I think the highlight of the week was when I asked my class if they knew who the President of America was and they emphatically answered…ATATÜRK! Granted, the kids only learned who Atatürk was (the great founder of the Turkish Republic) a few weeks ago when we learned about Turkey. Since then they have decided that if we say anyone, or anything for that matter, is important he/it must be Atatürk. I think some Americans might be disappointed in the lack of excitement (not to mention confusion) I got when I explained that the new President was not Atatürk but Obama .

On Friday after school we began our holiday, Kurban Bayramı. Translated this means the Sacrifice holiday, which is not as appealing as the Sugar holiday, but just as important to Muslims. This is when they celebrate when God provided a sacrifice in place of Abraham sacrificing his own son.

On Monday evening Murat and I took a night bus down to Mersin, a city on the southern coast of Turkey. His father’s youngest sister (he has seven!:) was having her engagement party.  From the moment we arrived it was a whirlwind adventure. Murat’s father wanted to buy me a new outfit for the party and would not take no for an answer. It was incredibly sweet and generous, I was so humbled. Then I was taken to meet his grandmother, cousins, and the first aunt before getting my hair done. At the hair salon I met another aunt, Rezene, who was so cute and excited to meet me. Since I do not remember when I was very young, I can honestly say I have never been doted on, had my cheeks kissed and pinched, and been told how sweet and cute I am by so many people than in the two days I spent in Mersin. It was incredible! I finally met Figen, the bride-to-be, and we all got ready to leave. The party was held at patisserie and had live music and of course cake! There was wonderful singing, and we were serenaded at one point by an adorably off key five year old who sang a song I was not familiar with followed by a rendition of Kenan Doğulu’s Çakkıdı (a personal fav). There was also much dancing and I tried my best to dance with all the folks who seemed to have it in their genetics. It was a fun but late night, and we slept as soon as we got home.

The next day we had a family breakfast and then walked down by the sea with Murat’s cousins from Istanbul. It was beautiful and the air smelled so clean and healthy. We ended up at a lovely restaurant and stuffed our faces with Adana kebab, hummus, and salad. Then we walked all the way home so we could digest the food. When we arrived home the groom-to-be, Apo, and his family were there. We sat around in the family room and they sang songs with a borrowed guitar and we had a great time. I became fast friends with the little cousins, Figen-6 and Batin-3.  They were adorable and loved showing me the English they knew by blurting out the colors of everything they touched . We played together and it was nice to actually use my Turkish with kids. When Murat and I finally had to go I had to promise the little cousins I would be back or else they would not let me leave.  I have now met a very good portion of Murat’s family and I have found them to all be wonderful, gracious hosts, generous, fun, extremely friendly, and caring people. Murat and I had a long and uncomfortable ride back to Istanbul (a critique of bus companies in Turkey to soon follow…), but arrived safe and sound.

Me, Emirhan, Ela, & Arda

Me, Arda, Ada, & Ilke

Mersin and the Mediterranean

The fake ruins by the sea

Entrance to the culture park

Dolmabahce and Mark of the Lion November 7, 2008

On Wednesday, the Kindergarten at my school took a trip to Dolmabahçe Palace. “Dolmabahçe Palace was the first European-style palace in Istanbul and was built by Sultan Abdulmecid between 1842 and 1853, at a cost of five million Ottoman gold pounds, the equivalent of 35 tons of gold” (taken from Wiki . I had been one time previously but did not pay the extra fee for using a camera. Since I was with a school this time, I got to take pictures for free of course. The trip was very nice and much more relaxed than trips we took last year. Maybe it had to do with smaller classes, but I think our kids are just better behaved this year as a whole. We did not do a whole tour and mainly just saw where Ataturk had lived and died. Dolmabahçe is also know for its chandeliers and has the worlds largest crystal chandelier! The trip was short and sweet and I have included pics below.

In other news, I am so happy it is the weekend! It has been a very long and tiring week. I wish we had been paid today, but was told we will on Monday. I have been reading voraciously (4 books in 2 weeks). I said I would say more about the series I started by Francine Rivers and I shall. Terri and Dad gave me the books for Christmas before I moved and I brought them with me. I had started reading them before but they have a very violent beginning. After finishing Rumo though, I figured I could stomach anything now . The first book in her trilogy is A Voice in the Wind. I really do not want to give anything away about the storyline, but I will say this: I was completely engrossed and fell in love with the characters. I have not read something this good in years if ever. It challenged me, uplifted me, and taught me many things. The story takes place in ancient Rome and Ephesus. By the end I was crying and had to run to grab the second book, An Echo in the Darkness, of my bookcase. It was such a fulfilling and wonderful end to the story of characters I have grown to love. I also have decided that if I have a girl child, I will name her after the heroine, Hadassah. I think it is a beautiful name. I am starting the third book, As Sure as the Dawn, tonight. It is an offshoot of one of the characters from the first two. I am so excited to see what happens to him. Sorry my writing may seem mysterious, but i want you all to be intrigued enough to read the books .

I am not sure what adventures this weekend may have in store but I am sure you will hear about it soon. Hope you are all well and miss you!

Entering the gates…

Doğa Kindergarten

Looking to the Bosphorus

Front of palace

The Dolmabahçe guards and Sultan’s Gate

Magical Monkeys and Ela

another nice chandelier…

Ataturk’s bedroom

The biggest chandelier

Calypso Cats and Kezban

Eyup, Yellow Feathers, and Definitely Maybe November 2, 2008

Today I got a later start than I had hoped for. I planned an adventure to the Eyup area of Istanbul. It is all the way down the Golden Horn and I have been wanting to visit it for a while. I only knew about a giant cemetery and a tea garden named after Pierre Lotti (a French writer). I was invited to breakfast (at noon) with Murat’s brother Mehmet, his brother’s girlfriend Suna, his cousin Kadir, and their married friends Ozlem and Ozgur. We went to this really nice place near the Karakoy pier and ate our fill of cheese, salami, eggs, and honey-butter (bal kaymak). It was delicious, but we spent far too long there. A later start followed by another late start. We finally boarded the ferry that would take us to our destination.

It was another beautiful day today and the ride down the Golden Horn was wonderful. You know you have almost reached Eyup when you catch sight of the giant hill covered with terraced white graves. From far away they look rather ugly in my opinion, but later as we walked through them it was quite breathtaking. As we disembarked from our ferry I quickly learned two things about Eyup. One, there is a very famous mosque named after Sultan Eyup and two, it is the most conservative area in Istanbul. I once thought the title was held by Uskudar, but I was very mistaken. I had never seen so many women in carsafs (head to toe black robes, thanks Meagan and head scarves in one place. Kadikoy is the polar opposite to Eyup. Eyup was very crowded today. I do not know if it had to do with the weekend, good weather, or if it is just normal. There were also lots of brides walking around.

We leisurely headed towards our destination of the sky tram to take up up the hill to Pierre Lotti. When we got there there was a huge line and we decided to walk up. This lead to quite the adventure of trying to find out how to get up to the top. There are many small paths that just dead-end (no pun intended) in a bunch of graves. Mehmet finally found a way to the top and we soon were sitting at a table having some tea. The views were very nice but, after all the hype, Pierre Lotti was nothing special. I would have rather explored more down by the mosque and in the cemetery. We did not stay long because we had to catch our ferry back to Karakoy.

Murat called to say he was finished with work and was buying some Yellow Feathers for dinner. Yellow Feathers , or Sarikanat, are my favorite fish. They are smaller and taste delicious when covered in flour and fried. Yummy! I got home just in time to help with the preparation and then we ate and watched  Definitely, Maybe. I loved this movie. I have been meaning to watch it for months but never got around to it.  It was a love story but they do not make them like this very often anymore. Now it seems like  they are all How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days or Knocked Up . This was a rare and heartfelt love story. See it if that is your cup of tea or you want to smile and feel warm and fuzzy inside. It was a wonderful day that ended with my curling up in bed with my latest book, A Voice in the Wind. So far it is awesome, but that is a blog for another day.

The women wearing çarşaf and scarves

Looking down the Golden Horn

One of the many wedded couples

Turkish moon (the crescent)

Eyüp at night

Operation Fly Me to the ….USA. November 1, 2008

When I opened my email an hour ago I was greeted by a wonderful site. My mom has booked her ticket to come and visit me in January! It will be during my holiday at school so now I have to make some fun plans for things to do. I really wish more of you were able to visit me as well. Even just for a week. All you have to buy is the ticket and the rest is on me. It will be the best trip of your life (I guarantee it!). Anywho, it reminded me that I should check on ticket prices for my own ticket home in March. Lat time I checked it was about $1300 for my multiple city flight (into Portland, out of SF). As I got onto Kayak I was so excited when it brought up $868 for the same flights! Unfortunately, that was for a 30+ hour travel time to the US and a 40+ hour return trip. I don’t think so! So I paid the extra hundred to halve those times and will be arriving in Portland on the 27th of March. I will stay there for 4 days, and the night of the 31st or morning of April 1st I will fly to Sacramento. I will be in Sac for 4 days before flying home. I will stay with my dad and Terri in auburn while I am there. I would like to see as many friends as possible, but the main reason for this trip is for my best friend Sarah’s wedding on April 4th. If I am not able to see everyone please to not be upset. I am 90% certain that another trip will happen in July for a much longer time.  Those that I miss will only have to wait a few more months for a proper visit. Sorry it is so rushed but work is already unhappy about my leaving at this time for a week. I am very happy to have found a good deal and purchased it on the spot. I look forward to seeing how everything has changed while I have been away. I am worried about culture shock a little . What will I do when I am able to speak English to EVERYONE I come into contact with? I wonder if you all will think I have changed a lot. Sooooo, let the countdown to Operation Fly Me to the….USA commence: 147 days to go!