Last night Tim came home and greeted me with a huge bouquet of flowers, including pink gerber daisies, some of my personal favorites. It was a really wonderful surprise! Also, an added bonus- there was a little evil eye charm pinned to the outside of the bouquet, so we're protected. I can't tell you how relieved I am;)
We decided to go out to eat last night at a restaurant down in the valley below our apartment. To get to the restaurant, though, you have to walk down a very steep path that can be quite slippery. It's actually like hiking, the paths are so steep. I was of course prepared for this by wearing pointy black boots with a high, small heel that gets stuck in between the stones on the path. So, Tim magically turned into my personal pack mule and carried me on his back down the whole path. I felt like those people who ride the mules down into the Grand Canyon. I don't know if he appreciated me saying, "Hondele, Pepe! Arriba, arriba!"
The restauarant we went to is very Turkish. Traditional rugs hang on all the walls and Turkish lanterns hang from the ceiling. Instead of chairs, there are cushions to sit on. They look like they've been removed from someone's couch. They sit behind very small, low tables. When you walk in, it is very hazy from all the smoke, both ciagarettes and the houka. You take your shoes off and can put slippers on, if you'd like. Note to self: next time, do not wear fuzzy red socks-it's a little embarassing:) As you sit there, you listen to the lulling Turkish music and the slow, methodical puffing of the houka. You're almost sure the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland is right around the corner and his smoke smile will drift by you any minute.
We started dinner off with hot tea and then went on to manta, which is a kind of Turkish ravioli. It has a sauce of yogurt and a little red sauce. We also had something I don't know the name for. They bring out a sizzling pan (over a kind of burner) with meat and peppers and onions. It continues to cook as it sits on your table and you eat it with nice, crusty bread. When it starts to cook too much, you just snuff out the flame with your salt shaker. It was very good!
After dinner, we walked back up the steep path, which is of course much worse uphill. I did not ask for Pepe's assistance and so my lungs were burning by the time we got to the top. Hopefully, though, I worked off all that Turkish food!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Stories from a Music Teacher
Yesterday, Tim and I were walking back to our car at the mall when we heard a quite familiar song...Country Roads by Mr. John Denver. This further confirmed my theory that every country in the world has done some remix of this song. They love it! I heard it in Austria all the time and now I'm hearing it here. I don't know what the Africans would do to the song, but I know the Europeans (we're close enough) love to do a techno remix of the song. I'm not really sure John Denver would approve of the words "Are you ready to party???" in the middle of his song. They really love to crank it up after that. I don't know what it is about that song that everyone connects with, especially because I'm sure they have no idea where West Virginia really is, but nothing starts a dance party off better:)
The day we went to the doctor's, we stopped by a Turkish-type of Barnes and Noble. While we waited for the blood test results, we wandered through aisles of cds. My favorite cd was "The Best Music to Belly Dance to Ever!" Fingers crossed for Valentine's Day:) Just kidding. While they had a lot of traditional Turkish music and Turkish pop music, they did have a whole section of what they called "Foreigner Music." This would be current music you'd find in any music store in the States. I was also surprised to see they had a special section devoted to "High School Musical 3." It's everywhere!
The night we got back to Turkey from Munich we arrived in our apartment to a Turkish jam session in the apartment above us. We're talking old Turkish folk songs, drums, tambourines, and the sos. The sos is kid of similar to a guitar, but has a rounded bottom and less strings (I think). The concert went on into the night, with someone's mournful voice alternating between singing and crying. Instead of taking a broom and pounding on the ceiling, we just enjoyed our Turkish culture lesson.
The day we went to the doctor's, we stopped by a Turkish-type of Barnes and Noble. While we waited for the blood test results, we wandered through aisles of cds. My favorite cd was "The Best Music to Belly Dance to Ever!" Fingers crossed for Valentine's Day:) Just kidding. While they had a lot of traditional Turkish music and Turkish pop music, they did have a whole section of what they called "Foreigner Music." This would be current music you'd find in any music store in the States. I was also surprised to see they had a special section devoted to "High School Musical 3." It's everywhere!
The night we got back to Turkey from Munich we arrived in our apartment to a Turkish jam session in the apartment above us. We're talking old Turkish folk songs, drums, tambourines, and the sos. The sos is kid of similar to a guitar, but has a rounded bottom and less strings (I think). The concert went on into the night, with someone's mournful voice alternating between singing and crying. Instead of taking a broom and pounding on the ceiling, we just enjoyed our Turkish culture lesson.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
You Might Be Surprised
-Many Turks here think you can get sick from drinking a cold drink
-Turks often carry or wear a good luck charm, kind-of-a-thing, that is called the evil eye. The thought is that when good things are happening to you or people are praising you, others become jealous, resulting in evil eyes pointing at you. Carrying an evil eye charm is supposed to protect you from the millions of evil eyes shooting at you when you are succeeding. The evil eyes shooting at you don't just come from enemies, they can also come from friends. Interesting.
-Many Americans, living in Ankara, feel that it is safer to live here than in the States
-The malls here are amazing and there's a ton of them. They usually have 5-6 levels, amazing food courts, and pretty fancy stores. They, for the most part, are pretty high end, more so than even the States. Many of them also have movie theatres inside.
-Most people do not stop when the call to prayer comes on. They just go about their business.
-We have guards outside our apartment building.
-We live one building down from the mayor of Ankara.
-There is a button, outside our building that you can push for a taxi. Taxis are very convenient and cheap. Sometimes I can speak German with the taxi drivers, if we are having trouble communicating. It is usually better than their English and my Turkish.
-98% of the base the school is on is owned by the Turks. It is a huge area and used to be solely owned by the Americans. Now, we only have the school, a chapel, a small community center, the BX, the commisary, and soccer fields. There is no housing for Americans on the base and not many military offices. The Turks have tons of housing, offices, a shooting range, training course, just to name a few. We aren't allowed on the Turkish side of the base, though.
Stay tuned for the 2nd Edition of this post. I'm sure there are many more "surprising" things I will learn about.
-Turks often carry or wear a good luck charm, kind-of-a-thing, that is called the evil eye. The thought is that when good things are happening to you or people are praising you, others become jealous, resulting in evil eyes pointing at you. Carrying an evil eye charm is supposed to protect you from the millions of evil eyes shooting at you when you are succeeding. The evil eyes shooting at you don't just come from enemies, they can also come from friends. Interesting.
-Many Americans, living in Ankara, feel that it is safer to live here than in the States
-The malls here are amazing and there's a ton of them. They usually have 5-6 levels, amazing food courts, and pretty fancy stores. They, for the most part, are pretty high end, more so than even the States. Many of them also have movie theatres inside.
-Most people do not stop when the call to prayer comes on. They just go about their business.
-We have guards outside our apartment building.
-We live one building down from the mayor of Ankara.
-There is a button, outside our building that you can push for a taxi. Taxis are very convenient and cheap. Sometimes I can speak German with the taxi drivers, if we are having trouble communicating. It is usually better than their English and my Turkish.
-98% of the base the school is on is owned by the Turks. It is a huge area and used to be solely owned by the Americans. Now, we only have the school, a chapel, a small community center, the BX, the commisary, and soccer fields. There is no housing for Americans on the base and not many military offices. The Turks have tons of housing, offices, a shooting range, training course, just to name a few. We aren't allowed on the Turkish side of the base, though.
Stay tuned for the 2nd Edition of this post. I'm sure there are many more "surprising" things I will learn about.
Monday, January 26, 2009
A Kebap a Day Doesn't Keep the Doctor Away
Tim and I just got back from the doctor's, which was a several hour ordeal. After a crazy week with the basketball tournament, Tim got really sick. Since there were kids here from all over Turkey (and many of them sick), it's not too surprising. He was sick enough that we needed to head to the doctor's. Thankfully, there is a wonderful Turkish doctor who many of the British and American people use. He speaks very good English and is very cool with his long hair and uber trendy glasses.
Tim had me drive over there, which was a fairly big deal. It was my first time driving in the city and as previously mentioned in my other blog entries, it's quite an experience. At one point, Tim said, "Remember, when you have a green, the other guy has a red, which means the same thing as a green." As I drive, it helps me to remember the American cheer, "Be aggressive. Be, Be aggressive." It is actually safer to be more aggressive than passive. Rather than wait for pedestrians to get out of the way, you just go. You don't wait. You look like you're about to run them over, but somehow they magically get out of the way at the last second. Everything about driving here looks like it's going to be a disaster, but somehow at the last second things work out and there is no disaster. Amazingly, this whole driving without a lot of structure actually seems to work.
It was good for me to drive today. It made me feel more independent and more like myself again. Tim was very astute in knowing that I needed that today. It was also nice to have a change of scenery. Lately we've only seen a basketball court or our apartment.
After the doctor examined Tim, we went upstairs to the lab, so he could have a blood test done. It is interesting to sit in these waiting rooms and look at a variety of people. There are many women with covered heads (and it is funny to watch them text on their cell phones) and then there are very Euro, trendy looking women with tons of make-up, long nails, and big hair. Very symbolic of the diversity in Turkey. Many of the patients were also not Turkish. I saw a lot of Iranian passports today. There are many refugees here, mostly coming from Iraq and Iran.
It was also fascinating to me that, though the waiting rooms were full and there were many people there before us, we were usually ushered back first. I hope it was because the other people's paperwork (because they were refugees) was taking awhile and not because we were Americans.
While we waited for the bloodwork to be done, we headed across the street to the Turkish version of Starbucks, called Gloria Jean's. They are all over Turkey! We both think that the coffee is much better here than Starbucks (not to mention they make a heart design in your cappucino foam:) Besides driving today, I also needed to go to a coffee shop. For some reason, I missed that today. This particular Gloria Jean's was on the top floor of this huge building. You could look out over all of Ankara, which, let's just say, isn't the most picturesque city. It was nice, though, to sit there for a bit and drink coffee and eat a piece of cheesecake:)
After coffee, we headed back to Doctor Ungen's. He still wasn't quite sure if it was bacterial or viral, so he was going to have the lab run one more test. We'll find out later the results and if Tim needs to take an antibiotic. He said, though, several other Americans have come in with this same illness. He prescribed lots of rest for Tim and told him to stay home the next 2 days.
Ahh, I hear the evening prayers coming on the city loud speakers. This means that it's about dinnertime. Time to call NYPD pizza:) I hear it's the best medicine:) For the record, I have been a good wife and cooked a lot too, but tonight the patient wants a margarita pizza really badly. Who am I to stand in the way of his recovery?:)
P.S. from Tim: Kate did a very good job driving. She pushed in front of a bus, drove through heavy traffic, and didn't scare me a bit.
Tim had me drive over there, which was a fairly big deal. It was my first time driving in the city and as previously mentioned in my other blog entries, it's quite an experience. At one point, Tim said, "Remember, when you have a green, the other guy has a red, which means the same thing as a green." As I drive, it helps me to remember the American cheer, "Be aggressive. Be, Be aggressive." It is actually safer to be more aggressive than passive. Rather than wait for pedestrians to get out of the way, you just go. You don't wait. You look like you're about to run them over, but somehow they magically get out of the way at the last second. Everything about driving here looks like it's going to be a disaster, but somehow at the last second things work out and there is no disaster. Amazingly, this whole driving without a lot of structure actually seems to work.
It was good for me to drive today. It made me feel more independent and more like myself again. Tim was very astute in knowing that I needed that today. It was also nice to have a change of scenery. Lately we've only seen a basketball court or our apartment.
After the doctor examined Tim, we went upstairs to the lab, so he could have a blood test done. It is interesting to sit in these waiting rooms and look at a variety of people. There are many women with covered heads (and it is funny to watch them text on their cell phones) and then there are very Euro, trendy looking women with tons of make-up, long nails, and big hair. Very symbolic of the diversity in Turkey. Many of the patients were also not Turkish. I saw a lot of Iranian passports today. There are many refugees here, mostly coming from Iraq and Iran.
It was also fascinating to me that, though the waiting rooms were full and there were many people there before us, we were usually ushered back first. I hope it was because the other people's paperwork (because they were refugees) was taking awhile and not because we were Americans.
While we waited for the bloodwork to be done, we headed across the street to the Turkish version of Starbucks, called Gloria Jean's. They are all over Turkey! We both think that the coffee is much better here than Starbucks (not to mention they make a heart design in your cappucino foam:) Besides driving today, I also needed to go to a coffee shop. For some reason, I missed that today. This particular Gloria Jean's was on the top floor of this huge building. You could look out over all of Ankara, which, let's just say, isn't the most picturesque city. It was nice, though, to sit there for a bit and drink coffee and eat a piece of cheesecake:)
After coffee, we headed back to Doctor Ungen's. He still wasn't quite sure if it was bacterial or viral, so he was going to have the lab run one more test. We'll find out later the results and if Tim needs to take an antibiotic. He said, though, several other Americans have come in with this same illness. He prescribed lots of rest for Tim and told him to stay home the next 2 days.
Ahh, I hear the evening prayers coming on the city loud speakers. This means that it's about dinnertime. Time to call NYPD pizza:) I hear it's the best medicine:) For the record, I have been a good wife and cooked a lot too, but tonight the patient wants a margarita pizza really badly. Who am I to stand in the way of his recovery?:)
P.S. from Tim: Kate did a very good job driving. She pushed in front of a bus, drove through heavy traffic, and didn't scare me a bit.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Observations and Random Thoughts
My back is a bit sore this morning. I think it's from sitting through so many basketball games the last couple days. I told Tim that for Valentine's Day, I wanted one of those seats you can use in the bleachers:) Today is, thankfully, the last day of the tournament. Looks like it's going to come down to the team from the other American base school (Incrilik) and one of the Turkish teams. It should be a very good game.
I told Tim last night that I wish I was an anthropology major. Sitting at so many basketball games in the last couple days, I have had plenty of time observe people and human behavior. The lady behind me said that since my husband is the Athletic Director I should take up knitting (because I sit through so many games), but I'm quite content just to watch others. Not to mention I'm terrible at knitting.
At this tournament, you've got people from all backgrounds, countries, ages, and religions-all united by basketball, of all things. Here are things that were of interest to me:
-the girl who played for her Pakastani school team with a full head covering on-she was good!
-I wondered what the non-Americans think of American cheerleaders. It's probably got to be
somewhat odd to them. On the one hand, you have a girl with a head covering on and on the other, you have girls that have very little covering on. Talk about contrasts.
-No matter what country or religious background anyone is from, everyone acts similarly during sporting games: smiles and fist pumps over made baskets, grimaces over a stolen ball, coaches arguing with the refs, coaches yelling at their players, coaches patting their players on the back, fans backing their team. Turks, Americans, Pakistanis, Koreans...doesn't matter. Everyone acts the same.
-Also, despite backgrounds, high schoolers act the same. Girls walking around, flirting, looking around to see who's looking at them; boys eyes following a cute girl who walks by; kids divided into groups by level of "coolness," some desperately trying to cross over into a higher level group; the kid with glasses being made fun of; love of pizza and burgers and fries; kids with attitudes who talk back to their coach or chaperone.... It is funny to watch all of this from a distance and realize teenagers are the same no matter where they're from.
Well, it is about time to me to head over to the tournament, watch some more basketball and interesting interactions, and be reminded why I teach elementary school:)
I told Tim last night that I wish I was an anthropology major. Sitting at so many basketball games in the last couple days, I have had plenty of time observe people and human behavior. The lady behind me said that since my husband is the Athletic Director I should take up knitting (because I sit through so many games), but I'm quite content just to watch others. Not to mention I'm terrible at knitting.
At this tournament, you've got people from all backgrounds, countries, ages, and religions-all united by basketball, of all things. Here are things that were of interest to me:
-the girl who played for her Pakastani school team with a full head covering on-she was good!
-I wondered what the non-Americans think of American cheerleaders. It's probably got to be
somewhat odd to them. On the one hand, you have a girl with a head covering on and on the other, you have girls that have very little covering on. Talk about contrasts.
-No matter what country or religious background anyone is from, everyone acts similarly during sporting games: smiles and fist pumps over made baskets, grimaces over a stolen ball, coaches arguing with the refs, coaches yelling at their players, coaches patting their players on the back, fans backing their team. Turks, Americans, Pakistanis, Koreans...doesn't matter. Everyone acts the same.
-Also, despite backgrounds, high schoolers act the same. Girls walking around, flirting, looking around to see who's looking at them; boys eyes following a cute girl who walks by; kids divided into groups by level of "coolness," some desperately trying to cross over into a higher level group; the kid with glasses being made fun of; love of pizza and burgers and fries; kids with attitudes who talk back to their coach or chaperone.... It is funny to watch all of this from a distance and realize teenagers are the same no matter where they're from.
Well, it is about time to me to head over to the tournament, watch some more basketball and interesting interactions, and be reminded why I teach elementary school:)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
These are a Few of My Favorite Things
Turkish food is really wonderful (except for those pesky uncooked vegetables washed in unsafe water!). Here are a few of my new favorites! Spelling is probably not correct! Haven't started those Turkish lessons, yet!
-iskander: a dish with a bottom layer of buttered pieces of bread, a middle layer of shaved doner meat, and a top layer of a tomato sauce and then yogurt. So good!
-tavuk pizzola: chicken cooked on a grill, served with really good red pepper couscous
-turkish coffee: ok, the grounds in the bottom are a little odd, but it's some good stuff! nice and
strong!
-kebap: meat and veggies on a skewer and grilled; my favorite is rolled in ground pistchios
-desserts: I love any variation of a pastry drenched in honey, pistachios, and other nuts!!!
-tutku: this is a brand of cookies and they have a candy bar version; both the cookies and the
candy bar have a center of melted chocolate; Tim is a real sucker for these!
-chai: this is tea; when we go into a shop to buy something or are waiting for our order of food, they bring a little clear glass of complimentary tea; most people add a cube of sugar, but no milk; often, it is just regular black tea, but sometimes you will get apple tea, which is very good!
-doner sandwiches: love these!! I grew to love these in Vienna, but they are wonderful here, too. Doner meat (which is on a cylindrical rotating rod) cooks all day and when it's ready, it's sliced very thin and put into a type of flatbread sandwich; they put a yogurt sauce on it with lettuce and tomato and if you're lucky, a really good spicy pepper relish
-kofte: Turkish meatballs
-pide: a type of Turkish pizza that looks kind of like French bread pizza; often it doesn't have
any tomato sauce; it's just the bread, cheese (not mozarella) and toppings
-NYPD pizza: the name of this pizza place cracks me up!; this is truly some of the best pizza ever!!! the bbq chicken pizza is amazing!!!!; the best part is that they deliver; we registered on a fast food site (for all of Turkey) and order on-line- very convenient, probably too convenient
Those are just a few of my favorite things!! I'm sure much more will be added to the list!
-iskander: a dish with a bottom layer of buttered pieces of bread, a middle layer of shaved doner meat, and a top layer of a tomato sauce and then yogurt. So good!
-tavuk pizzola: chicken cooked on a grill, served with really good red pepper couscous
-turkish coffee: ok, the grounds in the bottom are a little odd, but it's some good stuff! nice and
strong!
-kebap: meat and veggies on a skewer and grilled; my favorite is rolled in ground pistchios
-desserts: I love any variation of a pastry drenched in honey, pistachios, and other nuts!!!
-tutku: this is a brand of cookies and they have a candy bar version; both the cookies and the
candy bar have a center of melted chocolate; Tim is a real sucker for these!
-chai: this is tea; when we go into a shop to buy something or are waiting for our order of food, they bring a little clear glass of complimentary tea; most people add a cube of sugar, but no milk; often, it is just regular black tea, but sometimes you will get apple tea, which is very good!
-doner sandwiches: love these!! I grew to love these in Vienna, but they are wonderful here, too. Doner meat (which is on a cylindrical rotating rod) cooks all day and when it's ready, it's sliced very thin and put into a type of flatbread sandwich; they put a yogurt sauce on it with lettuce and tomato and if you're lucky, a really good spicy pepper relish
-kofte: Turkish meatballs
-pide: a type of Turkish pizza that looks kind of like French bread pizza; often it doesn't have
any tomato sauce; it's just the bread, cheese (not mozarella) and toppings
-NYPD pizza: the name of this pizza place cracks me up!; this is truly some of the best pizza ever!!! the bbq chicken pizza is amazing!!!!; the best part is that they deliver; we registered on a fast food site (for all of Turkey) and order on-line- very convenient, probably too convenient
Those are just a few of my favorite things!! I'm sure much more will be added to the list!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Playin' Some B'Ball
The first game of the 2nd Annual Ankara Invitational Basketball Tournament was played last night. There are more games to come to determine which team is the champion of Ankara. Tim has been working hours upon hours to try and coordinate this. It's a big logistical headache, but will provide a wonderful opportunity for the kids to play. He's doing a great job!
I hailed myself a cab last night to get to the game. This is still an experience where I get nervous (remembering all of my ids to get on the base, remembering my Turkish money, remembering how the heck I get where I'm going and what to tell the taxi driver, walking on to the base with the Turkish guards). Everything turned out fine, though, and I arrived in time to see the Pakistani school play the French school. Though they play with American rules, I quickly noticed something that you would never see on an American court- the coaches (both Turkish) kissed each other on both cheeks before the game. They did this several times at the end of the game too. Culturally this is completely normal, but it was funny to me to imagine any American coaches doing this. Maybe Gary Williams should consider doing this before his next Maryland game, just to mix things up a bit:) Go Terps!
I hailed myself a cab last night to get to the game. This is still an experience where I get nervous (remembering all of my ids to get on the base, remembering my Turkish money, remembering how the heck I get where I'm going and what to tell the taxi driver, walking on to the base with the Turkish guards). Everything turned out fine, though, and I arrived in time to see the Pakistani school play the French school. Though they play with American rules, I quickly noticed something that you would never see on an American court- the coaches (both Turkish) kissed each other on both cheeks before the game. They did this several times at the end of the game too. Culturally this is completely normal, but it was funny to me to imagine any American coaches doing this. Maybe Gary Williams should consider doing this before his next Maryland game, just to mix things up a bit:) Go Terps!
A Scenic View
A view of Dikmen Park in the 2 top pictures. In the picture on the top right, you can see our apartment from a distance. It's one of the pink terraced apartments. The bottom picture shows a more up-close view of our apartment. We are on the 2nd level.
Adjusting
There are many things to adjust to in a new country. Here are a few:
-we can't use the tap water for anything-not to drink, brush our teeth, boil pasta in, or wash our vegetables
-driving!!! there are some crazy "rules" like pulling past the line at the stop light and waiting for someone to beep behind you to let you know the light is green; using the horn a lot (but most often in a friendly way-not for road rage purposes); creating "new " lanes of traffic; pulling out into traffic without looking (we don't do that, though); taking a left on red
-the power goes out a good bit
-morning, noon, and night the mosques in the city broadcast a call to prayer through loud speakers; this is done in a singing style (as a musician I would officially say the music is more modal, meaning it doesn't have a pull back to the tonic note, giving it a less Western sound)
-we use things called "contours" for our cell phones; rather than using a phone plan, you buy contours (essentially "minutes") when you need them
-we have a special card that allows us to get gas for our car for a much cheaper rate than without it; without the card, it is 11 or 12 dollars a gallon!
-the currency is the turkish lira; the current exchange rate is about 1.5 lira to the dollar
These are just a few examples of things that are differences from what we are used to, but so far things continue to go smoothly!
-we can't use the tap water for anything-not to drink, brush our teeth, boil pasta in, or wash our vegetables
-driving!!! there are some crazy "rules" like pulling past the line at the stop light and waiting for someone to beep behind you to let you know the light is green; using the horn a lot (but most often in a friendly way-not for road rage purposes); creating "new " lanes of traffic; pulling out into traffic without looking (we don't do that, though); taking a left on red
-the power goes out a good bit
-morning, noon, and night the mosques in the city broadcast a call to prayer through loud speakers; this is done in a singing style (as a musician I would officially say the music is more modal, meaning it doesn't have a pull back to the tonic note, giving it a less Western sound)
-we use things called "contours" for our cell phones; rather than using a phone plan, you buy contours (essentially "minutes") when you need them
-we have a special card that allows us to get gas for our car for a much cheaper rate than without it; without the card, it is 11 or 12 dollars a gallon!
-the currency is the turkish lira; the current exchange rate is about 1.5 lira to the dollar
These are just a few examples of things that are differences from what we are used to, but so far things continue to go smoothly!
Monday, January 19, 2009
How's the Weather?
It is a clear and very cold day here in Ankara. Tim just came in to take a break from building the storage shed because it is freezing! People always say to us, "So it's pretty warm in Turkey year round, right?" Au contraire! Turkey has four seasons, with a climate very similar to the DC area. The only huge difference is that it is incredibly dry here. Absolutely no humidity. This works out great during the summers (especially for my hair), but not so much now. Cracked knuckles, nosebleeds, and always being thirsty. I have never lived in a place so dry.
I have also never lived in a city so smoggy. The air quality, especially during the winter, is not so good. On certain days, you can barely see into the distance. My neighbor said it was a couple months before she even realized that there were mountains surrounding the city! Most of the time you cannot see them. Crazy!
Well, it's time to head back into the elements, brave the cold and finish that daggone shed. This time, though, we are armed with extra layers of long underwear!
I have also never lived in a city so smoggy. The air quality, especially during the winter, is not so good. On certain days, you can barely see into the distance. My neighbor said it was a couple months before she even realized that there were mountains surrounding the city! Most of the time you cannot see them. Crazy!
Well, it's time to head back into the elements, brave the cold and finish that daggone shed. This time, though, we are armed with extra layers of long underwear!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Home Sweet Home
Here we are arriving at our apartment in Turkey after being in Munich. Our great neighbors greeted us with their camera and a bottle of champagne!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
So Far So Good
Our household goods shipment arrived last Friday. The move went smoothly and everything arrived in one piece (except for one Hungarian bowl, but that's ok). Two things to be thankful for: the piano had nary a scratch (and was pretty much in tune) and no Turks were killed in the process of moving my gigantic armoire down the stairs and into our apartment!
After the movers left, we began putting together furniture (the true test of a marriage!) and unpacking boxes. For 3 days straight we were like Tazmanian devils, caught up in a whirl of packing tape, Philips screw drivers, and furniture instructions. We only stopped to go the mall to get Popeye's (you really have to come visit and witness Tim acting out which pieces of chicken he wants-thighs, legs, wings..)and kampir (my new favorite-a huge twice baked potato with loads of toppings, but I opt for no hotdogs on mine).
We worked really well together building all the furniture. The only problem was that Tim wanted to put together a storage shed out back and I wanted to work on the feng shui of the house and lovingly place dishes and decorative pillows in the most perfect places. So, when we woke up to snow on Sunday, I was secretly happy that there would be no storage shed building that day! Now, as I run out of space due to unnecessary furniture, I really wish that shed was built!
Our apartment is wonderful and it is really fun to set it up! It has huge windows that overlook the park in the valley below. We also have wonderful , helpful neighbors with 2 cute little boys. We are very fortunate to live in such a great place during our time in Ankara!
After the movers left, we began putting together furniture (the true test of a marriage!) and unpacking boxes. For 3 days straight we were like Tazmanian devils, caught up in a whirl of packing tape, Philips screw drivers, and furniture instructions. We only stopped to go the mall to get Popeye's (you really have to come visit and witness Tim acting out which pieces of chicken he wants-thighs, legs, wings..)and kampir (my new favorite-a huge twice baked potato with loads of toppings, but I opt for no hotdogs on mine).
We worked really well together building all the furniture. The only problem was that Tim wanted to put together a storage shed out back and I wanted to work on the feng shui of the house and lovingly place dishes and decorative pillows in the most perfect places. So, when we woke up to snow on Sunday, I was secretly happy that there would be no storage shed building that day! Now, as I run out of space due to unnecessary furniture, I really wish that shed was built!
Our apartment is wonderful and it is really fun to set it up! It has huge windows that overlook the park in the valley below. We also have wonderful , helpful neighbors with 2 cute little boys. We are very fortunate to live in such a great place during our time in Ankara!
Munich
Before getting to Turkey, we were able to have a short honeymoon in Munich. Highlights included the beautiful Christmas decorations, the schnitzel and streudel, going to the opera house to see the Strauss opera, Die Fliedermaus, and taking a 4 hour sleighride through an Alpine forest. It was bitterly cold the whole week, but the gluhwein warmed us right up!
We enjoyed meeting a variety of people on our trip. One evening we met some fellow Virginians at our table in a traditional German restaurant. They told us the stories of their 35 years of marriage and travel over dinner. We hope to run into them again! During our sleighride, 3 Germans joined us on the ride home and we enjoyed their company very much. They also provided the picture above. Thank you Jurgen!
We got to celebrate New Year's Eve in Munich and enjoyed watching the fireworks go off around the city and going to the different parties in our hotel. We particularly liked watching a grandmother dressed in a Dr. Seuss-striped shirt get her groove on with what looked more like slow motion karate moves rather than dancing.
Our hotel, the Bayerischer Hof, was built by King Ludwig I in 1841. We were made to feel like guests of the king with mints on our pillow every night, heated towels, comfy slippers and robes, and old world service and hospitality. Maybe if we teach enough piano lessons and coach enough sports seasons, we can go back!!!
The Beginning~Baslangic
Welcome to the Redden's new blog! We thought this would be the easiest way to keep our family and friends up to date on our life in Turkey. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures here in Ankara!
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