new pics

oh yeah...

AND Dad bought us a washing machine (also from Mom & Sue)!!!! YIPPEEEEE!!!!

Super-A's afraid of it though. Haha! Doesn't bother me a bit.

my fan club's been missin' me

So I caught word that my fans have been missing me? I haven't posted in awhile because Dad was here, I've been a little bored and Super-A gets jealous of the computer.

Dad's visit was WONDERFUL!!! We had a great time doing tourist things and catching up. I love showing people Turkey and being a factbook, since so many Westerners don't know anything about life here. It also reminds me of the first times I travelled to foreign places and how much I've changed. Foreigners really draw a lot of attention! I try to minimize it as much as possible for myself. It was also great because Dad fell in love with Turkey and wants to retire here. He sees why I like it here so much.

So I leave tomorrow for a 12 day trip to London to wrap things up there. I'm hoping its my last trip back. If I don't get all the crap done, I'll have to go back in Jan or Feb. Ew.

I don't like travelling much anymore. I got that bug outta my system, but I have a feeling there's a lot of it left in my future. Life is funny like that.

I will never again listen to you bitch about doing laundry

Living in Cheney I used to complain about having to do the laundry at a laundromat 2 blocks down the road, because loading the car, driving there, putting the clothes in the washer and waiting was just too much. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had no premonition about what my future would hold.

I don't have a washing machine. Here in Turkey (and Eastern Europe for that matter) there are not laundromats or washing machines in the apartment complex.
There is also no affordable laundry service. The laundry service option is 5 ytl (that's $3.33) PER ITEM-yes, PER tee-shirt, PER panty, PER trouser, PER towel-you get the idea.

So what option is left? You guessed it, hand-washing. I used to bitch with hand-washing anything from bras to lacy panties....

Last night for the first time I hand washed 1.5 "loads" of laundry. It took hours? (I'm not sure, didn't time myself). Including towels. It was my turn to do the laundry, Super-A has done it up til now. (See why I love him so?)

Have you ever HAND WASHED a BATH towel??? And not because you were traveling-but because it was the ONLY option to have a clean towel? Well its a BITCH! Its impossible to get all of the soap out. And no, we don't have a bath tub, just a shower.

For those of you who know me, you know I'm a bit of a klutz on a good day. I was lifting the plastic washbin full of dirty water to the sink to empty it (because the shower drain is slow) and dropped it, soaking the entire bathroom in dirty laundry water.

So I'm finishing the washing thinking to myself,

"I'm from Chicago. I shouldn't be doing this. What have I gotten myself into
here? Its oh-so-true we don't choose who we love in this life. Why did I buy a
refrigerator and not a washing machine? Why am I here again? Oh yeah, I found
the love of my life, and he's Turkish, and I can't get him out of Turkey for at
least a year. I'm a city girl from the most luxurious country in the world, why
did I leave? Oh yeah, I crave adventure and excitement and have always yearned
to see how other people live. Now I want the English teaching job and I will
save my money and buy a washing machine. How am I supposed to work, write my
dissertation and do laundry by hand? I don't need more clothes, I'll make do
with what I have. Good thing A doesn't have many clothes. I can't think about
love right now, this sucks. I will LAUGH in anyone's face who has access to a
washing machine when they bitch about doing laundry. Why am I doing this? If I
knew that there were no laundromats would I have said YES to A? This can't be
good for carpal tunnel. A said his sisters had to do laundry for a family of 6
once a week. No wonder people want to get the fuck out of here. I wasn't born in
a village. I'm from Chicago. My mom has a washing machine. I understand a bit
more now why women in developing countries have a low sex drive. Sex means
babies and more fucking laundry. My back hurts."

I will never again listen to you bitch about doing laundry.... You chicks & dudes just don't know how good you have it.

a day of ennui

yeah so we were sooooooooooooooo bored today that we went to a home improvement store and looked at everything, and even took pictures. then went to turkey's equivalent of wal-mart and ate ice cream. yes, boredom.

Thought for the day

No one ever said that following my dreams would be a lonely, lonely road....but shit, if I listened to what people told me I wouldn't have tasted success and touched the sweet nectar of the Gods and my inner Self.

The best FUCK YOU is achieved with no vengeance or words, it comes with looking the people in the eyes who said that I couldn't do it/wasn't smart enough/or good enough with love-and actually mean it.

just HAD to post these!!!

A's always ready to pose for the camera! Such a ham! But with dashing good looks like these, can you blame him? From the top.... On the computer in the guest room; serving up melemen-the Turkish form of an omelet but tastier (and I'm lucky for that since its the only meal he knows how to make, we eat a lot of melemen); and me snapping a picture waiting for the photographer to take his passport picture

today

yeah so i'm a little bored...i'm not complaining! today has been a beautiful day and i've gladly spent it in the house. after spending 1 year living in a 10ftx10ft matchbox of a room, in a student residence designed after a Swedish women's prison (NO JOKE!), i'm happy to pad around the house and dilly dally. i'm not totally unproductive mind you.

there's still lots of work to be done, as far as writing my thesis and dealing with the legal stuff in London. but until i deal with it, i'm relaxed.

dad comes for a visit next week, and i'm soooo excited!

A few pics of us....

In these pics we're in the tea garden-there are a few of them in our neighborhood. Taken yesterday.

TA DA! the hallway

ITS A BOY!

NO YOU SILLY FOOLS, I'M NOT HAVING A CHILD!!!! my toilet has a penis... heehee...yes it does! see the penis looking thing in the toilet boil? its a bum washer!!!! yes, it tickles....

Our house is a very very fine house (sing the song with me)

modernisation

YESTERDAY we got a refrigerator! WOOHOOO! I can keep food cold now! Milk will last for more than 2 days!
TODAY we got hot water! First hot shower in 3 weeks! I SO CLEAN! Now I just need a good shave, you don't even want to know what these legs look like, its been a little much even for me.

I'll post pictures of our pad later tonight...

A few Turkey facts:

• Turkey is an up and coming political and economic powerhouse
• Its one of the few 100% sustainable countries
• Turkey is sitting on one of the largest untapped gold & natural gas supplies in the world
• Its economic base includes manufacturing & industry, but the biggest is peasant agriculture
• The food here is the BEST quality I've come across yet, everything is grown organically and is DELICIOUS!
• No country can fuck with Turkey militarily
• Turkey is the only country that spans 2 continents
• Turkey is NOT in the middle-east
• Turkey is a secular country