Getting Organized

This is what it looks like to pack for four people for a year-long stay away from home.

For the most part, the days at the summer house are passed in a low-key manner. We usually wake up when the kids do, maybe 8:00 or 8:30, and I will read to them for a bit. Then they play or do workbook and have breakfast. The adults usually have breakfast later, around 11:00-ish. The kids spend the afternoon playing or having screen-time (or whining and complaining, depending on what kind of day we are having) while I either work or avoid work. I usually take the kids to the sea sometime after 4:00 pm to avoid prime sunburn time, and after they get bored and go home, I will usually work out in the water. Then it is a late dinner, a walk to the bazaar with the kids for treats, then books and bed. I will then hang out with Selcuk and his family for a bit before hitting the hay myself. 

The exception to this routine is when we have either errands to run or have planned an outing. Because the new house was unfurnished, we are doing a lot of errands to shop for house things. We are almost done with the furnishings except for a few bookshelves etc. The shopping was at first fun, and then got tedious because we had to keep going for things we didn't realize we needed or things we forgot. Even the most tedious trip, however, has a built in bonus if our errands are in Soke, and that is the little village we pass through on the way there and back. It is up on the mountain and the road through the village is lined with stands where the villagers make gozleme and baslama, as well as sell home-made olive oil, honey from their farms, and local produce. Gozleme is a delicious flat bread cooked over a concave pan over a wood fire, then folded with cheese and greens inside. Baslama is also cooked over the fire and is s fluffy, circular bread that is about an inch thick. 

The women who make the bread are generally dressed in typical village clothes, which means a flowery head scarf, tied casually, a long-sleeved shirt, and either a flowery long skirt, or flowery baloon pants. We met one women who was particularly kind and sweet and made the best gozleme ever. Here is a picture of us together:

Yes, it looks like my butt is roasting over that fire, but I assure you, my butt was and is fine.

Here We Go Again

Well, it has been four years since my last post for this blog, but it is time to get it going again because we are here for the year again. I am so excited to be in Turkey again and expect this experience to be smoother and more comfortable than our first year living here. One reason is that we moved from the old summer house to a new one. This one is yards away from the sea which means it never gets too hot, and it is simple to take a quick swim whenever I want. The house is lovely and I feel absurdly luck to be able to enjoy it.

Another reason that I believe this year will be great is that the apartment in Istanbul will also be conveniently located and pretty. We will have a view of the Bosporus, and be in easy walking distance of Bahcesehir University. That brings me to a third advantage, I have already taught at Bahcesehir and will feel more comfortable and ready than I was last time. I am also teaching a course I am very excited about, "Psychodynamic Theory." Finally, and most importantly, the Sirin children will all be living in the same city for the first time in decades. My sister-in-law Ayse has a very nice husband and a new baby girl named Destina, and  my other sister-in-law is expecting a baby girl in September. My brother-in-law Cagdas has a cute three year old named Zeren, and so the cousin fun will be bountiful. I am looking forward to the Sirin siblings having many fun evenings together.

My kids are having a bit of trouble adjusting, but that is to be expected. Nehir is fluctuating between being very sweet and fun to talk to being surly and grumpy. Taylan is having a lot of trouble with his Turkish, and that is causing him to be much more angry and defiant than he usually is. This morning, however, they both have seemed to turn a corner. Nehir read out loud to Taylan and Zeren, then we all drew pictures for awhile.

I will post some pictures soon.