Some Surprises

Well, Tim got back safely from the wrestling tournament in Germany. While I did not enjoy having him away for 3 days, I did enjoy the presents he brought back- a chocolate bar flavored with chili pepper, the 1st season of 30 Rock, and a turbo hair dryer. What more could a girl ask for?! Since being in Turkey, I've been using the teeny,tiny travel hairdryer Tim has. I've mostly gone curly because that hair dryer just doesn't do the job on my hair. One of the other wrestling coaches saw Tim buying the hair dryer and said, "Are you buying a Valentine's present for your wife?" Tim said, "No. This is not a present, but a necessity. You met my wife. Have you seen how much hair she has? She's been using a tiny hair dryer for the last month. She needs this really badly."

While, Tim was away there were some interesting things going on here. I went to the community theatre auditions on Saturday. After the auditions were over, I decided to walk home. This meant walking up Cinnah Cadessi (Cinnah Street). I knew this street was extremely long and steep, but I really had no idea how true that was. I have never walked up a street so long or so steep in my life. When I started out, I was walking at a quick pace and way out-walking the Turks. I felt pretty good about my level of fitness, until about mid-way up the street. I figured out why they were walking slower. They were pacing themselves because they knew what was coming. With every step, I wanted to hail a cab, but I knew I wouldn't have as good of a story for Tim or for the blog. And so, I pressed on. When I got to the top of the street (aka mountain), I could look out over the whole city and surrounding areas! My chest was also burning when I got to the top. The pollution is terrible. Unfortunately, my journey wasn't over at the top because I still had another mile or two to walk home. All in all, it probably took me over an hour to walk home.

On Sunday, I drove to church (which is on the base) for the first time all by myself. It's a good time to drive because there aren't many people out at that time. Everything went smoothly and I felt good having that independence. After church, I went to get ingredients at the commisary. I was planning a special welcome home dinner for Tim consisting of White Chicken Chili and Extreme Cornbread (a family favorite). I started preparing it in late afternoon, cutting 2 onions while crying buckets, measuring spices, etc. Then it was time to put in the chicken. I got my chicken breasts out and began to start cubing them. I grabbed the first breast . Hmm.. what was that underneath it? Looked kind of like a fingernail. I inspected more closely. And then I screamed. I didn't know whether to cry or throw up, but I knew for sure this sealed the deal. I was going to become a vegetarian because what I was looking at was a small chicken claw. Oh yes, you read it right. I didn't make this up and yes, I'm sure it was a claw. I was paralyzed and in shock. I couldn't touch that chicken so I used every utensil I could find to maneuver that chicken off the baking sheet and into the trash.
This came after the feather incident. We bought some Turkish eggs because the commisary was closed. Tim said, "Oh, I've heard that you need to make sure you rinse those well. They don't wash them in the factory." I found a feather or two stuck to an egg. That about sent me over the edge. Let me also remind everyone that I have an extreme fear of birds,especially chickens, so these incidents were particularly disturbing for me.
When Tim came home, I said "I have some bad news. We'll be having vegetarian chili. There was an incidident. A very traumatic incident." When I told him the story, he was doubled over and laughing so hard he was crying.

So, not only did I end up with a chocolate bar, a 30 Rock DVD, and a hair dryer, but also a husband's promise that from now on, he would prepare the chicken:) Whether or not I eat it, remains to be seen.