Merry Christmas!

I'm sure many of you are getting ready for Saturday - have fun! It's nice but also a little sad to be away from that last-minute stress and pressure. I'm doing okay actually - there's so much Christmasy stuff out here I can't believe it and I've realized I can't replicate the exact Christmas out here as I do with my family, and so I just need to make my own Christmas! I have my fake little tree, some lovely presents under it, I made some gum drop cookies, did some shopping today - I'm good! That doesn't mean I won't be thinking of and missing my family on Saturday and all of our traditions the day of and before, but I just need to make my own Istanbul Christmas. These last couple of weeks have been busy ones, here are some pictures:

Anna and Sarah had me and my roommates over for a delicious and fun pancake breakfast (with REAL maple syrup!). It was nice, especially because it was a cold, rainy morning, it was a great way to start off the day.



Last Sunday (the 12th), I wanted to have a get together before everyone scattered for the holidays. It was a lot of fun, I love cooking and preparing things and I went a little overboard but the process of making it is so fun, as it the appreciation people have for it. As always, there were a lot more people then I expected, so of course I panicked about the amount of food there was. Of course, there was enough, but as I mentioned, the gas for the stove ran out and so I couldn't make the spaghetti. Luckily I had already made chicken so I added it to the salad with roast vegetables, served some cheese, garlic bread, and someone had brought a lentil/bulgur/zucchini salad. It was super healthy, but then out came the desserts. Anna made a delicious zucchini cake, and then I made an apple crumble, peanut butter chocolate brownies, lemon cookies, some bars that are like Reese's, banana bread, and some Christmas cookies. I had fun, and I hope everyone else did too! I have to thank Anna and her roommate Sarah for bringing food, and helping out so much in the kitchen.



Here's the Turkish side of the room.



And the foreign side of the room. This definitely isn't everyone that was there or who came, I didn't have time to get any more pictures unfortunately!





This is how I felt by the end of the night.

I have a cousin out here and she invited me to a Christmas gathering at her friend's home. This friend had just been written up in a magazine here for her home and it was beautiful. Super modern, very well decorated. It was a different crowd than I am used to (really, really well off) but it was nice to meet and talk to new people and the food was DELICIOUS. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots - it tasted great and the 4 servers just kept bringing it out. I see a bit of myself in Anne and she slipped away during the dinner and burst into the room as Santa and delivered some presents. It was very funny.





Last weekend Cengiz and I went over to his brother's house on the Asian side and we ended up staying there Friday and Saturday night. It was a nice get away from where I live, because I live, work and go to the gym in the same neighborhood. It was nice to hang out with his friends, they are so so nice and hospitable and kind, and we had breakfast together.





A few weeks ago Cengiz and I went to my student's birthday party and they became friends as they are from a similar region, in the northeast of Turkey. He and all of his friends are from there and love the culture, so they invited her and another Black Sea girl over, and we ate food (I made chicken fettucine alfredo with broccoli - they liked it so much - they had never had it before!) and some of them played some Black Sea music. It was a really fun night and it was nice to be so immersed in such a Turkish cultural experience (ok, minus the not-Turkish food I prepared!).

Early Christmas activities

Winter has come! And my room is freezing. There's such a draft in my room, but I'm just going to layer up and get a heater! It's about time, until about 4 days ago, I was wearing a short sleeved shirt at work! It was a little weird.

So I'm not going to make it home for the holidays but I've been making the most of it here! On December 1st (I couldn't wait any longer), Anna, Cengiz and I put up my little tree. It was so much fun, putting the lights and ornaments on and drinking hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music and eating gingerbread and sugar cookies! Cengiz had never done anything like this and he was so excited which was great and just what I needed. It was a lot of fun and a good way to start off the month.



It was so warm in my room (I had to wear shorts!) but I was determined to drink hot chocolate!



Cengiz automatically assumed the man's job (at least in my family) of putting the lights on the tree. I had to fix it a little later but shhhh. He didn't do bad for his first time.



Christmas is so exciting!!!





A glimpse into my messy room.



Whoaaa Santa came!

Last weekend I had a little get together with some girls to decorate some cookies. I had brought some cookie cutters and sprinkles last year when I went home at Thanksgiving and we made icing and it was fun!





What started as a small get together slowly got larger as some of Juan's friends came, and then Cengiz and Bertal came and then some roommates...the more the merrier!



Another Christmas experience. A quote from Cengiz "I don't know this Christmas but I like it so much!" Very sweet.




Next post will be about the get-together I threw last night (hint: over 20 people and the gas for the stove ran out!)

Breakfasts

I just wanted to quickly post before I headed to work. Just some pictures of a couple of very different breakfasts!

Here's a Turkish one that I prepared for "the guys" at my apartment.





On Thanksgiving I met up with a few other Americans and we went to the more hipster part of Istanbul, Cihangir, where there are a lot of places geared for expats. I had read about this place that served an English breakfast, with baked beans and BACON!! And it was GOOD! It was nice to be in the company of other Americans, even if it was over an English breakfast!



From left to right it's Mario, Matt, Me, and Anna



My English breakfast



Anna decided not to be ironic and order English breakfast but she got some delicious Freedom toast.

Turkish Music Thursday

Sigh. My future husband, Tarkan, singing "Op"

Greece Part 2

I know, I know, you have been eagerly waiting for this. The trip feels so long ago, I can't believe it was just a week and a half ago since we got back! We really had to jump right back into the real world of work (okay..and hanging out and drinking tea and going to the gym).

Unfortunately we had just the late afternoon and evening in Thessaloniki because the next morning we took at train at 7 to Athens, and we arrived there early afternoonish. We decided to buy our tickets back to Istanbul from there (okay, so we forgot in Thessaloniki) and much to our dismay there was no space for us to leave on Thursday, so we had to leave a day earlier, cutting a day out from our time in Athens, but I have to say I was really relieved so I had a full day to recooperate (5 nights, 4 different beds) before going back to work. And I think we still had enough time in Athens, I didn't feel too rushed, and I hope to go back, especially for some island hopping!

Our first afternoon/evening there we mostly just walked around Plaka, a cute yet touristy area, and investigated the entrance to the Acropolis (REALLY hard to find, considering how famous it is!).



Men sitting and drinking tea and playing backgammon - feels like Turkey!



Looking up a cute street. In the foreground you can see some evil eyes, another Turkish tradition.



Some cute chairs we quickly sat in just to get a photo in.



No trip to Greece is complete without pork souvlaki and a gyro!

The next morning we visited the Acropolis, and we really did hit it at the right time of the year. It was warm but not too too hot and not too crowded. If we came much earlier it wouldn't have been as pleasant of an experience.



I've actually been in Athens before many years ago and just for a few hours and I was really really sick but the one thing I remember is that there was sprawl EVERYWHERE.













We were pretty tired after visiting it so we went to the National Gardens nearby and sat and had a cold drink, it was really nice and sweet.





The next day before we left on the train we went up that hill in the distance. No joke. It was a really nice walk, lots of nature and benches that had nice views.



Crazy huge aloe? plants. I felt like I had been shrunk.



There was a monastery up there, nice place for it!







We had to take a train from Athens to Thessaloniki and then wait for about an hour for our next train to Athens, another 17 hour train ride where the first (dark) hour was spent without electricity and us shoving ham and cheese on crackers into our face. The train was different and I was scared to sleep up so high because there was no barrier and it was a pretty shaky train. But it was fun and cute.

I really didn't mean to go on so long about the trip, but I really had a great time and I wanted to have the memories and itinerary in written form. Greece is a really interesting, beautiful and friendly country and I hope to return soon. I'm so thankful to have had a great travel companion too! Thanks everyone for following, again, sorry it went on a little long!

Greece! Part 1

Last week I had 5 days off because of the Kurban bayram, or the sacrifice festival. It's a really important holiday in Turkey and this year people had 9 days off (2 weekends and the bayram was from Monday-Friday)! It can be difficult and expensive to travel in Turkey during that time, and I looked at flights to visit some cities around Europe but they are also expensive, but my friend Anna mentioned going to Greece by train, which sounded like a lot of fun. And we did have fun - everything went really well - interesting sites, good food, perfect weather, nice accommodation, fun and relaxing train rides, and Anna and I got along really well, thank goodness. I think the only time we weren't together for the 6 days was when I used the internet downstairs one night, and she went and got tea for 5 minutes. Seriously, every minute we were together but it was fun!

We took an overnight train from Sirkeci, Istanbul to Thessaloniki. It was supposed to be only 12 hours, getting us into Thessaloniki at 9:30 in the morning but it was 5 hours late so we really didn't have much time in Thessaloniki because early the next morning we went to Athens. The train was a lot of fun, we both have always wanted to ride on an overnight train and it was nice just to relax, listen to music, eat, talk, and sleep.



Our train



Our compartment

Quick story - when we were waiting to get on the train, these really tough looking guys - leather jackets, gold chains, pot marked faces - were speaking really urgently to the ticket guys in front of the train, gesturing and standing really close. I saw one of the conductors ripping up a piece of paper. We then saw them loading really heavy black duffel bags into EACH wagon, so naturally we assumed it was dead bodies or drugs, and we were seriously creeped out. But I figured out at the end of the ride that they were probably delivering the sheets and pillowcases. Oops.



Good night! It wasn't uncomfortable but the sheets felt a little soggy and we had to keep waking up to give our passports when we left Turkey, then collect them, then they had to peek at our baggage, then enter Greece and give our passports again, then wait for them to be returned.






Thessaloniki was a really really nice city - a lot of waterfront, bike paths, gardens, nice little cafes, squares with nice architecture around it. I'd definitely return, it was nice and calm.



We ate in a good restaurant called Ouzou Melathron, where we had a delicious Greek salad and I had some PORK!!



The cheese you see on the left side of my plate was sooo good - it was grilled feta and it was so soft and warm and with just enough oil and herbs. Ahh so good!



We stayed at a place that was a bit different - it was called The Backpacker's Refuge and it wasn't technically a hostel, but more like a flat with just 6 dorm-like beds. They couldn't charge us but just asked for a recommended donation of 15 euros. There was a cute living room, small kitchen, bathroom, and wireless. It's a cool idea and it was started up by a brother and sister that wanted to provide reasonably priced housing for travelers. Anna is thrilled to be in the photo. I think I took this at 5:30am before we left for our train.

Views from the train going to Thessaloniki







Here's a sneak peek for what's to come in Greece! Part 2: