Republic Day

Monday was Republic Day in Turkey which celebrates the founding of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923. At night, we went to watch the biggest fireworks display ever staged in Istanbul. The fireworks had been shipped from Australia, and the show was choreographed by Australians as well (the same people who do the New Years shows on Sydney Harbor). It included eight firing barges along the Bosphorus and an 800 meter waterfall of fireworks. It lasted for a good 15 minutes, though it seemed longer, and was probably the most amazing fireworks display I've ever seen. The picture above does it no justice, but it's one of the best I've got (nice view of Bosphorus Bridge in the background).

Today I'm going to make pancakes and then Lars and I are off to Sultanahmet and at some point will fit in a balik ekmek before coming home to get ready for our Halloween party tonight.

Happy Halloween!

Sunday Adventure

I need accessories for my new toaster oven-- an oven safe pan, a cookie tray, a springform pan, pot holders, etc. And I want to get them as cheaply as possible because this month I'm moving, so I'm pinching pennies (or kurus) at the moment. Today I amassed a small entourage (Jordan, Rachel, and Cem) and we wandered to the Tarlabasi Bazaar. I had been told to keep my bag close and to watch my back, but Tarlabasi Blvd. itself was closed to cars today because of the annual Istanbul road race so the bazaar was less crowded than maybe it usually is.

No one in my circle of friends had been before but we managed to find it with little difficulty. It's a different world there even though it's maybe only a fifteen minute walk from where I live-- we saw some sheep being herded around, laundry hung between high up windows across streets reminiscent of the ghettos here... the market sold some hard to find produce (broccoli, avacados, fresh basil, and much more), kitchenware, clothes, sheets and towels, and everything was SO cheap. I bought a lot of stuff-- hazelnuts, peanuts, cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg, corn kernels to pop the old fashioned way, turkish delight, baking powder, cocoa, and more for 11ytl. I bought a Pasabahce (Turkish Crate and Barrel) glass brownie pan for 6ytl. A bag of freshly cut up pumpkin was 2ytl. Even avacados, which are usually between 4-6ytl for one, were 1.50! So it was a good discovery.

There's a very worthwhile article called Istanbul's Tarlabasi Under Constant Transformation if you have a minute, on NPR.org. After reading the article, check out the audio slideshow which really gives a good impression of what the neighborhood looks like.

I'm off to make some brownies and then I may try something else!

Halloween at school

Yay vacation! Today was hectic-- Halloween costumes are just as bad as snowsuits when children need the bathroom. I survived-- and look at how cute my class is. I love them, but it really will be wonderful having a week off. :)

I'm off for a well-deserved nap.

Almost There

Tomorrow is Friday! I have finished my developmental reports so all I have to do is show up, take pictures of the children in their Halloween costumes, have a Halloween party, pick up my pay check, and I'm on vacation!

Today was somehow stressful, though. I got home and tried out my new toater oven, couldn't for the life of me get it to work, and spent awhile composing a text message in Turkish to the man I bought it from. He kindly offered to have someone stop by this evening and fix it, though after taking a nap I somehow came to my senses and it works fine, so I had to text him back in Turkish explaining that I'm just a stupid foreigner and silly me, oops, it works fine. So I still have a weekend of baking to look forward to. :)

Then I went to pick up my laundry and anything remotely white had turned purple, which actually sort of looks nice on my pillowcase but less nice on my favorite towel. I felt a bit lost in translation today.

At least I managed to pull everything together and tonight my reports are done, I have fresh sheets on my bed, and now I can look up recipes online until I go to bed.

A Fresh Start

It seems as though my old blog will be indefinitely blocked by the Turkish government, so after growing frustrated at using the same proxy servers that high school students use to access myspace from school, I decided it was time to move on. So here I am at blogspot.

Things have been busy-- my parents came for a wonderful visit last week which coincided with Seker Bayram, which meant that I had time to devote to showing them around the city. We covered lots of ground-- a Bosphorus cruise, Kariye Museum and a trip up the Golden Horn to Pierre Loti, a visit to the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum and much much more including great meals at 360, Asitane, Cicek Pasaji, and Leb-i-Derya.

This week for me has been all about countdowns. Right now, as it stands, I have 3 days left of work until vacation, and 5 days until Lars comes back from three months of travel. If only I could hibernate and wake up with a paycheck in my hand on vacation with him here.

So today with growing frustrations I needed retail therapy and success! I bought a toaster oven that was just delivered to our apartment. I am already looking to a weekend full of baking cookies, cupcakes, tuna melts, toast. Hurrah!