Cold, cold Ankara

We were on a compulsory trip to Ankara where we had to attend the visa interview at the embassy. We stayed at my friend's place, who was extremely hospitable, and were only able to see Anitkabir (Ataturk's Mausoleum) due to the cold (and also the fact that there wasn't much to do in the city). It either was the coldest place I've ever been, or I haven't experienced cold weather in a long time, I'm not sure. But I'm sure I didn't like it. D tells me I'm about to experience much colder weather soon, and that worries me. Today it is -7 C in Eastern Oregon. I think the lowest I had was -2 C. It's a disaster.
I liked Ankara in that the people seemed nicer, even cab drivers. It seemed like a place where people won't stare at you and mind their own business, but I can't say for sure since I was only on the streets for a few hours wrapped up in wool things.
It's certainly a no-nonsense city. D took a picture of an Ataturk statue-thingy on a building, and one minute down the road, we were greeted by an undercover security person who took us to the main gate of the building and made us wait until the main security person came down to see with his own eyes while we erased the picture from our camera. Turns out the building was the headquarters of army forces. oops!
It felt good to visit Ataturk's mausoleum again. I like the architecture of that whole place, it's fairly minimal but not bare. They could have gone all out and built something over the top for the magnificent leader, but they didn't, and I'm proud of that.
We also stopped by Kugulu Park, 'the park with swans', and it was a joy to see swans after what seemed like so many years, and we took many swan pictures.
All in all, except the cold and bureaucratic obstacles, it was a good trip. Thank you Mine!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today's Thanksgiving. We are a little nostalgic in the household because D is obviously, American, and he misses spending Thanksgiving with his bigger family, and to me it brings back so many fond memories of dinners with my American friends, where there have been times I ate to the point of getting myself sick (and it only happens with Thanksgiving food - I am a modest eater). I love cranberry sauce and stuffing, and the combination of all that Thanksgiving food, the warmth, the pumpkin pie with a little bit of ice-cream on the side, and the part in the beginning where you give your Thanks to whatever you are thankful for. This year I'm thankful for the abundance of love in my life, having a warm, safe, comfortable and happy place to stay, my family's well-being, the love and acceptance of my new family; and I'm thankful for my ability to float on, coast up and be happy. I hope for more things to be thankful for, without losing sight of the basics.
There are lovely videos on Martha Stewart's website if you're interested in the holiday-crafting with glitters and things.
Today's Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a good one. Happy Thanksgiving from Turkey!
(image via Martha Stewart)

Why Turks Don't Walk on the Sidewalk

My friend Suzanne brought the issue to my attention years ago when we were out on my street and Suz suddenly headed towards the narrow sidewalk. I suddenly realized I never even really stepped on that sidewalk except when a fast car was driving by. Then after seeing my husband insist so many times that I walk on the not-exactly-existent sidewalk -and myself getting irritated many times- made me wonder why Turks don’t like sidewalks. Except when there is a serious road and serious cars whizzing by, on the little backstreets and alleys all around Turkey, we refuse to walk on the sidewalk. We walk on the part of the road that’s (supposedly) designated for cars. Cab drivers will have to honk at people sometimes, as these ordinary pedestrians are in the way with grocery bags in their hands, occupying the guy’s speed track (now that’s another issue).

And I realized that we don’t like to walk on the sidewalk because the sidewalk either

a- is non-existent
b- gets interrupted all the time, with constructions, small sandhills, piled coal in front of an apartment building as preparation for winter, parked cars, trucks unloading goods to grocery stores, friends who bump into each other, street vendors and whatnot.
c- i think cars parking on the road deserve another mention.
d- is too high and begins and ends too frequently where streets cross, so you have to go up and down too much.

Believe me i could find more of these reasons. But I think it gives an idea of why Turks have developed a negative response to sidewalks, or even why Turks never got used to sidewalks anyway. So don’t give me the why-do-you-walk-on-the-road look, foreigner friend, because now you know that we don’t have it as good as you do . . .

observations

So far, "working from home" is going very well. As long as I've got something going on, it beats every other job I've ever worked at. I cook, I keep my home clean & neat, I do my translations, I organize (my life, my computer, the closets, our move), I go out for walks (ehm, on the water) at unexpected hours of the day, it's just been wonderful, knock on wood. And I realize just how much more I can do with my time. I still try to wake up early, but haven't been quite successful at meeting my targets, target being 8; my entry into the breakfast scene being 9.30. ish. In the end, I like owning the day-to-day in my life. I went to Nisantasi today and ran into so many people. Am I really popular or is Nisantasi popular? I ran into Eylem, then this girl I met a few weeks ago at a brunch at J&S, Mark (that's no surprise though, House Cafe is his cafe-office), and last but not least, Teri and her sister and friend. It was a great afternoon, with familiar places & people, chatting and coffee.

On the way back home, I saw a woman and her daughter who was not a day old from 9 in twin chadoors (kara carsaf as we say) sitting in a bus stop. Just sitting side by side like two crows, only their eyes and noses showing. This is not the outskirts of town or forgotten neighborhoods on the Asian side. This is Emirgan. I wish I had a picture to prove. I know I don't need proof, they are so common now that most of you don't need proof to believe me, but I just had to document that (mental note: take your camera with you everywhere, not just to daytrips with your husband). I have so much to say about this but I will censor myself until I'm out of here.
So I'm back home, about to start putting together some dinner for my husband and then getting ready for tonight's girls' night out. I hadn't done this in a while so I'm happy, we're going to have a great time. Will take camera.

sufi

bugunlerde mazhar-fuat-ozkan'a kesin donus yaptigim icin sufi'yi ne zaman dinlesem icime bir heyecan doldugunu farkettim. melodiden midir, ritmden mi, temadan mi bilemedigim icin biraz arastirdim. sufi hangi yilda cikmisti, o zamanlar hangi evde oturuyorduk, kac yasindaydik, nasil bir insandim, bunlari dusundum. sonra isin icyuzu anlasildi. sufi sarkisiyla 1989 yilinda eurovision yarismasina katilmisiz. o yillarin eurovision heyecanini, mazhar-fuat-ozkan'in her zamanki naif sevimliligiyle birlesince, bende derin bir heyecan birakmis.
sonra neydi o karsidaki kulubun adi? bu tarafta da subesi olan? cubuklu hayal kahvesi. orada konserlerine gitmistik, ne cok eglenmistim.