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!