Kind of bored

The last two days have been HOT.  These are the kind of days where everyone hunkers down in the shade until evening when it finally cools off a bit.  That means there isn't a whole lot to do and Nehir and I are getting a little bored.  Nehir is continuing to have various friend dramas, I guess it is just his age, I notice all the other kids in his age group have similar issues and dramas going on. Taylan is doing fine as usual.  He has taken to pointing to lights and making a very funny, sincere looking face and shouting gibberish.  His language skills haven't taken off yet, he loves to to talk, its just that no one understands him.  He had me and Nehir in stitches last night as he pointed to the light and made amazed noises.

Selcuk is doing well.  He has six articles under review, one of which I am the first author and he is the second, and one in which I am the second and he is the first.  My first solo article came out in June.  Selcuk's parents went to Izmit for a wedding for three days so it is just the Rogers-Sirin clan here right now.  We are going to go to Selcuk (the ancient ruins) today, and then a little village called Sirince (sheerinjay), so we are coving all tourist places related to Selcuk's name I guess.   I told Nehir we were seeing an ancient castle which is basically true so he is actually excited to go.  I hope his enthusiasm holds, I predict whiny, bored, hot child after 15 minutes of walking.  Sigh.

We left our camera battery recharger in Istanbul, so I can't take pictures.  It is very frustrating for me. 

Hey Laura, thanks for the comments.  Could you send me an email so I can get your address into my address book?

Hiking and Swimming

Today Selcuk and I went on the Canyon Hike in the Mili Park with some neighbors.  We went up for 5 Km and down 5.  The view is fabulous.  These photos are from years past because we didn't take our camera today.  We then met BabaAnna, Dede and the kids at the beach.  This time we went to the first beach in the park which has very fine, sort of muddy sand but it stays very shallow for a long way out so it is great for kids and less confident swimmers.  We had a great time and came home exhausted.  My children are both healthy and happy.  Taylan charms the socks off everyone he meets.  Random strangers want to have their picture taken with him. Nehir is deeply immersed in his imagination-world of superheroes.  He likes me to make up stories about Cheetah Man and Eagle Woman (my alter-ego).  He will say "Tell me episode 18 of Eagle Woman."  He is also planning Cheetah Man movies, books, web-sites and games.  He is going to be a Cheetah Man tycoon.  Actually, he says he wants to have "all the jobs" because his interests are so varied, which seems appropriate for five, a bit too early to be settling on a major.

I promise more photos of the kids once we find our camera battery recharger.

Bombing in Istanbul

Bombs went off in Istanbul today and 13 people died, over 70 wounded.  There is no word yet on who is responsible.  This is terribly sad, and a little worrisome.  There is nowhere on earth that you can avoid danger, but the timing of this is so close to our move, it is a bit intimidating.  There is no reason to believe this is anything other than an isolated event at this point.  I will keep posting if news breaks on this.  

Adaland

Nehir, Selcuk and I went to Adaland yesterday.  Adaland (island land) is one of the biggest water parks in the world and is very fun.  We all had a great time, especially Nehir who was THRILLED by it all.  Nehir tried some of the bigger slides this time.  He really enjoyed one where you ride a two-person tube down a long twisty shoot.  He also tried one where you go down in a tube by yourself, but he fell off the tube and had to get himself back on it, then at the bottom his tube flipped over and scared him.  This meant that he wanted to go on the two person tube over, and over, and over, and over again.  To get to the top of the slide you have to walk up a very long staircase and so our legs got a good workout.  Nehir also tried a rainbow slide that you go down sitting and it just goes down with a couple bumps.  The problem is the guard thought the pool at the bottom was shallow enough that he could stand but when he got to the bottom I saw a look of utter panic and horror cross his face and he was crying and dog paddling to try to grab onto the bottom of the slide.  I jumped in and got him out. Selcuk said it all took a couple of seconds but it felt like slow motion.  I kept thinking "why did it take me so long to swim across that tiny pool?" but when I finally asked Selcuk about it I realized it was one of those time illusions caused by emotion. 

Anyway, he was fine, he can swim, he just doesn't trust himself so he got scared.  At first he wanted to go home, but then we went back to the smaller slides and he went back to saying he wants to live at Adaland.  It was a fun day and it was great to see Nehir so very, very happy.

Gum Disaster!

After postponing the dentist earlier this week, it was time to go in today.  I have been having painful sensitivity to cold and acidic foods and BabaAnne was having a bridge repaired.  Our dentists are a husband and wife team who are family friends.  The wife looked in my mouth, squirted air in various places, tapped various teeth, and then gave her diagnosis: "I think between these two teeth you have a gum disaster." To which I responded "A gum disaster?  How do you fix a gum disaster?"  She initially said she was going to clean it and then wait and see if the problem cleared up.  Then her husband came in to consult with her.  He speaks better English than her so I said "She says I have a gum disaster, that sounds bad."  They both laughed lightly and then he said it was not so bad.  However, they proceeded to chat in Turkish and the chat seemed to turn into a disagreement.  Then they excused themselves and argued quietly in the adjacent office.  When she came back she announced that she was going to remove the cap on my back tooth.  She said this with a look on her face that I interpreted as "My dumb-ass husband thinks I should remove this perfectly good cap and it is not worth arguing about so that is what we are going to do."  I could be wrong.  Anyway, she removed the cap, confirmed that the cap was not broken and there was no decay underneath, so she cleaned around the area and put the cap back on.

Meanwhile, an Irish lady was arguing with the husband in the next office.  I heard her say "Well, in Ireland, we tell the truth."  He then patiently and calmly explained why he charges what he does for the work she needed done.  I was pretty stunned that she was acting like she was being swindled when the prices for good dentistry in Turkey are incredibly cheap.  Oh well, she stormed out without getting the work done.  He said that happens a lot because they live in a touristy town and for some reason tourists assume they are being swindled a lot.

Tomorrow should be more fun, we are taking Nehir to one of the top ten water parks in Europe.

Gotta Dance

Taylan has got the music in him.  He loves music and if he hears anything musical he starts to dance.  He dances not just to music, but also to wind-chimes, ringing cell-phones, the sound my computer makes when it turns on, anything.  His favorite moves are swaying side to side with a happy smile on his face, spinning around like a whirling dervish until he falls down dizzy, and bouncing up and down.  He is really cute.

Nehir likes music too.  He frequently hums or sings tunes that he plans to put in his Cheetah Man movies (there will be many, many sequels).  I am impressed by his ability to match music to moods.  He also fancies himself a future rock star and enjoys playing air guitar, which he does by rubbing his chest and tummy with a fierce look on his face.  He is a funny guy.

Nothing really going on today, which is fine.  It has been hotter the past few days, but tolerable. Nehir was really well-behaved and happy today and Taylan was mellow as per usual.  Selcuk is currently at a meeting for home-owners in our little group of homes.  The meeting started at about 10:00 p.m. and apparently they want everyone to come and have a party afterwords. Turks are night owls.  Nehir is sleeping in until about 8:30 these days, which is very late for him, and this allows me to stay up until about midnight without suffering in the morning.  Up until this year, I would be heading to bed just when everyone was finishing dinner and figuring out how to spend the evening.  Then in the morning I would be up with the kids for 3 or 4 hours before everyone else.  By the time everyone got up I would be in a seriously foul mood on most mornings.  Now I am up with Nehir and Taylan for about an hour before BabaAnne gets up. Selcuk and Dede usually get up soon after.  I spend that first hour feeding my kids and playing with Nehir while Taylan toddles around being cute, it is a very pleasant time of day usually.

By the way, I don't know how to reply to your comments so please don't be offended.  I also (obviously) don't know how to arrange the pictures better, the program isn't very flexible, or else I am not very tech-savvy.  

Beaches, Bazaars, and Sweaty Car Trips

On Sunday we went to our favorite beach in the Milipark (national park).  The beach there has colorful little pebbles and smooth rocks instead of sand and the national forest rises up the mountainsides right behind the beach.  The water is calm and very clear.  It is a little colder than the rest of the beaches because there are cold springs below the surface of the water.  This makes the water less salty and very refreshing.  We had a really nice time.

Yesterday we went to the bazaar, which is something I love to do.  The bazaars travel from town to town and there are hundreds of tables selling produce, dried foods, clothing, household needs, etc.  I love seeing all the produce piled up and all the people bustling around.  

After we got home from the Bazaar we decided to go to Didim, which is a touristy town about an hour away.  Selcuk's dad wanted to go because he has friends nearby and had never seen Didem.  I wasn't going to go because I know from past experience that this kind of outing frequently becomes frustrating.  I changed my mind against my better judgment and that was a mistake.  We had to stop for car repairs, which meant keeping a bored Nehir entertained and trying to keep Taylan from crawling around on the oily floor or toddling off into traffic.  this took about 45 minutes. Then, back in the hot care for another 45 minutes to Didem.  We walked around, ate, etc., then back in the car to Baba's friend's house.  We had promised Nehir a children's magazine but we were unable to find one so we arrived with nothing for him to do. He was very mad about this and I can't say I blame him.  He flopped around whining about how bored he was and bemoaning the lack of toys in the house.  I played I-spy with him, but that only kept him occupied for a short time.  When they served us snacks, he flopped his head down and whined "Oh, I'm going to die here!"  It cracked me up because I know how he felt.  After a fairly short visit it was back in the car, but Taylan had had it and cried so hard he threw up.  We tried stopping and he did perk up briefly, but once we piled back in the car he was howling again.  We got home at around ten.  What a fun day.

Anyway, that's what we have been up to.  Today we are going to the dentist.  GOOD TIMES! Well, despite this unfortunate outing, we really are enjoying ourselves, and Selcuk has managed to relax here and there, so truly, miracles do happen.

Working

Today Selcuk took care of Nehir and BabaAnne took care of Taylan so I could work on my paper.  I put in about 4 1/2 hours before I fizzled out.  I think I can finish tomorrow.  It felt good to work again, it makes me realize that as much as I don't like working long hours, I also don't like full-time mothering.  I like a balance.  

The weather here has been nicer than past years.  It gets very hot in the sun, but in the shade it is comfortable and it is more breezy than it was last year.  I also adjusted my wardrobe to include more sleeveless shirts and light-weight shorts.  I decided I would rather feel cool than hide my fat.  Speaking of which, I have been walking a lot and that has been enjoyable.  I like to walk to the beach and get really hot on the way so that swimming feels extraordinarily wonderful.  The water is great and people take turns with Taylan so I can swim for awhile.  Nehir is fearful of the waves even though they are small (I guess if you are five they are big) so he hasn't been swimming that much.  He loves the sand though and gets himself absolutely covered in the stuff while he plays.  He then screams like a nut while we shower him off in the cold water (no warm water available at the beach).  Taylan likes the water and the sand.  He tried eating several hand fulls and seemed to enjoy it until someone noticed and started swabbing his mouth out.  I actually find sand very annoying but it is worth dealing with to get to swim in the Agean sea.

We are going to go to a little park tonight that is set up like a traditional Turkish villiage.  It has animals, horse rides, and a merry-go-round.  It also has several little shops and places to eat.  We went last year and everyone had a nice time.  I think Taylan will like it because he loves animals.  He keeps trying to pet the neighbor's Rottweiler which makes me nervous because I heard that breed can go crazy and become violent in a flash.  To distract him I took him down to see the cows that hang out in a nearby lot.  He fed them some hay and enjoyed it a lot.  He thinks they are doggies.  Visiting the cows made me think of Evan and how much I miss him, Kent and Shovha.  It was so nice to see them before we left.  Dave and Sharon too.  I wish I could see my siblings more often.

In other news, I found a lizard.  It is about a foot long and is mostly light green but it has an aqua streak near its eye.  It lives in a hole under the neighbor's porch.  Selcuk won't even come look at it because he hates all reptiles.  I also found two tiny frogs.  Nehir is very impressed with my animal finding skills.  To bad Sam isn't here, he would surely have found three times the animals I have by now.

That's the news for the day. 

Arriving

We have been here a week and so far nothing seems different because we come here every summer.  Our flight went much better than I expected.  The check-in line was crazy slow, and they charged me $80 because one of our bags was 4 pounds over (actually, all three were but they only charged me for one), but Nehir was very well behaved and that helped a lot.  Once we were on the plane Nehir was very sweet, although he only slept for four or five hours, and Taylan was sleeping the whole time.  There were two nice women nearby who helped me with Taylan when I needed to move him off my lap for various reasons.  Selcuk met us in the airport in Istanbul so everything was fine after that.

We were in Istanbul for a day before we flew to Izmir where a family friend picked us up and drove us to our summer house in Guzel Camli (pronounced Jahmly), it means beautiful pine trees.  I felt very happy to be back in Turkey.  The house is really pretty now, the trees have gotten bigger and the house is more organized, pretty, and comfortable.  Nehir was very happy to be back.  He was clearly awash in memories; he wanted BabaAnne to make him eggs and feed them to him on little pieces of bread just like she used to when he was a baby, he was thrilled to see the other kids who live here, and he spent quite a while going through the toys we keep for him here.  Taylan was more cranky than usual and kind of clingy, but still cute.  

The past three days have been a bit challenging.  Nehir was playing with a ten year-old who has a personal playstation.  He kept telling Nehir that he would let him play with it, and then making excuses not to.  Meanwhile, he would let his little cousin play with it, clearly to make Nehir upset.  He would also manipulate Nehir into doing things for him and Nehir would do them hoping he would get to play the $@#*! game.  Anyway, after two tearful breakdowns during which we tried to explain to Nehir why that kid is not a good friend and urged him to play with other kids, we finally had to make two rules: he can't play at that kid's house, and he can't play the PCP even if the kid offers it.  Nehir was a total wreck after this.  He clearly thought we were horrible parents because it seemed like he was being punished when he already felt terribly sad about the game.  Oh well.  I noticed (again) my tendency to crumble when Nehir seems sad.  I started feeling like maybe we should just get him one since "all the other kids have one."  I hate feeling like Nehir feels deprived even though he is not deprived in the slightest.  Selcuk is much less of a push-over so he was able to remind me of why we don't want that kind of game in our house.  Anyway, Nehir seems to have recovered from the game torment, although it is difficult because the other kid's house is joined to ours and so he sees and hears him all the time.  He has been pretty ornery and rude since then.  This makes me really frustrated and I feel very mad at him when he is rude.  I really struggle with Nehir sometimes, oh well, I just keep trying to do better.