Rice

I just finished a whirlwind dinner. I took a nap because I was exhausted from working out then declaring war on mold in Sinan's apartment (we made this place look awesome I might add). I was secretly hoping to wake up to dinner being made but alas, it was 7 o'clock and there was no food ready - I think everyone had the same hope as me. The thing about cooking at Sinan's apartment is you never know who has eaten or who wants to eat, and you don't go around taking a count of who is going to eat. So I threw garlic, green pepper, salt, crushed red pepper, chicken into a pot, and a lot of onions and tomatoes and let that simmer.

Now I wanted to tell you about the rice cooking process here. At home, in the States, we put rice and water in a machine, and wait for it to click twice. Here, first I heat up oil and cook about half a water glass of this long brown rice, until it turns really brown (I usually use 2-3 water glasses of white rice). While this is heating up, I wash the white rice, usually about three times (Draining it is a pain, I usually lose about half the rice). Then I add it to the brown rice, and roast that for a few minutes. Then I add the water, some salt, a couple of chicken bouillon cubes, then let it cook. Ideally once it is finished one puts a paper towel between the rice and the lid to soak up the moisture but I either forget or we don't have paper towels. It does turn out well, I must say, each time I time it better and I become more efficient.

And the salad - no lettuce is used. I finely chop cucumber, green pepper (seed and cut out the ridges), cabbage, onions, tomatoes (Sinan's sister peels them - I did the first two times but it took absolutely forever), and I grate a carrot (sometimes my finger too). It's best with olive oil, pomegranate sauce, and salt. Of course, I don't have to make it this way, but it really is delicious.

I also fried some cauliflower and onions rings tonight. Rolled them in flour, water, salt, and paprika and dropped them in really hot oil. Delicious. I put lemon juice and oil on them.

The thing about spending a lot of time on dinner is that makes it really good, and then when it is really good, it is eaten quickly. I wish there was some way to change that ratio.

I haven't mentioned I started some private Turkish lessons with a student from Bogazici University, the university I live near and that Sinan attends. They are very cheap and can last over 2 hours sometimes. Muhammed is great and so knowledgeable. I'm probably the student from hell, asking him all of these picky questions without giving him preparation time, but he always manages to answer them. The lessons jump all over the place but I think once we start using a book they will get more organized, but one thing keeps leading to another and we don't want to leave anything out. I am so glad I am not working now so I can focus on learning vocabulary and doing exercises. Soon I am going to have to bring in song lyrics, news articles and other things and explain them in Turkish. Also I'm going to post some stuff in Turkish and he'll correct. Maybe next week. Hopefully soon we'll start speaking in Turkish because I am a little discouraged by how bad my Turkish even though I've been in Turkey a total of almost 6 months.

Still no word from the job and I am loving it. Cooking, studying, sleeping, cleaning - it's great. I wish there was some way to keep living like this but of course there isn't. I'll enjoy it while I can!