Hello to all!! I have taken a little while to post something on here since being back due to having lots of catching up to do, spending time with Kate before she left and moving into my new place. With most of that done comes a little spare time to update you all.
Okay, I arrived back here after a decent flight (lucked out with interesting seat neighbors both legs of the trip). Had to wait at passport control for about an hour, rather ridiculous really as there were guys just sitting in the booths doing nothing on the citizen’s side… and I was extremely anxious to see Greg. Oh well, I swung by Duty Free for a couple of cheap and difficult to find bottles and then was pleasantly greeted by Greg outside the terminal. Had a bit of an emotional reunion, but it was so great to be back with him again. Went back to his to save a few extra bags worth from having to be lugged over when I’d be moving in in about 2 weeks time anyway. By this point I was completely exhausted (despite my hours of sleep on the planes). Chatted and had lunch with him then took a nice, long nap. Finally made it back to mine at about 9 to clean up and relax, only to get a call from a Nellie, a girl from Seattle, asking where I was and why I wasn’t out at the bars with them yet??? Hurried over to a group of about 6, including Kate, Michael, Nellie, her boyfriend Gavin,…, enjoying the pleasant summer night air and a cold Efes… oh how I missed that beer during the month away, Mike- you can relate on this one… Not really. Was later joined by a few more and spent the night catching up.
The next few days I got a bit jet-lagged and spent some of them just lounging around the house and doing a whole lot of nothing. Went over to Nelvin’s (Nellie + Gavin) on the most often, usual Sunday brunch and chill day. They had some friends in town visiting from home, so Sunday afternoon turned into Sunday evening and then into late Sunday night/early Monday morning. Good times.
Since being back, we had a fantastic boat party. A group of 23 of us rented a boat for the day and road up the Bosphorus, parked ourselves in a cove near the mouth of The Black Sea, and spent the day flipping off the top of the boat, enjoying some drinks, swimming, sunbathing, eating delicious BBQ and being catered to by the kind workers. The price seemed a little steep at first (75TL + tip per head), but after a full day of pure enjoyment, sun and great service, it actually seemed as if we got a deal and were ripping them off. The day was perfect. The sun was shining, not too hot though. The boat was good size (not too big that we were too spread out and not too small that we couldn’t lounge around and feel like we were on top of someone else sunbathing next to us). We all agreed that “life sucks!” (note the sarcasm and if you are a facebook user, hence the name of my album for the day) and that we might have to do it again. One of the surreal moments on the boat was when we had run out of beer (go figure, 18 English teachers??!!?!?!, 2 American tourists, 2 German dudes and a Frenchie) and the guys had actually called in an order to be delivered by another boat to ours to restock us! Afterwards, Greg, Jeff, Kate and I grabbed some food back in Kadikoy and had a few more beers at Aborjin. After a day of constant human action to the max, it was nice to be with a smaller, more personal group. Night was creeping upon us so Kate and Jeff went home leaving Greg and I to tough it out and attempt to hang out with some of the crew that couldn’t make it on the boat. We got very tired after a few hours (who would have thought??!!) and made way home. I’d say it was a great day!
I spent the next few days with Kate, seeing as she was leaving in hours’ time. Took Nelvin and crew out to breakfast and then into Rumeli Hisari (a beautiful, old fortress right off the Bosphorus). We made our way back to Taksim to show off the gorgeous views of Sultanahmet and the Bosphorus some of these bars have. After that, called it a semi-early night.
Oh, what else? Had a nice time with Kate before she peaced out and sent her on her way back to the states. Have finally moved completely in to our new place. Michael and I left our nice apartment in the beautiful Moda to move in with Greg and Jeff over in Acibadem. It is a little more culturally authentic and is a new change of scenery, so that’s nice… not to mention the drastic change in rent, which is about half of what we paid in Moda. The weather is still hot and muggy AND it is rumored the water will be shut off tomorrow!!!! Yay! So I spent part of my evening making sure I showered, got all the dishes done and had some spare water bowls around- in case the rumor is true! I finally got back to work also! I took over 3 classes from Padraic, who has left English Time. I am working Wed, Thurs, Fri mornings and Thurs, Fri nights as well as Sat and Sun mornings. The classes all seem great and to be good people, so it will make getting back into the swing of things a little easier, especially after having not worked for about 2 months! Wow! It did feel good to get back in the classroom though, so I’m guessing that is a good sign.
We will be celebrating 4th of July at one of our regular bars with a potluck. It should be a good time, even though there are only about 6 of us Americans here to celebrate it… the rest are other ex-pats that really just appreciate an excuse to have a party. Other than that, hope to get out to the islands soon to soak up the sun. We are having a housewarming party this next week, which again is kinda an excuse to have a party… although housewarming parties are very traditional here in Turkey, but I think we have a different idea of what goes on at one. J
As for now, we are just trying not to melt and/or smell like a Turk (that’s not a stab at them, it is honestly true of most). I hope all is well back home! Enjoy the summer sun (if it has come out yet) and send me an e-mail every once in awhile. I appreciate hearing from all you and your whereabouts too!
Love to all!
