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!