Well, the title no longer applies but...

I am going to keep blogging because a) I enjoy it and b) no matter where we are, we always have friends and family who are far away and this is a good way to keep people updated. I was going to change the title but I realized as I was about to delete the old one that I have emotional connections to that title and I just can't stand to change it. So, "Our Year in Turkey" will continue even though we are no longer in Turkey and I will probably keep going after one year.

Anyway, we sold our house but are waiting on a short-sale so we are living with Mom for the time being. We hope the sale will finalize mid-August. It has been nice catching up with my parents, Laura, Mandy and her family and friends. The trip home was AWFUL. The morning we were supposed to leave I came into the kitchen and found Taylan standing with an open bottle of children's Tylenol in his hand, licking the lid. I had no idea if he had drank any and, if he did, how much. After checking on-line and learning that an overdose could lead to liver failure, we grabbed all our luggage and set off for the hospital. I told them the maximum amount he could have had and they thought it was unlikely that he had toxic levels, but they wanted to watch him and run tests. We explained that we had to catch a flight and so they gave us medicine that I had to give him every four hours for sixteen doses. Well, Taylan did not like this medicine and so every four hours, I had to try to either trick him into drinking it or force it down his throat. Mostly, tricking did not work. Keep in mind that I was alone with the two kids, Selcuk has to keep working in Turkey until mid-August. So, I had to give him a dose of medicine he hated, without the help of any other adult, on the first leg of the flight, a dose in the restaurant in Heathrow, and two doses on the next leg. Each time he wailed and gagged and flailed and spat. It was terrible. In addition to that wonderfulness, Taylan also spilled chicken, a cup of milk and a cup of water all over my lap during an on-line meal. After that I went into the bathroom, allegedly to clean him and myself up, but really it was to cry. When we arrived at Heathrow I learned that they had decided the flight was too full to keep my stroller above and so they had checked it below and it was going straight to Newark. This meant I had to deal with a three hour layover with a two year-old, a six year-old, and no stroller. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily, Nehir was very helpful. A year ago he would have been running around like a crazy monkey, but he has matured a lot and so he either held Taylan's hand or pulled our carry-on luggage the whole time. This did not mean that the layover was easy. At the airport restaurant, after the screaming gag-fest that was his third dose of medicine, he spilled his water all over the table and both he and Nehir left vast amounts of their suppers on the floor under their chairs. We managed to board our second flight on time and, other than the medicine, things went OK. However, once we got to the US the passport guy was rude to me - I won't even go into it, but it just topped off a hideous trip perfectly.

Our first week back was a bit crazy. I had to close on our house, I got tonsilitis AGAIN and had to go on antibiotics, which made me really sleepy and I was still jet-lagged, and Taylan started cutting to giant molars and was absolutely miserable. Despite these things, it was a pleasure to be back and now that we are all feeling better and back on US time, I am feeling very happy. Nehir and his cousin Daniel play almost every day and they just love each other. Taylan is still somewhat out of sorts but he is not in as much pain and is returning to his cheerful self. The best thing is that they can play and make noise without the crabby neighbors complaining about it.

Last Day

It is hard to believe, but our year in Turkey is almost over. Today is our last day and we are all feeling a lot of mixed emotions. Turkey has been a fantastic experience and we all fell in love with Istanbul. We will miss our Turkish family and friends, but we are also looking forward to reconnecting with friends and family in the US.

Nehir has matured so much this year. This morning we went out for a wonderful breakfast in Yildiz Park and Nehir was so polite and fun to be with. Just under a year ago Selcuk and I vowed NEVER to take the kids out to eat again because Nehir was so wild and rude and Taylan's eating habits were just gross. Well, we obviously broke that vow and Nehir is a pleasure to dine with. He has also learned how to be a good friend. Last summer he was constantly screaming when his friends would touch his toys (and they would scream when he would touch theirs) but this year he and his buddies played all day and into the night with hardly any squabbling. He is thoughtful and funny and smart and we are so proud of him.

Taylan has grown a lot too of course. He loves to entertain by singing songs or dancing or just being silly. His adorable curls have straightened out but he looks just as cute with straight hair I must say. He is learning lots of words, both Turkish and English. If you ask him a question he will either say "No" or "Ebet" for "Evet" the Turkish yes. He also says "Babat" for "Kapat", the Turkish word for close. He counts in Turkish but will only say the numbers he feels comfortable pronouncing so he says "Bir, uc, dort, bes, alta, on!" which means "One, three, four, five, six, ten!" He likes to rough house but, unfortunately, Nehir Abi doesn't usually like it and so there is some friction there. They are good buddies though and I hope they remain friends as they grow up. Taylan has grown very close to BabaAnne this year and I think being separated will be hard on both of them. However, we will be visiting often and I am sure their bond will continue.

As for me, I learned that I enjoy teaching college kids and I am good at it. I also learned that I do not like teaching preschool children and I am horrible at it. I also learned that I am much more adaptable than I thought. Selcuk had a good year too but he will have to tell you himself what his grand life-lessons are.

Now for some humor. First, a gross but funny incident from the summer house: Two days ago we were eating breakfast when Ayse asked me what was on my pants. I looked and right below the belt in the back I saw what I thought was a cricket, so I reached behind me to get it. When I touched it, however, instead of feeling like a cricket, it felt disgustingly soft and squishy so I screamed and flung whatever it was away. It landed on Ayse's plate: two little feet on the edge of her plate, and the rest of the GREEN FROG hanging down over the edge, hands dangling. GROSS! All day I kept remembering the image of the little frog feet sticking to the edge of her plate and it would make me laugh and feel nauseous all over again. So yeah, apparently I sat on a frog.

Now I will share some items from the menu of a restaurant close to our summer house:

After perusing the "Types of Furniture" section, you can move on to the main dishes where you can choose from:
Chicken Spit
Garbage Spit
Collapse Spit.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, so many types of spit to chose from.

Well, I don't want to end my blog about this year with THAT, so I will end by saying, Turkey is a wonderful country and I highly recommend visiting. If any of you do ever get the chance, I will let you know what beautiful places you can see, what food you can try, and what fun things you can do.

Thank you Turkey for a fantastic year!

Some Photos

BabaAnne after putting Taylan to sleep by rocking him on her legs



Nehir, his best buddy Sarp, and Taylan in the park.



Nehir and his school buddies (Nehir looks alarmed but really he was happy)



Taylan and Nehir hanging out on Dede



Me with a bunch of pompous philosophers at a conference on ethics and global education.

Back In Guzel Camlı

We are back at the summer house and very happy to be here. The kids are loving being able to play outside all they want. Nehir found his bike almost right away and started biking around the paths immediately. Taylan spent a day being mighty jealous of the neighbor boys trike until the little girl we gave Nehir's old trike to came by and since she is too big for it now, she said we could use it again. Neither the neighbor's kid or Taylan can quite peddal by themselves, but they both love to try and, even better, to get pushed around on the trikes.

Nehir has lots of neighborhood kids to play with and he seems to have outgrown his tendency to freak out when other people play with his stuff. So far the kids like to hang out on our porch, probably because we have lots of toys.

The summer house looks great. The trees are bigger although some didn't produce as much fruit and the peach tree died because there was not much rain this spring and no one was around to water. We have been watering everything and we will replace the peach tree. The jasmine bush is huge but there are no flowers yet, again, probably because of the lack of water, but now that is is getting water İ am looking forward to the fragrant smell wafting accross our porch.

İ can't post photos in this entry because İ am at an internet cafe but İ think next time İ can bring my laptop and connect that way.

Nehir and Taylan photos

Nehir


Taylan riding on Erbay


Taylan showing his Tukish patriotism


Nehir as a scientist

Bad, Bad Blogger

It has been weeks since I have written and a lot has happened. We have been on a number of little outings, the kids have learned new things and been adorable, funny, weird, and more, and we signed a contract to sell our house and may be bidding on a new one later today. So why haven't I been writing? I really have no idea. Oh well, better later than never.

Because Selcuk has been invited to speak in a number of different places we have been able to see some parts of Turkey we have not visited before. One weekend we went to two little towns in the Black Sea region called Kastamolu and Safranbolu. They are in the mountains and they have very pretty houses and lovely surroundings. We stayed in two beautiful, historical hotels. The first was a restored old stone building, I don't know what it used to be, but it was very cool, like walking back in time. The doors to the rooms were tiny so you had to bend over to get inside, and once inside they had a lovely, cozy feel. All the rooms were in a square with the doors facing inward to a central courtyard. The ruins of an ancient castle could be seen on the hill above. The next night we stayed in one of the traditional wood houses of Safranbolu. The room was white with handmade, wood detail everywhere. Our entire ceiling had an intricate wood pattern on it, and there were wall to wall wood carved wood cabinets. It was really beautiful.

The next trip was to Bolu which is also a mountain town. We visited two lakes and enjoyed being out in nature as opposed to Istanbul's hustle and bustle. A few days later, Selcuk and I went to Turkish Cyprus so he could give a talk to school administrators and principals. We left the kids for this trip and it was the first time I was separated from Taylan overnight. He did OK as long as the phone didn't ring. If the phone rang he thought it was me and cried if he couldn't talk to me. When I did call, he cried into the phone because he wanted me to come home. The rest of the time he was happy as usual. Turkish Cyprus is a beautiful place. We stayed at a fancy resort for free because Selcuk was a guest speaker. It was warm enough there to swim in the sea and it was incredibly clean and clear. Staying in a fancy place was fun, but the real highlight was when we went to the nearby town to look at the ruins. The town is full of old churches and crumbling castles, and the town just hums along right beside them. There is a small tourist industry, but most of the storefronts are just regular little shops for the townspeople. I think it is because Turkish Cyprus is not internationally recognized, so you can only visit if you come through Turkey and this limits the tourists. While we were there, there was a handful of other people looking around, but mostly the old buildings were empty. This made it a really enjoyable experience because not only did we get to see the cool ruins, but we also got to see the real face of the town, not a tourist, showy-town. We also so LOTS of lizards, big and small, and I got a big kick out of that. It was really fun but I was very glad to see my kids again when we got home. I bought Nehir a cup that played "It's a Small World" whenever you pick it up to drink. I thought it was hilarious and Nehir liked it too, but it broke almost immediately. We got Taylan a little horse that he loves. He makes it gallop, and eat, and if he has forgotten about it for awhile he will suddenly think of it and go running off to find it.

Taylan's latest skills are that if you ask him what his name is he puts his finger on his cheek and says "Tay Tay!" Sometimes he gets confused and says "Two!" because we also taught him to say how old he is. He is learning to count in Turkish but he will only say the numbers he can pronounce so he says "Bir, dort, bes, alta yedi, on!" Which means "One, four, five, six, seven, ten!" He loves to draw pictures and already is naming his scribbles. He likes to make choo choos and birds. When he is making choo choos he draws long lines, and when he is making birds he tries to make circles and curvy lines. He is a creative genius!

Nehir is doing great in school. He had a class performance last week. The first grades (there are two classes) each did a short improv play (with the drama teacher), then each child recited a short poem about the profession they have been researching, and they finished with a play in English. In the first play the kids were coupled up to play married couples going out to dinner. They pretended to drive, pretended to order, pretended to eat, and then go home, watch TV and go to sleep. I felt bad for the kids who weren't playing married couples because they had to be cars, then tables, then TVs, then beds. They were human props! Oh well, they didn't seem to mind but I know I would have been royally upset in first grade if I had to play a table. Then came the poems. Al the kids were dressed up like their profession and they recited their poems into a microphone. Nehir's project is about chemists so he came out in a white lab coat, and goggles and he was holding a wide, glass beaker with some sciency-looking things inside. When the microphone got passed to him he started to recite and realized the sound was off and shouted "Ses yok YA!" Which means "There's no sound YA!" Ya is a sound of frustration here. It was funny. He then recited his poem at a break-neck speed, then jumped off the stage to see me, realized he wasn't supposed to do that and went back to the stage. Then came the English play. The plot was that a family goes to Disneyland and meets cartoon characters. The cartoons they met weren't actually from Disney, and some weren't cartoons, but who cares? Each kid had one or two lines. Nehir was Harry Potter and after he said his line he was supposed to do a spell. He realized, however, that he didn't have his wand so instead of saying his spell he said "Where's my wand?" in English. It was very funny. Near the end there was some delay getting the music going so Nehir kept lying down in the middle of the stage and yelling "This is my bedroom!" which made the kids laugh, so he kept doing it. Finally the music started, they sang, and the event was over. Nehir was THRILLED that people laughed at him. He is funny dude.

OK, that basically brings us up to the present. Hopefully I will keep up better.

Photos

I am posting some photos from events I already wrote about. Nehir, Taylan and I are sick AGAIN! I am so tired of being sick. Oh well, what can you do?


Nehir and his wonderful teacher Hulya.


Taylan enjoying his toy from Grandma and Grandpa


The birthday party


The cake



Nehir blowing out Taylan's candles

Taylan's Second Birthday

Today we celebrated Taylan's birthday (he turns two on the 27th but we did the party today). He caught a bad cold for the occasion and spent much of the day crying. Nehir helped me make the birthday cake yesterday. We made vanilla cake, with strawberries and whipped cream inside. On the outside we put vanilla cream frosting with a road made out of chocolate winding across it. We put little toy cars and road signs on top, and a little guy using a shovel. I put crumbled chocolate around him so it looked like he was digging. I then put shaved white chocolate over the white parts, and strawberries all around the sides. It looked and tasted great, if I do say so myself. Taylan was very cute, he really appreciates gifts, whether toys or clothes, which makes the gift givers feel good. Nehir was really cute too, he wasn't jealous and he was very excited to show Taylan the cake we made and gifts we were giving him (that Derya picked out while Selcuk was in the US - THANKS!). He got a little wild but he is a high-energy, six year old boy, and it was all good-natured hyperness, not grumpy.

Children's Bayram didn't work out so well because it rained and the big show we were going to go to with Nehir's school was cancelled. There was some confusion about whether it was cancelled and when we called we were told to come in at 8:30. Nehir was one of SIX kids that showed up in the whole school, and we were the only family. The teachers were required to show up so there were lots of them. We went to some alternative show, which was lame and we left early.

I got my teaching assignment for the fall and I am only teaching one class, foundations of mental health counseling, so I am very happy. I am not happy about my research agenda, I am really insecure about it. I have all these ideas but I need to get concrete about them because they are all too vague or impossible to execute.

Let's see, more kid news... Nehir is doing his first long-term assignment for school It is about careers. He has to pick a career he is interested in, research the career, interview someone in that field, and then give a report in school. He chose chemist, which I think is hilariously precocious. Taylan can say "two" when you ask him how old he is. He also says "chee to" for cheese toast when he wakes up in the morning.

It is spring here, and it is lovely. Yildiz park is a nearby public garden with several historical buildings on the grounds and it was recently renovated. It is absolutely beautiful right now. The city invested a lot of money planting huge gardens and they are so bright and cheerful. Turkey is where tulips are from so most of the gardens feature lots of tulips. There are a couple that are on a hillside and have a winding stripe of grape hiacynths surrounded by other flowers so it looks like a purple waterfall. The Wisteria in Istanbul are spectacular, they must like the climate. I wish I could show our sorry excuse for a wisteria how a proper wisteria behaves! I would say "See, two grey blooms is not the norm for you, you should be in a purple frenzy during this time of year." Maybe I should shove some prozac in the ground around it. Another fun sign of spring around here is the return of the little lizards. I see at least one every time I go out. They scurry away as I approach and it makes me happy every time. That reminds me, the other day I saw a PARROT flying around. I am sure it was a parrot because it was green, had the right shaped head, and it wasn't flying very high so I could see it pretty well. Either one escaped or someone has it really well trained to return home at night.

Children's Bayram

Tomorrow is Children's Bayram, a holiday created by Ataturk to celebrate children. Today schools all over Turkey are putting on shows for parents (very much like Holiday shows in the US) and children are given honorary positions for the day, like principal, teachers, etc. Nehir was dressed up in very cute, traditional Turkish clothing and his class sang several songs, and then did a traditional Turkish dance. He then danced, with the rest of the primary school, to "Greased Lightening." He was very enthusiastic and adorable. He was clearly enjoying himself and he performed wonderfully (I am not biased or anything!) Tomorrow, there is some other thing with the school, I don't quite understand what, and then for the rest of the holiday, Nehir and Taylan will get to tell us what they want to do and eat, etc. I have a feeling Nehir will suggest watching TV or playing computer games all day. I guess I will have to intervene, kid rule can only go so far after all. I will write more about it tomorrow and hopefully post some pictures (although I mostly took video).

A famous singer was invited to sing a song, and afterwords she ran into Ayse who was outside with Taylan who had started to fuss. She took a shine to Taylan and took lots of photos of him. I have to say, there is something about Taylan that makes people want to take his picture. He has a way of batting his long eyelashes and making funny and cute faces at people. There are times when he seriously looks like he is just waiting for someone to come take his picture, like the other day, he got to the top of the slide platform, lay on his tummy with his head in his hands, tilted is head sideways and gave a sly grin. It was hilarious how much it looked like he was posing for a photographer. I wonder if he is trying to be cute?

In other Taylan news, I FINALLY weened him, thanks to a suggestion from BabaAnne that I use tomato paste to make the milk taste yucky. I know Taylan likes tomato paste so I used lemon juice instead and it worked amazingly well. He would beg to nurse, but then when he tasted the lemon he would make a face and pull off instead. He never cried or seemed upset. He actually seemed embarrassed for me. He looked like he was thinking "Oh dear, how to I politely tell Mom her milk tastes like lemons?" He was cracking me up.

I have actually written many blog entries in my mind, I just don't get around to actually writing very often. I will try to do better but don't hold your breath.

Diaper Duty

Things are going well here. Erbay is starting his new job on April 1st and Lena will start as soon as her work visa is complete. Their new home will be ready for them to move in tomorrow. BabaAnne was in Ankara for over a week and Lena was in Uzbekistan getting her visa, so Erbay was helping out by watching Taylan while I was at work. On his first morning alone with Taylan he cooked him an egg and was pleased that Taylan enjoyed it. His pleasure was short-lived because a few minutes later, Taylan had a huge poop and Erbay panicked. He started to remove the diaper and this made him get the dry heaves, so he found one of his mother's scarves, sprayed perfume in it, and wrapped it around his face. He then called his mother and tucked the phone under the scarf next to his ear so he could talk with his hands free. His Mom talked him through how to use the baby wipes and clean him up. He then hurled the dirty diaper into the bathroom trash can without putting it in a bag first, so the bathroom stank all day until I came home. If I didn't know better I would have though this was a scene from "Three Men and a Baby" but it was Erbay's true-life adventure.

As many of you already know, Nehir was in a big celebration for his school's founding Anniversary. Nehir didn't enjoy himself much because a) he had to wait a LONG TIME in a boring locker room waiting to go on, and b) he wanted to dance but had to hold a flag instead. Apparently the dance teacher told the kids the bad dancers would hold flags and Nehir was unhappy about this, for obvious reasons. We talked to the principal who spoke to the dance teacher. She is generally fine, but we don't want her saying stuff like that to our kid or anyone else's.

Nehir got sick after that day and the Dr. thinks he may have H. Pylori because of a host of tummy issues he has had for his whole life, including being super-skinny and having a poor appetite. He will start treatment later this week and I hope this helps.

In better news, Nehir was STAR OF THE WEEK again and he was very, very proud. He is doing great in school. He can read English now even though he never was formally taught it. He picks things up so quickly! We are really happy for him.

Taylan is experimenting with talking more. He likes to repeat words. He also has learned the concept of being "naughty" and when he does something he knows he shouldn't, like throw food, he points his finger and says "No no no!" In anticipation of what I am about to say. He is so cute and funny it is hard to keep a straight face sometimes when he is pulling his antics. He also likes to pretend to cry when he needs attention. He makes an "O" shape with his mouth and makes a wimpery "OOh hoo hoo" sound. It is funny. He likes to follow Nehir around and do whatever he is doing. Below is a photo of Nehir and Taylan dressed up in what Nehir imagines Harry Potter wizard robes look like, holding make-shift wands. Nehir decided Taylan was Professor Flitwick because he is a short character.

The first photo was taken on a tour-boat on the Bosphorus that Erbay treated me and the kids to. Erbay took about 20 photos before he got this one. The one of Erbay and Nehir is also from the tour. I love it but Erbay thinks he looks like an alcoholic.

I have not written much lately but a lot has been going on.  Lena and Erbay are here and there is great news. I was being superstitious so I didn't want to write about the purpose of their visit until everything was confirmed, but as of today they have definite offers to come and work here in Istanbul. They will be moving within weeks and we are all so excited and happy for them. Selcuk is friends with an entrepreneur and set up the initial meeting.  Erbay's and Lena's excellent C.V.s did the rest.  Erbay has lived half his life in Uzbekistan and has long wanted to move back home.  Erbay and Lena seem more relaxed and happy than I have ever seen them.

 

Selcuk has NYU students here for an abroad experience over spring break.  They have a great agenda for the week and I am hoping to join them for some of the events.  I have been running a fever for four days now and I am really tired of being sick.  If I don't take Tylenol I am freezing, and if I do I am hot and sweaty.  Yuck.  I went to the Dr. yesterday who told me it was probably a virus.  Today I took matters into my own hands and went and bought some antibiotics because I think it is a sinus infection because my head has been killing me.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, antibiotics are over the counter here.  

I spent the whole afternoon trying to embed a video of Nehir dancing into my blog but it didn't work.  Instead, here are some cute photos.

What Is That Burning Circle In the Sky?

After a very dreary, rainy week and a half, during which my mood and temper deteriorated, Sunday dawned with bright sun and blue sky.  It was a glorious day and we celebrated with a family trip to the park.  Selcuk and I played one on one basketball while Selcuk's cousin Mehmet played football (soccer) with the kids.  We then attempted a family football game but Nehir was a bit miffed by our desire to play by the rules.  We then went to another area of town to visit his cousins.  It was a nice day and I hope the weather holds.

Nehir plans to write a series of books about a boy wizard named Jack who goes to a wizard school after his parents are killed by an evil wizard names Sand (the boy LOVES Harry Potter).  He says it is sort of like Harry Potter but sort of different.  The differences are that Jack doesn't use a wand (actually, Nehir changed his mind on that and now he does), Jack can never die, Jack is the first wizard ever, and Jack saves his family in the end after all.  The titles of the books are "Jack and the Boiling Iceberg", "The Volcano", "The Monster in the Cave" and "The Snake in the Temple." He wrote the first sentence in such garbled English I couldn't read it, which upset him a bit until he decided to just read it to me: "One day Mr. and Mrs. Spike went shopping but when Sand showed up the shopping trip was canceled because they were dead."  I guess if I were dead I would cancel my shopping plans too.  Apparently, at the end of the series, Jack will bring them back to life.  I know some of you are probably thinking that I shouldn't expose him to scary books like Harry Potter at his age, but he loves them and I am only letting him read the first two for now.  I keep him as sheltered as I reasonably can, which isn't as sheltered as I used to think I would keep him.  Ah well, I do the best I can.

I wish I had more news about Taylan, I say the same things every posting: he is cute, he likes to dance, he is cute, he likes the Bob the Builder Song, he is cute, etc. etc.  Today he climbed up on the dining room table to sneak sugar cubes so I moved them to the kitchen.  A few minutes later I found him on the kitchen table eating the sugar.  I was pretty impressed because he hadn't seen where I had put them and it wasn't our house so he didn't just go to the "normal" sugar spot.  Did he smell it?!  The boy must be gifted.

Nehir's Dreams

"Mom, let's talk."  Nehir has been saying this more often and he has had a lot to say about his dreams for the future.  Last night, he spent at least 15 minutes telling me about the jewelry store he wants to create.  First, he is going to make "the ring of fire" which will have pictures of fire all around it.  I asked him if he knew there was a song called the ring of fire and he said he did but he didn't like it because the idea of someone being trapped in a ring of fire was very disturbing to him.  I explained that the song was about feelings, not literal fire and the person felt they were surrounded by trouble, not real flames.  This made him feel better.  After clearing this up he told me about the beautiful ruby necklaces he would make, and how there would be a room full of gems that look like fire (fire was on the boy's mind apparently).  There would also be a room with video games, because he would sell jewelry and video games and movies.  The walls would have pictures of all the jewelry and movies and games, and when you touched it, they would come out of the wall.  There would also be a play room "to entertain the children."  

This morning he told me in addition to the jewelry shop, he also wanted to make video games, make robots, and drive a monster truck.  

Taylan was playing a game where he would run to BabaAnne, kiss her, then run to Nehir Abi, kiss him, then run to me, and kiss me.  It was very cute.

Exciting Updates

Let's see, what exciting things have we been up to?  Taylan was sick last week with a stomach flu, and then Nehir got a more sever case and has been sick for five days.  He seems to be OK today, he is eating and has more energy.  Now BabaAnne is sick.

Taylan is very willful and lets his frustrations be known with some impressive shrieking and arm flapping.  He has learned to say choo choo, and bi (for bird), and he says a lot of other things that I can't quite decipher.  He is now insisting on eating by himself, which means frequent baths.  I am trying to ween him, and he is not happy about this.  It seems to be working though, he can get himself back to sleep without nursing, although sometimes he won't do it and cries.  Taylan still loves the Bob the Builder song and seems to be developing a nice singing voice: last night I heard him sing "Baaa, ba ba"  (Bob the builder) in perfect pitch in his sleep.

Nehir got way behind in school between getting back from vacation late and then getting sick.  He has 20 pages of math to do this weekend, and today is the first day he had enough energy to sit up and do any of it.  He is now taking a nap, so I predict he will not finish 20 pages. He has been having a bit of trouble behaving in school, he seems to fancy himself the class clown, and so the teacher made a behavior chart for him, I hope this helps.

I made some behavior charts for the 6 year-olds where I teach, because they were making me crazy.  I had no control whatsoever and class was becoming a miserable experience for them and me.  So far, so good.  They seem to like the chart and the threat of not getting a sticker makes them snap out of whatever naughty behavior they might have been up to.  Let's see if it lasts.

Selcuk is working a lot, he came up with a nice scale to measure social capitol.  I think it is a good scale and will generate some interesting studies.

Well, that's the thrilling news from our lives. 

Stress

I managed to get Nehir to sleep by midnight, which is like putting him to sleep at 5 in the afternoon in American time.  I also managed to get him up again at 7:20 am the next morning.  Unfortunately, his service ( the van that takes him to school) never showed up, and I was out of Turkish money for a cab.  Nehir was anxious and kept saying helpful things like "What are we supposed to do, just stand here and stare at all the services and ours never shows up?!" or asking me "Why don't we just take a cab?!" over and over even though I had told him repeatedly that I didn't have Turkish money.  I finally accepted that his service wasn't coming and we had to take a cab to a currency exchange office, and then another cab to school.  When Nehir walked into class a half hour late, his class burst into spontaneous applause, and Nehir was grinning ear to ear.  That warmed my heart and helped alleviate my fowl mood.

Taylan and I then walked back to where we could hail another cab home.  There is a small grocery store about a quarter mile from our apartment so I asked the driver to drop us there so I could get some groceries I had forgotten the day before.  While in the store Taylan dropped a glass bottle of carrot juice on the floor, shattering it.  We then set off for home, but a torrential rain had started and the little rain shield on his stroller was not keeping him dry at all so we ran into a nearby office building.  I scrounged around in my purse for enough small change to get us home (taxi drivers often don't have enough small bills to make change if you are carrying large bills) and we took a cab the rest of the way.  

Now we are home and Taylan is listening to the theme song for Bob the Builder over and over and over.  According to my itunes library, it has been played 78 times since I downloaded it several days ago, and two of those days we were traveling, so you do the math.  Yikes.

Readjusting

Our flight home was OK, not great but not as bad as I feared.  Nehir cried after saying good-bye to Derya and told me he didn't want to miss her.  Later he told me he wished there could be two of him so one could live in each country.  I feel bad that the separations are hard on him, but I think overall this is a good experience.  When we got back to Turkey and were driving home he told me the city looked "festy" which he explained means it looks like a festival.  He likes Istanbul and is looking forward to seeing his friends and teachers.

We arrived back in Istanbul late last night, and got back to the appartment at 11:30 or so.  After feeding the kids left over snack food from the flight, we read Harry Potter and went to sleep.  12 hours later we woke up feeling disoriented and hungry.  I got the kids dressed and we took a cab to a local Pide restaurant (pide is thin bread with different toppings cooked on it).  Nehir ate Iskendar (thin meat with bread, tomato sauce, butter sauce and yoghurt) and meat pide, while Taylan and I split a cheese and spinach pide.  Both boys ate copious amounts which was good because neither had had a decent meal in a long time.  Both boys seem to loose their appetite while traveling.  The weather was nice so after breakfast or lunch or whatever meal it was, we went to the park in Ortakoy.  Taylan had a great time but Nehir was feeling pretty draggy.  After playing Nehir and Taylan split a waffle for desert and by then Nehir was so full he could hardly walk.  We had to go grocery shopping, however, so we walked up the road with Nehir moaning and leaning on the stroller.  After a short walk he was feeling a bit better so we got the grocery shopping done and took a cab back to the house.  

Nehir will go back to school tomorrow, poor thing is going to be so jet-lagged.  He is looking forward to seeing his pals.  I will take Taylan on a walk and maybe go to the park.  So life is mostly back to normal.

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

Today the kids and I fly back to Istanbul.  It was wonderful to see everyone, but we are also looking forward to being in Istanbul again.  The vacation wasn't as relaxing as I would have liked, due mostly to a severe cold that swept through the family.  Taylan got a double ear infection and was unusually cranky as a result.  He is on the mend now.  Nehir is sad to be leaving but also pleased he will be seeing his Turkish friends and teachers.  

I will write again once we arrive in Turkey.

The Deadbeat Blogger Returns

If there is anyone still bothering to read this after all these weeks of no new entries, here is the latest on the Rogers-Sirin family:

We are actually in the US for a two week vacation right now.  Nehir is thrilled to be reunited with Derya, Grandma, Grandpa and his cousins.  He had an excellent report card and is rapidly learning to read in English, having pretty much mastered reading in Turkish.  No big news with Taylan; he's cute, really, really, really cute.  He gets jealous of Nehir and when Nehir is the focus of attention he will do almost anything to get the attention back to him.  It is not too hard to keep them both happy and sufficiently attended to, it is mostly just funny to see Taylan's antics.  

My big news is that I got a new job!  I will be an assistant professor at the College of Staten Island starting in the fall.  I am very pleased.  They are starting a new masters program in counseling psychology so I will be able to teach counseling skills courses, which I really enjoy.

Selcuk has his interview for the WT Grant next week. I am sure he will do well, he is a charming guy.

Well, now that my computer is fixed I am hoping I will be a better blogger.  Our camera is broken but we are getting a new one and so pictures will be coming shortly.